United States of PTSD

Matthew Boucher LICSW LCDP and Co-host Dr. Erika Lin-Hendel
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Season One:  Mental health concerns are on the rise in the United States. This podcast will look at the influencing factors contributing to the decline of our culture. With the rise of school shootings, political divisiveness, increasing levels of hate, and a chronic war of peoples' rights, we have entered a domestic war that never ends. Our podcast will look at whether this is done by design or is it an abject failure. We will discuss it from a clinical and common-sense perspective. Secondarily we will discuss ways to protect yourself from being further traumatized. Hosted by Matthew Boucher LICSW LCDP (licensed in RI) who has over 20 years of experience working with people who have addictions and trauma with a specialty of pregnant/postpartum women. Co-host Wendy Picard is a Learning and Development consultant with 15 years of experience, lifelong observer of the human condition, and diagnosed with PTSD in 1994.Season Two:  Is joined by Donna Gaudette and Julia Kirkpatrick BSW.  Julia is currently working on obtaining her MSW and her LCSW.  She is a welcome addition to the podcast.    Season Three:  Cora Lee Kennedy provided research and worked as a temporary co-host.  Dr. Erika Lin-Hendel joins as a co-host for season 3. 

  1. Sep 13

    S 4 E: 11 Hasbara And The Power Of Words

    Send us Fan Mail Ericka and I talk about the impact of Hasbara and how it is used to reroute or hijack your empathy. We dissect some of the political language, media framing, and repeatable slogans can make extreme violence sound ordinary, and how Hasbara functions as a public diplomacy strategy that shapes what audiences see as reasonable, tragic, or just “the cost of doing business.” Examples include the “most moral army” claims to the erroneous use of “war” language when the correct word is geocide.  We hope to help educate how to talk to others about U.S. taxpayer funding, the role of nonprofits and PACs, and how Citizens United accelerated a system where influence is purchased and dissent is managed. Then we move into the legal terrain, including HR 4795, and what it could mean for academic freedom, boycott rights, and First Amendment protected speech. If you’ve ever felt like bills are named to hide their real intent, we explain that trick and why it works. Because this is United States of PTSD, we keep the mental health lens front and center propaganda's has other functions than to misinform, it can erode our humanity, create cognitive dissonance, and deepen moral injury. We end with realistic ways to respond, from sharpening our media literacy to researching where candidates get their money, having better conversations with people who are heavily propagandized, and staying grounded enough to keep caring. If this resonated, subscribe, share the episode with someone who values critical thinking, and leave a review with the phrase you’re most tired of hearing in headlines. Correction on AZ, CT, and RI  These are estimates of how much each state’s residents contribute through their federal taxes—not money taken directly from the state budget. Correction that it was the singing not screaming forest.  The Nazi war on gay people: Survivors speak out - Peter Tatchell Foundation  What Groups of People did the Nazis Target? | Holocaust Encyclopedia How Many People did the Nazis Murder? | Holocaust Encyclopedia House Passes Bill Blocking Aid to Colleges That Boycott Israel United States Spending on Israel’s Military Operations and Related U.S. Operations in the Region, October 7, 2023-September 30, 2024 | Costs of War | Brown University Costs of United States Military Activities in the Wider Middle East Since October 7, 2023 | Costs of War | Brown University US spends a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since last Oct. 7 | AP News FACT SHEET: Memorandum of Understanding Reached with Israel | whitehouse.gov Methodology | USCPR Palestine refugees | UNRWA NEVER SURRENDER: Karoline Leavitt’s Historic Tenure as White House Press Secretary – The White House Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  2. Sep 2

    S4: E 10 AI and Mental Health. Progress or Regression?

    Send us Fan Mail Erika and I discuss the double edge sword of AI.  In a world, post covid, with already strained relationships and decreasing social skills do AI chat bots help the lonely?  We talk cognitive offloading and why outsourcing thinking can quietly erode critical thinking, especially in schools and early professional training. I talk about a disturbing early example from the mid 2010s: suicide hotline chatbot pilots and the shrugging attitude around liability if a vulnerable person is harmed. Erika brings in the clinical angle too, from veterinary medicine to education, where AI can be a helpful tool for cross checking and resource gathering, but becomes risky when people stop building the underlying skill.  We discuss the addiction mechanics in social media and dating apps, the rise of fake AI profiles, the temptation to use AI for therapy level support, and the privacy risks of recording sessions to auto generate notes and treatment plans. We also cover ways to rebuild human connection without pretending technology will disappear, like grayscale mode, getting back into third spaces, and choosing focused advocacy that creates real community. We close with a few grounded updates and wins, including land protection news, a slow trust cat relationship, and a recovery story that reminds us why real care matters.  If this made you rethink how you use AI and your phone, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review. What boundary are you willing to try this week?   ChatGPT acted as her therapist for months. It ended in disaster : NPR  Transcript - Do Healthy Relationships To Chatbots Exist?  Bridget Todd and the Business of AI Intimacy  Bridget Todd Doesn’t Trust A.I., But She Told ChatGPT Everything - The New York Times  How AI quietly undermines the joy and effort of learning: a call for rebalancing education in the digital age - PMC  ChatGPT produces more “lazy” thinkers: Evidence of cognitive engagement decline | SCALE Initiative  ChatGPT produces more “lazy” thinkers: Evidence of cognitive engagement decline | SCALE Initiative  Better Offline  Glp1s  Getting Off with the Luddites | Online Only | n+1 | Sarah Thankam Mathews  Sizia2.9UT.m_Jp  Protesters halt border wall construction across 3 miles in Lochiel | Santa Cruz County | kvoa.com  Omaha's largest public school district stops officers from using electric shock gloves - ABC News  ICE awards $16.7M contract to buy 6,000 pairs of gloves that deliver electric shocks  Kentucky man died after being tased 40 times in jail, lawsuit claims  The Painful Truth of Exactly How ICE’s New Shock Gloves Work | WIRED   Maté, G., & Maté, D. (2022). The myth of normal: Trauma, illness, and healing in a toxic culture. Avery.   Attorney Warns Shoppers: Self-Checkout Could Wrongly Accuse You of Theft, TikTok Video Reveals Legal Pitfalls – PublicLawLibrary.org  Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  3. Aug 16

