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What happens to psychiatric mental health nursing when the job is squeezed into a prescriber’s chair and the classroom forgets its own theory? We sit down with Dr. Hugh McKenna to unpack a global reality: staffing shortages, overextended faculty, and policy moves that risk diluting mental health specialization just as community needs spike—especially among young people.

Hugh takes us across Europe and the U.S. to compare models and trade hard-won lessons. We explore why defending the PhD matters for nursing’s knowledge base, how interdisciplinary teams actually accelerate better outcomes, and where American programs’ commitment to theory and collaboration can inspire change abroad. Then we bring Peplau back into focus, not as nostalgia, but as a practical roadmap: validate the therapeutic relationship, prioritize prevention, and co-produce care with service users so change sticks. When waiting lists stretch years and therapists are scarce, upstream work is not optional—it’s the only scalable plan.

We also test the limits of evidence-based practice. Publishing is not the finish line; the real measure is impact. That means moving research through uptake and implementation until policy and practice shift—and making sure faculty remain clinically credible enough to lead that work. Along the way, we defend expert intuition as a hallmark of mastery, not a rejection of science. And we end with a challenge: identify high-potential leaders early and get them to the table where resources are decided. Peplau had a core of steel; the field needs more of that energy now.

If this conversation lights a fire, help us grow the movement. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with one action you’ll take to strengthen therapeutic nursing where you work.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

The number that surprised us wasn’t just the downloads. It was how clearly the most-played conversations pointed to one idea: listening changes more than medication ever could. We close the year with a wide-angle reflection and a deep dive into Sean’s journey from Navy psychiatric technician to nurse leader, tracing how psychotherapy, narrative, and cultural humility shape outcomes that stick.

We start with what resonated: candid talks on when pills aren’t enough, a fresh look at psychoanalysis, and a grounded tour of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Then we pivot to the craft behind the care. Sean explains how studying English and Latin sharpened the way he uses metaphor to translate complex concepts for patients and how writing notes is not clerical work but clinical reasoning in action. Creativity isn’t a side hobby here—it’s a clinical asset. Nursing narratives, he argues, can teach nuance better than slides, preserving the lessons that actually help at the bedside.

The heart of this episode lives in two stories. One is a hard truth about suicide that underscores our limits and the need for rituals of meaning in psychiatric care. The other is a simple kindness—a weekend of laundry duty—that became a patient’s lowest point and pivot toward long-term recovery. We connect these moments to Peplau’s interpersonal theory and share field stories from deployments that reveal how context matters: a grieving woman mislabeled “crazy” needed space, not meds; a patient eating a blanket needed food, not a diagnosis. Across it all, we make a case for protecting psychotherapy training in advanced practice nursing and for holding onto the slow skills that build trust.

If you’re here for mental health insights that are practical, human, and unvarnished, you’re in the right place. Subscribe, share this episode with a colleague who needs the reminder that presence is treatment, and leave a review telling us the small act that changed your practice.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

What if the most powerful part of therapy is the space between the boxes on our diagrams—the arrows where trust lives and change begins? We invited researcher and evaluator Dr. Melissa Chapman-Hayes to sit in the guest chair and talk candidly about why she stayed close to psychotherapy, how early mentorship shaped her lens, and why relational work is the quiet engine beneath good data.

We dig into nursing’s unique role in psychotherapy: clinicians who spend the most time with patients often have the strongest relational skills, yet face billing, time, and visibility barriers. Melissa lays out a practical roadmap for building the case: tailor messages to audiences, combine defensible outcomes with human stories, and treat credibility as something defined by the people you need to persuade. From hospital leaders to accrediting bodies to the general public, evidence lands when it feels useful, plainspoken, and real.

Stigma looms large. We explore it as a public health crisis and focus on self-stigma as the most actionable barrier. Leadership vulnerability—like a commanding general sitting in a clinic to normalize care—can reshape culture. Access is more than coverage; it’s fit. We talk about finding the right therapist, why a few sessions are a fair test, and how telehealth expands options while leaving equity gaps. The conversation gets specific about cultural relevance too, from adapting CBT for a Black man with early cognitive decline to navigating directories that rarely capture identity or modality with nuance.

