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.

If you enjoy Unravelling, leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us and tell you friends about us!

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)!

In the final installment of our special series, Architecture of the Self, Kurt and Mary dive into the future of mental health through the lens of epigenetics. Featuring Dr. Tesfaye Mersha, epigenetics expert, Endowed Chair, and Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and weaving in insights from earlier guests in the series, this episode explores how genetics, environment, and life experiences shape who we become, and how trauma and healing can leave lasting marks at the genetic level. Discover why adaptation, not destiny, is at the heart of mental health and why new science offers hope for more personalized and effective treatments.

Links -

Learn more about the Mersha Lab: https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/research/divisions/a/asthma/labs/mersha

Be sure to listen to the other episodes in this series: Architecture of the Self: Diagnosis, Architecture of the Self: Memory, Dissociation, and Traumatic Experiences, and Architecture of the Self: Unlocking Neuroplasticity

In part three of our special series, Architecture of the Self, Kurt sits down with neuroscientist and pioneer in the world of psychedelic research, Dr. Gül Dölen, to explore the concept of “critical periods,” unique windows when the brain is most open to learning and change. Dr. Dölen explains how these periods shape everything from language and social behavior to habits and personality, drawing on decades of research that reveal why early experiences hold such lasting power.

The conversation explores how and when these windows can reopen: naturally, after injury, or through Dr. Dölen’s discovery that psychedelics like MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin, and LSD can create a state of heightened plasticity in the adult brain. She also discusses why environment, support, and therapeutic integration are essential for turning that plasticity into meaningful growth and healing.
Join us for a look at the future of medicine, mental health and the new possibilities for healing, growth, and lasting change at any stage of life.

Links:
dölenLAB: exploring critical periods, psychedelics, and the social brain

On today's episode of Unravelling, we continue our exploration of the architecture of the sellf as Mary sits down with Dr. J. Douglas Bremner, who has spent much of his career exploring trauma, memory, and dissociation. Trauma-related diagnoses are especially significant in the mental health field, because they can be quite disabling and are also not uncommon, and also because they represent a problem that develops at the intersection of mind and body, biology and experience, past experience and the present moment. Mary and Dr. Bremner cover much terrain in this exploration of how memory works, why it gets interrupted by trauma, and what all of this shows us about how the mind works.

Dr Bremner's Bio:

J. Douglas Bremner, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology and Director of the Emory Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Staff Psychiatrist at the Atlanta VAMC in Decatur, Georgia. Dr. Bremner moved to Emory from Yale in November of 2000 where he spent the first 12 years of his career.

Dr. Bremner’s research has used neuroimaging and neurobiology measures to study the neural correlates and neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to combat and childhood abuse, as well as the related area of depression. His more recent work is expanding to look at the relationship between brain, behavior, and physical health including studies of heart disease and the brain. Dr. Bremner has worked continuously throughout his career as a physician scientist, with the support of funding from two successive VA Career Development Awards, VA Merit Review, NIH, DOD, and various private sources. His research included studies of the neurobiology and assessment of PTSD, hippocampus and memory in PTSD and depression, neural correlates of declarative memory and traumatic remembrance in PTSD, PET measurement of neuroreceptor binding in mood and anxiety disorders, neural correlates of myocardial ischemia, and the effects of treatments on the brain including psychotropic medication, mindfulness training, and Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS).

Dr. Bremner has authored or co-authored over 400 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, and written or edited nine books, including Does Stress Damage the Brain? Understanding Trauma-Related Disorders from a Mind-Body Perspective published by W.W. Norton & Co. (2002), You Can’t Just Snap Out of It (2014) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: From Neurobiology to Treatment (Wiley, 2016, Edited). He is on the editorial boards of several journals and has received several awards for his work, including the Chaim Danieli Award for Research and Service in Traumatic Stress from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the Millipub Award for highly cited publications from Emory University (2016, 2018). His personal website is at dougbremner.com.

This episode is the first in a series of four episodes that we are calling "the architecture of the self" wherein we explore human development, genetics and epigenetics, memory and trauma, and, today, diagnosis and the delineation of "normal" and "abnormal" in the field of mental health. These episodes can all be listened to on their own, but each of them is exploring contributions from medicine, psychiatry, and psychology to shed light on the complicated question of how we become who we are.

Kurt speaks with Smith College Professor Emeritus Randy O. Frost, whose decades of teaching, research, and publication experience -- as well as his participation in working groups which helped revise diagnostic criteria (for Hoarding Disorder, though that topic is not the focus today) -- make him the perfect person to help us unpack what "diagnosis" in mental health IS and ISN'T, from historical, research, and cultural perspectives. In a special "in-studio" sit down, they dive deep into this topic from the code of Hammurabi to DSM-5 and set the table for the series of episodes to come!

Bio:
Dr. Randy O. Frost is the Harold and Elsa Siipola Israel Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Smith College. He is an internationally recognized expert on obsessive-compulsive disorder and hoarding disorder and has published more than 200 scientific articles, books, and book chapters on these topics. Dr. Frost has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), and has been co-editor of the Hoarding Center on the IOCDF website. He has co-authored several books on hoarding including Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding. Buried in Treasures received a Self-Help Book of Merit Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy in 2010. This book is the backbone of the Buried in Treasures Workshops that have been found to produce significant improvements in hoarding behaviors and are now running in many locations around the world. He has also published the Compulsive Hoarding and Acquiring Therapist Guide and client Workbook. All three of these books are in their second editions. His book, Stuff: Compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things, was a finalist for the 2010 Books for a Better Life Award. Stuff was also a New York Times Bestseller and named a Must-Read Book for 2011 by Massachusetts Book Awards. Stuff has been translated into 4 languages. His newest book, Hoarding Disorder: Comprehensive Clinical Guide, was published in June of 2022. His work has been funded by the IOCDF and the National Institute of Mental Health. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in innovation, treatment, and research in the field of hoarding and cluttering by the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. He has also received a Career Achievement Award from the International OCD Foundation for his work on hoarding and a Distinguished Contribution Award from the New England Psychological Association.
He has given hundreds of talks and workshops on hoarding. His research has been featured on numerous radio and TV news shows including Dateline, CBS Morning News, Today Show, Good Morning America, 20/20 Downtown, BBC News, Fresh Air, The Infinite Mind, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s The Nature of Things.

In this very special episode, Kurt sits down with comedian Gary Gulman to talk about recovery from serious mental health problems, depression, getting treatment and his journey of becoming such a powerful advocate on behalf of mental health. From childhood struggles to finding a way to be oneself, they find humor and hope in the exploration of some of life's darkest moments.

Gary has several comedy specials including notably The Great Depresh (on HBO) which combines comedy show and documentary... As well as a equally comedic and poignant memoir of his childhood from Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade, Misfit. We strongly encourage you to check these out!

We also encourage folks to check out Sherwin Nuland's TED talk about ECT treatment, which is referenced in the episode.

Special thanks to Brattleboro Literary Festival for facilitating the connection that made this possible, and to Latchis Theatre for being host to the event that accompanied this interview!