You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist

Stephanie Winn
  • 4.7 (38)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated weekly

A podcast at the intersection of psychology and culture that intimately explores the human experience and critiques the counseling profession. Your host, Stephanie Winn, distills wisdom gained from her practice as a family therapist and coach while pivoting towards questions of how to apply a practical understanding of psychology to the novel dilemmas of the 21st century, from political polarization to medical malpractice. What does ethical mental health care look like in a normless age, as our moral compasses spin in search of true north? How can therapists treat patients under pressure to affirm everything from the notion of "gender identity" to assisted suicide? Primarily a long-form interview podcast, Stephanie invites unorthodox, free-thinking guests from many walks of life, including counselors, social workers, medical professionals, writers, researchers, and people with unique lived experience, such as detransitioners. Curious about many things, Stephanie’s interdisciplinary psychological lens investigates challenging social issues and inspires transformation in the self, relationships, and society. She is known for bringing calm warmth to painful subjects, and astute perceptiveness to ethically complex issues. Pick up a torch to illuminate the dark night and join us on this journey through the inner wilderness. You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist ranks in the top 1% globally according to ListenNotes. New episodes are released every Monday. Three and a half years after the show's inception in May of 2022, Stephanie became a Christian, representing the crystallization of moral, spiritual, and existential views she had been openly grappling with along with her audience and guests. Newer episodes (#188 forward) may sometimes reflect a Christian understanding, interwoven with and applied to the same issues the podcast has always addressed. The podcast remains diverse and continues to feature guests from all viewpoints.

  1. 5 days ago

    230. Meet Young Stephanie: My Untold Story, Drawn Out by Soad Tabrizi

    I can’t believe I’m doing this.  My friend Soad Tabrizi — therapist, founder of Conservative Counselors, and a returning guest — asked if she could reverse-interview me about my own story, and I said yes. What came out was far more than I planned to share, and even if you’ve been following my work for years, it’s probably all new to you. I talk about growing up a white girl near Compton and Inglewood in the 1990s, the racial scapegoating I faced as a child, and the nutritional and emotional neglect that shaped my body and nervous system for decades. I describe the father I’ve called an autistic narcissist, a mother who loved me but couldn’t see me, and the bullying that pushed me into a punk, anarchist, runaway adolescence. I trace the path from a near-fatal drinking incident at fourteen through cults in Hawai’i, the Hare Krishnas in LA, and finally a near-stranger’s intervention that sent me to college and, eventually, into this profession. Why tell any of this? Because so much of what I teach parents — about willful children, suicide threats, meeting kids where they are, forgiveness, and how to apologize well — comes straight out of what I lived through, and went without. This is the person behind the professional, and the deficits that became my life’s work. Podcasts are not therapy, and I’m not your therapist — but I hope my story helps you see your own kids, and yourself, with a little more grace. Watch the full episode here on Substack. Click here to find it on your podcast listening platform of choice. Click here to find it on YouTube. Soad Tabrizi is a licensed marriage and family therapist with more than 15 years of clinical experience. She runs a telehealth private practice from her office in Orange County, California, and is the founder of Conservative Counselors, a directory connecting clients with reality-based mental health professionals who share their values. Soad is a contributing opinion writer for Human Events and publishes a subscriber-supported Substack focused on the corruption and ideological capture of the mental health field, as well as commentary on culture and politics. She is known for challenging woke orthodoxy in mental health and encouraging conservative professionals to stop hiding their values and start speaking openly about them. She previously appeared on episodes 65. Conservative Patients in Therapy with Soad Tabrizi and 103. Truth, Hope, & Mental Health | Michael DC Bowen, Pamela Garfield-Jaeger & Soad Tabrizi. www.soadtabrizi.comwww.conservativecounselors.comhttps://x.com/SoadTabrizihttps://www.facebook.com/soadtabrizihttps://www.instagram.com/soadtabrizi/[00:00:00] Start[00:05:22] Warmth, Coldness, And Humility[00:10:00] Ego Strength And Online Scapegoating[00:13:45] A White Girl In Compton[00:19:30] Childhood Nutritional Neglect[00:25:45] The 1992 Riots And Racial Scapegoating[00:32:00] Having An Autistic Narcissist For A Father[00:44:19] Middle School Humiliation[00:57:29] Punk Years And The Masc Mask[01:06:45] Handling Teen Suicide Threats[01:09:20] A Teenage Overdose[01:18:14] Burning Out And Escaping To Hawaii[01:22:45] One Cult After Another[01:29:45] A Surprise Intervention[01:36:15] Finding Belonging In Santa Cruz[01:42:26] The Question Of Forgiveness ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.  ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

