Beyond Well with Sheila Hamilton

Cristina and Jamaal Lane founded three barbershops for black clients living in Portland, Oregon. Their conversations with thousands of people about what they needed to cultivate greatness led to the creation of Be Great University, a virtual community and learning platform for professionals who want to pivot professionally or increase their core business skills. Be Great University provides a step by step process for finding your inner purpose.

More than half of all Americans are coping with quarantine stress, depression and anxiety.  Substance abuse and drug use has also increased and access to residential treatment centers is limited due to the spread of the pandemic. Dr. Jim Polo walks us through treatment options available during this time.

Researchers are scrambling to understand just how COVID-19 impacts the brain and what scientists can do to prevent long-term damage. Anxiety, depression, brain-fog, hallucinations, stroke and olfactory damage are all neurological symptoms now associated with Covid19. Dr. Jim Polo talks about potential treatment and outcomes available for people with neurological symptoms.

Steven Wolt is a recovered addict and entrepreneur who has studied what works in behavioral healthcare. As CEO of Veritus Solutions, Steven understands better than most the shame and stigma of seeking help for addiction. Wolt launched Veritus Solutions to provide recovery options for healthcare workers who are dealing with alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, or anxiety during Covid19.

If you've ever wished for a successful, empathetic human to describe anxiety accurately, meet Harris Goldberg. Harris is a writer, producer and director (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo: The Master of Disguise), and his own film Numb, inspired by his experiences dealing with depersonalization disorder and ocd. Goldberg talks with Beyond Well about the origins of his anxiety and how Covid quarantine has forced him to stress test his coping mechanisms.

Dr. Jim Polo talks about the disturbing increase in reported incidents of psychosis, a severe mental disorder in which though and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality. "In those who face a high risk for somebody developing a psychotic disorder, cannabis can act like a trigger."

Dr. Marissa Alert shepherds her clients through the ups and downs of wellness. Among the most tricky months--from Thanksgiving until New Year. Add in a global pandemic, with economic stress and fewer opportunities for socializing, and your wellness routine can be easily sabotaged. Dr. Alert has some key advice for people hoping to keep it realistic this holiday season.

Dr. Rhonda Wells-Wilbon offers a reflection on the healing power of faith during times of social unrest. She encourages her clients and students to develop an intellectual curiosity about their spiritual being (whether they believe in a God or not), and to sit in meditation or prayer. In the days leading up to the election, we could all use a little more hopefulness and positivity. Dr Rhonda delivers.

An “internal locus of control” is the belief that our actions have a direct effect on the outcomes in our life. Dr. Jim Polo explains the theory behind the locus of control and why it's important to our self-development, safety, and well-being when we focus on the things in our lives that are within our control. Please share this episode with anyone who feels overwhelmed by the recent election.

The majority of people who are threatening suicide either present at an emergency room or they see their primary care provider in the weeks before an attempt. For too long, health officials have not known how to properly evaluate for suicidal ideation and intent. Now, Jaspr Health is saving lives. The interactive tool empowers evidence-based suicide care at scale, and improves patient outcomes and experiences. Topher Jerome, a suicide attempt survivor, takes us through this revolutionary new platform.

Csaba Mera is a former pediatric oncologist and a physician who has often wished he could provide more comfort to his suffering patients. As a screenwriter, his newest film Here Awhile, examines the Oregon Death with Dignity Act through the lens of a young woman who has made the personal decision to avail herself of the law. Mera’s film is winning international acclaim for its candor, humanity and intimacy. How does a physician come to the place in life where art communicates his deepest questions? And how does an award-winning screenwriter balance the demanding career as a physician? Mera’s immigrant story is one not to miss. Here Awhile is now available on Amazon.

Childhood is fraught with mood changes and behavioral adjustments. So, what separates a normal child struggling with anger, relationships and learning with someone who is exhibiting symptoms of BiPolar disorder? Dr. Jim Polo discusses the specifics of bipolar disorder in children here and why he is particularly conservative when medicating young people.

