The Verywell Mind Podcast, Fall 2023 Season
From loneliness to social activism, postpartum depression, and technology, experts discuss mental health and community care.
The Verywell Mind Podcast is a show from Verywell Mind, one of the largest mental health information brands in the world. While the podcast is not a production of Stereoactive Media, the latest season of the show was produced by Stereoactive's founder: me.
So, now that the season has wrapped, I thought I'd share it here for those who may be interested...
This season of the Verywell Mind Podcast is focused on the power of community and hosted by Minaa B, a licensed social worker, mental health educator, and author of "Owning Our Struggles." Minaa is also a community care expert who helps people build healthy relationships. Every Friday, we spoke with experts, wellness advocates, and individuals with lived experiences about community care and its impact on mental health.
Listen and follow now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Music
If You’ve Been Feeling 'Meh' Lately, You Could Be Experiencing Anhedonia
Psychiatrist Dr. Judith Joseph Shares 3 Tips to Help Spark Joy in Your Life
When living with certain mental health conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder, a common symptom is anhedonia—the inability to experience pleasure from the things that used to bring you joy.
In this episode, Dr. Judith Joseph aka "social media's favorite psychiatrist" talks about what anhedonia really looks like and how people experiencing it can ask for and get the help they need—and deserve.
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How to Build Community Support & Self-Love When Living With a Chronic Illness
Nitika Chopra shares how she lives her best life with multiple chronic illnesses
Conditions that last for a year or more and impair daily functioning are called chronic illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some of the most common include heart disease, depression, and arthritis. Living with a chronic illness can be isolating and painful, however, treatment options are available.
In this episode, Nitika Chopra, founder and CEO of the chronic illness community Chronicon, details her debilitating psoriasis journey. Hear her discuss how she got through her most awful days and how cultivating community and self-love can help people with chronic illnesses live their best lives.
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Yes—You Can Totally Use Interior Design as a Therapy Tool
Home therapist Anita Yokota shares tips for turning your home into a sanctuary
Your home environment and mood are connected. So, take a moment and look at your home surroundings. How does your home make you feel? Anxious? Sad? Cagey? Whatever emotion just popped up for you likely has something to do with the interior of your home. Even if some negative feelings come up for you—fear not!—because we can use interior design as a therapy tool. In fact, therapist-turned-interior-design Anita Yokota swears by it! In this episode, Yokota teaches us how to identify the emotional climate of our homes and the interior design changes we can make to our homes look—and feel better.
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Yes, Even Social Activists Need Rest Too
A race and equity expert shares why activists need to embrace the #SoftLife
Social activism is hard and often thankless work. However, the small and big wins feel monumental and make the journey toward gaining equity and fair treatment worth it.
Felicia A. Henry, LMSW, a social worker and PhD candidate with a focus on race, gender, carceral, and social vulnerability studies shares ways we can preserve our mental health while fighting for social justice—because activists deserve rest too.
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We All Get Lonely Sometimes—What to Do on the Days You Feel Totally Alone
Loneliness is painful, but there are some healthy ways to manage those feelings
Being lonely really sucks. We've all experienced the moments where everyone we know seems to be busy—we haven't gotten a text back in hours, no one else is at home with us...even our pets can't be bothered with us!
While the feeling of loneliness is never fun, we can learn ways to deal with solitude in a healthy way that doesn't start to wreak havoc on our mental health.
Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, Founder of Project UnLonely talks about the toxicity of loneliness and how we can break down the stigma surrounding the topic because it can be hard to admit we're feeling lonely. Dr. Nobel also shares the types of creative expression that can be an antidote to loneliness.
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How to Use Writing Therapy to Release Negative Emotions and Trauma
Whether it’s lyrics or journaling—expression through writing can be cathartic
Over the last 15 years, Cassadee Pope has been a lot of things to a lot of people—leader of seminal pop-punk band Hey Monday, the season 3 winner of The Voice and a platinum-selling, GRAMMY-nominated country singer-songwriter. Pope is also an ally and activist pushing for social change and a brighter future in a backward world. In this episode, Pope sits down with Minaa B. to discuss how therapy has shaped her life and songwriting, she also gives listeners a peek into what inspired her soon-to-be-released single.
