In our last episode of the Therapists in the Wild podcast, we're coming full circle: dialectics was the topic of our first ever episode, and now we're wrapping it up two years later by letting our listeners in on how we have used a dialectical frame to face this ending head on. We review the DBT skills we used to lean into our discomfort, to have difficult conversations that have deepened our relationship, and ultimately, to radically accept this change in a way that felt true to ourselves, our friendship, and, we hope, to our listeners. We try, more so than ever, to practice radical genuinene ..read more

This month's episode is a re-release of an episode introducing one of our favorite DBT skills: Radical Acceptance (Episode 23). We hope you enjoy and look forward to being back next month for the final episode of Season 2!  *You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild. If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review. Than ..read more

"Burnout" has become a buzzword since the start of the pandemic, for good reason. Many of us are feeling burnt out, in many areas of life, and could benefit from using DBT skills to cope.  In this episode, Molly and Liza start by defining burnout (i.e. chronic depletion, apathy, a feeling of ineffectiveness no matter how hard you work). We then identify factors that typically lead to burnout, like feeling that your day-to-day lacks meaning or that you lack control over your daily decisions. We explain how to tell the difference between burnout, depression, and stress, and why these distin ..read more

This month on TITW, we're practicing self-compassion. Liza and Molly have been studying the work of Dr. Kristin Neff, a psychologist and researcher who breaks down the practice of self-compassion into concrete steps. We've noticed a lot of overlap between Dr. Neff's work and DBT skills, and we discuss the similarities in this episode.  We start by defining self-compassion and how it's all about being a friend to yourself. We then get into the barriers of practicing self-compassion (i.e. the erroneous belief that beating ourselves up is the only path toward self-improvement), and point out ..read more

This month on TITW, Molly teaches Liza and our listeners concepts from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), another "third wave" cognitive behavioral treatment that both overlaps with and differs from DBT.  Molly has been practicing ACT at her therapy practice, and Liza... needs to brush up on her skills! First, Molly walks us through the six core processes of ACT, including "Cognitive Defusion," which is the process of watching thoughts come and go rather than getting caught up or buying into them. In some ways, this episode is a deep dive on the "Mindfulness of Current Thoughts" ski ..read more

This month on TITW, Liza and Molly share their personal experiences with procrastination (Molly) and, on the other side of the dialectic, hyper-productivity (Liza). We believe that procrastination and hyper-productivity are opposite responses that function to avoid similar feelings of anxiety.  We define procrastination as knowing a task needs to get done and choosing to do something else instead. Hyper-productivity is a term we invented based off of Liza's experience of feeling the urge to constantly be productive and complete tasks immediately. Through an impromptu chain analysis Liza c ..read more

This month on TITW, we are taking a break from discussions about skills to have an exploratory conversation about Buddhist philosophy, which inspired the practice of DBT. We speak with a special guest, Keerthi Reddy, a masters student at the Harvard Divinity School, who is focusing her studies on Zen Buddhism. First, Liza and Keerthi (old friends from college!) discuss the concept of suffering according to Buddhism, and how accepting reality as it is, and not the way we have been conditioned to interpret it, can reduce suffering. Liza and Keerthi talk about Buddhism as an ethical practice, and ..read more

In this month's episode of TITW, we address a therapy hot topic (and one that Liza and Molly discuss regularly with each other off-air): how to accept feedback in both personal and professional settings, especially when (you perceive) it is negative. We explain why feedback can feel so hurtful to receive, and, on the other side of the dialectic, why it is so often necessary for growth. We share examples from our own lives, particularly throughout our therapist training, of times when even the most upsetting comments have helped us evolve and move toward our values. Understandably, when Emotion ..read more

This month, Liza and Molly are thrilled to share one of our favorite episodes yet: our conversation with Chris Jones, a mental health advocate who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) approximately two years ago. Chris has completed Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and discusses in a radically genuine way both the ups and downs of going through treatment, and how using DBT skills has become second-nature (after a lot of hard work). In the episode, we cover the dialectical nature of the BPD - or Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder - diagnosis, and how getting an accu ..read more

The TITW are officially back for *Season 2* of the podcast! We start off with a few exciting updates, since we can't wait to share what we've been working on during the season break. We discuss plans for the future of the podcast as well as the launch of our new website (!):  therapistsinthewild.com. Please check us out to learn more about the consulting/coaching services we are now offering for therapists and professionals in related fields, or to learn more about us and browse additional DBT resources. Then we get into the topic for today’s episode: when are unwanted emotions - like an ..read more