Today on ShrinksRap, we welcome Beth Foley, a Bay Area somatic trauma practitioner, yoga therapist, and wellness advocate who helps people heal from trauma, addiction, chronic stress, and anxiety by reconnecting with the wisdom of the body. Beth also offers wellness trainings and consultation for individuals, groups, and organizations, and will be a featured panelist at the next Human Potential Conference in Berkeley, California, on October 22, 2026.

In this conversation, we explore the powerful link between addiction and the nervous system, why insight alone is often not enough for lasting recovery, how trauma gets stored in the body, and what healing can look like when we move beyond symptom management toward greater connection, meaning, freedom, and aliveness.

Whether you’re interested in recovery, mindfulness, trauma, or personal growth, Beth offers practical wisdom and a refreshing reminder: sometimes the body knows the way forward before the mind catches up.

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

Jeremy Hirshberg on Leadership, Burnout, Meaning, and Why Your Boss Shouldn’t Sound Like ChatGPT

Jeremy Hirshberg — organizational psychologist, leadership consultant and executive coach for Organizational Solutions, founder of Kaleidoscope Collaborative, and host of Resiliency Rounds and The Good Life, Reconsidered — joins the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on AI, leadership, resilience, and what happens when technology starts moving faster than the human nervous system. Drawing on his work at the Center for Creative Leadership and Booz Allen Hamilton, Jeremy explores how organizations can integrate AI without losing empathy, creativity, psychological safety, or their collective soul.

We discuss burnout, “AI theater,” executive anxiety, emotional intelligence, adaptability, meaning-making, and why the future belongs not simply to companies with the best technology — but to those combining high AI capability with being fully human. This taps into an interdependent cultural framework. Along the way we ask uncomfortable questions: What work should humans still own? What decisions should never be delegated to AI? Can mindfulness survive Slack notifications? And is your company innovating… or just panic-Googling the future with better branding?

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

In this thought-provoking episode of Shrinks Rap, yours truly, Dr. James Bramson, sits down with Janis Phelps—clinical psychologist, professor, and founder of the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research at CIIS — to explore one of the most fascinating, hopeful, and controversial frontiers in modern mental health treatment: psychedelic-assisted therapy for addiction and emotional healing.

As public enthusiasm for psychedelics accelerates faster than a Silicon Valley startup pitch deck, are we entering a genuine new era of recovery—or another cycle of overpromising and magical thinking? Dr. Phelps brings decades of experience in clinical psychology, mindfulness, ethics, and therapist training to a nuanced conversation about both the extraordinary potential and very real risks of psychedelic medicine.

Janis also discusses her hope that psychedelic experiences can help cultivate a more interconnected “one world, one love” mindset—one that fosters compassion, reverence for nature, and a deeper sense of meaning and belonging. From this expanded awareness of consciousness, she believes people may become more attuned not only to their own healing, but also to the ecological and spiritual crises facing our planet. In short: perhaps healing ourselves and healing the Earth are not entirely separate projects. Heavy stuff—but in a good way.

Together, we explore:
• What people are getting wrong right now about psychedelics and addiction
• The biggest upside—and biggest dangers—for vulnerable patients
• Who may benefit most, and who should absolutely avoid these treatments
• Whether psychedelics can become another form of emotional escape or spiritual bypassing
• Why some profound psychedelic experiences lead to lasting transformation—and others fade quickly
• The most common reasons psychedelic treatment fails
• What matters most: the medicine, the therapist, or the integration process
• Whether a “mystical experience” is actually necessary for recovery
• How clinicians screen for psychosis risk, destabilization, and contraindications
• Whether the field is over-promising results to people desperate for healing

Dr. Phelps also discusses the importance of ethical therapist training, mindfulness, integration, and the intersection of Eastern contemplative traditions with psychotherapy. The conversation balances curiosity with caution, hope with realism, and science with soul—while reminding listeners that psychedelic healing is not magic, but a complex process that depends on careful screening, support, and integration.

For clinicians, seekers, skeptics, recovering humans, and anyone interested in the future of mental health and recovery, this episode offers a grounded and deeply human exploration of what psychedelic healing can—and cannot—do.

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

Dr. Veronika Mesheriakova is an adolescent medicine physician, addiction specialist, and founder of the Northern California Adolescent Specialty Center. She previously served as an Associate Professor in the Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, where she founded the UCSF Youth Outpatient Substance Use Program and conducted research focused on adolescent substance use and addiction. Dr. Mesheriakova completed her pediatrics residency at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at UCSF. She will also be a featured speaker at the Human Potential Conference.

In this timely episode of Shrinks Rap, Dr. James Bramson speaks with Dr. Veronika Mesheriakova about the growing mental health and addiction crisis facing today’s teens. Together, they explore the rise of high-potency cannabis, fentanyl exposure, vaping, and polysubstance use among adolescents—many of whom appear outwardly “fine” while quietly struggling emotionally.

Dr. Mesheriakova explains how today’s cannabis differs dramatically from earlier generations, with higher THC concentrations linked to anxiety, depression, psychosis risk, emotional dysregulation, and addiction in developing brains. The conversation also examines the growing danger of fentanyl contamination in counterfeit pills and recreational drugs, making experimentation increasingly life-threatening.

The episode highlights practical ways parents can approach teens without escalating shame, secrecy, or power struggles around substances and screen time. Dr. Mesheriakova emphasizes the importance of family involvement, the role medications can play in treatment, and how recovery ultimately depends on helping adolescents reconnect with hope, purpose, belonging, and a future worth showing up for. The conversation balances science, compassion, and humor—because parenting teenagers sometimes requires both evidence-based care and an excellent breathing practice.

