Narcissism is a chronic and damaging form of self obsession. Ranked as one of the Personality or Trait Disorders by the DSM 5, NPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder is an ongoing unhealthy survival strategies for life. Even though it can lead to obnoxious, self destructive, or even dangerous behavior.

Far from the psychological death sentence that many people think it is, PD is subject to treatment and success, especially if the individual has awareness of their condition.

Mike, Lee, and Dwight discuss these things and more on today's episode of The Broken Brain!

Kevin Byrd is a specialist in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. He runs a DBT program in Carmel, Indiana. He joined me to talk about his background in therapy, working with symptoms of high emotionality, stigma regarding Personality Disorders, and finding hope in the face of serious mental illness. 

Check out his website at carmelpsychology.com 

Polyvagal Trauma Theory, pioneered by Stephen Porges, is a powerful approach to trauma recovery that takes into account ways that the body stores traumatic emotional experiences. 

Brittany Varney, Stacy McKenzie, and Kristal James join us today to conduct a training on this theory and how it applies to trauma recovery. 

This episode is a CEU training for the Aspire Group Therapy Practice in Northern Utah. 

Joel Manwill is a member of the Aspire Group of Mental Health Professionals, the Group Practice that I am also a part of. 

He is also a highly experienced Pediatric Occupational Therapist, working with sensory processing disorder, autistic spectrum disorders, and other health concerns related to sensory processing. 

This is a training Joel did for our team of therapists, in which he discusses over and under sensitive disorders, sensory seeking and sensory avoidant behavior. 

A Rerun of one of our most popular training episodes:

Another wonderful training at Aspire for Continuing Education Units (CEU) to help all of us counselors keep our licenses. This one is by Licensed Clinical Social Worker Janet Mitchell. 

Janet is an expert in the area of Self Care, which is defined as the ability to increase, improve, and maintain mental health through a healthy lifestyle. More than just a reminder to exercise and eat right, Janet has created some tools and techniques to help us to identify which areas of our life will increase our ability to zone into a meditative or mindful place of health. 

My friend Jeri joins the podcast to discuss Imposter Phenomenon, and the genesis of that term within psychotherapy. Imposter Phenomenon has been used since the 1970s and is a name for a specific type of anxiety and intellectual self-doubt.

Jeri Young is a friend, a colleague, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in Mind-Body Bridging, Chronic Pain management, and a bunch of other cool stuff. 

ALSO, you should totes click on this sentence to READ this cool paper about Imposter Phenomenon by Clance & Imes.

You know what's hard? Managing your weight, fitness, and physical health is hard. Whether you need to loose weight, get yourself to eat healthier, or have a dangerous eating disorder, finding a solution isn't easy. Virtually all weight management plans (by themselves) have been demonstrated to be ineffective.

Using principles of psychology, addiction recovery, and cognitive-behavioral therapy can help with weight and eating related problems, because these approaches look at the underlying causes of the problems. 

Kwentin Kemp is a licensed professional counselor and the founder of The Greater U, a program dedicated to effective physical and mental treatment of weight related health problems. He and Chris Tittle join me today to discuss this tricky problem through the lens of mental health. 

Also, check out Charles Duhigg's book that we talk about in the discussion, if you want to...

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy addresses increasing emotional stability, and the PLEASE skill is a viable part of increasing yours! This podcast mini episode comes from the audio to the YouTube Video on The BrokenBrain Podcast channel on YouTube. 

A Broken Brain Classic Rerun! Our Good Buddy Candice Christiansen (owner and Clinical Director of Namaste Center for Healing) joins us to talk trauma, addiction, recovery, and healing. We discuss EDMR, Cognitive Therapy, Exposure, and BOTH of our dogs. 

Karly Beaumont, head of the Core Temp Arts Network of podcasts, podcaster, and pop culture expert, joins me to discuss the dynamics of relationship repair that are presented in the quirky and highly metaphorical movie "The One I Love."

This film depicts a live action visualization of the different parts of our personalities in the process of repairing damaged relationships, and asking ourselves questions about the survivability of love. 

Follow Karly on Twitter @karlyvision, or check out her podcast work on the shows "Talking Shondaland," "That Pop This Life," and "TV Ate My Brain." 

Guy Macpherson is the founder of the Trauma Therapist Project a fellow podcaster, and an expert on early childhood mental illness, trauma, and somatic sensory psychotherapy. He joins me today to discuss pointers for therapists learning to deal with trauma, the prevalence of trauma within mental illness, and treatment techniques. 

