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Send us a text In this New Year’s episode, I explore the very real consequences of last year’s Past Year Review. Most notably, I decided to retire from a beloved community mental health clinic and launch Park West Integrative Psychiatry — sparked by a desire for creativity, continued learning, and a growing belief in integrative trauma-informed approaches such as EMDR, Internal Family Systems, ketamine-assisted therapy, hypnosis, and breath-based practices. This episode reflects on how intentionally examining meaning and purpose can lead to significant life changes — changes that invite both opportunity and risk, excitement and fear. To close the episode, I share a recording of my retirement speech from the clinic, which turns into an unexpected sing-along and a fitting ritual for marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Chapters 0:13 — Nerves and a Big Career Pivot  0:52 — Last Year’s Review and 2025 Intentions  1:46 — Leaving a Beloved Community Clinic  2:46 — Why Change Now, and What’s Next  3:09 — New Directions in Trauma Treatment and Psychiatry  4:05 — Building Park West Integrative Psychiatry  5:02 — Fear, Complexity, and Finding Balance  6:00 — A Cautious Note on Year-End Reviews  6:20 — Reflections on Podcast Growth  7:06 — Upcoming Group Therapies and Retreats  7:54 — Yellowstone Lessons and Old Friends  8:40 — Gratitude, Global Listeners, and What’s Next  9:11 — Retirement Speech and Sing-Along Sign up for the Developing Meaning Substack newsletter for updates and behind-the-scenes reflections. Theme music by The Thrashing Skumz.  Developing Meaning is produced by Consilient Mind LLC.

Send us a text Happy New Year!  It's time to do a meaning inventory in order to set intentions for 2026.  Toward that end I am re-posting my meaning inventory from last year.  Our next episode will delve into how these unfolded and are leading to major career changes. This episode invites listeners to engage in a meaningful past year review, turning away from traditional resolutions toward a more insightful approach to personal growth. By exploring the themes of beginner's mind, questioning assumptions, and the importance of consilience, Dr. Dirk Winter provides a framework for navigating mental health and self-discovery We cover:. • Dissecting the concept of a past year review  • Sharing personal peaks and lows from 2024  • Introducing guiding themes for 2025: beginner's mind, questioning assumptions, and consilience  • Exploring the significance of various healing modalities  • Challenging traditional mental health assumptions  • Encouraging listeners to conduct their own past year review and set meaningful intentions  Go ahead, do your past year review, get yourself maybe into some beginner's mind question patterns, look for areas of consilience, or come up with your own ideas or mantras for the coming year. Them Music by The Thrashing Skumz Produced by Dirk Winter

Send us a text Mike Mandel is a world-leading hypnotist with over 50 years of professional experience. He's performed nearly 5,000 stage shows, trained over 10,000 students at his Toronto hypnosis academy, and co-hosts the Brain Software podcast. Our conversation bridges hypnosis, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, pain management, and meaning-making—showing how different healing traditions can discover the same truths about how minds heal. Whether you're a therapist curious about hypnosis, an IFS practitioner, or simply fascinated by how minds work and heal, this conversation will expand your understanding. You'll hear: The "bungalow model" of ego states and stunning parallels with IFS therapyHow hypnosis stopped a severe burn from forming (tiny firemen with liquid nitrogen!)The history of hypnosis from ancient Egypt to Milton EricksonWhy you need at least three models of reality (not just one)How Mike reframed chronic pain from suffering into a reminder he's aliveKitchen surgery stories that will blow your mindRapid-fire questions about meaning, legacy, and what matters most⚠️ WARNING: Mike starts with a brief hypnotic demonstration. Pay attention—the more you focus, the more you'll experience it. We unpack how he did it at the end. "Everything is an ego state issue without exception." — Mike MandelKey Timestamps 05:50 - The Forgetting Demonstration07:28 - Ego States & The Bungalow Model15:23 - IFS & Hypnosis: Stunning Parallels21:50 - The Frozen Baby: A Profound Healing Story35:25 - Pain vs. Suffering40:52 - The Burn Treatment Story45:55 - What IS Trance?56:26 - History of Hypnosis: Mesmer to Erickson1:07:44 - How the Forgetting Demo Worked1:18:18 - Rapid-Fire Meaning QuestionsResources MikeMandelHypnosis.comBrain Software PodcastDeveloping Meaning is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS and is NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz. Produced by Dirk Winter and Caroline Hinton Brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.

