Kate lived for many years in a hazy and numbing dialectic, thinking that her life was “perfect”, but also having a vague and gnawing sense that just under the surface something was terribly wrong.  This is a story of forgetting and remembering,  a story of finding a therapist who was willing and able to sit through years of hateful negative transference and let Kate work through her parent-child wounds. And finally this is a story of MDMA and psilocybin helping someone move forward through the minefield of trauma ..read more

The prevailing model of psychiatric care in the US is called "med management"-- this typically means a 10-15min appointment to review symptoms and choose medications.  Here Dr. Will Van Derveer of the Integrative Psychiatric Institute sits down with Dr. H to deconstruct this deeply flawed model and posit a more holistic and hopeful way of thinking about psychiatric care.  Dr. Van Derveer and the Integrative Psychiatric Institute https://psychiatryinstitute.com/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page ..read more

Dr. H's patient Lindsey shares her story of self-medicating her anxiety and depression with cannabis, then steadily building tolerance and moving on to THC concentrates. This led to full-blown dependence and a spiral downward into daily bouts of terrible nausea, near constant panic, and emerging hopelessness. BFTA on Instagram. @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page ..read more

In this season 6 opener Dr. H sits down with Dr. Erin Jacklin of the Catalyst Center in Denver to explore how we learn to the deeply complex and consistently challenging work of doing good therapy. BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page ..read more

Craig sits down with Dori Lewis of Elemental Psychedelics to explore the myths and realities of working with psilocybin mushrooms, including: •What do people not understand about psilocybin mushrooms? •Can mushrooms treat depression? If so, which types? •How should we think about the specific roles of mushrooms and ketamine in psychiatric and psychological treatment? •What kinds of problems are most amenable to psilocybin? •Why do some people have no psychedelic experience on apparently therapeutic doses of psilocybin? •Individual vs group work with mushrooms Elemental Psychedelics-- Ketamin ..read more

Chris and Craig go meta to deconstruct season 5, explore the art of storytelling and music selection, and answer listener questions. BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page ..read more

Christina grew up with a tumultuous and mentally ill Mother, an older brother who decompensated into psychosis and frightening aggression, and just one healthy family member, her Father.   We explore both the wounding of having a desperately ill parent, as well as the profound gift of having another parent able to provide love and support. Christina suffered terribly from these maternal wounds, but she was also able to finally emerge as a healthy, grateful, wise, and deeply caring adult….initially drawn to nursing, she eventually transitioned into working as a psychiatric nurse practition ..read more

Dr. Russell Carr was a career Navy psychiatrist for 20 years and served in Iraq, where today’s story begins.  This is a story of a healer, then a terrible wounding, then the healer trying to find his way amidst the chaos of war. This story is about a rite of passage, one that not every psychiatrist faces, but most do at some point-- that of losing the first patient to suicide, then trying to find the strength to move forward. Dr. Russell Carr A Psychiatrist Returns from War-- on Substack https://russellcarr.substack.com/ BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/back ..read more

A huge problem with current psychiatric diagnosis is that it often lumps completely unrelated things under the same vast and vague tent, such as with the diagnosis of "Major Depressive Disorder".   Here Craig sits down with his patient Rebecca to try to make sense of her complex early onset depression and how it played out via addiction, anorexia, and pathological caretaking and how she was finally able find the grace and compassion to prioritize care for herself. Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive psychotherapy training in Colorado with Dr.  H https://www.craigheac ..read more

In this solo episode Craig shares his current thoughts on MDMA medicalization, sleep meds, ADD, motivation vs self-discipline, benzos, how long to stay on psych meds, a change and a proposed addition to his top 10 med list, borderline vs bipolar, and marriage. Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive training with Dr.  H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/ BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page ..read more