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Life on Purpose: Insights on well-being and education from Ira Bedzow, PhD, Executive Director of the Emory Purpose Project

Purpose and meaning are foundational to any definition of the good life. They are also a trendy topic these days. Like all trendy topics, they risk being trivialized by our intense hunger for easy answers to life’s difficulties. Enter Ira Bedzow, PhD, Executive Director of the Emory Purpose Project, one of the signature elements of the University’s Student Flourishing Initiative. In this podcast, Dr. Bedzow provides an inspiring, holistic, and challenging take on how to bring the power of purpose into our lives and educational systems. We learn that purpose starts not with answers but rather with questions that help identify our deeper, unique motivations for doing what we want to do in life and whether our chosen goals actually satisfy these motivations. We discuss purpose as one’s self-defined long-term life intention that is both meaningful and impactful, that will guide one’s decisions, behavior, and goals, that will provide a sense of direction, and help infuse life with a sense of meaning. This definition points to the fact that purpose, properly understood, is integral to all aspects of human life, including education. This perspective has pragmatic implications for college education that form the bedrock of the Emory Purpose Project. Rather than seeing purpose as an add-on that can be cordoned off into a separate class, Dr. Bedzow outlines a vision that seeks to infuse purpose-based analyses and perspectives into the entire spectrum of university disciplines.

In addition to his role as Executive Director of the Emory Purpose Project, Ira Bedzow is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, a core faculty member of Emory’s Center for Ethics, a senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, and the unit head of the International Chair in Bioethics at Emory University.

Featuring:

Ira  Bedzow, PhD, Executive Director of the Emory Purpose Project

Host:

Charles Raison, Psychiatrist, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Emory University
About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

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Sanity in the Wild New World of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

The buzz about psychedelics is everywhere these days, especially in the mental health space, where these compounds are being hailed as the greatest potential therapeutic breakthrough of the last 50 years. What was once elemental to the hippie movement of the 60s and then stigmatized and forgotten is now all over the news. Billions of dollars have flowed into companies wanting to cash in on the financial potential of new miracle cures for mental illness. The drive to get psychedelics into use is so intense that states are beginning to bypass the rigamarole of FDA approval and are directly legalizing psychedelics for both personal betterment and to treat the current epidemic of mental illness that is afflicting the United States. And eager not to be left out, clinicians of all stripes are paying significant fees to receive training in “psychedelic-assisted therapy” even though none of the extant programs—of which there are many—can in any way guarantee that program completion will be of any practical import whatsoever in either FDA approved or legalized psychedelic treatment contexts.

Into this heady mix comes Chantelle Thomas, PhD, Executive Director of Windrose Recovery & Integrata, a substance abuse program that uses ketamine-assisted therapy as a strategy for helping individuals recover from drug and alcohol use disorders. In addition to her many years of working with ketamine as a psychedelic agent, Dr. Thomas has spent the last 10 years delivering psychedelic-assisted therapy in the context of clinical trials of both psilocybin and MDMA. Most recently she has taken a leadership role in psychedelic assisted training programs sponsored by Usona Institute, a non-profit medical research organization conducting studies that if positive will support a “new drug indication” from the FDA for psilocybin as a novel treatment for major depression.

This podcast will be of huge interest to anyone who wants to get an insider’s view of the current psychedelic world in general and the risks, challenges, and deep satisfactions that can come from working with psychedelics in a therapeutic context in particular. You will never look at psychedelics the same after listening to our discussion with Dr. Thomas. And for more from Dr. Thomas, check out her podcast at: https://windroserecovery.com/podcast/

Featuring:

Chantelle  Thomas, PhD, Executive Director of Windrose Recovery & Integrata

Host:

Charles Raison, Psychiatrist, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Emory University
About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

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Blog: Exploring Health
Facebook: @EmoryCSHH
Instagram: @EmoryCSHH
Twitter: @EmoryCSHH

