The Hardcore Self-Help Podcast with Duff the Psych

Very special episode this week for you! I've been meaning to get my wife on the show for a good while now. This is the first time that I've ever interviewed her about her experiences with mental illness. I have talked about her in my TEDx talk and my books, so this was a really nice opportunity to sit down for a while and just chat about her life. We talk about what it's like being married to me, her earliest anxiety experiences, motherhood, her hospitalization, and things that have helped her progress in her mental health journey. Next week should be a Q&A episode, so please keep sending me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com and follow my wife on social @joellecharming

For this episode, I was feeling a little too overwhelmed by the week to do a Q&A so instead I decided to talk to you all about breathing. We talk about different breathing exercises and how to practice them so that they are useful to you in moments of stress or anxiety. We cover the physiological mechanism behind relaxation breathing. Finally, we briefly cover mindfulness and meditative breathing. The tone of this whole episode is a bit more calm and subdued. I hope that it's relaxing as well as informative! As always you can send me your questions for future Q&As to duffthepsych@gmail.com

Hello, friends! Good news - your boy is official! I finally passed all of the hurdles and paid all of my money and got my license as a clinical psychologist in California. It's super meaningful for me and I appreciate you being a part of the journey. Anyway, this is another great question and answer episode. Here's what I cover: Should I play a show with my band in the city that my friend died? How can I improve my relationship when I might be the toxic one and create conflict for attention? What can I do about my anxiety and agoraphobia if I haven't left the house in two months? As always you can send me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com!

Hello, friends. Thanks for joining me again for another question and answer episode. Wanted to let you know that I've been doing instagram stories over at http://instagram.com/duffthepsych. Check them out if you would like a little snapshot into my day to day life as a psychologist/dad/entrepreneur etc. Here are the questions covered in this episode: I have anxiety caused by Graves disease. I'd like to get anxiety medication to help, but I'm not sure how to talk to my doctor about it. How can I bring it up? My father killed himself and I want to get therapy, but I'm afraid that I'll be hospitalized. Should I bother? Robert, how do you get so much done when I can hardly find a single moment to myself? As always you can send me your anonymous questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com and I'll see you next time!

Hello, friends! Thanks for tuning in. In this episode, I take 3 more awesome question from you listeners. There are a couple questions from younger people, which I think is awesome. I decided to livestream this episode on my facebook page. I will try to do more of that in the future, so keep your eyes out for Tuesday night live video on the facebook page over at http://facebook.com/duffthepsych Here are the questions covered in this episode: Could my high IQ cause mental health issues? What can I do when I'm bad at hiding how I feel at school or work? Should I get help as a young person with depression? As always you can send me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com

Hey, friends! In this episode, I do something a bit different. I guess you could say that this is a deep dive episode that was prompted by a listener question. Someone wrote in and wanted to know more about what got me into the field of psychology in the first place and what appeals to me about it. So I get a little personal and tell you about my early life, experiences, and journey through the field of psychology. I hope you enjoy! Next week will most likely be another question and answer episode, so please continue sending me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com

Hello, friends! I just want to take a minute to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to listen and for sending in questions to help me create this content. Also wanted to give you a heads up that I will be off of social media for next week. Anyways, here are the questions covered in this episode: Now that I am out of a cult, how can manage my anxiety and make sure I give my daughter opportunities to socialize? Would a polyphasic sleep schedule help me get enough rest for my shift work? I'm in a good place recently. What can I do to prepare for therapy between sessions? As always you can send me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com and if you are not yet following me on social, get on that. I'm @duffthepsych on everything.

Hello, friends! Another Q & A episode for you today. If you are not yet, please follow me on facebook at http://facebook.com/duffthepsych I've been doing some cool content over there that I talk about at the top of the episode. Here are the questions tackled in this episode: How can I address a lie that I told in my relationship? What does it mean when a therapist mentions their religion in online databases? How can I better prioritize topics for psychotherapy? As always, you can send me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com

Hey, friends! Thanks for the patience during my week off. I talk about about that at the beginning of this episode. The remainder is dedicating to helping you understand the issue of confidentiality in psychotherapy. If you have ever wondered what information is kept private vs when a therapist can share your info, this episode is for you. This turned out to be a longer episode, because it's fairly comprehensive. I cover what you need to know about confidentiality and reporting in regards to: Danger to self Danger to others Child abuse Elder abuse Minors in therapy Crimes And more. Next week will be a Q&A episode, so shoot me your questions about mental health, psychology, and life to duffthepsych@gmail.com

Okay, my friends! I think this was a great episode. I got to cover some really interesting questions that I am sure apply to many of you out there. Don't forget to check out my TEDx talk at http://duffthepsych.com/tedx. Here are the questions that are covered in this episode: How can I get over feeling like I don't deserve to feel better? How do you know if you actually need psychological help or if you are just blowing things out of proportion? What can you do to overcome panic attacks on stage? As always you can send me your questions to duffthepsych@gmail.com