Listen and Learn
Tens of thousands of people launch podcasts each year. Many do not survive past three or four episodes. As I bring to a close Season Three of Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart, I completely understand the burden. But, this body of work is an achievement about which I am quite proud, and I hope it stands the test of time to inform and inspire.
As I design a season (as I shall start to do with Season Four, which will launch in the Q1 of 2023) I think about, “what do I want to know?” My aim has been to educate lay people about the dysfunctionality of the American mental health system, as juxtaposed against the global best practice I have witnessed in Trieste, Italy.
In Season Three, I moved from a Zoom format to a studio. Through my daughter’s connections, I discovered Aaron Stern of Verdugo Sound. If we could bring the conversation inside, that would not only improve the sound quality, but also enhance the human interaction in a conversation, a big improvement from Zoom.
Season Three actually took 10 months to produce from beginning to end. I was careful about selecting and preparing for these interviews. Some episodes require six to eight hours to prepare, not counting if you have to read a book or report!
Here are highlights from each interview and I welcome your comments below as to what moved you, or what you are stimulated to further understand as a result of listening
Episode 1. Unglamorous expertise: Recovery from acute psychosis to reflections on systems change. In this episode, I interview Lee Davis, whom I met last year while visiting Psynergy in Morgan Hill (see Episode 8 below). Lee speaks with great candor about her lived experience as a person who has struggled with bi-polar disorder, but now serves as the chair of the Alameda County Mental Health Advisory Board.
Episode 2. Understanding California’s 50-year old conservatorship law. In this interview, I connect with someone I knew in Hollywood who was a gifted outreach worker, who is now going to law school – Savanah Walseth. You will better understand how our conservatorship system works and what could be changed from her research.
Dr. Tom Insel
Episode 3. Healing: Our path from mental illness to mental health. In this conversation, we met with Dr. Tom Insel, the author of a new book with this same name. We learned about his emphasis on: People. Place. Purpose.
Episode 4. What is Peer Respite and why don’t we have more of these crisis beds available? In this conversation, I met with Guyton Colantuono, who runs Project Return Peer Support. This is a cost-effective, highly successful model for crisis response.
Episode 5. Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia: his life, his impact, his legacy. A book that impacted a generation of psychiatrists in the 1970’s – L’Istitutzione Negata -- has never been translated into English. We talk with Italian history professor, John Foot, about the life of Basaglia and hope that he can play a role in the translation.
Dr. Mark Ragins and Dr. Dave Pilon in the podcast studio
Episode 6. Lessons learned from the mid-90’s Village Integrated Services Pilot and why they’re even more relevant today. This is a “must-listen” if you want to understand the inspiration behind the 2019 TRIESTE pilot proposal, penned by Dr. Dave Pilon, at the behest of the LA County Department of Mental Health. When you listen to this case study, you realize that “this is not rocket science.” We know what we have to do to treat people, living with a mental health condition, pursue recovery in their lives.
Episode 7. My week in Los Angeles. In this episode, we interview Dr. Roberto Mezzina from Trieste. He was here in Los Angeles, at the behest of the LA Sheriff’s Foundation, to shadow LASD’s HOST Team, who attempt to imbue radical hospitality in their interactions with some of the most chronically homeless individuals in AL County. During this week, they were shadowed by a CNN team associated with the series, This is Life with Lisa Ling, and that series starts on November 20, 2022.
Episode 8. What does it take to provide housing that heals? Can you imagine a board and care home that provides nutritious foods, access to a no-appointment necessary psychiatric team within walking distance and a staff culture that believes in your recovery? Listen to a conversation with Lynda Kaufman and Michael Weinstein of Psynergy.
Episode 9. Does the American mental health system stand the test of a human rights framework? For two years, I’ve been looking for someone who is an expert in human rights appropriate for an interview about how we treat people living with mental health conditions in our American society. Over and over, when we attended the conference in Trieste, we learned that the UN Declaration of Human Rights is a guiding factor in how people are Trieste are treated. In a human rights context, restraint equals torture. The is much to learn here. Meet Dr. Soumitra Pathare.
Episode 10. The tragic intersection of mental illness with our criminal justice system. Mark Gale, father of a son who has recovered from a series of mental health challenges in his twenties, is someone who has made activism his life passion. He makes the case that people with mental illness are the most discriminated component of our society.
Happy listening and I look forward to ideas and interview subjects you might want to send my way for 2023. And, this podcast is 100 percent supported by donors to Heart Forward. Thank you for considering a donation of any amount to pay for the studio support and editing.