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

mental illness

Mental Illness and Stigma with Glenn Close

November 7, 2016 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features Glenn Close talking about her relationship with her sister Jessie, who is bipolar, and how they are working together to advocate for people living with major mental illness.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Bipolar, Family, mental illness, mental illness in the family, sisters

Mental Health at the Coffee Shop with Mary Allen Lindemann

March 21, 2016 by ssradmin

Mary Allen Lindemann is co-founder of Coffee By Design in Portland, Maine. She remembers how one coffee shop worked to become a safe place for those with mental illness. Mary Allen is trained in de-escalatation, and she tells a story about using these skills when a staff member became ill.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: de-escalation, employees, mental illness, workplace

Living with OCD with Monica

September 29, 2014 by ssradmin

Musician and educator Monica talks about how the intense insomnia that began in her 40′s led her to a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health, Waiting Room Project - Psychiatry Tagged With: adult onset, Anxiety & Fear, Insomnia, mental illness, obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD

OCD, Panic, and Llamas with Paula Matlins

September 15, 2014 by ssradmin

Paula Matlins talks about her daily struggle with OCD and panic, and how she is able to operate in the world through rules, medication, perseverance, and thinking about llamas.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: animals, Anxiety & Fear, coping mechanisms, llamas, mental illness, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic attacks

Obsessive Confession and OCD with Rob

September 8, 2014 by ssradmin

In this episode of Safe Space Radio, psychotherapist Rob talks about his own anxiety, which makes him feel an insatiable need to confess things to those around him, and which can also lead to debilitating panic attacks. He talks about the various therapies he’s tried, including two which have greatly reduced his anxiety in the …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Anxiety & Fear, confession, internal family systems, mental illness, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic attacks, Shame, stigma

Anxiety in Photos with John William Keedy

September 1, 2014 by ssradmin

Photographer John William Keedy has exhibited his work under the title It’s Hardly Noticeable, depicting different aspects of anxiety via images. John talks about the personal experiences that inform these photos, and how his anxiety has improved.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Anxiety & Fear, art, coping, mental illness, photography

Connecting with People with Dementia with Steven Sabat

October 14, 2013 by ssradmin

In this episode of Safe Space Radio, neuropsychologist Steven Sabat discusses how he’s been able to find ways of communicating with people with advanced dementia by recognizing and honoring their enduring personhood. He talks about the failure of standard tests of mental ability to register the social awareness of people diagnosed with dementia, and the …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Conflict, Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: Aging, Alzheimers, ambiguous loss, Caregiver, caregiving, caretaker, Dementia, Family, memory loss, mental illness, neuropsychologist

Recovery Through Music with Michael Skinner

May 20, 2013 by ssradmin

Songwriter Michael Skinner used music as a way to heal from the abuse he suffered as a child. Michael talks about his adult experiences with PTSD, his often-frustrating encounters with the mental health system, and his efforts to resist the stigmatizing label of “mental illness.” He also explores songwriting as an important healing tool in …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: art, childhood trauma, healing, mental health, mental illness, music, PTSD, surviving trauma, survivors, Trauma

Child Abuse and Physical Health 25 Years Later with Vincent Felitti

April 15, 2013 by ssradmin

Dr. Vincent Felitti talks about his groundbreaking research to show that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s, like abuse, neglect and severe family dysfunction) are correlated not only with mental illness and addiction, but also with physical illnesses like heart disease, lung disease and even auto-immune diseases.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health, Sexuality Tagged With: ACE study, adverse childhood experiences, childhood trauma, mental health, mental illness, physical illness, research

Restraints in Mental Hospitals with Bob Stains

March 18, 2013 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features Bob Stains of the Public Conversations Project. He talks about the use of restraints on patients in mental hospitals and discusses facilitating a series of conversations in which both the workers who apply restraints and the people to whom restraints have been applied are able to talk about their experiences …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Conflict, Mental Health Tagged With: Caregivers, medical encounter, Medical Trauma, mental health, mental illness, psychiatric care, psychiatric trauma, restraints, Trauma

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

Parenting Life-Threatening Depression with Rachel

October 31, 2012 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features Rachel talking about her son’s severe depression and multiple suicide attempts. Rachel names the sense of ambiguous loss she feels now that her son lives in a state mental hospital, and how her daily visits to him can bring their own sense of shame and self-doubt. She offers …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: ambiguous loss, depression, healing, mental hospitals, mental illness, mothering, NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Parenting, psychiatric care, psychiatric institution, Shame, son, Suicide, Trauma

Involuntary Commitment of a Mentally-Ill Parent with Jeneen Interlandi

October 24, 2012 by ssradmin

Harvard Nieman Fellow Jeneen Interlandi talks about her father’s bi-polar disorder. She describes the painful and extraordinary measures her family had to go through to get him into treatment, including restraining orders, getting him arrested, and hiring a lawyer to broker an agreement to get him to take medicine as a condition of leaving jail. …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Conflict, Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: bi polar, biopolar disorder, Caregivers, daughter, families, father, mental illness, Parents, psychiatric care, treatment

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 Child with Schizophrenia with Cheryl Ramsay