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

What do documentary filmmaking, executive leadership, and Nelson Mandela have in common? According to Ingrid Gavshon — everything.

This week on Shrinks Rap, Dr. James H. Bramson sits down with Ingrid Gavshon — leadership communications expert, executive coach, award-winning filmmaker, and faculty member at University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business — for a conversation about storytelling, human connection, and the kind of leadership people actually want to follow.

Ingrid has spent her career helping leaders find their authentic voice — whether behind a camera, in a boardroom, or standing in front of a terrified MBA class trying not to die during a presentation. Drawing from her work producing a thirteen-part documentary series on Mandela, she shares the leadership qualities that made him transformational: presence, humility, deep listening, moral courage, and the ability to make people feel seen even in conflict.

Together, Jim and Ingrid explore:

• What modern leaders misunderstand about charisma

• Why storytelling is more powerful than authority

• How empathy changes workplace culture

• The surprising overlap between filmmaking and executive coaching

They also discuss how Ingrid uses filmmaking techniques, experiential learning, and coaching to help aspiring leaders at Haas develop confidence, emotional intelligence, and authentic executive presence — without sounding like corporate robots reading from LinkedIn posts.

Part leadership masterclass, part creative exploration, part value clarification for overachieving professionals, this episode asks a timely question:

In a world full of noise, what does it mean to truly connect?

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

This week on Shrinks Rap: what happens when a theater guy walks into the boardroom and accidentally teaches Fortune 100 executives how to have feelings?

Dr. James H. Bramson sits down with Dr. Mark Rittenberg — executive coach, leadership whisperer, former actor, Fulbright Scholar, South African bridge-builder, and possibly the only man alive who can quote Shakespeare while fixing your corporate culture.

From Harvard to Soweto to Silicon Valley, Mark has spent decades teaching leaders how to communicate like actual humans instead of PowerPoint templates with pulse rates. We talk about his journey from the theater to the boardroom, the profound influence of Angeles Arrien, and why empathy may be the most radical leadership skill left in modern civilization.

Somewhere between authentic leadership, multicultural transformation, executive coaching, and stories that sound too cinematic to be real, we also explore:

• Why the best leaders know how to listen — and actually know their employees

• How acting and presentation skills can rescue broken organizations

• The origin story behind his Executive Coaching program at University of California, Berkeley

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

When you walk into the elegant home of Dr. Peter Carnochan, you’re greeted by a statue of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion. Over the course of our dinner together and podcast conversation, it becomes clear that the figure is not decorative. It’s emblematic of Peter himself.

Peter Carnochan is something of a paradox. He describes himself as half California hippie and half East Coast WASP. He came up through alternative schooling that centered art and creativity. From there, he studied at Harvard University, earning a degree philosophy—an intellectual backbone that now undergirds everything he does.

Both in real life, and in the award-winning documentary, Andre Is an Idiot, Peter played the real life role of Andre Ricciardi’s psychologist. His client, Andre, is dying of colon cancer and, in many ways, becomes a kind of embodiment of “infinite jest”—finding humor in everything, even in the face of death, while documenting the experience. Peter’s defining qualities are on full display: infinite compassion paired with grounded wisdom. The result is a remarkable film that captures humor, courage, and an almost defiant vulnerability. In several scenes, Peter offers guidance that is both clinically precise and deeply human, gently expanding Andre’s capacity to face reality while staying connected to the people he loves.

Today, Peter has returned to his Silicon Valley roots, working as an executive coach to some of the titans of the tech world. He brings to that ecosystem not just strategy, but a grounded life philosophy that blends compassion, insight, and a deep respect for the complexity of being human.

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here

What if the real issue isn’t that you lack confidence—but that you’ve been living from the wrong kind of consciousness? And what if worth isn’t something you earn, but something you are born with?

In this episode, I sit down with Dawna Daigneault, author of Understanding Self-Worth: A Guide to Worth-Conscious Theory and Psychotherapeutic Practice (Routledge, 2026), to explore a fresh and clinically compelling framework for understanding self-worth. Dawna introduces Worth-Conscious Theory (WCT), a model she has been developing for over a decade, which distinguishes between self-consciousness—a state rooted in evaluation, comparison, and performance—and worth-consciousness, a more grounded, inherent sense of being enough.

We unpack how many individuals struggle with what Dawna calls “systemically denied self-worth,” and how this shows up in anxiety, perfectionism, relationships, and the relentless pressure to prove oneself. She also walks us through the “Conscious Moment” technique—an accessible, ACT-informed intervention designed to help clients (and the rest of us) shift out of self-judgment and into a more stable, compassionate awareness of worth.

This conversation bridges theory and practice, offering clinicians and everyday listeners a powerful lens—and practical tools—for rewiring the inner narrative from “Am I enough?” to a deeper, quieter knowing that you already are.

If you’ve ever felt caught in the loop of self-doubt or driven by the need to earn your worth, this episode offers a meaningful way out.

Credits:

River is High, Ticketless Traveler

Carl Reisman, guitar, singer, and songwriter

Jenny Goodwine, vocals

James Singleton, bass

Johnny Vidocovich, drums

Dave Easley, steel guitar

Produced by Morgan Orion Reisman

for more information, carlreisman@gmail.com

Copyright 2025

WCMI networking group
A networking group for mindfulness-focused clinicians dedicated to learning together & collaborating for more information click here