38. Why Labels Don’t Tell the Whole Story and What To Do About Dead-End Solutions with Dr. Charlie Swenson

In this episode, I have a conversation with my teacher and one of the leading therapist in the field of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Dr. Charlie Swenson. Charlie gives us the run-down on how to sit with uncomfortable feelings and why radical acceptance is a skill we all terribly need. He discusses why perfectionism doesn’t work, our profound need for connection to help us with cravings.. and life, and why validation is so important. Hear it from *the* expert himself - this is a must-listen!   Dr. Charlie Swenson, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, attended Harvard College and Yale Medical School. Trained in psychiatry at Yale University and in psychoanalysis at Western New England Psychoanalytic Institute, he went on to direct long-term inpatient and day treatment programs for individuals with borderline disorders in New York while on faculty of Cornell Medical School.  He implemented both psychoanalytic and DBT models in these programs.  While on faculty at University of Massachusetts Medical School, and as a Medical Director for the Department of Mental Health, he implemented DBT throughout the public sector of Western Massachusetts. Meanwhile, he was engaged in training thousands of clinicians in DBT workshops and supervision, published more than two dozen articles on the treatment of borderline patients in various settings, and maintained his own private practice with adults, families, and adolescents.  In 2016, Charlie published a book, DBT Principles in Action: Change, Acceptance, and Dialectics.    Get to know Charlie more by visiting his website at charlieswenson.com and by listening to his amazing and incredibly insightful podcast To Hell and Back.  I’m also obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!)  me on Instagram, Facebook and my website. We’re in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome. Produced by Dear Media