Willa Goodfellow is one of the most insightful, optimistic and hopeful interviews we’ve ever done with someone living with bipolar disorder. Misdiagnosed, overmedicated and left distraught by her mental illness, Willa’s remarkable story of recovery will leave you cheering and sharing the episode with others.

With a high degree of emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ), in the workplace, a person uses social skills, self-awareness, motivation and self-regulation to acknowledge, comprehend, regulate and reason using the emotions. Robin Hills is an emotional intelligence coach. He is Director of EI4Change, a company specializing in people development and the practical application of emotional intelligence in improving performance.

Dr. Jim Polo talks about the potential and pitfalls associated with treating people with Bipolar disorder.

Dr. Alert received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami and her bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College. She has experience working with adults to help them better manage stress, improve their health habits, and live a life that is in line with their values. In this episode, Dr. Alert focuses on the stress of Covid19 on black Americans and the increase in emotional eating.

Dr. Rhonda Wells-Wilbon joins the Beyond Well team to provide the perspective of a social worker in the overall picture of mental wellness. Dr. Rhonda has been a social work educator for 25 years teaching at the undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. level. She is an author, psychotherapist, trainer, and holistic wellness coach. She has expertise working with adult survivors of sexual abuse and assault and financial planning. As an African American woman, Doctor Rhonda will also help provide insight into racial trauma, and resistance to counseling and therapy in the black community. She is the mother of two young adult sons who are both in graduate school.

Robert Kolker is the author of Lost Girls, a New York Times Best-seller. His new book, Hidden Valley Road, is an Oprah Book Club pick and a scrupulously researched accounting of the Galvin family, a Colorado Springs family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia. The family became subjects of researchers investigating the genetic origin of schizophrenia.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has had a severe impact on mental health. More than 260,000 people have been impacted by anxiety and depression. In a volunteer survey, sixty percent of people report mental distress due to concerns about contracting the virus, economic stress, and the pressures of quarantine.    Now is the time to seek help--but how do you find the right practitioner? This episode answers all of your questions.

Dr. Jim Polo has worked as a general physician, a child psychiatrist, an adult psychiatrist, and in a state hospital setting. He's now the Director of Behavioral Health for Cambia Health Solutions. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Polo about why he chose this specialty and what his biggest breakthroughs/disappointments have been.

Laura Munson is the bestselling Author of This is Not the Story You Think it Is, a beautifully honest and searing memoir about a marriage that is coming apart.  In her new book, Willa's Grove, Munson explores the power and wonder of sisterhood, belonging, and taking care of one another, even during our most difficult transitions. The book lands at a particularly important time as women everywhere seek deeper and more intimate connection.

In He Came In With It: A Portrait of Motherhood and Madness, artist Miriam Feldman expands into writing by sharing very personal experiences with her son’s mental illness as well as the greater impacts on the entire family. Feldman shares the ups and downs of navigating the mental health system, seeking the best care for her son within a structure that is all too often broken.

Since the arrival of Covid19, Americans have turned to anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication in sharply increasing numbers. Dr. Jim Polo, a licensed psychiatrist, talks with Beyond Well about the who, what, where, and when of seeking psychopharmacological help. Also, why counseling and behavior modification improves outcomes more than medicines alone.

Since the arrival of Covid19, Americans have turned to anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication in sharply increasing numbers. Dr. Jim Polo, a licensed psychiatrist, talks with Beyond Well about the who, what, where, and when of seeking psychopharmacological help. Also, why counseling and behavior modification improves outcomes more than medicines alone.

Laryssa Birdseye is the rare performer whose onstage person matches the intensity and brilliance of her voice. Birdseye’s lyrics are drawn directly from her wry and hilarious commentary on the state of her psychological world. Laryssa’s  clarity about her lifelong battle with anxiety, an eating disorder, and finally alcoholism, is a refreshing blast of honesty, “You think it’s over because you’ve whipped it…oh, but no.”

