The Shrink Is In- The Podcast Voice of Psychology

Dr. Gurr and Dr. Elliott talk with Dr. Elizabeth McMahon about Virtutal Reality Therapy- how it is used for exposure therapy and its trajectory for the future of therapy. Dr. McMahon specializes in evidence-based treatment for anxiety and has been using virtual reality (VR) with clients since 2010. She currently provides training and consultation on VR exposure therapy (VRET), benefits and risks of VR, integrative cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic, anxiety, and fears, interoceptive exposure, and related topics. Her book Virtual Reality Therapy for Anxiety: A Guide for Therapists (with D. Boeldt, PhD) explains how mental health professionals can use VR in treating a wide range of anxiety disorders. Research supporting VR therapy is summarized. Case examples bring the information to life. The book is part of Stanford Virtual Reality Immersive Technology's training curriculum. Her webinar “Virtual Reality (VR) for Anxiety and Phobia Treatment” is available on www.PESI.com. For more information see www.Elizabeth-McMahon.com, www.overcoming.guide, and www.virtualrealitytherapyforanxiety.com/. Joe Elliott, PhD is a licensed mental health provider and owner of Joe Elliott Psychological Services in Galveston, Texas (www.galvestonpsych.com), with nearly three decades’ experience as a psychotherapist, evaluator, and behavioral science researcher. He previously coordinated research at the anxiety disorders clinics of the University of Houston and University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, and at the Eyewitness Testimony research lab at Sam Houston State Univ. He also worked at the University of Texas Medical Branch where he was the Mental Health Manager for the Texas NeuroAIDS Research Center, supervising and doing neuropsychological testing at one of only four NIH-sponsored “brain banks” (tissue repositories). He is trained in Criterion-Based Content Analysis (CBCA), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and in Prolonged Exposure Therapy. He has been providing VR mental health applications since 2021, and is the first practitioner to deploy the IDEGO VR treatment suite in the US. Dr. Howard Gurr is a practicing psychologist on Long Island, New York. He specializes in helping patients with varying types of anxiety and phobias. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Gurr has been podcasting about psychologically related issues since 2006 at https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/drgurr, and he was the co-host for both the New York State Psychological Association and the Suffolk County Psychological Association podcasts. Since 2016, Dr. Gurr has been using VR for exposure therapy and to help patients reduce stress and increase mindfulness. He continues to work with VR companies all over the world, providing webinar training, consultation, and beta testing. He is currently an “ambassador” for Amelia Virtual Care/XR Health. He has also created an online directory of therapists who utilize virtual reality therapy in their practices, www.vrttherapists.com, to help bring awareness of the benefits of virtual reality therapy for behavioral health to the general public, improve the sharing of information between providers, and function as a tool to help clinicians and the public locate virtual reality therapists worldwide. To see the full video version of this interview go to https://youtu.be/iRFg4ip31UQ

Dr. Gurr talks with Erica Kaitz about VR Therapy, and Amelia/XR Health. Erica Kaitz, LCSW has been working in the field of behavioral health since 2010. Erica began their career as a Primary Therapist at HHC in 2010, followed by a role as a Staff Therapist at Community Counseling Centers of Chicago, Emergency Services in 2012. In 2013, they began working for Aetna as a Clinical Case Manager and Clinical Supervisor. In 2016, they took on the role of Behavioral Health Director at Cigna-HealthSpring, and in 2018, they became the Manager of Clinical Operations at Prealize Health. Most recently, in 2022, Erica Kaitz became the Vice President of Behavioral Health at Amelia Virtual Care.

Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzGVcMvsRlU&t=31s to see the full video version of this podcast. Dr. Howard Gurr and Mr. Andrew Colsky, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and entrepreneur, talk about Virtual reality Exposure Therapy and his new VR platform. Mr. Colsky is a licensed mental health counselor treating OCD and anxiety disorders in both Virginia and Florida through his practice which can be found at www.stopmyocd.com. His practice includes the use of exposure therapy. In order to facilitate his own practice needs, he founded Prescription XRT (www.rxxrt.com), a first-of-its-kind exposure therapy platform. He is planning to provide access to all exposure therapists so they may conduct therapy using lifelike exposures virtually anywhere.

