Mental Health News Radio

“Like Big Little Lies, A Beautiful Terrible Thing is a startling reminder that fairy tales aren’t real. A master class in suspenseful storytelling, Jen Waite recounts the lies, betrayals, and infidelity she endured with unrestrained honesty and deft candor. I couldn’t turn away.”—Jillian Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of Some Girls: My Life in a Harem and Everything You Ever WantedWhat do you do when you discover that the person you've built your life around never existed? When “it could never happen to me” does happen to you?These are the questions facing Jen Waite when she begins to realize that her loving husband—the father of her infant daughter, her best friend, the love of her life—fits the textbook definition of psychopath. In a raw, first-person account, Waite recounts each heartbreaking discovery, every life-destroying lie, and reveals what happens once the dust finally settles on her demolished marriage.After a disturbing email sparks Waite's suspicion that her husband is having an affair

Sarah Oliveira McDonald, a long time listener of our podcast and part of the La Hacienda family, extended an invitation on behalf of La Hacienda Treatment Center for our team to visit their incredible campus located in Hunt, Texas. As our listeners know, we are always searching for treatment facilities that provide exemplary services. We volunteered our time with a mission to get to know their staff who are considered family and interview some of their clinical team.Please welcome Dr. James Boone to the show. Dr. Boone is the medical director for La Hacienda and shared his love of working in the Behavioral Health. Dr. James Boone has worked with La Hacienda Treatment Center since 2004. James’ career in medicine began when he graduated from Baylor University in 1980 with a BS degree, followed by attendance at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX where he graduated with honors in 1984. He did his internal medicine internship and residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas and completed t

Sarah Oliveira McDonald, a long time listener of our podcast and part of the La Hacienda family, extended an invitation on behalf of La Hacienda Treatment Center for our team to visit their incredible campus located in Hunt, Texas. As our listeners know, we are always searching for treatment facilities that provide exemplary services. We volunteered our time with a mission to get to know their staff who are considered family and interview some of their clinical team.Please welcome Dr. Katie McQueen to the show. We had the honor of listening to one of the many educational sessions she provides for staff and residents. She joined us in her office to discuss addiction and co-occurring disorders. Join us for an eye opening discussion about the full spectrum of addiction disorders with some special focus on food addiction. Katie McQueen, MD, is a nationally recognized expert in the field of addiction medicine. She has written several book chapters and articles related to addiction and has lectured extensively on s

What a powerful conversation from the frontlines with licensed clinician Christine Hammond. She works with survivors of narcissistic abuse but also those with personality disorders. It takes an iron gut and an iron will. She's got it. What a pleasure. Enjoy some practical advice!Christine is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor by the State of Florida with over fifteen years of experience in counseling, teaching and ministry.  She works primarily with exhausted women and their families in conflict situations to ensure peaceful resolutions at home and in the workplace. She is also the author of the The Exhausted Woman's Handbook.www.christinehammondcounseling.com

Lindsey is an actress, model, drama and performing arts specialist, youth development practitioner and speaker, poet, published author, and social entrepreneur. She is a world traveller having lived, studied, and worked abroad throughout Eastern Europe and the UK  and taught drama and performance art in NYC, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania..After moving back to NYC to pursue a career in Non-Profit Management and Youth Development, she worked for several large non-profit and social service agencies building and developing educational and personal development programs for youth in the foster care and juvenile justice system.She discussed the the impact that drama therapy and the creative arts therapies have when applied as intervention techniques toward improving social and emotional learning skills, personal development outcomes, and behavior change catered to diverse multi cultural youth populations.For more about Lindsey visit her website here. 

Sometimes, there are just no words to express what you’re feeling. A year ago, Marlena stopped the antidepressant medication she had been taking for a dozen years. She had hoped to have a baby. But instead, she developed memories of childhood abuse. It happened more than 30 years ago. The perpetrator had abused other kids. The trauma had blocked it from my memory. What Marlena had remembered was the depression, irritability, and isolation. Marlena uses photography, drawing, poetry, and painting to express the way she is feeling. Through PeaceLove Studios in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, she honed her expressive art skills through their CREATORS program, with hopes of teaching the technique to others, including kids and teens with autism. On Facebook, she talks about her own battle with mental illness, and launched the Pix of the Day project, a series of rich, moving photos that instill emotion.When she’s not behind the camera, Marlena surrounds herself with animals—including a 2-year-old pitbull, Kemo, and her rab

