In this episode, Al interviews Kody Green, motivational speaker and content creator with over one million followers on TikTok, where he is known as The Schizophrenic Hippie (recorded 12-2-22). Kody shares the challenges of being raised by a single mother who was living with schizoaffective disorder. He shares that, even knowing the symptoms of serious mental illness, he didn't seek out for help immediately when he was struggling with symptoms similar to his mother. In order to shut down the auditory and visual hallucinations, Kody took to any drugs he could get his hands on. Fearful of sleep ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Kaitlynne Yancy, a navy veteran and the Associate Director of Governmental Affairs of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) (recorded 10-26-22). Kaitlynne shares her own story of trauma that she has experienced in her personal life. She also shares what the IAVA is doing to address and eliminate active military and veteran suicides. You can find out more about Kaitlynne here and the IAVA by going to their website. You can also find the IAVA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.  If you have listened and feel that you have received some value fro ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews CeCe Cheng, founder of ShareWell, a mental health company that provides virtual peer support services (recorded 10-24-22). From the fall of 2019 through October 2020, CeCe found herself in an emotionally abusive relationship that included daily gaslighting, pathological lying, and severe manipulation. While CeCe had a strong support network of friends, family, and medical professionals, she had a sense that what she really needed was a support group of other women who had been through a similar experience. Struggling to find such a support group, CeCe created her ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Dr. Steve Lamberti, professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) where he serves as Academic Chief of the Community Division and as the Chair of the Research Subject Review Board for Behavioral and Social Sciences, on the topic of psychosis (recorded 10-12-22). In this fascinating interview you'll hear Dr. Lamberti explain the primary symptoms of a psychosis, share which mental illnesses may include psychosis, discuss single-episode events, and much, much more. You can find more information about Dr. Lamberti, and his biography her ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Nick Jonsson, keynote speaker, author, and co-founder of Executives' Global Network (EGN)-Singapore, an executive peer network (recorded 9-19-22). Nick speaks of his own personal experience dealing with loneliness and depression as a top-level executive. In his case, alcohol was his outlet. His mental health struggles were accompanied by physical ailments. Hear these stories and how Nick benefited from sharing his story with others who were struggling. Nick now shares is story publicly and in his memoir, "Executive Loneliness", in hopes of helping others. He also ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Geralyn Ritter, executive vice president at Oregon, trauma survivor, and author (recorded 9-8-22). May 12, 2015 started out as a typical day for Geralyn. She was on a train that she had taken many times. Only this time, soon after leaving the Philadelphia station on a train that would normally be a short ride to her home, she felt some unusual shaking as she had stood up to get something from her briefcase that was on a luggage rack. She grabbed the luggage rack with an unbelievable sensation that the train was tipping. Later, she was to find out that the Amtrak ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Dr. Doug Klein, family physician and a professor at the University of Alberta on the topic of Parks Prescriptions (recorded 6-20-22). Dr. Klein speaks in general about the incredibly mental and physical health benefits of getting outside, exercising, and spending time in nature. From improved heart health to decreasing stress and anxiety and much more, Dr. Klein shares some of the data from research on the topic. Dr. Klein also describes the Parks Prescriptions program that began in British Columbia. While Parks Prescriptions began as a grassroots movement in the ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Charlie Kratsch, founder and CEO of Infinite Campus (recorded 6-1-22). Ten years ago, Charlie's seventeen year-old son had a paranoid, psychotic episode. Charlie realized, this being the first time ever having to access it, how complicated the mental health system is; from a 72-hour hold, to finding a bed hours outside of the city limits for his son, to finding proper after-care. After this experience, Charlie began to learn more and more about the broken mental health system. In October of 2021, Charlie announced that his foundation, the Infinite Campus Foundati ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews Lorraine Montez, film producer, actor, and writer (recorded 5-9-22). Lorraine shares her own personal story of depression that began at a young age. She experienced death for the first time at just eight years old, when her eldest brother died tragically in an airplane crash. She describes living with her father who was a World War II veteran struggling with undiagnosed PTSD and a "rager" who would, at times, become physically aggressive for the slightest of things. Lorraine lost an uncle to suicide and her mother struggled with depression, as well. In addition t ..read more

In this episode, Al interviews John Callas, Emmy-nominated Hollywood director, writer, producer, and author. John talks about the incredible amount of trauma he endured as a child. John's father died ten days after his third birthday. John describes how that was the start of everything falling apart. At age twelve John was sent away to military school and suffered physical abuse at the hands of his peers that was an accepted part of the school. He describes his three years of military as "absolute hell". John shares these stories and much more, as well as how he was able to persevere and make ..read more