Are you tired of people who say things like “she is so bipolar” and “I just got triggered” and “that person’s a mental case! The increasing chatter in the world and on the internet about mental health is wonderful! But do we all really have a disorder? Explore in this session some real talk about what mental health disorders really look like, and how to address your own fears and concerns that you might just have one.

Dr. Deborah will open your eyes and your mind to the power of how we talk about our mental health, and the importance of understanding the labels you might apply to others and to yourself related to it. Learn about mental health “fads” through the years, and why everyone seems to think that they are autistic these days. This one is for those of you who seek to understand your own mental health and care about the mental health of others. Getting it right can matter!

Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health. She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ.

This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

Feeling discouraged? Join your session this week to learn how to keep your head up and feel good in the context of a world that can feel overwhelming, unjust, and just plain scary sometimes. Explore the role of your inner belief systems and perspective on how you recover and heal from the hard stuff happening around you. Discover the wide prevalence of negative influence as it increases in America and think about why and how it may be affecting you.

Dr. Brown will share her recent experience of being featured in The Quote Project, and her personal work to find hope in the worst of circumstances. Sometimes it is a negative and unfair world, and we owe it to ourselves to try to live the life we want, despite it. Dr. Brown is here to support you as you find your way toward the life you hope for.

Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health. She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ.

This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

Are you feeling the pull towards cosmetic surgery, fillers, or other body modifications? Is it because you have body dysmorphia or is it a healthy form of self-love? In this episode, Dr. Deborah takes a deep dive into the world of cosmetic surgery, accepting our “flaws” and how societal messages about beauty have permeated societies around the world throughout history. Explore her feelings about celebrity transformations and how cosmetic surgery can have both positive and negative effects. Explore movements like “body positivity” and the “free the nipple” campaign and how these help us to see ourselves without sexualizing beauty and appearance.

Dr. Deborah shares her own efforts to be “beautiful” and examines why being beautiful feels so important. She asks you to throw away concepts like vanity and “inside versus outside” beauty. She examines the pressure that many feel (in all genders identifications) to be attractive in a conventional and accepted sense versus embracing our own unique expression of beauty. Learn about how to achieve the “body neutral” approach to the mirror and to stop normalizing criticism around perceived imperfections of ourselves and others. Until we have a culture that values us for our personhood, we can only work on this within ourselves, and spread it along to others close to us: how to really see and celebrate our true beauty and be happier in our bodies.

Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health. She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ. This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

Episode 16 Trigger Warnings: Surgery, Body Dysmorphia, Self Harm

Do your relationships with your partner, your family or your friends feel challenging? Is it likely because only about 15% of us have healthy, secure attachment styles? Learn about your attachment style and how you just might be getting in your own way in your relationships. Learn how to identify the attachment style of those around you to help you know where the real work of relationship building needs to begin.

We are born to attach! Learn why your past experiences have affected your attachment abilities and explore how to change this for the better. How we attach is directly related to how our relationships make us feel, and how they become a positive or negative force in our lives. It is time for you to make your life and your relationships feel better and flow healthier! Join me for your session to learn more about attachment; and how healthy, secure attachments make us feel better about our relationships and ourselves.

Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health.

She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ. This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

Episode 15 Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse/Neglect

In this session, we get curious about what’s happening with partnered relationships. Whether you are thinking about shifting your own relationship or are just curious about what others are up to…this is for you! It may surprise you to learn that many couples these days are moving outside of the monogamous traditional relationships that have been held by the masses for centuries. When asked in secret, 34 % of those in partnered relationships individually report that something other than traditional monogamy would be ideal for them. Those outside of traditional monogamy have always existed through the ages. More and more of us now are coming out of the fringes and sharing that all types of relationships have value and can work. Learn about the different types of relationships to include polyamory, swinging, open relationships, relationship anarchy and more! Check this episode out and peek over the fence to see what your friends might be up to and explore in this session how you feel about it, too! Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health. She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ. This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

In this session, we explore the emerging role of AI in our lives. It may surprise you to learn that the top use of AI chatbots is for therapy & companionship! We all have questions: is it safe, and can it provide real answers to questions about life better than humans can?

Learn about the different types of Artificial intelligence in simple to understand terms, and how we might just be using it more and more for all the wrong reasons. In demystifying AI, you will begin to examine the significance of the bond it may be forming with you through your interactions. Even though it is always on your side, it may not be helping in the ways you think it is.

Our inherent fears related to asking others difficult questions and sharing our concerns may be leading to discussions with machines as a normalized way of connecting. Like we should consider with any other technology, we examine if AI leaves you feeling inspired or supported; or should we be developing our human connections more instead? We might fear difficult conversations, but the experience of life that we need to grow counts on us pushing our emotional comfort zones. Machines are easier, but does AI really help you? We will discuss the best use of AI related to emotional needs and ask some great questions that you can explore yourself or with those around you. Check this episode out and learn about how staying “connected” may mean something different than you expect.

Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health. She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ.

This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

*Episode 13 Trigger Warnings: Suicide

In this session, we talk about the insidious and surreptitious role of fear in our lives. It may surprise you to learn how fear just might be driving us in our day-to day lives and we may not even realize it! Ten percent of Americans have phobias, so we explore the ten most common phobias and explore whether or not you might have one.

Learn about how we develop our fears and why we hold on to them at a much higher level than we need to. Identify the primal fears you were born with and the ones you have picked up along the way. Your deep dark fears could be sending you messages that you may need to pay attention to or maybe even unlearn. We explore the concept of core fears and talk about how to identify yours. The fears you hold onto can cause avoidance, dysfunction and unnecessary pain and limitations in your life.

Explore what the doctor has come to understand about managing and reducing fear from her experience of examining the inner life of many patients through the years. What are you afraid of? Check this episode out and learn to live fearlessly!

Dr. Brown holds a BA in Secondary Education/English, an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MPhil in Social & Behavioral Science and a PhD in Human Services with a Specialty in Public Health. She is a licensed Professional Counselor in the State of NJ.

This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy. If you are someone you know is struggling with mental illness, please seek the help of professionals.

*Episode 12 Trigger Warnings: Trauma, Anxiety

In this session, we talk about the exciting world that is happening inside of you while you are sleeping. We explore the ten most common dreams and what they might actually mean. You might be surprised to hear that many of us are having the same dreams! Learn about how to interpret the meanings behind your dreams and nightmares and how these sleepy stories can be sending you messages that you might need to pay attention to.

We explore why we dream and discover why dreams and disrupted sleep can affect us so much in our waking lives. Statistics tell us that 95% of our dreams fade before we get out of bed: why is that? Let’s stop using pop psychology from the internet and learn the real truth about your dreams from Dr. Deborah, using biological, psychological, and neuroscience perspectives. Explore what the doctor has come to understand about dreams from her experience of examining the dreams of hundreds of patients over the years. Don’t sleep on this episode!

*Episode 11 Trigger Warnings: Trauma, Anxiety, Death, Frightening Situations