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I chat with Dr. Damon Silas, about the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). We focus on what it is, how it works, and we demo it. This demo is focused on Black folks, LGBT people, and Men who are seeking to be their best selves. So please listen and share. Links:  https://damonsilaspsychology.com From Mourning To Knight: Overcoming Loss https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07949YRGS?ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_rSgqzbJEWMN1C&tag=kpembed-20&linkCode=kpe  What's Your ACTION Plan? 6 Powerful Ways To Get Unstuck In Your Life Now http://books2read.com/u/mZ5qjR

This week, I sit down again with Mercedes Samudio to discuss X-Men 97's second season. Mercedes Samudio is a licensed clinical social worker, bestselling author, international speaker, and visionary entrepreneur. She works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which she uses in her work with parents to help them heal the past traumas that can influence the ways parents interact with themselves and their children. Outside of her professional life supporting parents, Mercedes is married to her best friend and soulmate and they live in sunny Sothern California with their 3 fur kids (2 cats and a dog). You can learn more about her work at http://shameproofparenting.com  Developmental Trauma Training Institute: https://www.dtti.co/

Note: While this episode discusses the pandemic, the skills we discuss in this episode are applicable to stress in all areas of life. On this rebroadcast, I chat with ellow Brainspotter Alexis Overstreet about her training and work in Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (TRE). We talk about how they hae used it to address Pandemic Stress, the Brain/Body Connection, and mental health as a Person of Color. Links: https://metaspacecounseling.com

On this rebroadcast, I chat with Brain Ragas, is the Director of the SF Aids Foundation program Black Brothers Esteem, which serves Queer Black Men within the community and those who are living with HIV. We talk about this type of work, the need for it, and a number of the challenges facing Queer Black men in the San Franscisco area. Listen and share. Link: https://www.sfaf.org/programs/black-health/

This week, I sit down with creators Jadzia Axelrod and Michael Varrati to continue discussing Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stackeddeckpress/fourseasons-of-fear-a-year-of-queer-horror  Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror is an all-LGBTQ+ horror comics anthology from award-winning publisher Stacked Deck Press. It features horror stories from queer perspectives that draw inspiration from holidays and seasonal activities. Four Seasons of Fear will feature work from over two dozen all LGBTQ+ comics creators, including such notables as Josh Trujillo, David Booher, and Wilfred Santiago. Filmmaker and podcaster Michael Varrati and cartoonist Tara Madison Avery will be handling editing duties on this project. Stories in Four Seasons of Fear will be based on popular holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, some slightly less celebrated ones such as May Day, Juneteenth, and Rosh Hashanah, and seasonal events such as going back to school. The book will be a full-color, standard comics size paperback projected to be roughly 200 pages in length. Contributors include: • Tara Madison Avery • Jadzia Axelrod and Rye Hickman. http://jadziaaxelrod.com  • Christianne Benedict • David Booher and Sean Peacock • Jose Cardenas and Pupa Michi • BJ Colangelo• Dave Davenport • Richard Fairgray • Chandra Free and Stephen Emond • Casey Gilley • Viktor T. Kerney and António Brandãu • Mac Maclean • Jon Macy • Ajuan Mance • Wilfred Santiago • Sonya Saturday • William O. Tyler • Michael Varrati and Brendan Haley • Alina Wahab   Links:  Year of the Goat: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/567850/the-year-of-the-goat  Saturday the 14th: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/405700/saturday-the-14th  Friends of Dorothy: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/494229/friends-of-dorothy

This week, I sit down with creators Sonya Saturday and Tara Avery to talk about the queer horror comic anthology Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror and other projects they're working on. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stackeddeckpress/fourseasons-of-fear-a-year-of-queer-horror  Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror is an all-LGBTQ+ horror comics anthology from award-winning publisher Stacked Deck Press. It features horror stories from queer perspectives that draw inspiration from holidays and seasonal activities. Four Seasons of Fear will feature work from over two dozen all LGBTQ+ comics creators, including such notables as Josh Trujillo, David Booher, and Wilfred Santiago. Filmmaker and podcaster Michael Varrati and cartoonist Tara Madison Avery will be handling editing duties on this project. Stories in Four Seasons of Fear will be based on popular holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, some slightly less celebrated ones such as May Day, Juneteenth, and Rosh Hashanah, and seasonal events such as going back to school. The book will be a full-color, standard comics size paperback projected to be roughly 200 pages in length. Contributors include: • Tara Madison Avery • Jadzia Axelrod and Rye Hickman. http://jadziaaxelrod.com  • Christianne Benedict • David Booher and Sean Peacock • Jose Cardenas and Pupa Michi • BJ Colangelo• Dave Davenport • Richard Fairgray • Chandra Free and Stephen Emond • Casey Gilley • Viktor T. Kerney and António Brandãu • Mac Maclean • Jon Macy • Ajuan Mance • Wilfred Santiago • Sonya Saturday • William O. Tyler • Michael Varrati and Brendan Haley • Alina Wahab Links: The Year of the Goat: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/567850/the-year-of-the-goat  Saturday the 14th: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/405700/saturday-the-14th  Friends of Dorothy: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/494229/friends-of-dorothy  Queers at the Table: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/Q/Queers-at-the-Table  https://sonyasaturday.substack.com/

