Freudian Sips

This week, Anna and Bonnie try to wrap their brains around the story of Phineas Gage, a construction foreman whose custom tamping rod took a little trip through his frontal lobe. The gals discuss how in the world Phineas was able to survive such a thing, how the accident affected who he was, and how this case has affected what we know about the brain even today. They also try to figure out what exactly made the tamping rod custom. Did he shoot pool with it? Did he use it to fend off wild dogs on his walks home? Only Phineas himself knows (unless the part that held that knowledge got skewered).

The girls are going for gold this week to talk about resilience, especially inspired by the 2020 Olympics and some mental health controversy. Anna uses her vast sports knowledge to talk about Simone Biles, specifically how awesome it is that she can do all those flips while she’s got balls of steel, and meanwhile, Bonnie has made good on her promise (threat?) to implement sound effects as she talks about the three types, five pillars, and seven C’s of resilience.

“It’s all in your head.” “Time heals all wounds.” “Have you tried yoga?” This week, Anna and Bonnie are chatting about some frequently used sayings and platitudes that get thrown around about mental health, and how these can be more hurtful than helpful. To go along with this, they chat about the general power of words and how we talk to ourselves. Also, Bonnie spends a lot of time brainstorming sound effects as part of her master plan to implement foley work into the ‘cast, so stay tuned for that!

Anna and Bonnie are chatting this week about how brains may differ depending on gender — or more accurately, how they don’t differ much at all, according to newer research. Naturally, this includes heavy disclaimers for gender binary stuff, and how the history of this research is rooted in some pretty gnarly sexism. They talk about some of the more well-known works on the subject, like the work of Gina Rippon and the many books in the “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” series.

This week, Anna and Bonnie are talking about Robert Hare and the test he made to assess whether someone is a psychopath! They chat about what words like psychopath and sociopath mean, how they relate to antisocial personality disorder, and they even go over Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist, which you should NOT do at home, exactly like the girls do in this very episode! Is Anna a psychopath? Listen to find out!

WARNING: There's another echo in this episode, despite Anna’s best efforts! Oh, wait, that's the wrong warning. WARNING: SEX! Because this week, the gals are talking about fetishes, kinks, and paraphilias. Armed with an appropriately themed shot and several lists of kinks, Anna and Bonnie go from mild to wild as they talk about sexy times. This one is obviously more NSFW than usual!

Trying to stay one step ahead of the Podcast Police, Anna and Bonnie are talking this week about hoarding, the disorder that causes people to accumulate things to excess. They chat about how this might look, how closely this is related to anxiety and trauma, the levels of hoarding (WARNING: gross!), and the kind of treatments that could be beneficial. They also try SO hard to be funny, if only to exceed Bonnie’s expectations.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Social media sites are an almost unavoidable part of life, but how do they affect our mental health? Anna and Bonnie dive in and discuss how using social media can actually make us feel less connected to others, and how it can affect how we see ourselves as well. Oh, and remember to like, comment, and subscribe to give us that sweet, sweet dopamine!

Is the news BAD? Well yes, lately, generally, but does it try to be even WORSE? Anna and Bonnie investigate! They follow a hot scoop about negativity bias in news, including unpacking stuff such as emotionally loaded language and even subliminal messaging. They chat about how the presentation of news can really affect your mental health, and even what you can do to watch out for it!

Anna has finally convinced her mother to talk about marijuana in front of microphones! They chat about what marijuana actually is, the history of the plant, its effect on our brains and bodies, and even some fun names for marijuana (AKA ganja AKA grass AKA the devil’s lettuce). And of course, they also talk about the goods and the bads of substance use, including legality issues as well as the effects on a person’s mental health.

After putting the topic off for far too long, Anna and Bonnie are finally talking about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD! They chat about the symptoms, possible causes, and treatments of ADHD, as well as addressing some common misconceptions and how it might look in adults. (Also there are a lot of animals around, so if you hear dog noises, it’s not all in your head.)

Welcome back, Sipsters! After a short hiatus, the girls are back and ready to vibe. They’re starting off with some healthy self-disclosure by talking about their own philosophies of therapy and how they view being counselors. They chat about what it means to be humanistic and existential, what kind of clients they like to work with, and what they find tough and rewarding about the work. They also talk about their favorite therapy metaphors, which are definitely legally trademarked.

For their last episode in 2020, Anna and Bonnie have cobbled together a list of holiday-themed research studies to chat about. Can science tell what the true meaning of Christmas is? What about when we get bad gifts? Do people get mad when you don’t give them chocolate? All these questions and more are discussed in this very merry episode!

Anna and Bonnie finally did it: they made an episode about bipolar disorder. This week, the gals chat about what bipolar disorder actually looks like, including explaining mania and depression and trashing how society has misused the terms. They also talk about the different types of bipolar, possible causes, how it’s treated, and other somewhat fun facts!

This week, Bonnie and Anna are talking about Mary Whiton Calkins, the first female president of the American Psychiatric Association! As always, Anna talks about the history of the person, including Mary’s uphill battle being a woman in the male-dominated psychology field. Then Bonnie chats about some of Mary’s ideas, including the more lofty ideas like the very concept of self, as well as more practical stuff like dreams and memory.

In their second Spooktober episode, the girls are talking about… death! Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Bonnie gives an overview of various rituals around death, including how other cultures bury their dead, and then Anna gives a look into the origins of Halloween and compares that to a more specifically death-related holiday, the Mexican Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead

Happy Spooktober, Sipsters! This week, Bonnie is telling us the story of the Salem witch trials, including how it all went down and who all the major payers were. Then Anna comes in to talk about some of the possible theories about what could have caused it all, including more psychological things like trauma or hysteria, as well as more medical explanations like diseases or fungus!

Expansion Pack Volume One! After mentioning these concepts in other episodes, Bonnie and Anna are explaining more details about defense mechanisms and cognitive distortions. Bonnie tells us about defense mechanisms, which originated in Freudian theory, and Anna, who is VERY tired, tells us about cognitive distortions, which are part of CBT. Also, they have family visiting, so there may be some guest background noises!

This week, Anna and Bonnie chat about memory, specifically how it works and how it can sometimes fail. They talk about some good brain stuff, explain short and long term memory, warn about common memory errors, and even chat about what we can do to keep our memories sharp! They also talk about weird things like kuru and ganglions, because it’s their podcast and they can talk about whatever they want.

This one is long overdue: Anna and Bonnie are finally talking about cognitive behavioral therapy, commonly known as CBT! They talk about important CBT concepts like cognitive distortions, faulty assumptions, and core beliefs. They also chat about the history of this particular therapy, as well as what it might look like if your therapist is using CBT techniques, of which there are many!