September 26, 2012 by ssradmin

Safe Space Radio interviews Cheryl Ramsay about her two sons, one with schizophrenia who is in treatment and one with an undiagnosed mental illness and addiction who avoids the mental health system. Cheryl describes the deep self-doubt she feels about whether she somehow could have made a difference at each step of the way. She …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: Addiction & Recovery, community, doubt, Family, mental hospitals, mental illness, Parenting, psychiatric care, schizophrenia, Shame, sons

On Having a Mother with Bi-Polar Disorder with Valerie Gamache

September 19, 2012 by ssradmin

Safe Space Radio interviews family educator Valerie Gamache about her relationship with her mother who had bi-polar disorder.  Valerie describes the ways her family tried to keep the “Big Secret,” to the point that a friend thought her mother had actually died since Valerie spoke so little about her. She also talks about her encounters …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: ambiguous loss, bi polar, bipolar disorder, daughters, mental illness, Parents, Shame, stigma

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

Healing on the Blank Page with Diane Morrow

September 14, 2011 by ssradmin

Dr. Diane Morrow describes the ways that writing helped her cope with her mother’s severe depression, and how writing can be healing as a process or ritual in itself. For Diane, writing fiction can be create enough distance from pain to allow the listener to resonate with it.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: art, art for healing, coping techniques, depression, family dynamics, healing, mental illness, mothers, Parents, writing

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

On Being a Psychiatrist with David Moltz

June 1, 2011 by ssradmin

David Moltz is a psychiatrist in Portland, ME. In this episode, David talked about his reasons for going into psychiatry and the things he finds most difficult about the profession and the things he loves. He speaks about the use of power, the difficulty of deciding whether to commit someone to a hospital, how he …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: Addiction & Recovery, addiction treatment, doctors, health, job, medical provider, mental health, mental hospital, mental illness, patient doctor relationship, patient experience, patients, psychiatric care, psychiatric hospital, psychiatrists, Sickness, substance use, Suicide, treatment, work

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

Trauma, Fear and Denial with Jessica Stern

February 16, 2011 by ssradmin

Research professor Jessica Stern is an expert in the connection between trauma and terrorism. In this interview she talks about her experience following a rape at age 15, and how her story was not believed by the police—resulting in more than 40 other children being targeted. Jessica describes living with PTSD, and experiencing a confusing …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: Anxiety & Fear, childhood trauma, healing, Loneliness, mental illness, police, PTSD, Rape, Rape Culture, Sexual assault, sexual violence, survivors, teenagers, terrorism, Therapy, Trauma, triggering, triggers, Violence

Understanding Anorexia and Eating Disorders with Lori Galperin

October 13, 2010 by ssradmin

An interview with therapist Lori Galperin about how to have a non-judgmental relationship to an eating disorder. Lori describes the many roles that eating disorders serve in the life of a young person, and the importance of not getting into power struggles to try to remove it. She highlights anorexia as an attempt to turn …read more »

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: anorexia, body image, bulemia, bulimia, diet culture, Eating Disorders, food, internal family systems, mental illness, non judgement, Parenting, teenagers, Teens, Therapy, trauma in the body

The Inner Feelings of Bulimia with Julia Jarvis

September 29, 2010 by ssradmin

Julia Jarvis talks about her struggle with bulimia and her recovery. Julia describes her profound experience with feeling she was bad, and keeping a journal of her daily sins. She credits her recovery with the loosening of a rigid and punitive theology, prozac, and the community she found in Adult Children of Alcoholics.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: adult children of alcoholics, body image, bulemia, bulimia, community, diet culture, Eating Disorders, food, healing, medication, mental illness, Recovery, Shame, theology, Therapy

The Care of Eating Disorders with Patrice Lockhart

September 8, 2010 by ssradmin

Dr. Patrice Lockhart describes her work at the New England Eating Disorders Center at Mercy Hospital. She emphasizes how she tries to help her patients distance their sense of self from the eating disorder, she also describes the key role of family support.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health, Waiting Room Project - Psychiatry Tagged With: anorexia, bulemia, bulimia, diet culture, Eating Disorders, family dynamics, food, identity, mental illness, psychiatric care, psychiatric treatment, Recovery, Therapy

Suicide, Depression, and Zen Meditation with Cheri Huber

May 26, 2010 by ssradmin

Zen teacher Cheri Huber became a student of Zen after her suicide attempt. She describes how Zen led her to awareness of her own self-destructive patterns and allowed her to break from the ruthless voice of self-criticism inside her head.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: death and dying, depression, healing, mental illness, Recovery, suicidality, Suicide, suicide attempt, zen meditation

Suicide Among Returning Vets with Pete MacMullan

May 12, 2010 by ssradmin

Pete McMullan is the Suicide Prevention Coordinator for Veterans Affairs in Maine. Pete describes the painful readjustment recently returned vets face in trying to relate to their peers and the warning signs of suicide risk for families. He tries to help young vets lift the self-judgment and isolation they struggle with.

Listen Download

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: death and dying, Hidden Emotions, Iraq War, isolation, mental illness, PTSD, readjustment, relationships, service, Shame, soldier, Suicide, VA, veterans, veterans affairs, veterans health

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!

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

contact us

Safe Space Radio
44 Exchange St. Suite 200
Portland, ME 04101

info@safespaceradio.com

fb

Copyright © 2025 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