    S3 E:9 Not all heroes wear capes.

    Send us Fan Mail Erika and I chat with a local hero, Noel Pichardo, a former Rhode Island police officer, to unpack why he calls Flock-style vehicle tracking a mass surveillance tool and why he believes the public should have been told before a single camera went up. We get specific about how modern ALPR and vehicle recognition systems work, why “we’ll end crime” is a dangerous promise, and how private surveillance vendors create profit incentives that don’t always align with civil rights. Noel walks us through the moment he saw the cameras return, the uncomfortable questions he asked, and the decision to put his name on the record so residents would take the threat to privacy seriously. Then we talk about what many people never see: the internal cost of dissent. Suspensions, escalating discipline, pressure to sign an NDA, and the professional isolation that comes when an institution treats honesty as disloyalty. We discussed some documented abuse risks, including officers using surveillance tools to stalk partners, and why real accountability has to include transparency, audits, and community oversight at the local level. If you care about privacy rights, police accountability, and how surveillance technology spreads city by city, listen through and share this with someone who still thinks “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide.” Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what your community should demand before adopting tools like this. If you like our podcast and would like to share your ideas or even be a guest speaker, please reach out to us.  Matt@unitestatesofptsd.com  https://youtu.be/f1P-g3Hkvjg?si=qVQIuoS9hCkUOmb_ https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/ https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/automatic-license-plate-readers-legal-status-and-policy-recommendations Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  4. Jul 26

    S4 E: 8 Accountability Or Bust

    Send us Fan Mail Matt provides and update on the status of the Men's Retreat and the lack of accountability.  We talk about the excuses, the missing paperwork, the pattern of complaints, and why “no official membership” is not a real barrier to removing unsafe participants. We continue to look into what community safety should look like in any nonprofit or trauma-adjacent space  This could be accomplished by a  code of conduct, an orientation that sets expectations, real consequences, and leaders trained to handle risk rather than bury it. We also share practical tools for holding your ground, including documentation, escalation paths, and when it makes sense to involve outside oversight. Then we pivot into a relationship dynamic we keep seeing: the weaponization of therapy language. We break down why “my therapist said you’re X” can be manipulative, how ethical therapists think about one-sided stories, and how to respond in a way that brings the conversation back to ownership and honest boundaries. If you’ve ever felt pressured by borrowed authority, this will give you words for what’s happening and a clearer next step. If this was useful, subscribe, share it with someone who’s navigating a messy institution or a confusing relationship, and leave a review so more people can find us. What’s one red flag you now refuse to ignore? Feel free to contact us.  Ericka and I would love to hear from you. Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  5. Jul 5

    S4 E: 7 When Poverty Becomes A Crime

    Send us Fan Mail Erika gives and update on what is happening on the ground in Phoenix, where extreme heat makes shade and hydration a matter of life and death, and where the gap between need and available shelter beds turns “public order” policies into survival crises. We also unpack how mutual aid gets targeted, why lawsuits matter, and what it means when a city’s response leans on policing instead of housing.   We then explore another stated where criminalization of homelessness as a pipeline into the carceral system. Louisiana’s House Bill 211 becomes a stark example, with escalating fines, the threat of prison time, and the possibility of forced labor for being unhoused. We also dig into how definitions of homelessness get narrowed to shrink the numbers on paper while real people lose access to services. From property seizures during sweeps to the economics of private prisons and ICE detention, we connect policy choices to incentives, profits, and human rights. We then look at why so few people have the moral courage and professional responsibility, especially in veterinary medicine through a One Health lens that links human, animal, and environmental wellbeing. We share what it’s like trying to advocate for colleagues and veterinary students in Gaza, what “leadership” looks like when organizations stay quiet, and why sustained activism matters, including lessons from the documentary How to Survive a Plague. If this hit a nerve, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find the show and join the conversation. We talk briefly about what racism and privilege looks like in connection with the World Cup Finally we would like to thank Sammy Obeid for being such a brilliant comedian and educator.   Scotland Fans Donate Nearly $30K to Providence Charities amid World Cup Group Stage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Thousands Scotland Supporters March in Providence, RI ⚽️ Texas Screwworm Resource Website | New World Screwworm Resources Shows | Sammy Obeid Thousands Could Be Forced Into Unpaid Labor in Louisiana Under New Bill - Newsweek 2nd lawsuit filed against Phoenix's new ordinance on homeless services in parks https://animalwag.org/ https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/460a/9d62bcdfe3564a67a7b2c87bd7b41c9196aa.pdf https://truthout.org/articles/social-work-institutions-have-remained-silent-on-palestine-that-must-end/ #endgenocide #homelessness #systemfail #sammyobeid #worldcup  Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  6. Jun 1