  2. 31 Aug

    229. When Psychedelic Therapy Imprints Politics Onto Vulnerable Patients | Karen King & Wesley Smith

    The psychedelic renaissance is here — money is pouring in, states are legalizing, and a federal executive order has fast-tracked ibogaine research for veterans. But if you’re a conservative, a skeptic, or just politically homeless, is there room for you in this movement? In this episode I welcome back therapist Karen King (last heard in episodes 81 and 97) alongside her co-author Wesley Smith, a small-c conservative who stumbled into psychedelics through a paragliding accident. Together they’ve written Sensible Psychedelics: Why the Psychedelic Renaissance Needs Conservatives, Skeptics, and the Politically Homeless. We dig into what Karen witnessed firsthand in the very first therapist training cohort: a week spent dismantling privilege and naming genders rather than discussing consciousness, clinical skills, or facilitation. We talk about why that ideological capture isn’t just annoying — it’s dangerous. When a patient’s mind is cracked wide open in a psychedelic state, a facilitator who imprints their own politics is committing something close to abuse. Wesley shares the veterans angle, where an anti-colonial culture hopes to turn warriors into pacifists. But this isn’t a cynical conversation. We explore the genuine healing psychedelics can offer — Karen’s work helping a dying woman conquer her fear of death, Wesley’s reconciliation with his late father — and ask the questions this movement keeps avoiding: Why does psychedelic culture skew so far left? Where are the liberals whose journeys made them more curious about people they’d dismissed? And can a self-regulating, transparent ecosystem — maybe even one built around churches — grow up outside the captured certification boards? Are you an ROGD parent looking to do some deep, inner work for healing? A trusted friend has a special small-group offering called “Parents Heal Together” which might be a good fit for you. To learn more, please sign up here for a free informational webinar. Books mentioned in this episode: Sensible Psychedelics: Why the Psychedelic Renaissance Needs Conservatives, Skeptics, and the Politically Homeless — Karen King & Wesley SmithHow to Change Your Mind — Michael PollanKaren King, MS, LMHC, LPC is a psychotherapist with more than 20 years of experience helping adults navigate trauma, anxiety, grief, and life’s deepest transitions. The former founder of a multidisciplinary behavioral health clinic, she specializes in contemplative and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. With Wesley Smith, she co-authored the forthcoming Sensible Psychedelics: Why the Psychedelic Renaissance Needs Conservatives, Skeptics, and the Politically Homeless, which explores how psychedelics can bridge cultural divides rather than deepen them. Find her therapy practice at NewMindTherapy.com. Karen also hosts the Nuanced Therapist Network, a private, vetted community for heterodox therapists. Wesley Smith is a “small c” conservative psychonaut and writer working to bring the psychedelic renaissance out of the counterculture and into the living rooms of average Americans. After a head injury led him to explore nontraditional paths for healing, he found that psychedelics can deepen the values conservatives hold dear — faith, family, duty, and personal responsibility. His co-authored case in Sensible Psychedelics pairs evidence-based research with a culturally grounded argument for humility, gratitude, and moral clarity. [00:00:00] Start[00:03:15] Trump's Executive Order and State Psychedelic Laws[00:06:57] A Conservative's Accidental Path to Psychedelics[00:14:45] Karen's Path Through Ketamine-Assisted Therapy[00:18:50] Ideological Capture in Psychedelic Training[00:21:52] Imprinting Values, Vulnerability, and Veterans[00:29:07] Ketamine Case Study and Personal Growth[00:35:56] Why the Psychedelic World Skews Left[00:44:52] How Psychedelics Broadened Wesley's Empathy[00:48:33] Therapy as Dismantling Civilization[00:52:23] Regulation, Transparency, and Psychedelic Churches ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.  ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my L...