I can already tell Guy will be a good friend of the show, hear his first Broken Brain interview right here, right now. Also give him a listen on his podcast, The Trauma Therapist Podcast, and check out his website and FaceBook Group.

Bernadette & Andrew Peirce are a wonderful couple who do a movie podcast (the AB Film Review), and are just fun and cool people. We got together to discuss the dynamic of psychological burnout, a condition that affects physical and mental health, as well as the economy.

Andrew has worked in the Veterinary Nursing industry, and Bernie has provided addiction recovery and crisis stabilization services within Mental Health Treatment facilities. They are both acutely aware of the reality of mental health and burnout needs upon individuals and society. We discuss stigma of mental health treatment, acceptance of self, finding an outlet, and avoiding falling off the cliff of burnout. 

Mike returns to talk more about relationships, particularly those colored by estrangement and difficult problems. To do this, we use the Icelandic film "Rams," from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, available on Netflix. 

As always, our cover art is up for guesses, which one of these gentlemen is Dwight, and which is Mike?

My interview from a couple years back with Dr. Ron Llewellyn, psychologist and trauma recovery expert. A good friend, college professor, expert clinician and author. Enjoy Ron's interview and then click over to see him speak on Trauma Recovery on this YOUTUBE VIDEO.

Rachel Grant joins me today to discuss her program for recovery from sexual abuse. A survivor and thriver of her own abuse experience, Rachel has trained and worked to become a highly educated and qualified recovery coach. She opens up with me about her experience, recovery, and the techniques she uses to help people work through the recovery process. 

Check out Rachel's program online at: rachelgrantcoaching.com, or click on rachelgrantcoaching.com/checklist to get her free instructions for recovery.

Raney Mills Keiley rejoins us after her long sabbatical to field your questions. Mike and I assist by making dumb jokes as she answers your questions about tricky family communication with a needy or controlling parent, and whether or not therapists are emotionally bulletproof enough that we are impervious to freaking out. Plus we fondly recall the time she made us make tinfoil statues of ourselves in an Art Therapy group. 

Make sure to ask your questions for our panels of therapists at #askatherapist on twitter, or tweet at me @breakabrain, or just shoot me an email at dwighthurst@gmail.com.

Kathleen returns to help me talk about how to support your loved ones with traumatic experiences. We discuss the  are the important Do's and Dont's of working with family and friends with a history of trauma, abuse, or PTSD.

Be sure to listen to Kathleen's wonderful Podcast On The Blue Couch for talk about trauma, psychology, The Walking Dead, and much more!

This episode is a sample episode of the History of Color Podcast, another show on the Core Temp Arts podcast network. Allegra Alvarado, host and creator of the show, gave me permission to share this episode on the Broken Brain feed. This is episode 4 of her show, and she tells the story of the Black Suffragette movement. Give is a listen and subscribe to History of Color today.

This episode is part of the Meet Creative People project, introducing you to creators that you should know. If you know creative people of color or black creators, artists, or innovators please let me know @breakabrain on Twitter. 

Ian Levy is a Professor of Counseling for Manhattan College. When Ian was working as a School Counselor in the South Bronx (New York City public schools) Ian used his talent and experience as a Hip-Hop artist to engage with young people. He joins me today to share some practical examples of his work, as well as to explain what research he is doing into this area. 

Ian was kind enough to share the track "Showman," from his latest musical project "And Then It Glistens." You'll hear it as the intro music and then the entire song follows our interview. Check out the entire album on Apple Music or at his website: www.Ianplevy.com 

The Broken Brain's featured Charity this week is Upbeat NYC, a nonprofit music education organization for kids. 

Karly Beaumont is the owner and creator of the Core Temp Arts network of podcasts. She joins me to day to tell her story of the work that she does recording, producing, and managing a team of podcasts. Karly has a history of managing nonprofit work, photography, and art. Learn more about her work at www.coretemparts.com

This episode is the first in the Broken Brain's Meet Creative People project. I will be introducing you to creators that you should know. If you know creative people of color or black creators, artists, or innovators please let me know @breakabrain on Twitter. 

Sharon Blady is a Superhero, and so are You!

Sharon is the former Minister of Health for the province of Manitoba and is a renowned speaker and trainer. She has a remarkable story of her own experiences with mental health, and takes a strengths-based approach to reframing our own characteristics and symptoms using Comics and Pop Culture.

