Join therapist Joel Blackstock, martial artist James Waites, and esoteric practitioner Alice Hawley as they delve into the fascinating world of Japanese swords. This episode explores the metallurgy, history, and psychological significance of the katana – from its invention by Masamune after the Mongol invasions to its deep connections with Bushido philosophy and Japanese culture.

Discover how the unique forging process of folding different steels creates both strength and flexibility, mirroring the integration of the human psyche. Learn about legendary duelist Miyamoto Musashi's unconventional fighting techniques, the mental aspects of swordplay, and how swords symbolize clarity, truth, and trauma healing across cultures.

Whether you're interested in martial arts, Japanese history, metallurgy, or psychological symbolism, this episode offers profound insights into how ancient wisdom continues to resonate in our modern world.

Listen to "The Psychology of the Katana" and explore more thought-provoking conversations at GetTherapyBirmingham.com.

#Katana #JapaneseSwords #Bushido #SamuraiPhilosophy #MartialArtsPsychology #MiyamotoMusashi #Metallurgy #SwordSymbolism #BirminghamTherapyPodcast #WarriorMindset

Embark on a captivating journey into the depths of Jungian psychology with hosts Quique Autrey and Joel Blackstock. In this episode, Joel shares his unique perspectives on a wide range of topics, including:

• The potential oversimplification of Jung's ideas by American Jungians
• How neurology is validating Jung's phenomenological map of the soul
• Joel's personal journey from CBT to depth psychology and somatic practices
• The connections between influential figures like Ericson, Hillman, and Jung
• Navigating the tension between monotheistic and polytheistic psychology
• The concept of disenchantment in the modern world
• Jung's three ages and the resurgence of religion in a "post-secular sacred" era
• The evolution of "post-Jungian" thought and its therapeutic applications
• Joel's distinctive approach to dream work and adaptive therapy style
• Unpublished aspects of Jung's life and relationships
• The enduring relevance of Jung's work in today's world

This episode offers a thought-provoking exploration of Jungian psychology and its far-reaching implications. Join us as we uncover the wisdom and insights that continue to shape our understanding of the human psyche.

Explore the transformative power of Lifespan Integration therapy in this enlightening episode of the Taproot Therapy Collective podcast. Join host Joel Blackstock, LICSW-S, as he interviews three expert LI practitioners: Marie Danner, Kristan Baer, and Pamela Hayes. These skilled therapists share their personal journeys with LI, explain how it gently rewires neural pathways associated with trauma, and discuss its effectiveness for PTSD, anxiety, and attachment issues.

Learn how Lifespan Integration complements other therapeutic approaches like Somatic Experiencing, Brain Spotting, and Internal Family Systems. Discover why LI has become a cornerstone of trauma treatment at Taproot, offering a gentle yet powerful path to healing that keeps clients within their window of tolerance while processing difficult experiences.

Whether you're a mental health professional or someone seeking healing, this episode provides valuable insights into how timeline-based therapy can help integrate fragmented aspects of self, create a coherent life narrative, and foster lasting transformation.

🔗 Learn more about our therapists:

• Joel Blackstock: https://gettherapybirmingham.com/joel-blackstock-bio/
• Marie Danner: https://gettherapybirmingham.com/marie-danner/
• Kristan Baer: https://gettherapybirmingham.com/our-therapists/
• Pamela Hayes: https://gettherapybirmingham.com/our-therapists/

🔗 Explore Lifespan Integration: https://gettherapybirmingham.com/lifespan-integration-therapy-peggy-pace/

#LifespanIntegration #TraumaHealing #PTSD #TherapyPodcast #AttachmentTrauma #NeuralIntegration #SomaticTherapy #MentalHealthPodcast #TaprootTherapy #BirminghamTherapy #TraumaRecovery #HealingJourney #TherapistConversations

Tired of mental health podcasts that just tell you to breathe deeply? Discover + Heal + Grow from Taproot Therapy Collective brings you honest, sometimes irreverent conversations about the real challenges in psychology and therapy today.

In this episode, Joel Blackstock, James Waites, Alice Hawley, and Hailey critique evidence-based practice and the research status quo in psychology. They explore why academic publishing paywalls limit access to knowledge, how profit motives influence research, and why the biomedical model falls short in understanding human consciousness.

The therapists examine why CBT has dominated the field despite its limitations, why qualitative research deserves more respect, and how clinical wisdom often outpaces published research. They advocate for a psychology that values both scientific rigor and the subjective experience of individuals, making space for newer modalities like brain spotting, EMDR, and somatic approaches.

Whether you're a mental health professional questioning the orthodoxy or someone interested in the deeper workings of therapy, this episode offers a refreshingly authentic critique of how psychological knowledge is created, shared, and applied.

1. The Future of Therapy: Navigating the Tensions of Our Time - Published January 2025
   • This article examines the growing mismatch between hyper-specialized, manualized approaches favored by clinical research and the actual needs of patients. It critiques the "cognitive revolution" in psychology, which despite promising a more humanistic alternative to behaviorism, has perpetuated many mechanistic assumptions Gettherapybirmingham.
2. Evidence Based Practice is Bul$*%!@ , Let's Fix It! - Published February 2025
   • A provocative critique of evidence-based practice, especially in trauma treatment. The author challenges the dominance of CBT and medication-based approaches, arguing they often fail to address the root causes of trauma Gettherapybirmingham.
3. When Evidence Based Practice Goes Wrong - Published October 2024
   • This piece discusses how commercial interests can negatively influence psychiatric research and practice, compromising scientific integrity and patient welfare Gettherapybirmingham.
4. Evidence Based Practice and Research Psychology Archives
   • The archive section of their blog dedicated to evidence-based practice, which explores the scientific foundations of mental health treatment through integrative lenses of depth psychology and trauma neurology Gettherapybirmingham.