Send us a text Joanne Twombly, LCSW and author of Trauma Informed Internal Family Systems, has been treating complex trauma and dissociative disorders for over 30 years. In this conversation, she explores how right-brain modalities such as EMDR, hypnosis, and Internal Family Systems (IFS) can sometimes heal what words cannot. We also discuss the evolution of dissociative disorder diagnoses, the book Sybil and false memory controversies, the limits of traditional talk therapy, and the deeper role of meaning in recovery. Timestamps 0:00 Welcome to Trauma-Informed Healing 2:57 Understanding IFS and Parts Work 8:40 From MPD to Hypnosis: Joanne's Journey 15:19 Why Traditional Therapy Falls Short 21:07 Dissociative Disorders Explained 29:05 Deep Brain Reorienting and Body-Based Approaches 36:39 Working with Transference and Meaning 48:29 Final Wisdom: Purpose in Healing Work 1:15:54 Episode Closing and Next Month Preview Produced by Dirk Winter. Theme music by The Thrashing Skumz. Developing Meaning is NOT medical advice and is not affiliated with any institution.

Send us a text What happens when you combine military experience, personal recovery, cutting-edge trauma therapies, and the healing power of nature? Beau Laviolette's remarkable journey answers this question through a story of transformation and purpose. From the sugar cane fields of Louisiana to the Marine Corps and back again, Beau's path wasn't straightforward. After military service ended unexpectedly due to seizures, he faced addiction struggles that eventually led him to recovery and a calling to help others. This deeply personal experience became the foundation for his approach to trauma healing, combining Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy using the Syzyge method. Beau takes us through his discovery of these powerful modalities and how they complement each other, particularly when working with complex trauma. While EMDR helps process traumatic memories, IFS provides the framework to understand the protective parts of ourselves that develop in response to trauma. This combination creates a comprehensive approach that addresses both neurobiological and psychological aspects of trauma recovery. The conversation ventures into fascinating territory as Beau describes his veteran-focused nature retreats. These immersive experiences take healing beyond the constraints of office therapy, allowing veterans to "unplug, connect, and let go" in natural settings. He explains how nature inherently contains qualities that facilitate access to what IFS calls "self-energy" – our core self characterized by compassion, curiosity, and calm. Developing Meaning is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS and is NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz. Produced by Dirk Winter MD PhD and brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.

Send us a text In this episode, I take you inside my experience of learning Internal Family Systems therapy while simultaneously navigating prostate cancer surgery and recovery during the fall and winter of 2023-24. Through audio diary entries recorded over three months, you'll hear my real-time reflections as I move through an intensive experiential training that forced me to find and confront parts of myself. From the corporate retreat center where it all began to the post-surgical reflections in my bedroom, these recordings capture the disorientation, insight, and healing that unfolded as I allowed myself to be both student and subject. This episode may be helpful for therapists considering IFS training or for anyone facing illness or supporting someone through health challenges.  It is the final episode in my five part series on my IFS level I training experience. This episode of Developing Meaning is produced by Dirk Winter and Caroline Hinton and brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.   Developing Meaning is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS and NOT CLINICAL ADVICE. Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz.

Send us a text Margaret Conley, LCSW, Minister, and IFS Assistant Trainer, joins me to explore how trauma is passed down through families, culture, and society —and how we can heal. Drawing from her own powerful story, Margaret explains the Internal Family Systems (IFS) concept of legacy burdens and how she helps clients release inherited patterns related to race, religion, gender, and family history. This episode is part of my IFS Level 1 training series and offers deep insight into how healing across generations is not only possible—but transforms how we create meaning. Timestamps 00:19 – Welcome to Developing Meaning 04:50 – Meet Margaret Connolly: Healer and Minister 12:40 – Childhood Trauma to Professional Path 27:20 – Discovering Internal Family Systems 47:30 – Understanding Legacy Burdens 1:04:40 – Creating Meaning Through Curiosity 1:14:10 – The Art of Repairing Relationships 1:19:30 – Final Thoughts: Moving at Speed of Trust Them music by The Thrashing Skumz. This episode is produced by Dirk Winter, Fariha Fawziah and Caroline Hinton and brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC. Developing Meaning is NOT MEDICAL ADVICE and NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS.