Join the discussion with counselors Melanie Vann and Melissa Richards and host Kristin Sunanta Walker as they discuss how trauma bonds are formed. Imperative to know when you've been hooked and how to begin to move out of those toxic relationships.  www.mhnrnetwork.com

Did you know that new reports are showing that more U.S. workers are testing positive for illicit drugs than at any time in the last 12 years, according to data coming out today from Quest Diagnostics Inc., one of the largest workplace-testing labs in the nation? Many people suffering from substance abuse have fallen victim to addiction and someone suffering from a secret addiction to drug and/or alcohol will often go to great lengths to ensure that they keep their secret safe and keep up the appearance that everything is fine. Because of these great lengths, it is difficult for employers or even loved ones to notice, even if it is right in front of them.Join Dr. Michael V. Genovese, Chief Medical Advisor Acadia Healthcare Recovery Division and Jamie Vinck, COO of Sierra Tuscon's treatment center as they discuss this topic with our host Kristin Sunanta Walker. www.sierratuscon.comwww.acadiahealthcare.com

Melissa holds a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. She has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) since 2009. She has over 14 years of experience in the field of developmental disabilities and at-risk youth, working with clients across the lifespan. Her areas of clinical expertise include analogue functional analysis,  verbal behavior, and system-wide implementations of applied behavior analysis. Melissa has presented professionally at both national and international conferences, including the Association for Behavior Analysis International. Additionally, Melissa is an active presenter for Parents of Autistic Children (POAC) and Common Ground Parent Support Group, both non-profits that provides free ABA training to parents and educators across New Jersey. She is also passionate about the dissemination of the science of behavior analysis beyond the autism community; and currently serves as the Chair for the Dissemination of Applied Behavior Analysis, a

Lloyd works to break down racial, gender, and age difference barriers. As an African American male he talks openly about his mental health and substance abuse issues and the stigma of seeking help.  He has such a positive character and has been on a personal journey to motivate the young people of South Carolina for the last 6 years. Hale is an outstanding young person with a powerful recovery story and an engaging speaker.www.ride4spmi.org

Dr. Ross is an internationally renowned clinician, researcher, author and lecturer in the field of dissociation and trauma-related disorders. He is the founder and President of the Colin A. Ross Institute for Psychological Trauma. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Alberta in 1981 and completed his training in psychiatry at the University of Manitoba in 1985. He has been running a hospital-based Trauma Program in Dallas, Texas since 1991. Dr. Ross' book, The Trauma Model: A Solution To the Problem of Comorbidity in Psychiatry, was first published in 2000, with a second edition appearing in 2007. Other recent books of his include Trauma Model Therapy: A Treatment Approach for Trauma, Dissociation and Complex Comorbidity (2009), The C.I.A. Doctors: Human Rights Violations by American Psychiatrists (2006) and Moon Shadows: Stories of Trauma & Recovery (2007).In addition, Dr. Ross has authored over 170 professional papers, has reviewed for numerous professional journals and grant agencies and is a pa

A few years ago, Teodrose Fikre was an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton making a six figure salary consulting agencies at the Pentagon, Fort Belvoir and Department of Treasury and a wide array of defense and civil agencies throughout the Washington, DC metro area.  I provided IT and business process improvement consultation for an alphabet soup of federal agencies and led a very comfortable life. I built up an "impressive array" of credentials and degrees; an MBA from Johns Hopkins, a PMP certification as well as a six sigma certified project manager. From the outside, I was the quintessential American success story. But these things, titles and accomplishments, could not fill the void I felt as accomplishments for the sake of accomplishment always felt like I was chasing unfulfilling pavements.Then the swerve of life happened and in a fell swoop, I fell into a crevice of turbulence. Equal parts malicious imposition and my own imprudence took me from upper-middle class comforts to day to day distress that com

Dr. Ross is an internationally renowned clinician, researcher, author and lecturer in the field of dissociation and trauma-related disorders. He is the founder and President of the Colin A. Ross Institute for Psychological Trauma. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Alberta in 1981 and completed his training in psychiatry at the University of Manitoba in 1985. He has been running a hospital-based Trauma Program in Dallas, Texas since 1991. Dr. Ross' book, The Trauma Model: A Solution To the Problem of Comorbidity in Psychiatry, was first published in 2000, with a second edition appearing in 2007. Other recent books of his include Trauma Model Therapy: A Treatment Approach for Trauma, Dissociation and Complex Comorbidity (2009), The C.I.A. Doctors: Human Rights Violations by American Psychiatrists (2006) and Moon Shadows: Stories of Trauma & Recovery (2007).In addition, Dr. Ross has authored over 170 professional papers, has reviewed for numerous professional journals and grant agencies and is a pa