We close on isolation: a modern condition that technology both softens and sharpens. Loneliness erodes mental and physical health, yet connection can be prescribed, coached, and built through groups, community touchpoints, and brave conversations. If every data point is a person, every story is a chance to shift a system—one relationship at a time.

If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review. Your feedback helps more listeners find thoughtful conversations about psychotherapy, nursing, stigma, and the future of mental health care.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

What happens when a treatment designed to help may also carry injuries we rarely measure? We sit down with Sarah Price Hancock, co-founder and trustee of the Ionic Injury Foundation, to unpack ionic injury as a physiologic framework for understanding electrical exposure—including ECT—and the real-world consequences that can follow. Sarah shares her lived experience after 116 ECT sessions, the profound memory loss that reshaped her life, and the delayed neurologic symptoms that only made sense once she studied electrical injury research outside of psychiatry’s usual lanes.

Together we map the biology: rapid perfusion spikes, bradycardia, and reperfusion injury; blood–brain barrier shifts that may invite inflammatory cascades; and potential acquired channelopathies that present as episodic weakness, spasms, or exercise intolerance. We contrast short-term ECT outcome data with the lack of long-term tracking and the high variability in dosing, electrode placement, and anesthetic choices. The conversation stays grounded in practice: what to add to intake questions, which referrals actually help (neuropsych, central auditory and visual processing, vestibular and balance testing), and how to route patients toward rehabilitation and accommodations that restore function at school and work.

This is also a story about trust and agency. Sarah lays out simple tools for rebuilding a sense of control, and we discuss how clinicians can presume competence, partner on decisions, and stay curious when symptoms fall outside familiar patterns. Whether you support ECT, question it, or simply want better outcomes, this episode offers concrete steps to assess, document, and treat possible electrical injury with the same rigor we give any other trauma. If this conversation sparks ideas or challenges your assumptions, share it with a colleague, subscribe for more, and leave a review with one change you’d make in your practice today.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

What if the most powerful tool in mental health isn’t a pill or a protocol, but disciplined curiosity? We sit down with Marcus Evans—psychoanalyst, longtime psychiatric nurse, and trainer at the Tavistock—to explore how a psychoanalytic lens can make care more humane for people living with psychosis, borderline states, and severe distress.

Marcus takes us from old asylum wards to modern outpatient clinics, showing how labels help as rough maps but fail as destinies. He explains why some patients act out when supervision eases, how a harsh inner critic and fragile ego can be mistaken for manipulation, and what staff can do to contain projected fear and shame without losing boundaries. We talk through the practical balance between medication and psychotherapy: when small doses open the door to therapy, why “therapeutic omnipotence” is a trap, and how multidisciplinary support—psychiatry, OT, family systems—creates the holding environment needed for real change.

Across stories and strategies, one theme repeats: people want to be understood, not processed. Instead of chasing a magic bullet or a perfect code in the DSM, Marcus shows how to read behavior as communication and build plans that pace risk, supervision, and discharge to the person’s actual capacity. It’s a grounded, compassionate approach that protects clinicians from burnout and helps patients feel less alone with their minds.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review. Your support helps more listeners find thoughtful, practical mental health content and keeps these deeper conversations alive.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

A busy inpatient hallway, a tight clock, and a patient who needs more than a prescription—this is where the art of psychiatric nursing matters most. We sit down with Dr. Shawn Gallagher, a dual-certified PMHNP and FNP, former ISPN president, and retired Army officer, to explore how small choices—eye contact, posture, sitting at the bedside—turn brief encounters into meaningful care. Sean shares mentorship pearls from his consultation-liaison roots, why perception of time can be altered without changing the clock, and how to set clean expectations for 15–20 minute visits that still feel human.

We dive into the “invisible ink” of psychiatry: the detective work of CL practice, the unspoken rules of formularies and cultures of prescribing, and the social determinants that drive outcomes as much as any medication. Sean explains how dual training empowers whole-person care on inpatient units, where diabetes, hypertension, and acute psychiatric needs often collide. He also opens up about imposter syndrome—how even experienced clinicians feel it—and offers practical strategies to disarm “gotcha” moments with transparency, curiosity, and a dose of humor.

