Herein we present the exciting conclusion of our three episode series all about the world of Table Top Role Playing Group Therapy (Collaborative Role-playing Integrative Therapy) using the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Will our adventures solve the mystery any escape to tell the tale? Will they experience group cohesion and personal growth?!? You'll only find out if you listen to the very exciting conclusion of... unravelling: Adventure! Background: in this two part real play arc, guided by t...
May 20, 2026•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 51
In this very special episode of Unravellling, hosts Kurt and Mary step into the world of Table Top Role Playing Group Therapy (Collaborative Role-playing Integrative Therapy) using the world of Dungeons & Dragons, they explored in the previous episode. Guided by therapists and dungeon masters Vinny and E, and joined by producers Andrew and Hans, they create their own D&D characters, each tied to a personal interpersonal growth goal. I reflect on the tension between choosing traits that f...
May 08, 2026•58 min•Ep. 50
Can a game of Dungeons & Dragons become a powerful tool for therapy? In this episode of Unravelling, Mary and Kurt explore how tabletop role-playing games are being used in group psychotherapy to help people experiment with new ways of relating, build emotional awareness, and imagine different futures for themselves. They’re joined by Dr. Vinny Dehili, a licensed psychologist and group therapy specialist, and E. Merten, a clinical social worker and educator. Together, they introduce Collabor...
Apr 22, 2026•42 min•Ep. 49
Bipolar disorder is a term many people have heard, but it is often misunderstood. This episode of Unravelling takes a closer look at what bipolar disorder really is and how it shows up in people’s lives. Kurt speaks with Matt Dove, PMHNP-BC, FNP-C, a dual-certified nurse practitioner in family medicine and psychiatric mental health at the Brattleboro Retreat. Their conversation explores the full picture of bipolar disorder, including depression, mania, and hypomania, and how the illness can affe...
Apr 08, 2026•39 min•Ep. 48
In this episode of Unravelling, Mary interviews Angela Harrelson, maternal aunt of George Floyd (Perry), a registered nurse, author, and racial justice advocate. Angela remembers Perry as a deeply family-oriented, faithful, and big-hearted dreamer, beyond the global symbol he has become. She describes the shock of his murder during the early pandemic, the disorienting experience of grieving both privately and publicly, and how her grief slowly transformed into purpose through activism and speaki...
Mar 25, 2026•44 min•Ep. 47
This episode of Unravelling explores how grief unfolds not only within us but also in community. Kurt interviews Nikki, creator of the Instagram project Dad’s Vinyl Stash , which she began after the death of her father, Bobby, a passionate and deeply private drummer with a vast record collection. By sharing his albums one by one, Nikki continues her relationship with him through the music he loved. She reflects on growing up with a father whose drumming and records formed the soundtrack of her l...
Mar 11, 2026•40 min•Ep. 46
Why are there so many types of psychotherapists and mental health professionals, and what do they all DO? On this episode, we take a deep dive into the messy, overlapping histories of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. Mary and producer Hans ask Kurt many questions about all of this, looking to get to the bottom of what all of this is about. Kurt shares guideposts for finding the right fit in a psychotherapist, explores the 'pace of safety' in sharing one's story, and explains how...
Feb 25, 2026•44 min•Ep. 45
Recorded at the 2025 Brattleboro Literary Festival, Kurt White speaks with author, designer, and Creative Director of The Atlantic , Peter Mendelsund. Their conversation centers on Mendelsund’s book Exhibitionist: 1 Journal, 1 Depression, 100 Paintings , an unconventional work that pairs personal journal entries with paintings created during a period of severe depression. Through vivid, abstract imagery and unfiltered reflection, Mendelsund explores the lived experience of depression, including ...
Feb 11, 2026•42 min•Ep. 44
In this episode of Unravelling, recorded at the 2025 Brattleboro Literary Festival, Mary Wilson sits down with author and literary agent Betsy Lerner for an intimate conversation about writing, mental illness, and family dynamics. Betsy shares how she began keeping diaries as a child after reading Anne Frank, using journaling to process secret feelings and a sense of being different within her family. She discusses her early diagnosis of bipolar disorder at 15, years of ineffective treatment, an...
Jan 28, 2026•36 min•Ep. 43
This episode explores how the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continues to shape conversations about mental health. Mary speaks with Kurt and special guest Dr. Nnamdi Pole, who for the past five years have collaborated on annual MLK Day presentations at the Brattleboro Retreat, a mental health hospital in Vermont. The live events draw directly from King’s speeches and writings to examine racism as a central mental health issue. From King’s 1967 APA keynote, where he challenged psychologists...