  3. 24 Aug

    228. Prisons, Schools, Sports & Therapy: the Gender Turf Wars with Judge Elspeth Cypher

    Retired Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Elspeth Cypher returns to the podcast (her first appearance was episode 183) to map the legal landscape of the gender turf wars, fought on four major frontiers: prisons, schools, sports, and therapy. As president of the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF), Elspeth walks me through the Chandler case challenging California’s SB 132, which eliminated all gatekeeping for men seeking transfer into women’s prisons, and the protective orders finally winning women in federal facilities some measure of relief. We discuss the aftermath of Skrmetti, Mahmoud, Chiles, and the BPJ sports ruling — and why a Supreme Court victory on paper doesn’t translate smoothly into changed practice on the ground. We also explore how women’s speech has been silenced across millennia, from the scold’s bridle to modern cancelation; what “radical feminist” means to her; the ethics of surrogacy; the falsification of birth certificates; WoLF’s remarkable new executive director, Jasmine Faulk, who escaped Saudi Arabia; the FTC’s fraud case against WPATH; and why parental authority has to be established early. This conversation asks: when nearly 200,000 women are incarcerated in facilities an unknown number of men can now enter, who is defending their right to safety, privacy, and dignity? Elspeth B. Cypher retired from the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts in 2024. She is president of the board of directors of the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF), a nonpartisan radical (meaning "root") feminist organization dedicated to the rights of women and girls. She is also a founding member of the Gender Critical Law Society. Follow her on X @ebclaw or here on Substack Elspeth Cypher. Email: boardpresident@womensliberationfront.org. [00:00:00] Start[00:03:51] How Women's Speech Gets Silenced[00:12:23] What Radical Feminism Really Means[00:17:23] The Ethics of Surrogacy[00:24:01] Falsified Birth Certificates and Identity[00:28:27] WoLF's New Executive Director[00:32:03] Chandler Case: Men in Women's Prisons[00:39:15] Protective Orders in Federal Prisons[00:47:30] Skrmetti, Mahmoud, and Chiles Rulings[00:54:29] Supreme Court on Girls' Sports[00:57:12] Four Frontiers of the Gender Battle[01:00:30] Counting Women in US Prisons[01:09:30] Gender Identity in School Curricula[01:14:06] Parental Authority Starts Early[01:19:08] FTC Fraud Case Against WPATH[01:24:10] Final Words of Wisdom ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SUBSTACK to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission. ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

  4. 17 Aug

    227. Cognitive Warfare, Moral Inversion, and the War on Children with Simon Esler

    I'm welcoming back filmmaker Simon Esler, who first appeared on this podcast back on episode 54 to discuss his documentary Cut: Daughters of the West. This time, we're diving into his new docuseries You Are Here, which explores the landscape of cognitive warfare—the idea that human cognition itself has become the most contested territory in modern conflict. We start with the chilling case of Barry Neufeld, a Canadian school board trustee who was fined $750,000 for refusing to believe that children can be born trapped in the wrong body—what the judge's ruling called "existential denialism." From there, we explore how Canada's human rights laws and conversion therapy legislation have embedded gender identity ideology into the legal framework, silencing detransitioners and punishing dissenters. Simon and I discuss how our minds are conditioned by narratives we've never examined, how meta-perceptions warp our view of political opponents, and what Iain McGilchrist's work on brain hemispheres reveals about Western cognitive vulnerability. We also get into the concept of cognitive entrenchment, moral inversion, and the historical parallels between modern ideological capture and ancient child sacrifice in Carthage. Simon shares what's next for his series and talks about the Reclaiming Birth Conference, where he's working to empower families to take back sovereignty over pregnancy and birth. Books mentioned in this episode: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. LewisRange: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David EpsteinThe Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchristSimon Esler is a committed defender of families & the lost art of free thought. A winding career path as an actor, theatre maker, ordained minister and mindfulness entrepreneur lead him to becoming a professional content creator & independent filmmaker. His latest docuseries, You Are Here - Reconnaissance for the War on Perception, is now streaming at dauntlessdialogue.com. The rest of Simon’s work can be found at simonesler.com, where he hosts an array of films, series, courses & resources focused on leveraging the pressures of modern war to foster personal growth and collective resilience. To partner with Simon’s Leaving the Line Studio for content creation, filmmaking, and brand strategy check out his full portfolio.Reclaiming Birth Conference: reclaimingbirthconference.com — a conference in Canada in September focused on empowering families around natural birth; Simon is emceeingX (Twitter): @SimonEslerInstagram: @simon_esler1111Substack: Simon Esler / Subversive Clarity[00:00:00] Start[00:01:27] Cognitive Warfare as the New Battlefield[00:03:10] Barry Neufeld and the SOGI 123 Curriculum[00:05:15] Fined $750K for "Existential Denialism"[00:07:57] Gender Identity as Compelled Religious Belief[00:10:11] Canada's Human Rights Laws and Bill C-16[00:13:18] Gender Identity as a Shield Against Accountability[00:19:17] Detransitioners Silenced in Canada[00:24:33] Recognizing Our Own Cognitive Conditioning[00:28:06] How Media Narratives Mirror Personal Anxiety[00:29:45] Meta-Perceptions and the 400% Violence Gap[00:35:32] What Is Fifth Generation Warfare[00:40:01] Moral Inversion Through Cognitive Manipulation[00:47:25] Cognitive Entrenchment and Thinking Outside Your Domain[00:49:18] When Ideological Capture Endangers Children[00:53:31] Child Sacrifice in Carthage as a Modern Warning[00:59:05] Collective Morality and Centralized Culture[01:02:34] The Reclaiming Birth Movement[01:08:47] Finding Purpose in Defending Free Thought ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission. ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD. ★ Support this podcast ...

  5. 10 Aug

    226. Clever Parenting: Faith in Your Teen's Soul, with Kim O

    I'm so glad to welcome back my friend Kim O for her third appearance on the show. Kim is a relational soul coach and author who works directly with ROGD-affected teens and their parents — one of a very small handful of people doing work that closely mirrors my own. In this conversation, we dig into what it actually looks like to believe in your child's soul when everything about their behavior is screaming at you to panic. Kim shares how shifting from fear and worry energy to genuine belief in her own son's potential transformed their relationship — and how she now coaches families to do the same. We explore what I call strategic and what Kim calls clever: non-threatening, indirect approaches that plant seeds of growth without triggering the ego defenses that gender ideology has shored up in these kids. We talk about the power of fun and play in rebuilding connection, the danger of suggestion-based parenting, setting real boundaries around devices, and why personality typing tools like the Enneagram can actually give girls a healthier outlet for the same identity-seeking impulse that gender ideology exploits. Kim also introduces her new parent and teen workbook journals, designed to create structured moments of connection and self-reflection for families who don't know where to begin. Kim O is a Relational Soul Coach and author. She utilizes Conscious Principles, Presence, and Authenticity Mapping to awaken you to your greatest power, your Conscious Authentic Self. Through inner child work and profound mindset strategies from the stoics and sages, unhealthy coping mechanisms diminish, leaving your empowerment and high relational intelligence in the wake. As a coach, she provides personal, alchemical stories of trauma turned into gold. If she did it, so can you! Contact and find her resources at linktr.ee/heartworkuKim's workbooks: My Role as the Parent of a Teen: a Journal that Guides YOU to Lead & Create Connection Who Am I? a Teen’s Journal of Self-Celebration & Connection  [00:00:00] Start[00:02:10] Shifting From Fear to Belief Energy[00:06:45] Celebrating Teens and the Teen Brain[00:10:15] The Weekly Check-In and Connect[00:16:15] Practicing Belief When Your Kid Is Nasty[00:20:35] Rupture, Repair, and Strategic Apologizing[00:25:00] Untangling Emotion From Gender Identity[00:32:15] Parents Who Never Rebelled[00:35:00] Rebellion as the Spirit of Adventure[00:40:00] Guilt, Self-Forgiveness, and Planting Seeds[00:45:00] Social Media and the Immature Brain[00:49:06] Fun, Play, and Suggestion-Based Parenting[00:55:45] Chores, Boredom, and Preparing for the Road[01:01:00] What Is the Role of the Teen and Parent[01:07:53] Coaching Under a Different Name[01:11:19] Personality Typing as an Alternative to Gender[01:18:15] Myers-Briggs and Breaking Gender Stereotypes ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.  ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

  6. 3 Aug

    225. Teens and Screens, Part 2: The Case Against Moral Panic with Dr. Will Dobud

    This is Part Two of Teens and Screens, and it's the counterweight. Last episode, Dr. Johann D'Souza made the case for keeping toxic screens out of your teenager's hands entirely. Today I'm joined again by Dr. Will Dobud — social worker, researcher, and co-author of Kids These Days — who thinks the story we tell ourselves about phones and youth mental health is far bigger than the evidence behind it. I open by naming my own bias: I work with the families where it went wrong. Porn addiction, gaming addiction, failure to launch, daughters pulled into dark corners of social media. Will names his: he's oppositional by temperament, and he wrote a book making fun of how adults talk about kids. We get into why the meta-analytic effects between screen use and youth mental health are so small they're arguably not worth publishing, what a third variable does to correlational data, and why Australia's social media ban is failing six months in. I push back repeatedly — on whether "do what feels right" is useful advice to parents who don't know what modern pornography even is, on the candy-bin problem of unregulated access, and on whether calling the phone a symptom of family dysfunction slides into blaming parents. Then Will gets on his soapbox about school, and the conversation turns somewhere I didn't expect: youth self-harm and ER data that tracks the school calendar. Up during term, down during holidays. Highest on Mondays. What if we've been pointing at the wrong thing? Books mentioned in this episode: Kids These Days — Dr. Will Dobud, with co-author NevinThe Anxious Generation — Jonathan HaidtDr. Will Dobud is a social worker, researcher, and educator who has worked with adolescents and families in the United States, Australia, and Norway. Will is from Washington, D.C., and divides his time between the United States and Australia each year. He is an award-winning researcher and educator recognized for excellence in research, teaching, and crime prevention. Dr. Dobud is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Charles Sturt University, Australia's largest social work school. His research focuses on improving therapy outcomes for teenagers and promoting safe, ethical practices. He has investigated and written about America's Troubled Teen Industry, especially wilderness therapy. He has worked alongside advocates, survivors, researchers, and clinicians to protect youth from institutionalization and harm. Will is the co-author of the award-winning book, Kids These Days: Understanding and Supporting Youth Mental Health (2025). Links  🌐 Website: www.willdobud.com📖 Book site: www.kidsthesedaysbook.com📘 Facebook: @WillDobudPhD🐦 X (Twitter): @WillDobud📸 Instagram: @WillDobud / @Kids_These_Days_Book💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-dobud-5209ab74/✍️ Substack: https://substack.com/@willdobudPrevious appearance: Episode 202, "Label Mania: How Diagnosing Every Kid Is Backfiring on a Generation"Candice Odgers TED Talk[00:00:00] Start[00:02:51] Where the Screen Narrative Outruns the Evidence[00:06:40] Australia's Failing Social Media Ban[00:12:15] The Third Variable Behind Rising Diagnoses[00:16:26] What Violent Video Games Got Wrong[00:20:24] Is There a Case for Teens on Social Media?[00:24:09] Pushback: Most Parents Don't Know the Risks[00:32:29] Advice for Parents of Kids Six, Eight, and Ten[00:38:45] Designed to Be Addictive: Netflix, Books, Phones[00:41:31] The Meta Trial and the Word Addiction[00:49:46] Is the Phone a Symptom or the Cause?[00:53:41] The Candy Bin and the Endless Buffet[01:05:31] Forty Years of Scaring Parents[01:09:19] Measuring Youth Mental Health at Scale[01:16:36] Autism Diagnoses, Funding, and Toxins[01:22:45] Will's Soapbox on School[01:26:56] Suicide Rates Follow the School Calendar[01:35:56] Why the Youngest Kid Gets Diagnosed ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.  ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Ha...