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Setting Boundaries in a Relationship—Your Questions Answered
Minaa B. answers your pressing questions about setting and managing boundaries.
You sent Minaa your most pressing questions, and in today's episode Minaa provides her insight and advice to those questions. You asked about managing boundaries with an emotionally abusive parent, how to talk about intimacy in a relationship when you and your partner might have different needs, and how to set boundaries with a friend who is consistently late.
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How to Turn Down the Noise and Turn Up Your Confidence
Model & self-love advocate Achieng Agutu shows us how to be your own hype woman
Achieng Agutu is a Kenyan-born model, and digital content creator, who has made a name for herself through social platforms by serving us a daily bowl of motivation, daily affirmations, self-love and fearlessness.The positivity became a viral sensation, leading Vogue to name her the “Confidence Queen.” Global attention from major brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Away followed and she was also chosen for this year’s Create & Cultivate Top 100 list for creators.
In this episode, Agutu sits down with Minaa B to discuss how she developed her confidence, stopped living for other people and what's up next for the "Confidence Queen."
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The Critical Role of Community in Postpartum Depression Care
No more suffering in silence
Paige Bellenbaum, is a LCSW, and the Founding Director and Chief External Relations Officer at The Motherhood Center of New York.
In this episode, Bellenbaum sits down with Minaa B to discuss her experience with severe postpartum depression and how that drove her to fight for education, screening, and treatment for postpartum depression so that no more women would have to suffer silently.
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Social Media Is Literally Harming Our Youth—How Can We Help?
Julie Scelfo tells us how to keep our kids safe in a tech-driven world
Julie Scelfo is the Founder/Executive Director of Get Media Savvy, a nonprofit using pop culture to establish a healthy media environment for kids and families. She is an award-winning journalist, a former New York Times staff writer, a media ecologist, an author, and a parent.
Scelfo was moved to start Get Media Savvy after reporting on the youth mental health crisis and seeing suicidality affect children at ever-younger ages, and recognizing how a multitude of factors—including absent regulations and the lack of widespread media literacy—has created an unhealthy, unsafe media environment. In this episode Scelfo talks with Minaa B about how her coalition works to create a widespread cultural shift so everyone recognizes the existence of the media environment and its central role in human affairs.
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Why Black Mental Wealth Is the Bigger Picture of Black Mental Health
Dr. Raquel Martin is on a mission to radically reimagine Black possibility by promoting Black mental health as key to legacy-building and longevity for generations to come. In this episode, she sits down with Minaa B to discuss black mental wealth -- what it is and what it looks like in practice.
Dr. Martin is an experienced licensed clinical psychologist, devoted professor, acclaimed researcher, and scientist. She deeply believes in the power of Black mental wealth – an affirming, lifelong journey, that encourages Black people to center mental health practices as integral and intentionally linked to success and wellbeing.
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Small Steps for Building Sisterhood
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford talks the healing power of community
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a Licensed Psychologist. She’s also a speaker and the Founder & CEO of Therapy for Black Girls, and host of its wildly popular mental health podcast, which received a Webby award in 2023.
In this episode, Dr. Joy sits down with Minaa to discuss her new book, Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community. Her work focuses on making mental health topics more relevant and accessible for Black women and she specializes in creating spaces for them to have fuller and healthier relationships with themselves and others.
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Ask Minaa Anything: Creating and Navigating Healthy Friendships
You sent Minaa your most pressing questions, and in today's episode she provides her insight and advice to those questions. You asked about how to handle a friendship you may have outgrown, how to develop healthy two-sided friendships, and when to forgive a friend that betrayed your trust (and how to do it).