How do you cope with the long reality of Covid19? Dr. Jenna LeJeune shares some tips and compassionate guided exercises for moving into the now.

Dr. Jenna LeJeune breaks down the psychological components of stress eating and restricting during quarantine. Both impulses come out of a well established human urge to control our surroundings and how we feel in reaction to stress, anxiety, and sadness.

Doyle Smith, Angel Prater, and Michael Sorenson devote their lives to caring for people who are suffering from psychological distress. Smith runs Dual Diagnosis Anonymous, Prater is an intentional peer support national trainer and Sorenson is the business development director for Cedar Hills Hospital. In this interview, you'll hear specific techniques for moving beyond the isolation and fear of Covid19.

Our conversation with Erin Khar was recorded before the COVID19 pandemic but it speaks to an already existing crisis in our country, the opioid epidemic. Erin's brilliant memoir explores her fifteen-year-battle with opiate addiction and the very nature of why people do drugs, often to medicate other underlying mental health disorders. Her writing is clear-eyed, factual and cognizant of her own privilege as Erin finally wound her way to health.

Dr. Jim Polo talks about the unique barriers to effective mental health treatment faced by black Americans. Racial trauma is key to understanding the black experience.

Dr. James Polo joins the team at Beyond Well, with a background as a general physician, as a child psychiatrist, and as a general psychiatrist. Dr. Polo brings over 20 years of experience and previously served as Chief Medical Officer and senior psychiatric physician for Western State Hospital in Washington. He led development and oversight of psychiatric services in various military hospitals, served at the Pentagon as the Health Policy Advisor to the Secretary of the Army. He helped orchestrate complex care delivery for a children’s health care network in Washington state. In this interview, Dr. Polo talks about one of the most powerful experiences that helped him understand the complex forces of addiction and the depth of psychological struggle in family structures.

We are #turningoverthemic to #BlackVoices, including Domonique Debnam, an advocate and marketing executive for Brand Jordan at Nike in Portland, Oregon. Domonique shares her personal experiences growing up in one of the whitest cities in America and how the worldwide protests against police brutality have changed everything for Domonique personally and her hopes for the future.

Andrew Solomon says of depression, "Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don't believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future. Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it's good for you even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason.”  This is a conversation with one of America's renowned writers, thinkers, and advocates about the less reported health impacts of Covid19; the epidemic of depression, and the self-reported increase in anxiety caused by loneliness, job insecurity, and fears of the future.

Doyle Smith, Angel Prater, and Michael Sorenson devote their lives to caring for people who are suffering from psychological distress. Smith runs Dual Diagnosis Anonymous, Prater is an intentional peer support national trainer and Sorenson is the business development director for Cedar Hills Hospital. In this interview, you'll hear specific techniques for moving beyond the isolation and fear of Covid19.

Zach Carothers talks about his interior work during Covid19, taking time to pay attention to his mental health, and putting down roots in the Portland area for the first time. The PTM Foundation is also advocating for indigenous peoples who have been severely impacted by the spread of Covid19. Carothers is clear-eyed about the challenge of a pandemic. "We will not be the same people coming out of this that we were going in," Carothers says." But, we have the chance to create what's next. And that's, exciting."

Dan Ryan reflects on the similarities between the HIV/Aids crisis and Covid19, including a lack of adequate testing, discrimination against people who contracted the virus, disinformation, and a worldview awareness that viruses can be deadly. Ryan also says the experience deepened him as a human being and set him on a path of deep spiritual exploration.

Dr. Jenna LeJeune is helping couples navigate tricky territory during the quarantine. How do you help someone who is experiencing extreme distress? Dr. LeJeune offers compassionate, evidence-based solutions.

Dr. Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff talk about the increase in people seeking therapy with divorce or separation on their minds. The unusual circumstance of quarantine, financial stress due to layoffs, and close quarters is creating a relationship powder keg unlike any other time in recent American history. This episode is for anyone wondering "Is it over?"

