Groundless Ground Podcast

Clinician Paula Scatoloni returns to the Groundless Ground 6 years later, to share the evolution of her clinical work which now integrates sound therapies and energy medicine techniques along with somatic psychotherapy. This is a fascinating episode covering several kinds of sound modalities, such as: The Safe and Sound Protocol a unique listening experience that has been filtered through a patented, evidence-based algorithm highlighting specific sound frequencies which help regulate the autonomic nervous system and stimulate the vagus nerve. Binaural beats and Bio-lateral beats whose proponents assert these sound waves enhance certain beneficial brainwaves, though those claims lack good clinical research. And Biofield Tuning which utilizes a tuning fork to identify and resolve energetic disturbances in the subtle body nervous system. While all of this may sound far-fetched, Paula and I try our best to present it with the clarity and levelheadedness you deserve. Paula Scatoloni LCSW holds a degree in social work and is certified in Somatic Experiencing, Biofield Tuning, Reiki, Brain Spotting, and many other forms of somatic therapy. She integrates her Western framework with earth-based practices for sound journeying and her gifts in vibrational healing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Lisa Dale Miller starts this episode with an explanation of why the Groundless Ground Podcast has been on hiatus for the last year. Then the episode presents a dharma talk Lisa gave at Marin Sangha one month ago. Her talk is a reminder that every moment is an invitation to decrease the mass of human suffering by seeding the world with at least one more quiescent, wise, and compassionate mind committed to non-harming. Lisa explicates why cultivation of Bodhicitta is the ultimate path to accomplishing that aim, right in the midst of ordinary daily life. Longchenpa's Finding Rest in the Nature of MindLisa Dale Miller, LMFT, LPCC, SEP specializes in working with high-performing professionals (engineers, scientists, executives, physicians/psychologists, first responders) struggling with unresolved traumatic experiences: particularly medical trauma, C-PTSD, combat and war trauma, moral injury, high-impact injuries, burnout, workplace harassment, traumatic grief, and challenging life transitions.Lisa authored Effortless Mindfulness: Genuine mental health through awakened presence a highly regarded textbook on Buddhist psychology for mental health professionals. Lisa has been an outpatient clinician for the VA San Jose, has taught a variety of Mindfulness-based Interventions, and is an AAMFT Clinical Fellow. Lisa is a Buddhist teacher and has been a yogic and Buddhist meditation practitioner for over four decades. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Psychologist, researcher, and executive Cassandra Vieten and I dialogue about a wide range of interventions that can shift the mental health crisis into a mental health renaissance. Cassie’s many years of offering patients empirically-based, mind-body tools for sustainable transformation, has taken place at several renowned academic medical institutions and greatly contributed to psychology’s integration of embodied, spiritually-oriented interventions for human flourishing such as: meditation, qigong and tai chi, being in nature, ritual, spiritual exploration, and most recently, psychedelics. This is a jam-packed episode full of practical information for health professionals seeking easy ways to facilitate patient well-being.Watch Cassie's TED Talk! Build Your Ecosystem!Cassandra Vieten is Director of Research and Associate Scientist at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Executive Director of the John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation, co-founder and Clinical Psychology Director at the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative at UCSD, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. She is a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research has focused on spirituality and health, transformative experiences and practices, the development of mindfulness-based interventions for emotional well-being, and development of media technologies to inspire awe. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She was a Scientist at the Mind-Body Medicine Research Group for 12 years, and worked at the Institute of Noetic Sciences for 18 years. She has authored three books and has published numerous articles in scientific journals. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Alison Ash PhD is a sex and intimacy coach, educator, and creator of many sex positive workshops including her upcoming, very popular Sexual and Emotional Intimacy Skills Mastercourse. This dialogue was stunningly rich and informative for both of us. We freely converse about sex positivity and how consent skills make it possible to skillfully and joyfully give and receive pleasure, flirt and seduce, have more intimacy, and better understand monogamous and non-monogamous relationships. We also discuss how the lingering pain and shame from sexual trauma impedes healthy sexuality and what systemic healing and resolution of sexual trauma entails. Alison clearly explicates the difference between pornography and erotica, and the deleterious effects of widespread porn use by teens, adults and couples. This episode is a romp through a diverse landscape of contexts and practices in which sex positivity is being experienced and enjoyed. Alison Ash PhD is a sex and intimacy coach, educator and creator of many sex positive workshops including her upcoming Masterclass. She coaches individuals and couples in sex positivity. Her book Gender Ambiguity in the Workplace: Trans and Genderqueer Discrimination was published in 2018. In addition to her private practice she is a Stanford University lecturer in the Wellness Education program teaching Sexual and Emotional Intimacy Skills to both undergraduate and graduate students. Her website is https://www.turnon.love/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Richard Hill and Matthew