Oxytocin the Human Hormone: A Report from a Life in Science

If you are not holding the hormone oxytocin in the highest regard now, you will after listening to this episode’s guest, Sue Carter, PhD, as she explains how this remarkable hormone may hold the key to much of what makes us who we are. In particular, Dr. Carter describes the myriad ways that oxytocin allows humans to feel safe enough in the world and with each other to engage in the many types of bonding/sharing behaviors that have allowed us to create the world in which we live. The science is fascinating and highly relevant to our health and well-being, but in this podcast, Dr. Carter reaches further into our shared humanity to tell the tale of how she discovered the power of oxytocin when she was given the hormone to help induce labor during her first pregnancy and how her body’s intense response to the hormone made her realize how little medical uses to induce labor captured the more profound aspects of oxytocin’s effects on the human brain and body. From that beginning, Dr. Carter describes how she overcame many of the challenges that she faced and that women devoted to a career in science continue to face.

Dr. Carter is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia and a Distinguished Research Scientist and Rudy Professor Emerita of Biology at Indiana University. She has held Professorships at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Maryland, College Park (where she was a Distinguished University Professor), and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Between 2014 and 2019 she was the Executive Director of the Kinsey Institute. Dr. Carter’s research was integral to discovering the relationship between social behavior and oxytocin. She was the first person to detect and define the endocrinology of social bonds through her research on the socially monogamous, prairie vole. These findings helped lay the foundation for ongoing studies of the behavioral and developmental effects of oxytocin and vasopressin and a deeper appreciation for the biological importance of relationships in human health and well-being.

Featuring:

Dr. Sue Carter, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, Distinguished Research Scientist and Rudy Professor Emerita of Biology at Indiana University

Host:

Charles Raison, Psychiatrist, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Emory University
About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

Follow Us:

Blog: Exploring Health
Facebook: @EmoryCSHH
Instagram: @EmoryCSHH
Twitter: @EmoryCSHH

Want to Change Your Life? Take a Breath, Part 2

This conversation between host Charles L. Raison and Donald J. Noble, PhD, picks up where the first part of this series left off by extending our discussion of the potential health benefits of breathing into more esoteric domains. We explore breathholding and its role in advanced Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices before turning to a discussion of the psychedelic effects of rapid breathing, especially as exemplified by holotropic breathwork, a practice that reliably induces experiences akin to those occasioned by drugs such as LSD or psilocybin. Finally, we return to Dr. Noble’s primary area of research, which is the health benefits and neurological effects of slow deep breathing. We conclude by pondering the possibility that spiritual practices such as chanting, saying the rosary, and repeating mantras may function to entrain the brain in ways that promote neuroplasticity and thereby enhance brain health and emotional well-being.

This episode is Part 2 in a two-part series.

Featuring:

Dr. Don Noble, Instructor at Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health

Host:

Charles Raison, Psychiatrist, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Emory University
About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

Follow Us:

Blog: Exploring Health
Facebook: @EmoryCSHH
Instagram: @EmoryCSHH
Twitter: @EmoryCSHH

How One Valley Changed the Equation: A Roadmap for Transforming Behavioral Healthcare in the United States

It’s no secret that the United States is in the midst of a mental health crisis. There are a number of reasons why this is occurring, but none is more important than the fact that good mental health care is often somewhere between difficult and impossible to find. And when one can get in to see a provider the services offered are often inadequate: visits are short, help is usually unavailable to address all the problems of life that make us depressed or drive us to drugs or alcohol, and the answer to our psychiatric issues is usually a pill.

If ever there were places that might be immune to these problems one might guess that beautiful Rocky Mountain resort towns like Vail, Colorado, would be outstanding candidates. The landscape is beautiful, and the active and outdoor lifestyle the mountains offer is the envy of all those living in less blessed locations. No surprise that people flock to places like Vail in hopes of tapping into the paradise that these places seem to be.