In a recent Gallup poll, more than eighty percent of Americans now say financial stress is their biggest concern related to Covid19. While there is little we can control with regards to employment, there are practical steps we can take to be prepared for re-employment, and more importantly, emotional well-being practices we can use to stay grounded, even during the crisis.

The vaccine for polio was announced 65 years ago, in April of 1955. Dr. Jonas Salk who led the team that developed the vaccine understood the urgency of a pandemic, and more broadly, that the key to eradicating disease takes more than science alone. In this interview with, Dr Salk’s youngest son, Dr. Jonathan Salk, Beyond Well’s Sheila Hamilton talks about the human, social, political and economic relationships involved in eradicating disease.

Katherine Olivetti is a psychoanalyst and a dream expert who has authored two books on the topic. For the first time in her research, she is gathering data that suggests people of all cultures, from different countries, are having the same themes in their dreams. This is an incredibly hopeful and uplifting conversation about the power of dreams to help remake who we become as human beings.

Dr. Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff talk about the unique impact on healthcare workers during Covid19 and the actionable items they and their loved ones can take to protect their mental health.

Cambia Health Solutions CEO Mark Ganz joins Beyond Well to talk about the enormous impact COVID19 is having on health organizations and describes his own personal battle against Covid19. "We are in the black swan of black swan events," Ganz says, "But the access to behavioral healthcare via telehealth may be one of the silver linings of this pandemic."  Dr. Jim Polo, Cambia's Medical Director also joins the conversation to talk about how to take care of Covid19 related anxiety.

Dr. C. Lamar Frizzell and Michael Sorenson join Sheila Hamilton to talk about the need for more psychiatric care and access to psychiatric beds. Universal Health Services is proposing to build 100 new beds in Wilsonville, but there is still some political opposition. A group of legislators, senators and business owners is petitioning the Governor to allow the hospital to be built.

FACE COVID is developed by Russ Harris, an ACT therapist based in Australia. It is a set of practical steps for responding effectively to the Covid crisis, using the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy. F, focus on what's in your control. A. Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. C. Come back into your body. E. Engage in What you are doing. Dr. Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff take you through the practice.

During the #Covid19 pandemic, Dr. Jonathan Horey continues to see patients who are seeking relief from drug-resistant depression. Dr. Horey has been practicing psychiatry since 2006. And treating patients with transcranial magnetic stimulation since 2017. He is passionate about the treatment of depression and helping his patients who are suffering. TMS is FDA cleared, non-invasive and non-medication treatment option that uses electromagnetism.

Leslie Barber’s husband died of cancer in June of 2015. And as Leslie points out, nothing she’d done in her life prepared her for the shock, trauma, and loneliness of her husband’s death. Leslie was struck by how unprepared her friends and even her family were in dealing with her grief. Our culture is incredibly good at celebrating life. We need to learn to get better at acknowledging and coping with grief, the other end of the human cycle. Leslie’s support group at www.AGriefWarrior.com  is a place to begin healing.

Shame is the most painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. But, as Dr. Goff and Dr. LeJeune discuss, shame roots at the very being of what we care about most. With an increase in public shaming, the potential of depression, isolation, and self-harm increases. The point, as Dr. LeJeune says, is to always offer a fellow human the path to retribution.

C. Lamar Frizzell is the CEO of Cedar Hills Hospital and an expert in both mental health and divinity. At a time when so many people are asking the question, "Why is there so much suffering?" Sheila and Lamar talk about how we can view this crisis through the lens of spirituality.  This is the first interview Beyond Well is conducting by Zoom due to quarantine. Please be patient as we work to improve our sound!

Dr. Brian Goff and Dr. Angela Izmirian provide guidance for how to talk to your kids about the seriousness of Covid-19, tips for calming your anxiety and panic, and the basics of bouncing forward or becoming a more resilient, compassionate person despite the chaos around us.