Dahlitz have written a comprehensive, definitively modern psychotherapy textbook titled, "Practitioners Guide to the Science of Psychotherapy". Their book covers basic neuroscience, body-brain systems, genetic processes and the application of integrative psychotherapy modalities for mental health disorders. This is the textbook I wished for many years ago when I attended graduate school. I was so excited to dialogue with these two brilliant men about the current sad state of standard psychotherapy, and the need for updated curricula and therapist retraining that rests upon scientifically validated patient-responsive treatments. This episode is a critical rallying cry in support of transforming a psychology/psychotherapy profession that fails to adequately meet the needs of so many patients. Richard Hill is managing editor of The Science of Psychotherapy magazine and lives in Sydney, Australia. at 42 (1996) beginning with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in linguistics. This triggered a curiosity that led to a diploma in counselling and a new career in psychotherapy. Studying continued and he has added three Masters degrees – an MA in Social Ecology; an MEd in Social Ecology; and a Masters in Brain and Mind Sciences (MBMSc) from Sydney University. Richard is also fortunate to be mentored by the esteemed Ernest Rossi PhD who has invited Richard into the International Psychosocial Genomics Research Matthew Dahlitz is editor-in-chief of The Science of Psychotherapy magazine. He founded The Neuropsychotherapist in 2013 and lives in Brisbane, Australia. autodidactic, whose knowledge spans across the arts, technology, psychology, neuroscience, emergency medicine, and business. Studied psychology at the University of Queensland and gained a Master of Counselling postgraduate degree–now a specialist in neuropsychotherapy and the Editor-in-Chief of The Neuropsychotherapist, has taught post-graduate courses in neuropsychotherapy, and is author of the book The Psychotherapists’s Essential Guide to the Brain. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW, and I discuss exciting new research on the effectiveness of Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE)—his unique mindfulness intervention—for alleviating the cognitive-affective distress associated with chronic pain and co-occurring opioid misuse. We also focus on the value of meditation, expanding consciousness, and experiencing bliss in decreasing reliance on opioids and increasing capacity for ordinary pleasures. Lots of neuroscience and we cover research on the role of psychedelics as adjunctive treatment for chronic pain and opioid misuse.Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW, is a rare combination of rigorous researcher and compassionate clinician. His unique integration of CBT and mindfulness led him to create Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), an integrative group intervention for treating chronic pain, stress, and opioid misuse. His attention to detail and methodology has made him a trusted researcher. In 2019 he was appointed to the NIH HEAL Multi-Disciplinary Working Group to help guide the HEAL initiative on pain and addiction. Our dialogue was exciting for both of us. We share a sense that helping patients attend to savoring and insight is key to moving beyond the murky grasp of addiction. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Consciousness remains a scientific puzzle: what it is, what creates it, and though all known conscious systems are alive, not all living systems are conscious. These days cortical-based theories of consciousness are all the rage. However, renown neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms has put forth, in his book “The Hidden Spring”, a radically convincing theory for the subcortical, homeostatic origins of consciousness rooted primarily in feeling or what is known as affect. Dr. Solms explains why a particular area of the brainstem is his choice for where the lights of consciousness get switched on and off and deftly explains the difference between mind and consciousness, and why humans have evolved a mind to mediate between the needs of the visceral body, the self, and the objects in the world that satisfy those needs.Dr. Solms’ research on consciousness has recently pivoted toward bridging affect into artificially intelligent systems and yes we do talk about the ethics of that frightening possibility. This episode is fascinating and mind-blowing and I am so grateful to have had time with such a compassionate and brilliant researcher, clinician. Mark Solms is a renown South African psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist best known for discovering forebrain mechanisms of dreaming, and neuropsychoanalysis, his unique integration of psychoanalytic theory with neuroscientific methodology. He holds the Chair of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital (Departments of Psychology and Neurology) and is the President of the South African Psychoanalytical Association. He is also Research Chair of the International Psychoanalytical Association (since 2013). Solms founded the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society in 2000 and he was a Founding Editor (with Ed Nersessian) of the journal Neuropsychoanalysis. He is Director of the Arnold Pfeffer Center for Neuropsychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Stuart Shanker, MD and I address the loss of virtue as a fundamental part of societal and individual conduct and how to reinvigorate it. He notes with sadness the quaint overtones and ironic sarcasm that has infected discussion of virtuous conduct; particularly in politics, journalism, academia, and psychology. We name the war between reason and emotion, rationality and irrationality, and discuss its role in widespread sense of unsafety, outright lying and ‘truthiness’ in media, and the continuing horror of school shootings in America. We discuss solutions for restoring ethical human values so critical for well-being and wholesome relationship. Happy and healthy New Year to every listener and all beings residing on our planet.Dr. Stuart G. Shanker, is a research professor emeritus of Philosophy and Psychology at York University[1] and the Founder/CEO of The MEHRIT Centre(TMC) 2012. He is also the founder and Science Director of the Self-Regulation Institute (SRI), and an acclaimed author and international speaker.