The podcast hits the one year mark this week… and it’s a twofer! Two sessions in one episode as life in the podcast timeline is starting to go virtual in the very beginning of the pandemic. Doug and Drew pack a lot into these two shorter sessions. In Session 1, Drew gets home from the funeral and is feeling sick and alone yet enjoying more independence and finding purpose in helping to produce millions of masks. In Session 2, we hear the big news about Drew’s dating life. Doug highlights that this can be a healing relationship for him in terms of getting the experience and positive reinforcement for being himself authentically.
Bonnie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Los Angeles. She is an instructor for graduate students in the LGBT Specialization Psychology program at Antioch University. Although her specialty is working with the LGBTQ community and people in the entertainment industry, she also assists clients in managing and/or overcoming anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, painful relationship patterns, creative blocks, co-dependency, love and sex addiction, issues with intimacy and low self-esteem.
Bonnie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Emerson College and a Masters in Clinical Psychology degree from Antioch University with a specialization in LGBT psychology.
Doug Friedman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that has spent nearly 20 years working with adults, adolescents and families with issues ranging from depression and anxiety to substance abuse, bipolar disorder and PTSD. He has supervised a program at a community mental health agency that serves severely emotionally disturbed youth and their families in Los Angeles. He continues to provide clinical supervision to therapists and associates in his private group practice, Clear Mind Full Heart in Los Angeles.
Doug received a Masters in Social Work from The Catholic University of America and a BA in Study of Religion from UCLA. Before becoming a psychotherapist, Doug worked for a music management company that oversaw bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys, and Bonnie Raitt. Doug is also the artist and songwriter behind all the music heard on the podcast.
Meredith Levy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California and holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. Over the last ten years she has worked with many different populations, and feels most at home working in addiction, personality disorders and mood disorders. Meredith specializes in Dialectical
Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Meredith worked with inner-city youth as a bi-lingual therapist for the Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles County. Not only has Meredith worked at a variety of different drug and alcohol treatment centers throughout California, she was also the co- founder of a large treatment facility in Northern California.
Meredith's extensive education and background as an attorney and an MBA gives her a unique perspective and a fresh approach to elevating personal growth. In addition, she is a certified yoga instructor and believes that the spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of the self are important components of the therapeutic process.
[1:34] Doug is gearing up to come home from Colorado and feels bittersweet. He binged the documentary tv show, The Vow, and Meredith only wants a documentary if it’s about puppies and rainbows.
[5:02] Doug and Meredith talk about cults, true crime, and their fascination with the human mind.
[10:58] Session One Begins.
[12:40] In the podcast timeline, it’s one year ago when we just started to hear about the virus. Drew was just in Seattle and got sick and was worried that he had Covid. Drew went to Urgent Care but they quickly told him he needed to go get tested at a different site.
[13:40] Drew talks about how his friend’s funeral was different than what he thought it would be. He had some very bittersweet moments thinking about his friend that passed away.
[19:27] Drew is helping to produce millions of masks at work to send out for the world. This gives him a sense of purpose.
[16:40] Session Ends
[20:22] After the recording got cut off, Doug said that Drew talked about feeling grateful and not so lonely because he has a puppy with him and a good friend that checked in on him while he was sick.
[24:39] Doug and Meredith note how Drew didn’t slip into caregiver mode at the funeral and take care of everyone else but himself.
[25:26] Session 2 Begins.
[25:58] Drew is dating a new girl! She has a son and Drew very much likes that she is her own person doing her own thing, and that she encourages him to be himself too.
[28:05] Drew’s new girl wants him but doesn’t need him, which is a first for him in relationships. She is her own piece and they are rolling together, and that frees him up to love her more genuinely instead of feeling pressured to please her.
[29:10] Drew and his new girl openly share financial information and he feels more like a team together rather than trying using his money to buy her gifts and win her love.
[31:49] Whatever happens in the future with this relationship, Doug reminds him that it can be a very healing experience.
[32:05] Session Ends.
[33:02] Meredith and Doug both picked up on Drew saying “she allows me to work.” Doug reframed it as Drew being more authentically himself. He’s the one allowing himself to work, and she offers positive reinforcement by appreciating that.
[35:03] It’s cool that the girlfriend didn’t mind Drew being late coming home, but Meredith would probably be annoyed with someone being 3 hours late!
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