In this deeply personal episode, Dr. Kibby shares her transformative experience at a healing retreat for breast cancer survivors, centered around a special plant medicine.

Can alternative forms of mental health treatment heal wounds that even therapy can't touch? In this episode, Dr. Kibby recounts journey of deep healing through plant medicine, facilitated by a supportive community of women and guided by expert facilitators. Alternative treatments like plant medicine (of all different types) offer new ways of addressing deep trauma. Dr. Kibby participated in a plant medicine healing retreat for breast cancer survivors, organized by The Survivorship Collective. What she thought was going to be just a fun week turned into a life-changing experience.

This episode describes what complex Post Traumatic Stress disorder (cPTSD) is, how it's diagnosed, and how it's different to similar disorders like PTSD and borderline personality disorder. This episode was inspired by the angry comments on Dr. Kibby's latest reel on spotting emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder.

When someone has a history of childhood trauma and they struggle with intense emotions, self-esteem issues, and relationship problems- what disorder do they have? In this episode, Dr. Kibby delves into the criteria for complex PTSD, which is still not an official disorder in the DSM-V. Yet, so many people struggle with symptoms from long, painful histories of trauma that has shaped their entire lives and personalities.

How do you turn a haunting true story about family mental illness into a national conversation about stigma? This is the third and final episode of the series diving into the movie "Rosemead," a moving true story about how a Chinese immigrant mother (played by Lucy Liu) faces schizophrenia, stigma, and the fear of becoming a burden. In this episode, director Eric Lin shares how he was able to create such a honest, complex portrait of mental illness in a marginalized family.

Eric opens up about seeing his own family dynamics reflected in the script: the pressure to appear strong, the instinct to hide hard truths, and the painful isolation that grows when a community doesn’t have the language or resources to help. We go behind the camera to explore how the team built an honest, human portrayal of psychosis. Eric drew from first-person accounts and documentaries to shape psychotic episodes that feel present yet accessible. That craft choice keeps Joe grounded in our empathy rather than lost in stereotype. We also confront the delicate thread tying public fear of mass shootings to mental illness, and why the film refuses sensational shortcuts while acknowledging a parent’s very real terror.

A headline never tells the whole story, and the movie "Rosemead" refuses to let us look away. In this episode, star of "Rosemead," Lawrence Shou, unpacks a true-story-inspired film about a Chinese immigrant mother (played by Lucy Liu), a teenage son named Joe (Shou) navigating schizophrenia, and the quiet heartbreak that unfolds when love collides with stigma and a patchwork mental health system. Lawrence brings us inside his process of weeks of research, clinician interviews, and on-set practices that made his performance so hauntingly real.

Our conversation traces how psychosis actually presents: not just shouting or destruction, but blankness, withdrawal, and a mind overloaded by grief and fear. Lawrence explains how Joe’s symptoms are shaped by trauma and context, including anxiety about mass shootings and the loss of his father. We talk about cultural pressures in immigrant families: why silence can feel safer than asking for help and how that silence magnifies risk. 

Well, 2025 is almost over and by all accounts, it was one of the hardest for mental health across America. The past year felt like emotional sandpaper: unstable jobs, AI anxiety, and a constant stream of obligations that made even simple days feel crowded. Beneath all that noise, a quieter force did much of the damage: loneliness. In this episode, Dr. Kibby unpacks why January often hits hardest after the holidays, why being surrounded by people can still feel empty, and how one-way relationships quietly burn us out.

Dr. Kibby discusses a candid look at over-giving, how being so focused on other people can lead to a sneaky sense of loneliness. She breaks loneliness into three solvable parts: 1. Building real emotional support, 2. Being seen for who we really are, and 3. Restoring reciprocity so care flows both ways. 

Ever felt like your worth depends on how useful you are to other people? Turning the big 4-0 pushed me to confront a lifelong habit of people pleasing. In this episode, I talk about people pleasing: how it took root in chaos, hid behind “being nice,” and quietly drained my energy, confidence, and joy. I unpack what research says about what "people pleasing" is, how chronic pleasing links to mental health issues, and why so many of us end up orbiting charismatic "takers" who love the spotlight while we shrink to keep them happy.

I dig into the "Echo- Narcissus Syndrome": the dynamic between a people-pleaser and a narcissist. I talk about my own tendency to fall into the Echo-Narcissus Syndrome and how it's destroyed my relationships in the past. Then I walk through the practical, evidence-based strategies for breaking free of this syndrome. I'm learning to receiving without guilt, choosing mutual relationships over one-way giving, and navigating holiday pressures without abandoning myself.