• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Projects
    • Public Speaking
    • Media & Press
    • Testimonials
    • The Science of Empathy
    • Stigma and Mental Health
  • Listen
    • Online Platforms
    • YouTube
  • Education
  • Donate
  • Home
  • Log in

Safe Space Radio

The show about subjects we'd struggle with less if we could talk about them more.

  • Mental Health
    • Bad Mother Anxiety
    • Depression in the Workplace
    • Eating Disorders
    • Facing Fear
    • Feelings of Failure
    • Homophobia
    • LGBTQ Teens
    • Living With Anxiety
    • Living with Dementia in the Family
    • Living with Life Threatening Illness
    • Living with Mental Illness
    • Mental Illness in the Family
    • Medical Trauma
    • Parenting Kids on the Spectrum
    • PTSD Among Women Veterans
    • Refugee Women
    • Substance Abuse in Families
    • Suicide
    • Transgender Issues
    • Trauma
    • Writing as a Way to Heal
    • Yoga and Mental Illness
  • Social Justice
    • Child Abuse
    • Homophobia
    • LGBTQ Teens
    • Life After Incarceration
    • Maine Wabanaki TRC
    • PTSD Among Women Veterans
    • Race and White Privilege
    • Refugee Women
    • Somali Refugees in Maine
    • Transgender Issues
    • Violence Against Women
  • Family
    • Bad Mother Anxiety
    • Contemporary Families
    • Living with Dementia in the Family
    • Living with Life Threatening Illness
    • Parenting Kids on the Spectrum
    • Sibling Conflicts
    • Substance Abuse in Families
  • Emotions
    • Bad Mother Anxiety
    • Child Abuse
    • Facing Fear
    • Feelings of Failure
    • Living With Anxiety
    • Living with Life Threatening Illness
    • Shame
    • Stories of Hidden Emotions
    • Talking About Difficult Subjects
    • Writing as a Way to Heal
  • Sexuality
    • Female Sexual Difficulties
    • Men’s Sexual Difficulties
    • Recovery from Sexual Trauma
  • Conflict
    • Child Abuse
    • Life After Incarceration
    • Maine Wabanaki TRC
    • PTSD Among Women Veterans
    • Refugee Women
    • Somali Refugees in Maine
    • Talking About Difficult Subjects
    • Trauma
    • Violence Against Women
  • Log in

major mental illness

Living with Schizophrenia with Elyn Saks

September 26, 2016 by ssradmin

Elyn Saks is a law professor and MacArthur fellow who lives with schizophrenia. We discuss how she came to the difficult understanding that she had the illness and needed treatment, and how she was able to achieve personal and professional success, contrary to our popular notions of life with psychosis.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health, Waiting Room Project - Psychiatry Tagged With: major mental illness, ted talk

Loving a Brother with Schizophrenia with Isa Mattei

November 14, 2012 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features therapist Isa Mattei talking about her relationship with her brother, Artie, who had schizophrenia. She describes her mother’s fierce determination not to have Artie institutionalized, which kept him integrated in the family and also sometimes subjected his siblings to chaotic and often frightening interactions—yet Isa felt very seen …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: brothers, internal family systems, major mental illness, mental illness, psychiatric care, psychiatric institutions, schizophrenia, sibling relationships, sisters, stigma

Self-Care and Intergenerational Mental Illness with Beth Erlichman

October 17, 2012 by ssradmin

This Safe Space Radio episode features personal trainer Beth Erlichman, whose mother and daughter both live with mental illness. Beth describes how her experiences growing up with her mother transformed the way she supported her daughter after a psychotic break, and how internal family systems therapy helped her befriend the young, frightened parts of herself …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: daughter, families, internal family systems, major mental illness, mental illness, mothers, Parenting, psychiatric care, psychosis, Therapy

Having a Brother with Schizophrenia with Alicia Barnes

September 12, 2012 by ssradmin

Alicia Barnes talks about her brother, Josh Barnes, who had schizophrenia. Alicia describes Josh’s fears that he had brought mental illness on himself, and how medication impacted his creativity and sense of purpose in writing and playing music. She remembers how stigma kept him from talking about his illness and speaks about becoming involved with …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: art, Bring Change 2 Mind, brothers, loss, major mental illness, medication, mental illness, psychiatric care, schizophrenia, silbing relationships, stigma