  7. 27 Jul

    224. Teens and Screens, Part 1: The Case Against Teen Smartphones with Dr. Johann D'Souza

    This is Part 1 of a two-part series on teens and screens, and I'm starting at one end of the spectrum on purpose. Today I welcome back Dr. Johann D'Souza, a clinical psychologist specializing in OCD and behavioral addiction, for an unapologetically hardline conversation. His position: never give your child a smartphone — and say no to the three "toxic screen uses" of video games, social media, and pornography. We dig into why each harms kids differently: how video games train boys toward "failure to launch" by rewarding minimal effort, how social media consumes an average of 36 hours a week from teenage girls during the years their identities are forming, and why Johann believes pornography is the single biggest problem facing young men today. He lays out his four takeaways for parents: embrace your parental authority, never give your child a smartphone, build up real life, and find one friend in the battle. We also get into the family dynamics driving early device use — what Johann calls the pattern of anxious moms and passive dads — and I bring my own framing on boundaries and why your adolescent with a smartphone is like a toddler with a candy bin. In Part 2, coming up in episode 225, you'll hear from Dr. Will Dobud, who argues close to the opposite: digital integration rather than prohibition. Hear both before you decide. The question this series explores is what a real childhood requires — and whether that means protecting kids from these technologies or teaching them to live alongside them. Dr. Johann D'Souza is a clinical psychologist with an unequivocal message: Smartphones are destroying young minds, pornography addiction is epidemic among teenage boys, and social media is driving girls to suicide. His solution? Never buy your child a smartphone. Period. With 20+ peer-reviewed publications, Harvard affiliation, and his book Saving Teens from Toxic Screens, Dr. D'Souza has the credentials the establishment can't dismiss. Former employers tried to cancel him. He's still speaking—hosting the podcast, traveling nationwide, and helping families fight back. Listen to his podcast, Virtuous Leaders, on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Check out our previous conversations here and here. [00:00:00] Start[00:02:19] What Is PsyPact Licensing[00:07:15] Never Give Your Child a Smartphone[00:08:04] Why Video Games Harm Boys[00:11:00] Replacing Games With Real Life[00:20:46] Reinforcing Limits and Consistency[00:23:45] Embrace Your Parental Authority[00:27:00] Slot Machine Syndrome and Extinction Bursts[00:33:28] Parents Who Can't Model Self-Control[00:35:07] Anxious Moms and Passive Dads[00:41:15] Social Media and the Teenage Girl[00:45:36] Pornography as the Biggest Problem[00:54:26] Why Sweet, Shy Kids Are Vulnerable[01:04:15] What Age Is Safe for a Smartphone[01:16:39] Raising Kids Hungry for Real Life[01:22:42] Non-Toxic Screen Use and Tech-Savvy Kids ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.  ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