These articles collectively offer a thoughtful critique of current evidence-based practice models while acknowledging the importance of scientific rigor. They advocate for a more holistic approach to therapy that values both empirical evidence and the subjective, lived experiences of clients and clinicians.

Keywords: evidence-based practice, psychology research, clinical wisdom, CBT critique, biomedical model limitations, qualitative research, academic publishing, psychotherapy, trauma therapy, depth psychology

Preorder the Book: https://amzn.to/3RzDcaH

Checkout our episode with Matt from last year when you are done.

We sit down with Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and George Polk Award winner renowned for his incisive local reporting. As a reporter for the Valley News in New Hampshire, Matt brings unparalleled depth to every story he tackles. His bylines appear in Popular Science, Foreign Policy, USA Today, and Atavist Magazine, showcasing his versatility across major media outlets. Praised for immersive storytelling that transports listeners from Maine’s Governor’s Mansion to Ebola wards in Sierra Leone, his narrative features blend rigorous investigation with human-centered nuance. In This Episode We dive into Matt’s journey from exposing deplorable conditions in federally subsidized Section 8 housing—work that spurred state investigations and reforms—to his explorations of fringe medicine in his second book, If It Sounds Like a Quack…, published in April 2023. We also reflect on his debut book, A Libertarian Walks into a Bear (September 2020), which examines the collision of libertarian ideals and wildlife management in a small New Hampshire town. As a Pulitzer Center grantee, Matt’s long-form journalism has spotlighted flood insurance challenges for riverboat casinos in Missouri and maternal health crises during the Ebola outbreak. In 2019, he received the Distinguished Science Journalism award from the American Meteorological Association and was voted Maine Journalist of the Year. Throughout our conversation, we unpack the ethics of investigative storytelling, the role of narrative in driving public policy, and the craft of turning complex issues into compelling human stories. BUY THE BOOK! https://amzn.to/3RzDcaH If you enjoyed this deep dive with Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, hit the Like button, subscribe for new episodes every week, and ring the 🔔 to never miss an interview. Share your thoughts in the comments—what story angle intrigues you most?

more @ GetTherapyBirmingham.com

🎙️📚📰🕵️‍♂️ #MattHongoltzHetling #InvestigativeJournalism #supernatural #podcast #science #Storytelling #evidencebasedpractice #pseudoscience #HousingReform #PulitzerHopeful

Immerse yourself in the transformative world of Ericksonian hypnosis with this powerful guided meditation for overcoming phobias and healing trauma. Inspired by the revolutionary therapeutic methods of Dr. Milton Erickson, the brilliant psychiatrist who fathered modern hypnotherapy, this deeply engaging visualization process will guide you to reframe your most challenging fears and traumatic memories as opportunities for profound growth and resilience. With great care, skill and artistry, we'll invite you to translate your anxiety or traumatic recollection into a vivid symbolic image, explore that inner landscape with genuine curiosity and self-compassion, and playfully experiment with small tweaks to the image that generate large-scale positive shifts in your embodied experience. Through this process, you'll viscerally discover how much innate power you have to flexibly shift your perceptions and emotional responses, even to your most deep-rooted traumas and anxieties. More than just a set of techniques, this meditation journey will steep you in the fundamental principles of Ericksonian hypnosis - utilization of your mind's inner resources, indirect suggestion to bypass resistance, and paradoxical interventions that often move you forward by first moving you back. You'll come away with an unshakable felt sense of your mind's infinite capacity for creative problem-solving and a clear map for continuing to transform your obstacles into opportunities. Whether you're a therapist seeking to expand your toolkit, an individual struggling with PTSD, phobias, or anxiety, or simply a curious explorer of your own vast inner potential, this immersive experience will repattern your neuro-emotional circuitry and reawaken your faith in your own indestructible spirit. Join us to reclaim your birthright of inner freedom - it's time to stop surviving your story and start authoring it.

In this episode of Discover Heal Grow, we delve into the rich psychological tapestry woven around dragons, exploring how these mythical beasts have occupied our collective imagination and served as powerful archetypes for both terror and transformation.

We begin by tracing dragon origins in ancient mythologies and evolutionary psychology, illuminating how collective fears around predators shaped dragon imagery and stories. From there, we journey into Jungian depth psychology to uncover the dragon’s role as the shadowed reservoir of our untamed energies and primal instincts.

Next, we examine practical therapeutic applications—how framing inner struggles as “battling your own dragons” can externalize negative narratives, foster insight, and promote self‑mastery.

Finally, we sit down with Jungian depth therapist Dr. Elena Morales, whose work integrates dragon symbolism in somatic and experiential therapies, to learn how clients can transform their fiercest fears into sources of strength.

Dragons emerge globally as composite monsters, blending talons, fangs, and scales to personify both danger and wonder .

In Jungian theory, archetypes are universal imprints in the collective unconscious; dragons stand among the most potent, representing what Jung called the “cold‑blooded part of our psyche” that lies beyond rational control.

Modern therapists leverage the dragon metaphor in cognitive‑behavioral and art therapy contexts to help clients externalize self‑doubt and self‑sabotaging thoughts—those “inner dragons” that whisper we’re unworthy or helpless.

We’re joined by Dr. Elena Morales, author of Awakening Your Dragon Power, who asserts that dragons can also manifest as static feminine energy or entrenched social structures—forces that must be recognized before meaningful change can occur

Throughout the episode, we interweave mythic storytelling, depth‑psychology insights, and practical exercises, showing how dragon myths have guided seekers on self‑discovery quests for millennia

Join us as we explore the psychology of dragons and their archetypal significance, forging a path from ancient legend to contemporary healing practice on the Taproot Therapy Collective Podcast.