United States of PTSD

Matthew Boucher LICSW LCDP and Co-host Dr. Erika Lin-Hendel
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  • MENTAL HEALTH
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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. 4D AGO

    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

    53 min

  2. 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

    56 min

  3. MAR 22

    S:4 E: 3 Gaslighting and Politics

    Send us Fan Mail Gaslighting is more than just someone “lying.” It’s the slow, repeated pressure that makes you question your memory, minimize your needs, and hand over your trust in your own judgment. Erika and I explore what this looks like at a deeper level and how it can create PTSD in us.  This extends further when political rhetoric and gaslighting become synonymous.  We talked about how capitalism thrives on keeping us divided and powerless.  We need to work together to take back both our power and our sanity.    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

    50 min

  4. MAR 1

    S4 E:2 The Violence/Gun Epidemic hits RI, again.

    Send us Fan Mail Another mass shooting occurs in RI while our political system continues to dole out empty thoughts a prayers.  I intentionally did not use the name of the shooter in the podcast, because I believe in taking away the identity of people who engage in atrocities.  As a society we have made murder porn and crime shows our bread and butter.  This is part of the PTSD epidemic.   Since we recorded this episode the United States of Israel launched an attack on Iran.   Whether this is about cash, a distraction from the Epstein Files, or just out of the leadership sociopathy, this is unacceptable.  Please do whatever you can to help stop the spread of fascism. • local shooting details, personal proximity, and community impact • media focus on identity vs root causes of violence • limits of mental health access and high deductibles • importance of early trauma intervention and psychological first aid • practical training: Stop the Bleed, tourniquets, barricading • preparedness for leaders and communities, kit recommendations • advocacy, burnout cycles, and the ripple effect of small actions • Epstein files, power, and accountability questions • belief, evil, and the stories that shape behavior • mini-series teaser: red flags in therapy and weaponization of care • grounding strategies: breath, senses, scope control • closing with small comforts and caring for pets Feel free to email me: matt@unitedstatesofptsd.com I’m going to include Stop the Bleed links and info on the Rhode Island shooting High temperature susceptibility of sexual reproduction in crop plants | Journal of Experimental Botany | Oxford Academic Operation Stop The Bleed - RI Stop The Bleed Class | City of Phoenix Rhode Island ice skating rink shooting: Suspect killed ex-wife and son, injured 3 - ABC News Genesis Jones and Dominic Jackson: Police ID victims, recover 50+ shell casings in Richmond mass shooting Stop the Bleed – Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons 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

    47 min

  5. FEB 15

    S:4 E: 1 WTF

    Send us Fan Mail Erika and I wanted to start off season 4 by acknowledging that many of us are having WTF moments.  In the 4 weeks that took off there have been multiple assassinations by ICE/Gestapo/IDF, while multiple genocides continue and they are funded by the US.  We have seen the release of the Epstein Files and we are currently reading through them.   We hope each and every person will continue to listen, engage in self-care, and work on creating safe places for the people who are impacted, which is almost everyone, at this point.    Erika and I hope that communities will continue to come together to fight against the oppressors, AKA the Elite.   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

    46 min

  6. 12/21/2025

    S3 E:28 Extra Episode. Brown University Shooting and the failure of our culture.

    Send us Fan Mail We came back from our planned break to speak about the Brown University shooting, the weight of living near it, and the everyday systems that fail to protect people. Healthcare costs, campus safety, and community care weave into a candid, grounded conversation. • premium spikes, broken enrollment, and access gaps • moral injury of vulnerability in a crisis • what the videos miss and what students carry • policing delays, dismissive responses, and data manipulation • harm reduction versus root causes of violence • campus safety tradeoffs and obvious fixes • misinformation, victim‑blaming, and media noise • practical community care after trauma • small rituals, animals, and grounding for healing We will be taking a break and will resume at the end of January 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

    59 min

  7. 11/30/2025

    S 3 Season Three Thanks And A Holiday Pause

    Send us Fan Mail Happy Holidays everyone.  See you in 2026 and thank you for all the support.   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 min

  8. 11/12/2025

    S3 E:27 Healing Past Childhood Trauma

    Send us Fan Mail Wendy returns for reunion episode.  Per listener request Matt shares some of his own personal trauma and how it impacted his relationships before and after his resolution.   Below is the poem I wrote when I was 33.  This is how raw the feelings were back then.  Thankfully the pain has been healed.   I am a bastard, thanks to you. I bet 33 years ago you never imagined, your polluted seed would create the man that stands here I N V I S I B L E   Did you think your whimsical germination would harbor feelings of resentment powerful enough to create the persona I have built my existence on?  Or does my illegitimacy  deny me the right to claim  this hatred I have for you.   I can’t comprehend the void of feeling Held within your perverse core That would allow you to give me away Forgotten and packed, out of your sight Out of your mind, like a stuffed animal Left on the side of the road Battered Lonely Damaged…only Somewhere out there is a child who mourns Its loss, helplessly pleading with the parents to  save it, before the unthinkable happens.  Or did it already happen?     Lifeless cloth shell swollen with cotton has more value, than I  to you.    I can relate I have fonder memories of my own toys.   Of course they were in my life more often I protected them with every ounce of my soul I hugged when they were sad  I kept them company when they were alone. Unconditional love, whatever that is And no one ever had to ask them why they didn’t have a father? Or “Why doesn’t he love you? Or what did you do to make him leave?   But I’m the bastard. Packsaddle son swaddled in rags and left out for the Monday night trash. That’s what you did to me. 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

    49 min
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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
    74
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 United States of PTSD
  • Show Website
    United States of PTSD