    S4 E:6 Accountability Matters When Systems Fail People

    Send us Fan Mail Matt opens up about a follow up to his experience with a Men's Group.  The group sent out an all user email with all of the attendees home addresses to each other.  Matt talks about why this is concerning as two things happened.  The first being that there is no valid form that was signed to authorize this to happen.  We talk about contact information would reasonable be defined as phone and email, in this type of setting.  Second, a complaint filed against someone for inappropriate behavior with the agency acknowledging a safety risk and commitment to the victim to protect would also prevent this from happening in theory.  But it didn't.  Matt talks candidly over the difficulty accepting the reality of victimization and the cultural norms of protecting the wrong people.  This leads into a conversation Erika brings up about the restrictions of feeding the hungry in Arizona and how the Phoenix is not punishing people, with the treat of prison time and fines for helping the needy.  Erika approaches this from a macro lens of how larger systems continue to oppress the population.   If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share it with someone who cares about safety and justice, and leave a review so more people can find us. GOP Arizona Attorney General debate gets heated and ugly ASU booted group that feeds homeless outside campus building Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  7. May 2

    S4 E:5 The Pros and Cons of Peer Led Support Groups

    Send us Fan Mail Matt reflects on a retreat and discussed the pro's and con's of peer led support groups.  This is the first episode is a mini series topic about when therapy is weaponized.   Matt talks about the effectiveness of peer groups, in terms of creating a mutual safe space that lacks professional power differentials.  Matt and Erika discuss how this can be an asset to people who are in need of this space.  We also explore mutual aid and reciprocity. However, when people enter this for the wrong reasons the damage can be severe.  Matt briefly touches on a sexual predator who was using the men's groups as his personal grooming grounds.  They also discuss how professionals who change roles can sometimes be too connected to ego and not enough to the process.  We also look at when therapeutic colloquialisms like "tell me how you feel" or "I invite you to" sound great on TV, but may not elicit a deeper connection.   We look at difference between knowledge and skill and how sometimes this can be a quagmire of uncertainty. After Erika and I recorded, it was brought to my attention that the person I referenced was arrested and accused of operating a massage parlor which was alleged to be a prostitution ring. Unlicensed Coventry massage therapist charged with prostitution, police say  Subscribe for more honest conversations about PTSD, mental health, and community care, then share this with someone who’s searching for safe support and leave a review with your biggest peer support green flag. What’s the one boundary every group should enforce? Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

  8. Apr 6

    S 4 E: 4 Trauma and Disordered Eating

    Send us Fan Mail Ali shares her story of growing up with a parent who struggles with addiction and behaviors associated with it.  Ali candidly talks about how she learned to cope and how difficult it was for her to come to terms with some of her mother's behaviors.  We discuss the unique and powerful bond from child to mother and how we can compartmentalize to protect our own sanity.  Ali describes one of her coping skills as controlling food.  She shares her story of programs did not help as much as they could have.  Erika also discloses some of her own history with disordered eating.   Thank everyone for listening.  Please forgive the lack of music as my hard drive crashed and I am re-buidling the format.   Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4 Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.  Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help. Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.   Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback. Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Season One:  Mental health concerns are on the rise in the United States. This podcast will look at the influencing factors contributing to the decline of our culture. With the rise of school shootings, political divisiveness, increasing levels of hate, and a chronic war of peoples' rights, we have entered a domestic war that never ends. Our podcast will look at whether this is done by design or is it an abject failure. We will discuss it from a clinical and common-sense perspective. Secondarily we will discuss ways to protect yourself from being further traumatized. Hosted by Matthew Boucher LICSW LCDP (licensed in RI) who has over 20 years of experience working with people who have addictions and trauma with a specialty of pregnant/postpartum women. Co-host Wendy Picard is a Learning and Development consultant with 15 years of experience, lifelong observer of the human condition, and diagnosed with PTSD in 1994.Season Two:  Is joined by Donna Gaudette and Julia Kirkpatrick BSW.  Julia is currently working on obtaining her MSW and her LCSW.  She is a welcome addition to the podcast.    Season Three:  Cora Lee Kennedy provided research and worked as a temporary co-host.  Dr. Erika Lin-Hendel joins as a co-host for season 3. 

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Boucher LICSW LCDP and Co-host Dr. Erika Lin-Hendel
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 United States of PTSD
  • Show Website
    United States of PTSD