Send us a text Can you imagine learning at 35 that you were adopted?  In this episode Ridghaus, my friend and Level I IFS Program Assistant, shares how this discovery transformed his sense of identity and led him to advocate for adoptee rights and communities. We also explore the profound loss of his 18-year-old son and how he has grieved. Through our conversation, Ridghaus reflects on the "golden threads" that have guided him—moments of insight, connection, and healing. We discuss how Internal Family Systems (IFS) has played a role in his process, helping him hold space for his parts and for others in their own healing journeys. This episode is part of a series on my Level I IFS training experience, in which I introduce the IFS model (#16), introduce my Lead Trainer Jory Agate (#17). Upcoming episodes will introduce another trainer Margaret Conley (#19), who is an expert in complex trauma and legacy burdens, and then an audiodiary (#20) will follow.  My intention in this series is to share this exciting new model of healing with classically trained therapists and anyone else curious about mental health and meaning.   Timestamps:00:00:00 - Introduction to Developing Meaning and Ridgehouse00:05:42 - Early Life: A Misfit in Kansas00:17:28 - Discovering Adoption at Age 3500:30:49 - Facing Unimaginable Loss and Grief00:43:02 - First Encounter with Internal Family Systems01:00:34 - Becoming a Healer: IFS and Identity Work01:11:27 - Plateaus and Valleys of Meaning01:15:33 - Final Reflections on Intention and Starting OverDeveloping Meaning is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS, and is NOT MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE. Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz. This episode was produced by Dirk Winter, Fariha Fawziah and Caroline Hinton and is brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.

Send us a text This episode invites listeners to engage in a meaningful past year review, turning away from traditional resolutions toward a more insightful approach to personal growth. By exploring the themes of beginner's mind, questioning assumptions, and the importance of consilience, Dr. Dirk Winter provides a framework for navigating mental health and self-discovery in 2025. • Dissecting the concept of a past year review  • Sharing personal peaks and lows from 2024  • Introducing guiding themes for 2025: beginner's mind, questioning assumptions, and consilience  • Exploring the significance of various healing modalities  • Challenging traditional mental health assumptions  • Encouraging listeners to conduct their own past year review and set meaningful intentions  Go ahead, do your past year review, get yourself maybe into some beginner's mind question patterns, look for areas of consilience, or come up with your own ideas or mantras for the coming year. Them Music by The Thrashing Skumz Produced by Dirk Winter

Send us a text The Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level I training is an experiential group learning process that teaches us how to identify and heal traumatized parts of ourselves and others.  In October 2023 I began this training after having recently received a prostate cancer diagnosis.  This episode begins a multi - part series in which I introduce you to fascinating healers I met during my Level I training, beginning with Jory Agate my Lead Trainer. Jory is a minister, IFS lead trainer, a kind and gifted healer, and so much more.  In this episode she offers a compelling narrative of how IFS therapy reaches beyond conventional boundaries, touching the lives of clergy, trans and queer communities, and trauma survivors. Together, we explore connections between faith and therapeutic healing.  Join me as I begin my journey into the land of IFS and begin to transform into an IFS therapist myself. Timestamps 00:17 Introducing Jory Agate. 07:30 What is IFS? 12:40 Spirituality and IFS. 15:00 How Jory became a healer. 21:00 How Jory found IFS and healed her trauma. 32:00 Jory describes her professional practice. 36:00 What does a session with Jory look like? 39:00 Connecting IFS, Meaning, and Healing. 47:00 Connecting through shared Exiles, and wrap up. Theme music by the Thrashing Skumz! This podcast is NOT MEDICAL ADVICE and is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS.

Send us a text Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) is a type of therapy that views the normal human mind as an internal family of inner conscious beings.  In this episode we unpack the key IFS concepts of 'Exiles,' 'Firefighters,' and the 'Self,' offering insights into how our childhood experiences shape our inner dynamics and how we can harmonize our mental orchestra by putting the 'Self' back into our mind's conductor seat. This episode sets the stage for a multiple episode series that brings you with me into my IFS level I training experience and community. Timestamps 0:14 - Introducing Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). 5:30 - Definition of Consciousness and Multiplicity. 9:45 - Historical Perspectives and Evidence for Multiplicity. 12:45 - Exiles and Firefighters. 16:00 - The IFS Self 19:20 - Blending and Unblending. 20:40 - Evidence for the IFS model of the mind. 23:00 - IFS Explanation of Psychopathology. 28:55 - Healing and Rewiring Through IFS. 30:30 - The Unburdening Ceremony in IFS. 31:00 - Bruce Ecker and memory reconsolidation 34:00 - Ten things I like about IFS. 42:00 - A caveat and some disadvantages. Theme music by The Thrashing Skumz.