This week, I sit down again with Dr. Jonathan Lassiter to continue our conversation about relationships. Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D. is a polymath who utilizes psychology, writing, and dance to help others heal and thrive. His roles include licensed clinical psychologist, holistic wellness and relationship coach, professor, author, public speaker, and choreographer. As a public intellectual, Dr. Lassiter has been featured on television, radio, podcasts, and print such as PBS, Sirius XM, and The Hill. Dr. Lassiter is the award-winning co-editor of Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. This book received the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's Achievement Award. It is the first and only text to focus solely on Black LGBT Americans' holistic health. He is currently working on his f irst sole-authored book that will explore contemporary issues of race and mental health in the United States. In addition, Dr. Lassiter has published numerous articles in academic journals and lay publications, presented his choreographic work in prestigious showcases in New York City, and provided psychological services to clients in medical centers across the country. Formerly, Dr. Lassiter is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rowan University, Founder and Chief Psychology Officer at Lassiter Health Initiatives, co-host of Fly on the Wall on YouTube, and Artistic Associate at The Black Acting Methods Studio. His social media info is below:  http://www.jonathanmlassiter.com   Twitter: @lassiterhealth  Instagram: @lassiterhealth

This week, I sit down with Dr. Eric FitzMedrud, author of The Better Man, to talk about existential crises, humanism, and responses to the current state of the world. Eric FitzMedrud is a therapist specializing in relationship and sexual issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. His specialty is helping men improve their sex lives by learning to regulate their emotions, removing sexual entitlement, and honing their sexual consent and negotiation skills. FitzMedrud is a member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. He has been published in an academic book and academic journal and has spoken at multiple conferences. He has also trained therapists and taught many graduate courses in psychology. FitzMedrud has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He is polyamorous and bisexual, and lives with his wife of twenty-three years and his life partner of six years in San Francisco's East Bay area, California.

This week, I sit down with Dr. Jonathan M. Lassiter to talk about his new book How I Know White People Are Crazy.   Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D. is a polymath who utilizes psychology, writing, and dance to help others heal and thrive. His roles include licensed clinical psychologist, holistic wellness and relationship coach, professor, author, public speaker, and choreographer. As a public intellectual, Dr. Lassiter has been featured on television, radio, podcasts, and print such as PBS, Sirius XM, and The Hill. Dr. Lassiter is the award-winning co-editor of Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. This book received the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's Achievement Award. It is the first and only text to focus solely on Black LGBT Americans' holistic health. He is currently working on his f irst sole-authored book that will explore contemporary issues of race and mental health in the United States. In addition, Dr. Lassiter has published numerous articles in academic journals and lay publications, presented his choreographic work in prestigious showcases in New York City, and provided psychological services to clients in medical centers across the country. Formerly, Dr. Lassiter is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rowan University, Founder and Chief Psychology Officer at Lassiter Health Initiatives, co-host of Fly on the Wall on YouTube, and Artistic Associate at The Black Acting Methods Studio. His social media info is below:  http://www.jonathanmlassiter.com   Twitter: @lassiterhealth  Instagram: @lassiterhealth

This week, I sit down wtih Dr. David Grand to discuss Brainspotting. We talk about what brainspotting is and how it works with relational therapy; the meaning of neuroexperiential and how it relates to brainspotting; and the frameworks we use to be effective in our brainspotting.   David Grand, PhD is the developer of Brainspotting, the groundbreaking relational brain-body, mindfulness-based method. He is the author of Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change and the co-author of This is Your Brain on Sports. Dr. Grand is involved in humanitarian activities with survivors of 9/11, Katrina and Sandy Hook/Newtown. He has accomplished breakthroughs in performance and creativity with Brainspotting Sports Work and Brainspotting Acting Coaching. Dr. Grand is the playwright of his 9/11 play I Witness and the filmmaker of the documentary Come Hell or High Water. Dr. Grand has been widely featured in the media including The NY Times, NBC National News, The Discovery Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Sports Illustrated and Sirius Radio.   Links:  https://brainspotting.com/  https://brainspotting.com/my-eye-opening-experience-with-brainspotting-therapy/

