Books, Looks, and Lobotomies

Stephen Smith, co-founder of the teletherapy platform NOCD, joins us to share his lived experience with OCD (sexual obsessions, relationship obsessions, and more) that fueled him to create a a virtual therapy platform specializing in the treatment of OCD. Like many, Stephen did months of general talk therapy with a therapist who didn’t understand OCD, which made his OCD worse. It wasn’t until he found effective treatment, Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, that he started to feel better. Stephan compares OCD to an earthquake in the brain, talks the loss of identity that comes from OCD attacking one’s identity, being homebound when his OCD was at its worse, and more. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠ Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠! Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

Stephanie Foo, author of the New York Times bestseller What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma, brought CPTSD to the forefront of mental health care. She joins us to talk about her healing journey, what CPTSD recovery means to her, emotional flashbacks, the painstaking search for a therapist, “the dread”, and more. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at⁠ ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠⁠ Follow Alegra on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠! Episodes edited by⁠ ⁠Donny Hadfield⁠

Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire, joins the Lobotomommies today! She talks the doctor who saved her life, the importance of holistic mental health care, physiological causes of mental health conditions, and more. As the 217th person to be diagnosed with anti-NDMA receptor autoimmune encephalitis, naturally escaping the psych ward or death, Susannah has made it her mission to raise awareness about autoimmune encephalitis and how the body can attack the brain. You don’t want to miss this! This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠ Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠! Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

In part two of this discussion, Chrissie opens up about her suicide attempt that led to her hospitalization and OCD diagnosis. She also shares her OCD treatment experience utilizing Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and recovery journey. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at⁠ ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠⁠ Follow Alegra on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠! Episodes edited by⁠ ⁠Donny Hadfield⁠

Peer support specialist and OCD advocate Chrissie Hodges joins Books, Looks, and Lobotomies to talk about her memoir Pure OCD: The Invisible Side of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In part one of this discussion, Chrissie shares her journey with emetophobia and sexual orientation OCD that nearly ended her life. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠ Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠! Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

On this week’s episode of Books, Looks, and Lobotomies, licensed therapist and OCD specialist Alegra Kastens talks Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and mental compulsions. She provides information about specific mental compulsions, how Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) works with mental compulsions, stopping mental compulsions, and whether or not mental compulsions can be automatic or involuntary. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠ Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠! Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

Welcome back, Lobotomommies! This week, Alegra chats with Amanda Montell (Wordslut, Cultish, Sounds Like A Cult Podcast) about her latest book, The Age of Magical Overthinking. While discussing the cognitive biases that run wild through our brains, Alegra and Amanda also get deep about past relationships and "overpacking" their lives. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens Follow Alegra on Instagram! Episodes edited by Donny Hadfield

In the first episode of her new podcast, Alegra reads "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath; a semi-autobiographical novel that covers all of this podcast's talking points: books, gender issues and feminism, and mental health. Alegra dissects the book, pausing to give personal anecdotes from her life, while also breaking down some of the backstory of the novel itself. With the Madonna Wh*re Complex, high functioning depression, and the history of lobotomies all covered in the first episode, where else is there to go in future episodes? There's only one way to find out... come back soon, Lobotomommies. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens Follow Alegra on Instagram! Episodes edited by Donny Hadfield