This episode explores how the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continues to shape conversations about mental health. Mary speaks with Kurt and special guest Dr. Nnamdi Pole, who for the past five years have collaborated on annual MLK Day presentations at the Brattleboro Retreat, a mental health hospital in Vermont. The live events draw directly from King’s speeches and writings to examine racism as a central mental health issue. From King’s 1967 APA keynote, where he challenged psychologists to stop pathologizing Black communities and instead confront the psychological damage of racism itself, to his framing of racism as a societal “poison,” the conversation traces how King’s ideas remain urgently relevant amid contemporary racial conflict and political polarization.

They preview an upcoming MLK Day presentation focused on derogatory speech in inpatient settings, using King’s own words as a guide for naming harm, supporting staff, and shaping compassionate but clear institutional responses. Throughout, the discussion returns to King’s enduring challenge-- a commitment to love and hope, even, and especially, in difficult times.

Links:
MLK's speech at the APA's 1967 Convention in Washington, D.C.
I Have a Dream Speech
Where Do We Go From Here?

As the year comes to a close, Mary and Kurt welcome listeners to a reflective New Year’s conversation from Dr. Justin Hecht, Jungian analyst and psychologist. This episode explores the cyclical nature of endings and beginnings, and how pain, grief, and disappointment can be metabolized into vision, vocation, and hope. Drawing on Jungian ideas of individuation, the “wound and the vision,” Dr. Hecht shares clinical insights and personal stories about midlife crisis, creativity, spirituality, and the importance of holding a vision, sometimes with the help of therapists, groups, or community, when we cannot hold it ourselves.

Links:

Visit Dr. Justin Hecht's website - https://www.justinhecht.com/

More about Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D -
https://www.jeanbolen.com/

More about Auld Lang Syne -
https://genius.com/Robert-burns-auld-lang-syne-annotated

More about Year Compass:
https://yearcompass.com/

In this special roundtable episode, Unravelling turns its focus to the complex intersection of politics and mental health. Hosts Kurt and Mary are joined by clinicians Sarah Turbow and Dr. Geoff Kane, and researcher and professor Dr. Nnamdi Pole, for a conversation on how political identity, policy, and power shape our inner lives and the lives of the patients clinicians serve. The panel examines how social and political forces enter the therapy room, from the psychological toll of polarization and systemic inequities to the loss of agency many individuals experience in response to policy decisions.
The panelists reflect on their own clinical experiences navigating political differences, examining how therapists can acknowledge political stressors without compromising the therapeutic alliance. They debate the ethics of neutrality versus self-disclosure and raise broader questions about the role of mental health professionals in engaging with public health, social responsibility, and efforts to address the systemic conditions that shape mental health.

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And listeners, take note! We always want to hear from you with reactions, topic ideas, stories or other suggestions. Send us an email, an old fashioned voice message, or a voice memo by using unravel@brattlebororetreat.org or by calling 802-258-POD3 (802-258-7633)!