Metamorfosis

In this episode, Dr. David Puder and Dr. Brandon Luu explore the science of sleep deprivation. How missing sleep impacts your brain, metabolism, emotions, and long-term health. Discover evidence-based strategies that can help you protect cognitive performance and recover from sleep loss, including exercise, creatine, caffeine, and bright light therapy. We'll discuss studies showing how even short bouts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), proper creatine dosing, and morning light exposure can

In this episode, Dr. David Puder is joined by world-renowned psychologist Diana Diamond, PhD to explore devaluation, narcissism, attachment, and transference in psychotherapy. Together they examine why patients with narcissistic personality traits or narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) often devalue their therapists, how dismissing and disorganized attachment styles shape treatment, and why these cycles can be so painful for clinicians. Dr. Diamond shares clinical insights from

In this episode, we explore how intergenerational trauma shapes attachment patterns and how reflective function (RF) and mentalization can help break the cycle. Drawing on research from Fonagy, Slade, and Berthelot, we examine how trauma-specific reflective functioning influences disorganized attachment and how therapies such as Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT), Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), and Minding the Baby (MTB) strengthen reflective capacity and promote secure attachment. Join

In this episode, Dr. David Puder and Mark Ruffalo dive into the history and theory of identity diffusion, from Kernberg’s structural model and Gunderson’s work on BPD to Akhtar’s clinical descriptions. We explore how identity diffusion shows up in patients’ lived experiences—feelings of emptiness, fractured self-image, lack of authenticity—and what these struggles mean for psychotherapy. You’ll also hear practical insights into treatment, including empathetic confrontation, fostering continuity of

Parenting brings love, joy and plenty of emotional challenges. In this episode, clinical psychologist Dr. Alissa Jerud explores how parents can better understand and regulate their emotions instead of getting stuck in cycles of frustration, anxiety, or control. Drawing on exposure therapy, DBT skills, and her Emotion-Savvy Parenting approach, Dr. Jerud introduces practical tools: the ART framework (Accept, Regulate, Tolerate) to help parents stay grounded during emotional storms. Whether it’s

In this episode, I engage in a shared-interest conversation with Dr. David Mintz, a psychiatrist with over 30 years of experience at the Austen Riggs Center, about his book Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology: Caring for the Treatment-Resistant Patient. Mintz explores the integration of psychodynamic principles into medication prescribing, emphasizing that psychiatric treatments are not purely biomedical but profoundly shaped by meaning, symbolism, attachment and interpersonal dynamics. Drawing from