My Counterpane evolved from the experience of Kate Milliken, who was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2006.A video producer by trade, Kate produced a series of videos to showcase her first year with MS and launched them in 2009 on Katescounterpane.com. A counterpane is a patchwork quilt created from a variety of fabrics which, when sewn together, create warmth and beauty as a whole. Her emotional honesty struck a chord and the project gained wide viewership in the MS community, especially among the newly diagnosed.What became clear to Kate through her own experience was that people need a way to connect each other not only via sharing the daily experience of illness (the clinical), but by sharing the emotions behind the illness (the psychological). Mycounterpane.com started with MS, but as the site gained traction, other communities were born.Our aim is to be the experiential version of a counterpane patchwork quilt: a community that celebrates the virtual, remembers the real, and

Two-time world champion boxer, Jesse James Leija, joins host Kristin Sunanta Walker on Mental Health News Radio to talk about the mind-body connection. Mental acuity, continued acts of service through advocacy, love of family, humility, and entrepreneurship are all at the heart of Jesse James Leija. He discusses the many phases of his career and how his training as a boxer kept him mentally and physically able to take on world champion competitors and stay in the ring. Please visit his website at www.jessejamesleija.com for more information about his organizations and the charities he not only supports financially but rolls up his sleeves and puts the hard work in day after day. 

Wendy Conquest is a psychotherapist, Director of SACC, a sex and addiction treatment center in Boulder Colorado and author of Letters To A Sex Addict: The Journey Through Grief and Betrayal. Ms. Conquest’s passion is to understand and create paradigms for change. She has developed programs dealing with drug, alcohol, sex addiction, and treating partners of sex addicts with hospitals, agencies and treatment centers over the last 17 years always using cutting edge research.  Wendy has also been successful incorporating Alma, her therapy dog, with clients in individual, couples, and group settings.  Her newest book, Letters From A Sex Addict; Seeing Inside My Mind, written with co-author, Dan Drake, will be available in 2017.www.wendyconquest.comDan Drake is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Supervisor, and a Certified Clinical Partner Specialist. He specializes in treating sex addicts, their partners and families. He is in p

Two of the founders of ZenCharts.com join host Kristin Walker to discuss why electronic health records are being put to the test in the addiction treatment side of behavioral health. Features like customer relationship management (CRM) have to be incorporated in order to handle the onslaught of patients needing help from substance abuse treatment centers. Find out who is behind where you store something as important as protected health information.Thank you to Rick Glaser and Sean Callahan for joining and being the first sponsor of Mental Health News Radio.www.zencharts.com

Our friend and guest on the show, Shahida Arabi, inspired this podcast. Her articles on Daughters of Narcissistic Fathers can be found here. Definitely a trigger warning for listeners - be prepared prior to listening to this one with counselors Melanie Vann and Melissa Richards joined by host Kristin Sunanta Walker.We highly recommend you visit Shahida's website. 

Mike Rezendes is a member of the Boston Globe Spotlight Team and shared a 2003 Pulitzer Prize for revealing the cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. In more than two decades with the Globe, he has investigated a wide array of additional subjects, including the September 11 attacks, health care costs, and prison suicides. While working with the Spotlight Team, Mike was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist twice, once in 2007 for an investigation of the debt collection industry, and again in 2017 for an exposé of the mental health care system in Massachusetts. On this show our host, Kristin Sunanta Walker, and Mike discuss the mental health system failure in Massachusetts. Read the full blog articles on both of our Spotlight team interviews!For more information please visit The Boston Globe Spotlight team.

Jodee Prouse is an outspoken advocate to help eliminate the shame and stigma surrounding Addiction and Mental Illness from a family perspective. She is the author of the just released, powerful memoir, The Sun is Gone: A Sister Lost in Secrets, Shame, and Addiction, and How I Broke Free which instantly went to #1 in her 3 categories. (Adult Children of Alcoholics, Dysfunctional Families, and Alcoholism).www.jodeeprouse.comwww.facebook.com/jodee.tisdaleprousewww.instagram.com/jodeeprousewww.linkedin.com/in/jodee-prouse-530a8329/