Welcome to "Mindful Mornings with Dr. Matt," where we explore the depths of mental wellness and personal growth. This morning we are fortunate to have special guest, Nira Goyal, founder of Teen Mental Reset Inc., who is pioneering the pathway for other high schoolers interested in partaking in the work toward destigmatizing and advocating on mental health.

Nira is an incoming first year student at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an advocate of increased awareness around mental and emotional health. Seeing mental health issues in her personal extended family and in my fellow peers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, motivated Nira to start Teen Mental Reset Inc. to spread knowledge surrounding mental health problems that teens face and the proper resources available for teens through community activities and educational outreach. Nira has worked with organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, and the South Florida Behavioral Health Network. In the future, she hopes to become a psychiatrist in order to help patients with their mental health issues in a clinical setting.

Whether you are one interested in supporting adolescent mental health or curious as to how to broach the conversation, this episode is for you. For more information on Nira Goyal and Teen Mental Reset Inc., feel free to visit her website at the following link:

https://teenmentalreset.org/

Welcome to "Mindful Mornings with Dr. Matt," where we explore the depths of mental wellness and personal growth. Today, we are fortunate to have special guest, Dr. Anne Metz, where we discuss applicable considerations insofar as the use of psychedelics in clinical mental health.

Dr. Anne Metz LPC has been a therapist, educator, and researcher for more than a decade. Originally from a military family in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Dr. Metz graduated with honors from the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar with a double major in Philosophy and Religious Studies in 2003. After a stint as a fashion model in Italy and the Netherlands, she returned to the US to pursue a career in media and worked as a reporter for an alternative newsweekly in Charlottesville from 2005-2009.

In 2010, Dr. Metz enrolled in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at James Madison University in Harrisonburg and earned her doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision in 2019. During her PhD program, she received a research fellowship to study criminal justice reform at the University of Virginia School of Law. She also completed her clinical residency in emergency, inpatient, and outpatient settings. Dr. Metz has also completed training programs in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy through Fluence and MDMA-Assisted Therapy through MAPS.

Dr. Metz is licensed to practice counseling, psychotherapy, and supervision in several states, including New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, California, and Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, ceramics, and hiking. You can follow her on Instagram @doctormetz or listen to her podcast The Psychedelic Skeptic wherever you get your podcasts.

Whether you have used psychedelics in the past or are curious as to their efficacy, this episode is for you.

Welcome to "Mindful Mornings with Dr. Matt," where we explore the depths of mental wellness and personal growth. Today, we have special guest, Faust Ruggiero. Faust A. Ruggiero’s professional career spans almost 40 years, and is diversified and compelling, as it has consistently established new and exciting cutting-edge counseling programs in its pursuit of professional excellence and personal life enhancement.

He is a published research author, clinical trainer, and a therapist who has worked in settings that have included clinics for deaf children, prisons, nursing homes, substance abuse centers, inpatient facilities, major corporations, both national and international, and as the President of the Community Psychological Center in Bangor, Pennsylvania. In that capacity, he developed the Process Way of Life counseling program, and has developed it into a formal text presented in the Fix Yourself Handbook.

Upon graduating from Mansfield University in 1977, Mr. Ruggiero enrolled in the graduate program in Psychology at Illinois State University. There, with a dual major in clinical and developmental psychology, with a minor in research, he assisted in the publication of several research articles, including his thesis “The effects of prosocial and antisocial television programs on the cognitions of children”. In the summer of 2016, Mr. Ruggiero decided to develop the Process Life Program into a text that can be published, and would help people in need address the difficult situations that are affecting their lives. The Fix Yourself Handbook was completed in December of 2019. On February 1st, 2020, The Fix Yourself Handbook received the Silver Award from The Nonfiction Authors Association. On May 2, 2020, it received the Gold Award from Literary Titan. On September 1st, 2020, it received the Bronze Award from Reader's Favorite. He has appeared on television and radio shows, and podcasts discussing the Process Way of Life presented in The Fix Yourself Handbook both nationally and internationally. His radio show "Fix It With Faust" debuted in June of 2021. On June 8th, 2023, the second installment in The Fix Yourself Empowerment Series, The Fix Your Anxiety Handbook was published. It is also an award-winning publication. December 2023, the third installment was released “The Fix Your Depression Handbook”, also an award-winning publication.

Admittedly, this was a humbling interview for me. Faust has achieved over the past 40 years much of what I hope to in my own career, and it was affirming to find that we think so much alike in many ways. It was almost like interviewing a wiser, more articulate version of myself. I learned a lot, and I am hopeful you will, too. This one is definitely a must listen, as we delve into various topics of mental health including accountability, stepping outside of one's comfort zone, being tactfully direct with self and others, and so much more.