To see the video of this conversation go to https://youtu.be/vrWC9vw0K6c Today I am talking with Dr. Joe Elliot about our respective uses of VR in our clinical practices. Joe Elliott, PhD is a licensed mental health provider and owner of Joe Elliott Psychological Services in Galveston, Texas (www.galvestonpsych.com), with nearly three decades’ experience as a clinician, evaluator, and behavioral science researcher. He previously coordinated research at the anxiety disorders clinics of the University of Houston and University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, and at the Eyewitness Testimony research lab at Sam Houston State Univ. He is Mental Health Manager at the Texas NeuroAIDS Research Center, one of four NIH-sponsored “brain banks” (tissue repositories) in the US. Joe has a Master’s in Clinical Psychology and a PhD in Cognition and Instruction Psychology. He received training in Criterion-Based Content Analysis (CBCA), Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). He has been providing VR mental health applications since 2021, and is the first practitioner to deploy the IDEGO treatment suite in the US.

to see the video of this podcast go to Dr. Howard Gurr Talks with Dr. Kim Bullock about Virtual Reality Therapy - YouTube. Dr. Bullock received her undergraduate degree with honors and distinction in physiology and psychology from the University of California, San Diego, Revelle College and her medical degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Washington Hospital in D.C. and a psychiatry residency at Stanford University. She is a diplomat in the subspecialties of Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry and Lifestyle Medicine. She is currently appointed Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences within Stanford’s School of Medicine. Dr. Bullock is the founder and Director of Stanford's Neurobehavioral Clinic and Virtual Reality & Immersive Technologies (VRIT) program and laboratory. She also is a leader and pioneer in telehealth services using XR. She has published many peer-reviewed articles and is a Cambridge and Oxford Press author on the subject of functional neurological disorders. Her primary clinical research interest is exploring the use of technology for trauma treatment and psychiatric illnesses involving disruption of bodily perception and function. She is currently focused on the use and dissemination of immersive technologies for telepsychiatry as well as its use in augmentation of physiotherapy, psychotherapy, and skills acquisition. She treats a multitude of illness domains including trauma, phobias, anxiety, pain, mood disorders, and somatic symptom-related disorders. She also provides support and connects researchers, providers, and developers of immersive technology through the Stanford Psychiatry Immersive Technology Consortium (SPIT-C). Dr. Bullock currently sees patients, teaches, and performs research. She takes a holistic, customized, and personal approach to each patient and encourages family and community involvement in the treatment process. She is intensively trained and teaches both cognitive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

Today’s podcast is a conversation between Dr. Howard Gurr and Dr. Les Posen about our use of Virtual Reality in private practice. Check out the video version of this conversation between Dr. Howard Gurr and Dr. Les Posen at https://youtu.be/tgvLHdAub5M Les is Melbourne, born-and-bred. Educated at Monash and Melbourne Universities, he later spent time in the Austin Hospital’s Department of Psychological Medicine, where he did clinical rotations in Adult Psychiatry and Cardiology. With a lifelong passion for travel and commercial aviation, Les considers himself fortunate to have been supervised while at the Austin by Dr. Ida Kaplan who was Ansett Australia’s first Melbourne-based Fear of Flying Program Psychologist. He inherited the program from her in 1994 and for the next six years further developed and enhanced the program. Separate from this, he helped develop the airline’s Passenger and Crew Welfare program, training with airline staff from around the world – including United, Continental and TWA – to give him a special understanding of Crew psychology, especially enhancing resilience under stress. Les’s website is https://flightwise.com.au/

I was searching through my old podcasts and I came up with another one from 2007 that seems to be pertinent to today's world. This one was on liars. According to a study 50% of people questioned thought they could tell when someone was lying. The data suggested we were not that good at telling when someone was lying to us. Is that true? This podcast presented some of the reasons why we cannot always tell who is telling the truth or who is lying. I think it is very relevant today!

I originally produced this podcast on why people who are incompetent do not know they are incompetent on August 15, 2007. At the time, I thought the research was very interesting and amusing. Now, with the state of our world, I think the podcast is very relevant and not so funny. The research was actually done in 1999. The researchers were Dr. David Duning and a then graduate student, named Justin Kruger. Interestingly, this concept has been called the Duning-Kruger effect! Below is the reference for the original article. In advance, I apologize for my voice- I must have been sick at the time I recorded the original podcast. Kruger, Justin; Dunning, David (1999). "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 77 (6): 1121–34.

Today’s podcast is a conversation between Dr. Howard Gurr and Dr. Skip Rizzo. Dr. Rizzo is well known for his work with VR and PTSD. He is one of the first psychologists to recognize the benefits of VR for psychological issues. Dr. Rizzo talks about his introduction to VR, the benefits of VR for mental health problems and his research with VR. Here is Dr. Rizzo’s bio: Albert “Skip” Rizzo is a clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist and Director of Medical Virtual Reality at the University Of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. He is also a Research Professor with the USC Dept. of Psychiatry and at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Skip conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation across the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. This work has focused on PTSD, TBI, Autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other clinical conditions. In spite of the diversity of these clinical R&D areas, the common thread that drives all of his work with digital technologies involves the study of how interactive and immersive Virtual Reality simulations can be usefully applied to address human healthcare needs beyond what is possible with traditional 20th Century tools and methods. In 2010 he received the “American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Practice of Trauma Psychology” and in 2012, the MMVR Satava Award for excellence in the use of VR for therapeutic applications. In 2015, he received the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics “Pioneer in Medicine” award presented to individuals who have significantly contributed to the scientific advancement in the fields of medicine through a multidisciplinary approach. To view some videos on his work, please visit this YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUQrbzaW3x9wWoZPl4-l4GSA&feature=plcp

Dr. Howard Gurr Talks with Dr. Robert Reiner about Virtual reality Therapy(VRT). Dr. Reiner has been using VRT for many years in his practice in New York City. Here is Dr. Reiner's bio: Robert H. Reiner Ph.D., BCN, BCB, Executive Director and founder of Behavioral Associates (BA), has been practicing psychology since 1981. After receiving his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, he went on to get his Ph. D. in clinical psychology at the University of Alabama and serve his clinical internship at Bellevue Hospital. He currently serves on the faculty for the Department of Psychiatry at New York University Medical Center and is a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania psychology department. Dr. Reiner can frequently be seen and quoted in the news and media and is often called upon to make appearances on major news networks for his expert opinion. Throughout his career he has served as psychological consultant for several corporations as well as an expert witness for a number of criminal trials. He is well known for his work in treating anxiety and phobias through biofeedback and virtual reality therapy. He has been credited for this work in articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Daily News, USA Today, Newsweek and Time Out magazine. He has specifically had great success in treating patients for fear of flying which was documented on an episode of The National Geographic Show featuring Dr. Reiner’s work with a phobic patient. He is a co-author of, The Fearless Smile Overcoming Dental Phobia, a book on the subject of people suffering from dental phobias and how they can be effectively treated. The book, published in Jan. 2012 was written by Dr. Reiner along with two well-known Manhattan dentists. Dr. Reiner currently serves on the Ethics Board at the International Study for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR). He served on the faculty at NYU Medical Center, Dept. of Psychiatry, from 1980 to 2015. He has been a guest lecturer for the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research, Northeastern Regional Biofeedback Society (NFBS), Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback (AAPB) and more. Dr. Reiner can be reached at http://www.behavioralassociates.com/ or by calling him at (212) 860-8500.