The conversation closes with a thought experiment: what would Hildegard Peplau celebrate today, and where would she push us further? She might applaud broader scope and stronger science while warning that progress can dilute the therapeutic relationship. The charge is clear: use systems and technology to protect the human core, not replace it. If you’re a PMHNP, RN, student, or interdisciplinary teammate seeking practical steps to build trust under pressure, this one will sharpen your craft and renew your purpose.

If the episode resonates, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review—what simple habit has improved your patient rapport the most?

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

A sailor on a dark deck, a torn letter, and a young corpsman learning to spot distress without a sound—that’s where our conversation begins. From that simple observation grew Stress First Aid, a peer-driven framework that replaces stigma with language people can use in real time: green, yellow, orange, red. We sit down with Dr. Richard Westfall to unpack how one napkin sketch—and a crucial shift from “disorder” to “injury”—reframed leadership, changed how teams support one another, and brought practical mental health tools into the flow of work.

We walk through the seven C’s of Stress First Aid—check, coordinate, cover, calm, connect, competence, confidence—and show how they function like ABCs for the mind. You’ll hear why safety and calming come first, how to use connection without turning into a therapist, and why “help me understand” is one of the most effective lines you can carry into any shift. We explore meaning versus mattering—how purpose draws us in, but feeling valued keeps us—and discuss what burnout teaches at different stages of a career. Novices need micro-burnouts to learn limits and recovery; veterans crash bigger because they ride the wave longer. Neither is failure. Both are predictable—and coachable.

Dr. Westfall shares field-tested ways to use the color continuum in emergency settings to de-escalate quickly, and we talk about building cultures where peers step toward distress instead of away from it. If you lead a unit, precept a new clinician, or simply want better support at work, you’ll leave with language and structure you can use today: focus on safety, calm the body, connect as trusted others, build capability for the next hour, and restore confidence by reminding people they matter.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a colleague who could use the Seven C’s, and leave a review with one takeaway you’ll try on your next shift. Your story might be the cue someone else needs to move from orange back to yellow.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com

Send us a text

What if the most powerful change in mental health care happens in the space between two people—guided by skill, grounded in science, and held with genuine regard? That’s where we go with Dr. Sara Jones, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, researcher, and clinic owner who builds care around psychotherapy as a core competency, not an optional extra.

We start with the spark: a seventh-grade encounter with Sybil that—despite later controversy—ignited a lifelong curiosity about how talk, relationship, and presence can heal. From there, Sarah maps an integrative practice: a strong CBT backbone for structure and measurable change; a Rogerian stance that makes hard work feel safe; and somatic-informed tools that honor how trauma lives in the body, especially for first responders. She shows how motivational interviewing, reframing, and brief behavioral strategies fit into short visits without pretending every session is a full protocol, and why even five minutes of focused psychotherapy can move ambivalence, build adherence, and restore hope.

We dig into system realities with candor. Large organizations often push PMHNPs into 15-minute med checks, citing cost and role stereotypes, while private practice offers flexibility to schedule 30–90 minute sessions and sustain therapy financially. We challenge myths about “therapy not paying” and spotlight the real barriers: mindset, training access, and a lack of preceptors who model integrated care. Sarah makes the case for a stronger pipeline—clear scope education, therapy-focused clinical hours, and continuing education that blends CBT, MI, and somatic skills into ethical, evidence-based practice.

Looking ahead, we talk standards and stewardship. The field thrives when programs invest in psychotherapy training and when clinicians demonstrate outcomes that matter: reduced crises, better engagement, and patients who feel truly cared for. If you’re a PMHNP, student, educator, or curious clinician, this conversation offers tools you can use tomorrow and a vision you can help build.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review. Your feedback helps us bring more smart, practical conversations to the people who need them.

Let’s Connect

Dr Dan Wesemann

Email: daniel-wesemann@uiowa.edu

Website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/dnp-programs/psych-mental-health-nurse-practitioner

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wesemann

Dr Kate Melino

Email: Katerina.Melino@ucsf.edu

Dr Sean Convoy

Email: sc585@duke.edu

Dr Kendra Delany

Email: Kendra@empowered-heart.com

Dr Melissa Chapman

Email: mchapman@pdastats.com