Bi-Polar Disorder in the Family with Liz Brenner

September 5, 2012 by ssradmin

Social worker and trainer Liz Brenner talks about the challenges of having a father with major mental illness. Liz describes his suicide attempt when she was 20, and how living with the fear of losing him was a form of relational trauma.  She experienced first hand how the stigma and trauma of mental illness resulted …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: ambiguous loss, bi polar, bipolar disorder, families, father, fear, internal family systems, loss, major mental illness, mental health system, Parents, relational trauma, Suicide

Living with Schizophrenia with Elyn Saks

June 8, 2011 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features law professor and Macarthur Fellow Elyn Saks talking about her experience of living with Schizophrenia. When diagnosed, Elyn was given a grave prognosis and told that she might never live independently. With the help of psychoanalysis and medication, however, she returned to law school and is now an …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: coping techniques, living with mental illness, major mental illness, medication, mental hospital, mental illness, psychiatric care, psychiatric hospital, psychoanalysis, restraints, schizophrenia

Bi-Polar Disorder and Addiction with Christiane Wells

May 25, 2011 by ssradmin

Writer Christiane Wells talks with Safe Space Radio about her experience living with bi-polar disorder and addiction. Chris spent a decade in and out of psychiatric hospitals while addicted to crack, not taking her medication and struggling with suicidal thoughts. She describes how she found the will to take care of herself and change her …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Addiction & Recovery, bi polar, bipolar disorder, crack, drug user, drugs, living with mental illness, major mental illness, mental hospital, mental illness, people who use drugs, psychiatric care, psychiatric hospital, Recovery, self care, Substance Abuse, substance use, Suicide, treatment

Stigma and Being Bipolar with Deb McCarthy

May 18, 2011 by ssradmin

An interview with Deb McCarthy, the author of the blog Living in Stigma. Deb describes her experience of feeling written-off by the mental health system after multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and 77 ECT treatments failed to help her. After being willing to try anything that might help her, she met a new psychiatrist who took a …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: bi polar, bipolar disorder, isolation, living with mental illness, living with stigma, major mental illness, medical encounter, mental health system, mental hospital, mental illness, patient doctor relationship, psychiatric care, psychiatric hospital, psychiatric treatment, psychiatrists, stigma, Therapy, trust

From Bipolar Disorder to Bipolar In Order with Tom Wootton

May 11, 2011 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features author and trainer Tom Wootton on his transition from “Bipolar Disorder to Bipolar In Order.” Tom describes how current treatment paradigms teach people to view their highs and lows as problems to be gotten rid of, and his belief that it’s possible to stay aware of intense moods …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: bi polar, bipolar disorder, major mental illness, mental health system, mental illness, mood shifts, psychiatric care, psychiatric treatment

Medicating Mental Illness with Robert Whitaker

May 4, 2011 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features award-winning journalist Robert Whitaker on how some psychotropic medications may worsen the long term outcomes of people with severe mental illness. Since the advent of psychotropic medication, the numbers of Americans on psychiatric disability has tripled. Rob notes that people with schizophrenia tend to do better in some …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: drugs, living with mental illness, major mental illness, medication, mental health system, mental hospitals, mental illness, pharma, pharmaceutical industry, psychiatric care, psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric treatment, psychotropic drugs

Footer

Stay in Touch

Mailchimp Signup

Generously supported by:

  • The Annie E. Casey Foundation
  • The Lucy R. Sprague Charisma Fund
  • The Equity Fund
  • The Fleming Family Foundation
  • The Hope and Grace Fund
  • Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
  • The Lerner Foundation
  • The Matthewson Foundation
  • The Pinkerton Foundation
  • The Pink House Foundation
  • The Rines Thompson Fund
  • The Sam L. Cohen Foundation

We Can Talk About it!

Thank you for joining us in this work to advance the health of our communities, our families, and ourselves. Safe Space Radio is a federally classified, tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

WE SO APPRECIATE YOUR DONATION!

contact us

Safe Space Radio
22 Free St. Suite 402
Portland, ME 04101

207-651-6412
info@safespaceradio.com

fb

We gratefully acknowledge that the images on this website are used by permission from photographers on Unsplash.

Copyright © 2023 Safe Space Radio. All Rights Reserved. • Website by DesignME Creative Group

Privacy Policy • Terms of Use

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Privacy Policy • Terms of Use
Cookie settingsACCEPT REJECT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

Safe Space Radio is committed to protecting your privacy when you visit our website (the “Site”).  Our Privacy Policy explains the type of information we may collect from you, and how we use it and safeguard it.  This Policy is governed by and should be read in conjunction with the Safe Space Radio Terms of Use.

We use any personal data we may collect from you to provide and improve our podcasts and other offerings.  By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT