Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories

Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories

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.

Episodes

April 25, 2025 54 mins

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Here Dr. H sits down with Lisa, a pediatric nurse practitioner, to witness her story of developmental trauma, concomitant chronic depression, and eventually her path of healing and rebuilding trust and connection, largely through psychotherapy.  During her years of intermittently crippling and suicidal depression, she was put on various psych meds, which might have helped at the time, but later...

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Craig sits down with Colorado-based equine and somatic therapist Koelle Simpson to witness her harrowing and moving story of healing from repeated sexual assaults through a deep psychospiritual connection with horses, then learning how to trust her male psychotherapist, and finally coming to face the darkness and shame head on through the use of psilocybin mushrooms.

A heads up-- this episode co...

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March 28, 2025 22 mins

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Dr. H breaks down the complex task of deprescribing into six clear steps, starting with the most important and challenging question of all:   Who is the patient and why are they suffering?

"Bringing Therapy into Med Management"-- a psychotherapy training intensive with Dr. H for psych NPs and PAs this October in Ft Collins

 https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/


BFTA on IG @backfr...

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This is an interview that Dr. H recently did on a podcast called "The Web: Weaving Psychology and Soul in Circle" where he goes deep into his own journey learning how to work with transference and countertransference.


Carrie Haynes and "The Web"

https://carriehayneslpc.com/


"I Love You, I Hate You, Are You My Mom?"  An intensive experiential workshop explori...

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Dr. H sits down with Dr. Neill Epperson, chair of the University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry, to talk all things hormonal.


"I Love You, I Hate You, Are You My Mom?"  A intensive experiential workshop exploring transference with Dr. H and Dr. Hillary McBride, May 28-30 in Victoria BC
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i-love-you-i-hate-you-are-you-my-mom-tickets-111211751642...

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February 14, 2025 44 mins

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This is a re-release of an episode called "Adventures in Exposure Therapy" which first published in 2020. That episode was the second of a two part exploration of OCD, the first episode was called "OCD in the Time of Corona." In brief, "OCD in the Time of Corona" was the story of Dr. H's patient Erin, who suffered from disabling OCD that focused on a catastrop...

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Today’s story is the story of so many marriages— starting off with hope and excitement, then settling into careers and kids and unforeseen challenges,  then facing emerging disenchantment and mounting frustrations,  then maybe even reaching a breaking point, where the marriage seems unable to withstand all the stuff life is throwing in its path.  

For Daniel and Mindy, their initial years of lov...

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One of the more interesting and difficult challenges of integrating psychedelics into psychiatry is how to deal with the fact that so many of the folks who will seek out care for their treatment-resistant depression or OCD or body dysmorphia or PTSD or attachment trauma are on psychiatric meds, many of which can have very significant and even dangerous interactions with certain psychedelics.

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Saj Razvi and Hillary McBride return to BFTA, this time together, for one of the most compelling and fascinating episodes we have featured on the podcast-- an in depth, in the room exploration of the moment to moment unfolding of a psychedelic-assisted trauma session. 

During her training to work with Saj’’s psychedelic somatic model, called PSIP, Hillary did a profound session with Saj that led...

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December 20, 2024 21 mins

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In this solo episode, Craig synthesizes the most salient aspects of identifying and treating OCD, with some cool musical interludes to boot-- in just over 20 minutes!

"I Love You, I Hate You, Are You My Mom?"  A intensive experiential workshop exploring transference with Dr. H and Dr. Hillary McBride, May 28-30 in Victoria BC
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i-love-you-i-hate...

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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 i...

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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/

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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-chil...

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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 ...

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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....

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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/

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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...

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May 31, 2024 60 mins

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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/


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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...

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May 3, 2024 49 mins

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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 fi...

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