But there is a paradox in paradise. The ski resort towns of the American West have suicide rates so high that the area has been dubbed a suicide belt. Vail and surrounding areas of Eagle County, Colorado, were no exception. In 2017 the area had one of the highest suicide rates in the United States with almost nothing in the way of services for many people struggling with mental health issues. No providers took private insurance and no treatment facilities were available for people who were acutely suicidal. These people were either shipped to cities several hours away or were booked and then housed in the local jail. Things were bad, with no clear path forward.

Then a remarkable series of events occurred that have utterly transformed mental health care in Eagle County. Today Eagle Valley Behavioral Health, a new non-profit mental health entity overseen by Vail Health, has 150 clinicians at its disposal, all committed to providing a continuum of care, early intervention, and programs aimed at preventing the development of mental illness. A new state-of-the-art inpatient facility that will have 14 beds for adults and 14 beds for adolescents is nearing completion. All residents of Eagle County are eligible to receive six free psychotherapy sessions a year. And multiple wellness and preventive health programs are on offer.

Join us in this podcast for a fascinating conversation with Chris Lindley, Executive Director of Eagle Valley Behavioral Health and the primary architect of the remarkable changes in mental health care that have occurred under his leadership. Mr. Lindley’s recounting of how he and his team revolutionized behavioral health care will provide a wealth of ideas that will be of interest to healthcare administrators, clinicians, patients, and anyone who cares for someone struggling with mental illness. Although Eagle County had an even steeper uphill climb than
About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

Follow Us:

Blog: Exploring Health
Facebook: @EmoryCSHH
Instagram: @EmoryCSHH
Twitter: @EmoryCSHH

Transcendent Experience and the Psychedelic Renaissance: A Conversation with the Co-Founders of the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Part 2

Anyone interested in mental health knows about the so-called psychedelic renaissance that has been gathering steam for the last half-decade. Compounds such as LSD and psilocybin lauded for their mind-expanding potential in the 60s, and then demonized for a generation, have returned to the scene with a vengeance, fueled by an increasing number of studies showing the remarkable therapeutic potential of these previously stigmatized substances.

While this psychedelic renaissance has been garnering all the headlines, a complimentary and far quieter revolution has also been occurring in medicine, which is the recognition of the importance of spirituality for health and disease. Along with a network of collaborators, the Department of Spiritual Health at Emory Healthcare has played a leadership role in this quieter revolution, training chaplains to implement evidence-based compassion-based practices for both patients and the clinicians who care for them.

In the first part of this podcast, Boadie Dunlop, MD, and George Grant, MDiv, PhD, joined host Dr. Charles Raison to provide an overview of the mission and vision of the newly-formed Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. In this second part of the podcast, Drs. Dunlop and Grant—co-founders of the new center—dive deeper into the role of spirituality in human health in general and in psychedelic-assisted therapy, or PAT, more specifically. A lively discussion ensues around a range of related topics, including spirituality as an evolved human capacity, strategies for enhancing the benefits and minimizing the risks of bringing spirituality more directly into healthcare and the need to explore the role of spirituality in PAT with novel scientific approaches. The podcast concludes with a provocative discussion of whether neurobiological understandings are really required to understand how to optimize the role of spirituality in PAT, or whether spirituality can be taken at face value as a phenomenon worthy of scientific study on its own terms.

This episode is Part 2 in a two-part series.
 
Featuring:

Dr. Boadie Dunlop, Co-founder of  the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality
Dr. George Grant, Co-founder of  the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality

Host:

Charles Raison, Psychiatrist, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Emory University
About Emory University's Center for the Study of Human Health:

The Emory Center for the Study of Human Health was developed to expand health knowledge and translate this knowledge to all aspects of life – for the individual and populations as a whole. The Center assembles the extraordinary faculty, researchers and thought leaders from across disciplines, departments, schools and institutions to bring this knowledge to Emory University students and inspire them to become leaders for the next generation in meeting challenges facing human health.

Follow Us:

Blog: Exploring Health
Facebook: @EmoryCSHH
Instagram: @EmoryCSHH
Twitter: @EmoryCSHH