[2] He is best known as Canada's leading expert in the psychophysiological theory of self-regulation. His latest book is REFRAMED: Self-Reg for a just society. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Two recent dharma talks given by Lisa Dale Miller at Marin Sangha explicate what kindness is from Buddhist psychological perspective and how it radically differs from niceness. To lay the groundwork of what kindness is, the first talk employs a very challenging sutta, “The Simile of the Saw”, where the Buddha proscribes wholesome conduct in all manner of difficult relational engagements. The second talk investigates kindness and niceness and clarifies their differences. Niceness though pleasing or agreeable, is only intended to avoid discomfort and is deceptive and disingenuous. Kindness is genuine benevolence enacted through skillful application of presence and discerning wisdom. Due to its engaged and other-centered nature, kindness isn’t always easy and navigating the discomfort it can bring is the common ground of both talks. May these talks lead to the awakening of all beings everywhere. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Get ready for a microbiome geek-fest with Cornell Professor Emeritus, health scientist, and author Rodney Dietert, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of his pioneering book, The Human Super-organism. Rodney shares the fascinating history of microbiome research and recounts his own life-changing, career-shifting revelations about microbiome-first medicine in reversing the modern epidemic of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) and immune system disorders. We discuss the difference between viruses and bacteria, and because our dialogue took place in June 2021 (pre-Delta-variant spread in the US) he offered surprising views about COVID19, vaccines, and mask-wearing. We also cover the latest research on microbiome testing, probiotics, prebiotics, rebiosis, and fecal transplant interventions for physical and mental health disorders. Rodney Dietert, PhD has turned his wide-ranging expertise toward reducing the environmental health risks of children and protecting against chronic diseases by focusing on the microbiome and the immune system. As a full professor at Cornell University in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and a faculty member in the Cornell Institute for Comparative and Environment Toxicology, Dr. Dietert has published peer-reviewed papers in more than 70 different scientific journals ranging from environmental health and pediatric medicine publications to nutrition, metabolism, immune, neurological and reproductive journals. He has been President of the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology and previously led Cornell's programs in immunology, toxicology and risk reduction of breast cancer. In 2012 Dr. Dietert introduced a new course at Cornell applying contemplative tools for creative problem solving. This has blossomed into a variety of new educational programs and workshops. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

This is a very special episode featuring Anne C. Klein, PhD, aka Lama Rigzin Drolma; Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University, Buddhist Studies scholar and Tibetan translator, author, and Tibetan Buddhist teacher. It was such an honor to discuss Dr. Klein’s groundbreaking book, Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse Foundational Practices and the Transmission of the Longchen Nyingthig. We speak frankly and deeply about Nundro; its practice and relevance for Western Tibetan Buddhist practitioners. Dr. Klein also generously shares her rich history of engagement with Buddhist academia and her long-standing relationship with Tibetan Buddhism as a practitioner and guiding teacher of Dawn Mountain Tibetan Temple and Institute. May this episode be dedicated to the welfare and benefit of all beings everywhere.Anne Carolyn Klein is Professor and a former Chair of the Department of Religion, Rice University, where she helped developed a contemplative studies concentration for graduate students. Co-founder of the Dawn Mountain Center for Tibetan Buddhism. She is a Lama in the Nyingma (ancient) Buddhist tradition. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com

Kathy L. Kain, PhD returns to share her unparalleled expertise on effective use of somatic interventions in in-person and online psychotherapy. She gets very specific about what interventions work and don’t work, and the kind of patients that may benefit or be underserved when the medium of contact is screen-only. And Kathy gives in-depth analysis of the interplay of awareness and points of contact in somatic interventions; regardless of whether the clinician has physical contact with a patient or not. We also take a deep dive into the role of intersubjectivity in somatic work—the importance of viewing the patient as the expert, and how to skillfully navigate somatic counter-transference while keeping in mind the patient’s benefit and maintenance of therapeutic and relational connection. This episode is appropriate for both somatic practitioners as well as novices who may be interested in the mechanics of this work, particularly in the psychotherapeutic process. Here is the link to hear Kathy's first GG episode.Kathy L. Kain has practiced and taught bodywork and trauma recovery skills for nearly 40 years. She teaches in Europe, Australia, Canada, and throughout the United States. Kathy is a senior trainer in the Somatic Experiencing training program, an adjunct faculty member of Sonoma State University, and was a senior trainer for 12 years in the Somatic Psychotherapy training program based in Sydney, Australia. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bestofggpodcast.substack.com