Radio Curious

Are you or do you know someone who is tired of endlessly negotiating with a 5 year old? How about taking a 3 year old to a restaurant? Children are too often seen and treated as small adults, dressed as adults, and sometimes have their lives planned out for them to be as busy as adults. Treating children as people older than they are — overlooks the child’s cognitive abilities. This can be a lead to unsatisfying and sometimes traumatic relationships between the child and the parents.

“Parents in Charge: Setting Healthy, Loving Boundaries for You and Your Child” was written by Dr. Dana Chidekel in 2002, She’s a child psychologist near Los Angeles, California. Dr. Chidekel argues that the developing brain of toddlers does not give them the capacity to respond to being placed on equal ground with their parents. She encourages parents to assume their rightful role of authority.

I spoke with Dr. Dana Chidekel in the winter of 2002 from her office in Southern California. We began our conversation by talking about the developing brain of young children. I asked her what the brain of a young child is able to assess and not able to assess.

The books that Dr. Chidekel recommends for young children are the Bernstein Bears series.  The book she recommends for older people is “Seabiscuit.”

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download the podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Radio Curious brings you an archived conversation with Eve Ensler, creator of the Vagina Monologues.

Click here to visit and listen to our archived program.

How to get below the radar of your mind and what to do once you’re there is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  One goal is to reach the quantum of personal leaning in the sub-conscious mind and bring that experiential knowledge to the conscious mind of daily life.  A trusted guide is often beneficial.

Our guest is Dr. Jeffrey Zeig, in another conversation about the Ericksonian approach to psychotherapy.  He is the founder and director of the Milton Erickson Foundation and a clinical psychologist based in Phoenix, Arizona.  Dr. Zeig has directed multiple conferences on the evolution of psychotherapy including the 11^th Milton Erickson Psychotherapy Conference where he and I met in December 2011, in Phoenix, Arizona.

We began our conversation when I asked him about the history of psychotherapy.

The books he recommends are “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery as well as the books written by Leo Tolstoy.

Jeff Zeig’s website is www.jeffzeig.com.  The Milton Erickson Foundation website is www.erickson-foundation.org.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download the podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Gene expression:  Psychosocial and cultural genomics–a healing process that connects the mind-body to emotional and physical healing is our topic.  Our guest is Dr. Ernest Rossi, a practicing psychologist, hypnotherapist and an expert in dreams. Dr. Rossi describes how we humans can activate a specific gene within us to advance our abilities, or recover from an injury.

He suffered a major stroke in the early 2000s that impaired his speech and movement.  Dr. Rossi managed his own recovery using psychosocial and cultural genomics.  He and I visited at the 11^th Milton Erickson Psychotherapy Congress in Phoenix, Arizona in December 2011.  I turned on the recorder and asked Dr. Rossi to explain how gene expression works.

Dr. Ernest Rossi recommends your choice of the 36 books he has authored or edited.  For more information visit his website: www.ernestrossi.com.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download the podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (1)

Are you interested in a social lubricant, perhaps social glue, or an antidote to depression, stay tuned, you’re in the right place here at Radio Curious.  In this edition we visit with Steven Sultanoff, who portrays himself as a mirthologist and humorologist with a Ph.D. in psychology.  Dr. Sultanoff frequently uses humor in his work, and regularly in his daily life.

Steven Sultanoff and I met when Radio Curious attended the 11^th Milton Erickson Psychotherapy Congress in Phoenix, Arizona in early December, 2011, where Steven Sultanoff presented a workshop about the importance of humor in psychotherapy and daily life.  I laughed at some of what I heard and asked him if we could visit in front of the Radio Curious microphone.  He agreed.  We began as he described the role of humor in society and his professional practice.

Steven Sultanoff, Ph.D. is a specialist in the use of humor in psychotherapy.  His website is www.mirthmatters.com.  The books Steven Sultanoff recommends are all by Malcolm Gladwell:  “Blink,” “Outliars,” and “The Tipping Point.”

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download the podcast.

Podcast: Download

One man’s personal experience in recognizing his homosexuality, is the subject of this program.  Until the mid 1970s homosexuality was considered by many people to be a mental disorder and/or a crime, as it still is in some personal and political belief systems.  Homosexual people sometimes were housed in mental institutions, given medication and suffered an array of treatment methods, including shock therapy and other forms of behavior modification.

Professor Robert Dole, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious, was one of many individuals subjected to behavior modification of that period in time. In his book, “How to Make a Success of Your Schizophrenia,” he explains how the “treatment” he endured as an attempt to alter his homosexual preference made him schizophrenic.  His personal memoir describes his experiences growing up in the 1960s as a gay man, his institutionalization at the McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, the schizophrenia that consumed him as a result of his treatment, his self-led recovery, partially based on a spiritual experience, and his subsequent extraordinary life in academia.

Professor Dole, who is fluent in seven languages, teaches English as a Foreign Language at the University of Chicoutimi in rural Quebec, Canada, where he has lived for 30 plus years.  He and I visited by phone from his office at the University of Chicoutimi on November 4, 2011 and began our conversation when I asked to describe the schizophrenia he experienced.

The books Professor Robert Dole recommends are: “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” by Leo Tolstoy and any book from Stefan Zweig.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download the podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

How many of us are lonely?  What is loneliness and how does it affect us?  Approximately 25 years ago, when asked the number of friends in whom we could confide, most people in the United States said “three.”  When that question was asked recently most people said “none.”

Inquires reveal that 20% of people, — 60 million in the Untied States alone – are feeling lonely at any given moment.  And, it appears that chronic loneliness may well compete with smoking, obesity and lack of exercise as a significant health risk.

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with William Patrick, the founding editor of The Journal of Life Sciences and co-author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” along with University of Chicago psychology professor John Cacioppo.

My conversation with William Patrick, recorded on October 13, 2008, began when I asked him to define loneliness as used in their book.

The book William Patrick recommends is “The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins,” by Burton Mack.

Originally Broadcast: October 18th, 2008.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Why some couples get along and others don’t, sometimes to the extent of terminating their relationship, is a curious question, the answer to which is likely to bring both pleasure and unhappiness to each of us. Michael Basta has been a licensed clinical social worker based in Sonoma, County California, since 1988. He is trained and certified as a Gottman Couples’ Therapist. This training identifies the traits and behaviors of couples that are useful to predict how long their relationship will last. Michael Basta visited Radio Curious on May 21, 2010, and began by describing the negative traits and behaviors that indicate a dark future for the relationship.

The book Michael Basta recommends is “The Female Brain,” by Dr. Louann Brizendine.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Have you ever been curious about the difference between the male brain and the female brain?  Well I have, for a long time.  This week Radio Curious speaks with neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Louann Brizendine, founder of the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco.  In 2006 she wrote a book called, “The Female Brain,” and in 2010 she wrote “The Male Brain,”–very different books about very different genders of our human species.

The interview with Dr. Louann Brizendine was recorded March 21^st, 2011.

The book she recommends is “The Emperor of All Maladies,” by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)