This week, I sit down with Mercedes Samudio to discuss the new Marvel show "Wonderman."   Mercedes Samudio is a licensed clinical social worker, bestselling author, international speaker, and visionary entrepreneur. She works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which she uses in her work with parents to help them heal the past traumas that can influence the ways parents interact with themselves and their children. Outside of her professional life supporting parents, Mercedes is married to her best friend and soulmate and they live in sunny Sothern California with their 3 fur kids (2 cats and a dog). You can learn more about her work at http://shameproofparenting.com

This episode I chat with Dr. Lonny J. Avi Brooks about Afrofuturism & Black Mental Health. We cover what Afrofuturism is and where mental health has appeared within and through the collective works that are part of the Afrofuture / Black Speculative Arts Movements. We also discuss the attempts to erase the movements, including how that erasure theme has appeared in modern times, including elements we see in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Discovery. Dr. Brooks and I also talk about gaming as another area where the exploration of Afrofuturism is present within the game.   Dr. Brooks and Associates created called Afro-Rithms( https://www.afrorithmsfromthefuture.org/ ). As well as several Black and African focused Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPG) and podcasts. As well as the myths and realities around mental health. Here is the demo of our game Afro-Rithms From The Future from 2019 (https://www.fathomers.org/news/world-building) though now we are playing the game online with several different organizations from the dschool at Stanford to Google to SUNY Buffalo to the Black Speculative Arts Movement and soon with the Oakland Museum of California Arts as part of their exhibition on Afrofuturism, the Mothership and we will hold a game event at Carnegie Hall in New York as part of the Carnegie Hall Afrofuturism Festival/  Links for Dr. Brooks: Twitter: @avilonny Insta: @avilonny @The Afrofuturist Podcast with Ahmed Best on iTunes  https://www.facebook.com/theafrofuturistpodcast/ www.universalforesight.com https://www.fathomers.org/news/world-building http://www.hyphen-labs.com/nsaf.html https://jfsdigital.org/articles-and-essays/vol-24-no-2-december-2019/introduction-to-the-special-issue-when-is-wakanda-afrofuturism-and-dark-speculative-futurity/ https://www.afrorithmsfromthefuture.org/ Three Black Halfings Podcast: https://headgum.com/three-black-halflings Table Top Role Playing Games: Into the Motherlands: https://motherlandsrpg.com Orun: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/newagendapubs/orun Mythic D6, Bastion: https://kheperapublishing.com/tag/mythic-d6/ The Wagadu Chronicles: https://thewagaduchronicles.com/ Harlem Unbound: https://www.darkerhuestudios.com/ Haunted West: https://www.darkerhuestudios.com/ Native American, Table Top Role Playing Games: Crow & Coyote: https://coyoteandcrow.net Ehdrigohr: https://council-of-fools.com/blog/ehdrigohr-rpg/

This week, I sit down with my friend Goddess Lakshmi to talkabout caretaking and taking care of yourself when you are acting as a caretaker.

This week, I sit down with psychotherapist Dr. Myron Krys. We talk about living authentically in the face of community expectations, his therapeutic perspective of "release, reclaim, and redesign", neurospiciness, and therapy for diverse communities.   Dr. Myron Krys is a body- and sex-positive, queer-affirming psychotherapist specializing in identity development, self-esteem, sexuality, and trauma and addiction recovery—particularly within BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and spiritually diverse communities (Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, atheist, etc.). His training includes psychodynamic psychotherapy with a specialization in Self Psychology, and he incorporate relational, depth-oriented, and decolonial approaches. He work with individuals, couples, throuples, and polyamorous constellations to foster growth, emotional safety, and deepened self-understanding. Dr. Myron Krys also support clients navigating life with ADHD/Autism—especially those who have been misdiagnosed, overlooked, or shamed for their neurodivergence. Working to unlearn internalized messages around productivity and perfectionism, explore alternative rhythms for living and creating, and embrace more compassionate ways of relating to yourself and the world. Links:  drmyronkrys.com  https://thedepthcollective.com/team-member/myron-krys/

This week, I sit down with Dr. John King to discuss both BIPOC culture and Male Sexual Assault.  CWs for Violence and Sexual Assault, including harm to children. Please mind the CW and listen with care Dr. King has been where you are. At 45, a flood of traumatic memories from childhood abuse and trafficking hit him like a freight train. He lost everything—his marriage, his home, his sense of who he was. Through years of work combining neuroscience, practical tools, and honest community, he found his way forward. • Bachelor in Applied Science • Doctorate in Theology • Certified Executive & Life Coach • 10+ Years Helping and Coaching Trauma Survivors • Founder, Give Them a Voice Foundation& Phoenix collective • Author of 27 books • International Speaker • Featured in Award-Winning Documentaries https://rise.phoenixcollective.app/phoenix-collective-page