Episode 279 – Dr. Allen Frances – Trump, Mental Illness, and the End of Reason

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Dr. Allen Frances

Dr. Allen Frances, author of, ‘Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump’

“Calling Trump crazy allows us to avoid confronting the craziness in our society—if we want to get sane, we must first gain insight about ourselves. Simply put: Trump isn’t crazy, but our society is.” – Dr. Allen Frances

This week on the show we interview one of the men who literally wrote the book on mental illness as we answer the question – Is Trump crazy? And what does it say about America that he was elected to the highest office in the land? Psychiatrist Dr. Allen Frances analyzes the national psyche, viewing the rise of Donald J. Trump as darkly symptomatic of a deeper societal distress. Drawing on his vast experience, Dr. Frances explains American society’s collective slide away from sanity and offers an urgently needed prescription for reclaiming our bearings.

Dr. Allen Frances chaired the task force that produced the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders, which is is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and offers a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.  He then became critical of later versions, and he warned that we are currently “over-treating” mental disorders and finding problems where there are none. Dr. Frances is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Duke University School of Medicine.

Episode 272 – Guy Winch – The Secret To A Happy Life Is An Emotional First Aid Kit

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Guy Winch

Guy Winch, author of, ‘Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts’

We all sustain emotional wounds. Failure, guilt, rejection, and loss are as much a part of life as the occasional scraped elbow. But while we typically bandage a cut or ice a sprained ankle, our first aid kit for emotional injuries is not just understocked—it’s nonexistent.

Think about it… we learn about germs, scrapes, and sprains starting at 2 years old, but we often don’t learn about emotional injuries and proper treatment until they have become debilitating. And even worse, many times we don’t even know we are sustaining these emotional injuries and they are just lurking beneath the surface, continually holding us hostage.

Fortunately, there is such a thing as mental first aid for battered emotions. Drawing on the latest scientific research and using real-life examples, our guest Guy Winch, Ph.D. offers specific step-by-step treatments that are fast, simple, and effective. In this episode, we talk with Guy about his amazing book, Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts. His message is essential for anyone looking to become more resilient, build self-esteem, and let go of the hurts and hang-ups that are holding them back.

Guy Winch, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, author, and keynote speaker whose books have been translated into twenty-one languages. His TED Talk, Why We All Need to Practice Emotional First Aid, has been viewed over 4 million times and is rated among the top 5 most inspiring talks on TED.com. Dr. Winch also writes the popular Squeaky Wheel Blog on PsychologyToday.com

Dr. Winch received his doctorate in clinical psychology from New York University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at NYU Medical Center. He has been working with individuals, couples, and families in his private practice in Manhattan for over twenty years. He is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Learn more about Guy at https://www.guywinch.com/

Episode 267 – Jennifer Mueller – Embrace Creativity, Change Your Life

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Jennifer Mueller

Jennifer Mueller, author of, ‘Creative Change: Why We Resist It . . . How We Can Embrace It’

If you ask someone how it feels to be creative, you will often hear emotions such as joy, pride, and exhilaration. We love the feeling of creating something out of nothing, or imagining what could be. However, startling new research reveals that although we think positively about creativity, when it comes to taking action on that creativity, we often struggle to accept new and creative ideas, even when they appear to be exactly what we are looking for.

In this episode, one of the nation’s leading psychologists discusses why today’s corporate leaders desire but reject creative solutions. We will answer questions such as could people love but also hate creative ideas? Could the mindset we use to evaluate ideas turn this love or hate on or off—in an instant? Do experts struggle even more than novices with this bias?  And more.

Our guest this week is Jennifer Mueller. Jennifer is the author of the new book, Creative Change: Why We Resist It….How We Can Embrace It. She holds a doctorate in social psychology and has taught at top business schools, including Wharton, the Yale School of Management, and New York University’s Stern School of Business. Her highly acclaimed paper “The Bias Against Creativity” went viral, was downloaded more than 65,000 times, and was heralded as “famous” by an article in The Atlantic. She currently serves on the faculty at the University of San Diego and lives in Solana Beach, California.