Learn more at her website http://www.speak-up.co/, and watch her presentations on YouTube (especially her talk on Hiding in Plain Sight).

Josh Wood, Business Manager for Improving Lives, returns to the show to talk about social distancing and managing healthcare needs during the pandemic. We talk about using technology to work with mental health needs, possible difficulties of isolation, and ways people cope. We are even able to have a chuckle here and there in the midst of all of this craziness. Josh is a wonderful person and a passionate advocate, glad to have him back. Hope that all of you listening are somewhere safe with those you love. Be careful. 

Robert Melillo is an expert in childhood neurological disorders. He is the founder and director of the Brain Balance Centers. He joined me to discuss his background and the methods he uses to help children with ADHD, developmental delay, or who are on the Autism Spectrum. We discuss what parents can do to work with their children at home, especially at this time during the health crises when so many are stuck at home. 

Josh Wood is the business manager for Improving Lives, a medical and mental health support service for patients in Nottinghamshire. Josh helps me understand the needs of the population they serve, obstacles to mental health recovery, and a little bit about the UK health system for good measure. Learn more about this important organization at: 

https://www.improvinglivesnotts.org.uk/

Chris Aiken MD of the Mood Treatment Center, and author of the book "Bipolar Not So Much," joins me today to discuss his research and practice in the area of dietary interventions to help with symptoms of Bipolar and Mood Disorder. This is the real deal, medically researched and balanced dietary tips to help reduce symptoms of depression and mania. 

Lisa Frederiksen is an author, speaker, and expert in the area of Secondhand Drinking, a term she coined to describe the effects of alcohol abuse on those within the support system of those caught in addiction. Lisa discusses the complexity of addiction, the sometimes damaging labels of codependent or enabler, and what to do to protect yourself in one of life's most difficult situations. Check out her book, The 10th Anniversary Edition of If You Loved Me You'd Stop.

This is a Continuing Education Credit (CEU) training for the Aspire Network of Counselors. Feel free to listen in as well. 

Ketamine Infusion Treatment is an exciting new therapy for the treatment of mood disorders, anxiety, ADHD, and other psychological conditions. Dr. Stephen Mandel is a pioneer in the use of this treatment, and talked to me about the use and results from ketamine therapy in his practice. You can learn more about ketamine and his ongoing practice/research at www.ketamineclinics.com. 

Electro Convulsive Therapy or ECT is an important last resort in the treatment of treatment resistant depression. Mike and Dwight had the chance to sit down with the head physician over the ECT department of the University of Utah Hospital. We discuss stigma, other treatment options, side effects, and the complicated nature of this major psychiatric intervention. 

Lee Messersmith and I discuss the dynamics of restraint in clinical settings, a weird element of intensive psychiatric care. Rerun from a few years ago. 

Rerun of my episode about the African social service organization "Confident Children Out of Conflict," an important organization helping children. I interview Caitlin Cockroft, their publicity and social media director. Go to their website and make a donation today!

A Rerun of one of our most popular training episodes:

Another wonderful training at Aspire for Continuing Education Units (CEU) to help all of us counselors keep our licenses. This one is by Licensed Clinical Social Worker Janet Mitchell. 

Janet is an expert in the area of Self Care, which is defined as the ability to increase, improve, and maintain mental health through a healthy lifestyle. More than just a reminder to exercise and eat right, Janet has created some tools and techniques to help us to identify which areas of our life will increase our ability to zone into a meditative or mindful place of health. 

A Broken Brain Classic Rerun! Our Good Buddy Candice Christiansen (owner and Clinical Director of Namaste Center for Healing) joins us to talk trauma, addiction, recovery, and healing. We discuss EDMR, Cognitive Therapy, Exposure, and BOTH of our dogs. 

Psychological studies show that infants have a much deeper and more rich mental life than we have previously believed. As a new father (for the third time) I want to know what my infant daughter is up to, and this interview with Dr. Annette Henderson, a Developmental and Research Psychologist who studies infants at Auckland University, and taught me that she is up to a lot!

Illustrator Steve McDonald is the creator of the coloring books Fantastic Cities and Fantastic Structures. These books are designed particularly for adults, as an exercise in mindfulness and anxiety reduction.

Complex coloring is a therapeutic tool that many therapists and individuals are using to increase relaxation and present focused thinking. They are also a fun way to engage with art, especially for those of us who don't always draw that well on our own. Plus, Steve is a fantastic and interesting person. Enjoy our discussion.