Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories

Craig Heacock MD

How do we find a way out of the darkest depths of despair? Psychiatrist Dr. Craig Heacock hosts a deep dive into powerfully moving stories of hope and healing, as well as topical explorations of psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and psychedelics.

  • 1 hour 12 minutes
    Therapists in the abyss: A journey back to self

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    You don't end up working in psychiatry/mental health by accident-- therapists and psychiatrists almost always come from their own place of emotional pain. Here Dr. H sits down with his colleague Kristen, a well-respected Colorado psychotherapist who always appeared to have it all together, while battling her own inner demons of feeling like a fraud-- broken, unworthy, irredeemable.  This is Kristen's story of finding a way through her double life, of coming to peace with what she survived, how she coped,  and how this helps her to help others.


    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    6 December 2024, 12:00 pm
  • 23 minutes 56 seconds
    What I'm thinking about now: Working in the Here and Now; Polypharmacy; Diagnostic Parsimony; Ketamine Microdosing; Psych NP Training

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    In this solo episode Dr. H shares his current thoughts on working in the here and now; polypharmacy; the root causes of suicidality; diagnostic parsimony ; ketamine microdosing; and online psych NP training programs.

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    22 November 2024, 12:00 pm
  • 1 hour 20 minutes
    Reconstructing the narrative-- Trauma, dissociation, psychedelics, and working in the negative transference

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    Kate lived for many years in a hazy and numbing dialectic, thinking that her life was “perfect”, but also having a vague and gnawing sense that just under the surface something was terribly wrong.  This is a story of forgetting and remembering,  a story of finding a therapist who was willing and able to sit through years of hateful negative transference and let Kate work through her parent-child wounds. And finally this is a story of MDMA and psilocybin helping someone move forward through the minefield of trauma.

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    8 November 2024, 12:00 pm
  • 57 minutes 39 seconds
    I had to rebuild who I was-- Finding trust and a pathway out of psychosis

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    Very few people are willing and/or able to share and describe their descent into psychosis— in part because memory formation and consolidation are so impaired during episodes of psychosis…..and also because there is often so much fear and shame tied up in the experience of losing one’s mind.

    Here Dr. H's  patient Corben describes his very early onset illness, how it started with years of depression,  then shifted into profound alienation and increasingly frightening psychosis, and finally into stability and recovery.

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    25 October 2024, 10:00 am
  • 57 minutes 54 seconds
    Why med management is mostly doomed to fail-- The top 10 (12!) reasons with Dr. Will Van Derveer

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    The prevailing model of psychiatric care in the US is called "med management"-- this typically means a 10-15min appointment to review symptoms and choose medications.  Here Dr. Will Van Derveer of the Integrative Psychiatric Institute sits down with Dr. H to deconstruct this deeply flawed model and posit a more holistic and hopeful way of thinking about psychiatric care.

     Dr. Van Derveer and the Integrative Psychiatric Institute
    https://psychiatryinstitute.com/


    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    11 October 2024, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 17 minutes
    How do you learn to do psychotherapy? An exploration with Dr. Erin Jacklin

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    In this season 6 opener Dr. H sits down with Dr. Erin Jacklin of the Catalyst Center in Denver to explore how we learn to the deeply complex and consistently challenging work of doing good therapy.

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    27 September 2024, 11:00 am
  • 59 minutes 17 seconds
    BFTA Summer Special-- How to Change Your Mind About Mushrooms with Dori Lewis

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    Craig sits down with Dori Lewis of Elemental Psychedelics to explore the myths and realities of working with psilocybin mushrooms, including:

    •What do people not understand about psilocybin mushrooms?
    •Can mushrooms treat depression? If so, which types?
    •How should we think about the specific roles of mushrooms and ketamine in psychiatric and psychological treatment?
    •What kinds of problems are most amenable to psilocybin?
    •Why do some people have no psychedelic experience on apparently therapeutic doses of psilocybin?
    •Individual vs group work with mushrooms

    Elemental Psychedelics-- Ketamine and Psilocybin therapist/facilitator trainings
    https://www.elementalpsychedelics.com/

    Revive and Thrive retreat (with Dr. Rebecca Richey)
    https://www.experientialwellnessretreats.com/beaver-run-retreat

    Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive psychotherapy workshop with Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/

    Beyond Psilocybin-- Embracing the Power of Ketamine
    https://www.reflectivehealing.com/blog/fortcollins/therapy/reflectivehealing/beyond-psilocybin-embracing-the-power-of-ketamine-in-mental-health-healing


    5 July 2024, 11:00 am
  • 1 hour 39 seconds
    Fishbowl 5

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    Chris and Craig go meta to deconstruct season 5, explore the art of storytelling and music selection, and answer listener questions.

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/


    31 May 2024, 11:00 am
  • 54 minutes 2 seconds
    When Mom is mentally ill-- A story of resilience

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    Christina grew up with a tumultuous and mentally ill mother, an older brother who decompensated into psychosis and frightening aggression, and just one healthy family member, her father.   Dr. H and Christina explore both the wounding of having a desperately ill parent, as well as the profound gift of having another parent able to provide love and support. Christina suffered terribly from these maternal wounds, but she was also able to finally emerge as a healthy, grateful, wise, and deeply caring adult….initially drawn to nursing, she eventually transitioned into working as a psychiatric nurse practitioner.

    This story is in two parts— first Christina shares her moving story, then she and Dr. H go meta and explore the behind the scenes preparation for this episode. Two of the themes that emerge in this latter part are storytelling as integration, and vulnerability as part of healing. Christina beautifully describes how the process of pulling her story together and unearthing these often brutal memories allowed her to find a deeper sense of peace, acceptance, and self-affirmation.

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    16 May 2024, 10:00 am
  • 49 minutes 6 seconds
    A Psychiatrist Goes to War

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    Dr. Russell Carr was a career Navy psychiatrist for 20 years and served in Iraq, where today’s story begins.  This is a story of a healer, then a terrible wounding, then the healer trying to find his way amidst the chaos of war. This story is about a rite of passage, one that not every psychiatrist faces, but most do at some point-- that of losing the first patient to suicide, then trying to find the strength to move forward.

    Dr. Russell Carr
    A Psychiatrist Returns from War-- on Substack
    https://russellcarr.substack.com/

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    3 May 2024, 11:00 am
  • 56 minutes 30 seconds
    My dog saved my life-- Understanding the story of depression

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    A huge problem with current psychiatric diagnosis is that it often lumps completely unrelated things under the same vast and vague tent, such as with the diagnosis of "Major Depressive Disorder".   Here Craig sits down with his patient Rebecca to try to make sense of her complex early onset depression and how it played out via addiction, anorexia, and pathological caretaking and how she was finally able find the grace and compassion to prioritize care for herself.

    Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive psychotherapy training in Colorado with Dr.  H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/

    BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
    https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

    BFTA/ Dr. H
    https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

    19 April 2024, 11:00 am
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