Dr. Howard Gurr talks to Mr. Scott Lowe from www.psious.com about their company,the current state of Virtual Reality Therapy and the future of Virtual Reality Therapy. Mr.Scott Lowe manages the North American market for Psious, the leading company in virtual reality for mental healthcare. Scott found his way to Psious after orthogonal stops as a competitive amateur boxer, industrial engineer at Stanford University, and professional dancer/acrobat, two of which entailed journeys in anxiety management that piqued his interest in cutting-edge treatments. Now with Psious, Scott is helping establish a new class of therapists well-versed in technological resources that potentiate the effect of clients' existing skills.

Today I introduce my interest in therapy- Virtual Reality Therapy(VRT). I briefly talk about why I am focused on VRT and how I think it is a great tool for solving phobias and otther emotional difficulties.

Hello folks, I lost track of time and I got involved in a lot of other projects so I did not publish a podcast in a long time. I'm coming back with more podcasts and I'm going to focus more on my new interest- Virtual Reality Therapy.

Dr. Gurr talks about how children find clowns scary and how parents can help their children deal with the anxiety when exposed to clowns.

Dr. Gurr talks about the positive impact parents can have on their children's education.

Dr. Gurr talks about why is it is important to keep children on their regular schedules during vacations and weekends.

Today’s podcast is about mentoring youth. My guest is Jill Gurr-yes, a relative-who just published a book on mentoring called “Mentor Youth Now- A Guidebook for Transforming Young Lives”. Jill Gurr Is the Director of Create Now, a creative arts mentoring organization that she founded in 1996. She has trained hundreds of volunteers to mentor thousands of the most troubled children in Southern California. She is also a produced screenwriter and worked us a script supervisor on award-winning movies around the world. She has been featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper 360.She was one of eight people in the country featured in the exhibition ”Everyday Heroes” at the Museum of Tolerance In Los Angeles and one of four people in the nation selected by the British Council to represent the U.S. on a Global Xchange program in South Africa and Northern Ireland.

In today’s podcast Dr. Sapadin talks about her new book - How to Beat Procrastination in the Digital Age: 6 Unique Change Programs for 6 Personality Styles. Dr. Sapadin is a psychologist, success coach and media guest. She specializes in helping people enrich their lives, enhance their relationships and overcome self-defeating patterns of behavior. She has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post , Psychology Today, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Prevention, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Men’s Health, Lifetime TV.com, WedMD.com and many other print and on-line publications. You can learn more about Dr. Sapadin at her websites: www.PsychWisdom.com and www.BeatProcrastinationCoach.com

Today's podcast is a conversation about the LGBT issues, concerns and counseling services. Kathleen OBrien is a Licensed Master of Social Work specalizing in LGBT issues, Personal and Family Counseling, and Group Therapy. She has a Bachelors in Mathematics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a Masters from the University of Iowa. Kathleen now provides clinical services at the Windsor Counseling Group in New Windsor, NY and in Middletown, NY. She founded a Transgender Support Group in Orange County, NY and has been a moderator for the women's group at the LOFT Gay Center in White Plains, NY. She also works with the Lambda Peer Support Services (LPSS) group in White Plains, NY and the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in Kingston, NY.

Today’s podcast is about anxiety and relaxation techniques. Anxiety is a problem that affects a large percentage of the population and relaxation techniques have proven to be quite helpful in managing or reducing anxiety. Today I will be speaking to Dr. Fred Holtz, an expert in the use of relaxation techniques for anxiety. Fred L. Holtz, PhD is the Executive Director of Holtz Psychological Services, a group practice in Melville, New York. Dr. Holtz has been in private practice for over twenty-two years and he has extensive experience in individual and marital therapy, learning disabilities and psychological evaluation. He received his Doctorate from Hofstra University and did his undergraduate work at State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Holtz is adjunct Professor of Psychology at Suffolk County Community College. Dr. Holtz is the author of Ten Ways To Reduce Stress and Anxiety TODAY, a practical booklet on identifying and reducing anxiety. His articles and workshops on coping with stress, and on improving communication in relationships have been featured on Long Island NEWS 12 and in NEWSDAY and he has been a guest lecturer and workshop leader for businesses and civic organizations. He established a website called www.Therapy-Now.com where you can find more information about treatment programs and psychological issues.