Send us a text Dr. Bliss Lewis is a child and adult psychiatrist, expert in integrative and alternative treatments, and creator of Mind Body 7, one of the most innovative and successful group psychotherapy practices in New York.  She learned natural healing approaches as a child in in Russia and Poland, then combined these interests with modern Western medical training at Harvard, Columbia and NYU.   She also has passion for dance, music, yoga, meditation, and her curiosity and creativity have allowed her to build heart-centered practices and holistic wellness communities around these interests. Discover how trauma-informed care, self-compassion, and artistic expression can guide you towards a more fulfilling existence.  Learn more about Dr. Bliss Lewis at: https://www.mindbody7.com https://www.youtube.com/@DrBlissLewis Learn more about Developing Meaning Podcast at: https://www.developingmeaning.com Timestamps 0:00:17 Exploring Integrative Psychiatry With Dr. Bliss-Lewis 0:11:59 Personal Growth Through Dance and Travel 0:27:14 Exploring Integrative Healing Modalities 0:45:49 Building Integrative Psychiatry Group Practice 0:59:52 Exploring Meaning and Life Direction 1:13:00 Meaning and Life Rapid Fire Questions 1:17:02 Finding Meaning Through Values and Self-Compassion 1:23:00 How Bliss Sets her Life Intention Theme music by The Thrashing Skumz This show was produced by Dirk Winter and Violet Chernoff

Send us a text Please enjoy this guided six minute coherent breathing exercise led by Dr. RIchard Brown, co-creator of Breath Body Mind. This is a spontaneous demonstration taken out of our longer Episode 12 Interview in order for you to be able to chose the right time and place to do this exercise. For more information on Dr. Brown's approaches to breathing listen to our full lenght episode 12, or go to www.breathbodymind.com.

Send us a text For thousands of years  breathing has been used to heal trauma, optimize health, and build connection.  Dr. Richard Brown has spent his life mastering these techniques, and is also an expert in integrative psychiatry, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia.  He has co-authored over 100 scientific articles, chapters, and award winning books on applying these techniques to heal anxiety, trauma, and optimize health.  Together with his wife, Dr. Patricia Gerbarg, he has co-created the Breath-Body-Mind organization, which trains health care providers in using breathing techniques to heal health workers and trauma survivors all over the world, including places like Ukraine, Rawanda, Sudan, and Turkey.  In this episode you will learn how childhood bullying led him to pursue martial arts, and learn techniques that we all can use to heal, optimize health, and find joy. For more information visit: www.Breath-Body-Mind.com and www.breathbodymindfoundation.org. Timestamps 00:00:18 - Breath Techniques With Dr. Brown 00:14:06 - Martial Arts Journey Through Life 00:27:06 - Breathing Techniques in Spiritual Practices 00:41:18 - Global Healing Through Breath Practices 00:55:14 - Optimizing Breathing Techniques for Wellness 01:08:58 - Global Impact of Breath Practices 01:15:53 - Transformative Power of Breathing Practices 01:21:09 - Healing Trauma Through Breathing Techniques 01:27:49 - Exploring Breath Practices and Global Impact Produced by Dirk Winter and Violet Chernoff Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz

Send us a text Deb Dana is a master healer, teacher,  author, and the creator of a unique polyvagal-informed approach to therapy that is based on The Polyvagal Theory of Dr. Stephen Porges. In this episode you will learn about the neuroscience of human connection, and how our autonomic nervous system is composed of three distinct internal states that determine how we feel and how we create meaning. Learn more about Deb Dana's work and workshops at www.rhythmofregulation.com Timestamps: 00:00:18 Understanding Polyvagal Theory and Nervous System 00:18:07 Early Influences and Therapy Modalities 00:34:15 The Power of Polyvagal Theory 00:50:16 Healing Trauma Through Nervous System 00:56:00 Exploring Mental Health Paradigm Shifts 01:05:38 The Meaning of Life and Connection 01:14:13 Exploring Healing and Connection With Experts Theme music by The Thrashing Skumz Produced by Dr. Dirk Winter and Violet Chernoff Developing Meaning is NOT MEDICAL ADVICE and NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS.  Learn more at DevelopingMeaning.com.