  8. 20 Jul

    223. The HIV Money Trail Behind Global Transgender Health Policy | Róisín Michaux Returns

    Today I welcome back Róisín Michaux — the Irish writer based in Brussels who covers women’s rights and free speech in the context of the transgender movement — for her second appearance on the show. When I booked this interview I had no idea what we’d cover; I simply trusted her to bring something worth digging into. What she brought is her ongoing investigation into the new World Health Organization guidelines for global transgender healthcare, and I’m hearing most of it for the first time right alongside the listener. Róisín walks me through how a 2019 reclassification in the International Classification of Diseases — moving gender identity out of mental health and into sexual health in order to “depathologize” it — created a conundrum: how do you get hormones and surgeries reimbursed for a condition that’s no longer a condition? That question, she argues, is the thread that connects the WHO’s guideline development group to a much larger story about HIV funding, the Global Fund, Open Society Foundations money, and decades of AIDS-elimination targets. We get into the “third gender” populations of India, Thailand, and Latin America; why so many of these vulnerable young men end up in prostitution and at high risk of HIV; and how offering the hormones and surgeries people want became a mechanism for getting them into clinics and onto antiretrovirals. We also cover the insurance-coding sleight of hand happening closer to home — mastectomies billed as “scar repair,” girls documented as males with gynecomastia — and what it all means for the parents and therapists trying to make sense of what their kids and clients are actually saying. The question the episode keeps returning to: if the price of ending AIDS is medicalizing vulnerable kids and reframing whole populations as trans, is that a victory worth claiming? Róisín Michaux is an Irish writer based in Brussels, Belgium. She writes about women’s rights and free speech in the context of the transgender movement. She is specifically interested in LGBTIQ activism, activists’ relationship to EU/European bureaucracies, the funding they receive, and how it has all led to deep and anti-democratic policy capture. She has 2 kids and a cocker spaniel. Follow her on Substack at Peaked or on X @RoisinMichaux.  Listen to our previous conversation: 206. The Intersex Lie: Róisín Michaux on How Queer Theory Hijacked a Rare Medical Condition. [00:00:00] Start[00:02:54] The WHO Guidelines and the ICD Reclassification[00:12:34] Third Gender Populations and the India Model[00:20:25] Open Society Foundations and "False Consciousness"[00:32:31] Prostitution, HIV Risk, and Marsha P. Johnson[00:37:34] GATE, Global Fund Money, and Legal Gender Recognition[00:47:17] Mainstreaming Trans Healthcare Into Public Systems[00:54:16] Insurance Coding, Endocrine Disorder, and Scar Repair[01:07:11] "End the Wait, End AIDS" by 2030[01:27:17] PrEP, Decriminalization, and the AIDS Infrastructure[01:36:38] Autism, Rescuers, and How Girls Get Roped In[01:43:33] Conversion Therapy Bans and Criminalized Therapists ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month. PODCOURSES: use code SOMETHERAPIST at LisaMustard.com/PodCourses PRODUCTION: Looking for your own podcast producer? Visit PodsByNick.com and mention my podcast for 20% off your initial services. MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.  ALL OTHER LINKS HERE. To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend! Learn more about Do No Harm. Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com. Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi. Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products. Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI. Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration. Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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About

A podcast at the intersection of psychology and culture that intimately explores the human experience and critiques the counseling profession. Your host, Stephanie Winn, distills wisdom gained from her practice as a family therapist and coach while pivoting towards questions of how to apply a practical understanding of psychology to the novel dilemmas of the 21st century, from political polarization to medical malpractice. What does ethical mental health care look like in a normless age, as our moral compasses spin in search of true north? How can therapists treat patients under pressure to affirm everything from the notion of "gender identity" to assisted suicide? Primarily a long-form interview podcast, Stephanie invites unorthodox, free-thinking guests from many walks of life, including counselors, social workers, medical professionals, writers, researchers, and people with unique lived experience, such as detransitioners. Curious about many things, Stephanie’s interdisciplinary psychological lens investigates challenging social issues and inspires transformation in the self, relationships, and society. She is known for bringing calm warmth to painful subjects, and astute perceptiveness to ethically complex issues. Pick up a torch to illuminate the dark night and join us on this journey through the inner wilderness. You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist ranks in the top 1% globally according to ListenNotes. New episodes are released every Monday. Three and a half years after the show's inception in May of 2022, Stephanie became a Christian, representing the crystallization of moral, spiritual, and existential views she had been openly grappling with along with her audience and guests. Newer episodes (#188 forward) may sometimes reflect a Christian understanding, interwoven with and applied to the same issues the podcast has always addressed. The podcast remains diverse and continues to feature guests from all viewpoints.

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