Jan 14, 2026•41 min•Ep. 42
As the year comes to a close, Mary and Kurt welcome listeners to a reflective New Year’s conversation from Dr. Justin Hecht, Jungian analyst and psychologist. This episode explores the cyclical nature of endings and beginnings, and how pain, grief, and disappointment can be metabolized into vision, vocation, and hope. Drawing on Jungian ideas of individuation, the “wound and the vision,” Dr. Hecht shares clinical insights and personal stories about midlife crisis, creativity, spirituality, and t...
Dec 31, 2025•43 min•Ep. 41
In this special roundtable episode, Unravelling turns its focus to the complex intersection of politics and mental health. Hosts Kurt and Mary are joined by clinicians Sarah Turbow and Dr. Geoff Kane, and researcher and professor Dr. Nnamdi Pole, for a conversation on how political identity, policy, and power shape our inner lives and the lives of the patients clinicians serve. The panel examines how social and political forces enter the therapy room, from the psychological toll of polarization ...
Dec 17, 2025•56 min•Ep. 40
In the final installment of our special series, Architecture of the Self , Kurt and Mary dive into the future of mental health through the lens of epigenetics. Featuring Dr. Tesfaye Mersha, epigenetics expert, Endowed Chair, and Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and weaving in insights from earlier guests in the series, this episode explores how genetics, environment, and life experiences shape who we become, and how trauma and healing can leave lasting marks at the gen...
Dec 03, 2025•30 min•Ep. 39
In part three of our special series, Architecture of the Self, Kurt sits down with neuroscientist and pioneer in the world of psychedelic research, Dr. Gül Dölen, to explore the concept of “critical periods,” unique windows when the brain is most open to learning and change. Dr. Dölen explains how these periods shape everything from language and social behavior to habits and personality, drawing on decades of research that reveal why early experiences hold such lasting power. The conversation ex...
Nov 19, 2025•43 min•Ep. 38
On today's episode of Unravelling, we continue our exploration of the architecture of the sellf as Mary sits down with Dr. J. Douglas Bremner, who has spent much of his career exploring trauma, memory, and dissociation. Trauma-related diagnoses are especially significant in the mental health field, because they can be quite disabling and are also not uncommon, and also because they represent a problem that develops at the intersection of mind and body, biology and experience, past experience and...
Nov 05, 2025•45 min•Ep. 37
This episode is the first in a series of four episodes that we are calling "the architecture of the self" wherein we explore human development, genetics and epigenetics, memory and trauma, and, today, diagnosis and the delineation of "normal" and "abnormal" in the field of mental health. These episodes can all be listened to on their own, but each of them is exploring contributions from medicine, psychiatry, and psychology to shed light on the complicated question of how we become who we are. Ku...
Oct 22, 2025•41 min•Ep. 36
In this very special episode, Kurt sits down with comedian Gary Gulman to talk about recovery from serious mental health problems, depression, getting treatment and his journey of becoming such a powerful advocate on behalf of mental health. From childhood struggles to finding a way to be oneself, they find humor and hope in the exploration of some of life's darkest moments. Gary has several comedy specials including notably The Great Depresh (on HBO) which combines comedy show and documentary.....
Oct 08, 2025•39 min•Ep. 35
In this episode, Kurt sits down with guest Dr. Stephanie Jarvi Steele, a clinician and researcher who has extensive experience and knowledge about "non-suidical self-injury". In this detailed and thought provoking interview, she helps unravel common misperceptions about NSSI, including it's differentiation from suicidal behavior, and its complicated relationship to suicidal thinking. We discuss myths about the topic - like that there is a contagion effect to discussing it or sharing information ...
Sep 24, 2025•40 min•Ep. 34
In this episode of Unravelling, we are taking a moment to acknowledge September as Suicide Prevention Month, specifically World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10, 2025. Host Mary Wilson had the opportunity to sit down with Dr Rachel Conrad, who serves as Medical Director of Adolescent Services at the Brattleboro Retreat. Together, they discuss issues relating to youth suicide prevention, and how social media plays a role - in both contagion and prevention; as well as how difficult it can be ...
Sep 10, 2025•35 min•Ep. 33
In this week’s episode of Unravelling, we have a bit of a special episode: a roundtable discussion with our hosts Mary and Kurt, joined by our producers Hans and Andrew, and our guest, Professor Sean Duffy. Sean is a psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Rutgers-Camden, and together, we share a bit of a metaphorical meal of a discussion about something that unites us all: food. We caught up with Prof. Duffy in Paris on Bastille Day, and he was fresh back from the Louvre researchi...
Aug 27, 2025•39 min•Ep. 32
This episode of Unravelling has Dr. Kevin Volkan, psychologist, psychoanalyst, professor, and author of Human Aggression, War, and Genocide joins Kurt to talk about large group psychology and continue the conversation about what drives so much of the great evils of world. Dr. Volkan shares insights on a vast array of associated topics, as they together work to approach and understand the darker side of human nature... and the potential power of psychological insight to give the hope in dark time...
Aug 13, 2025•43 min•Ep. 31
In today’s episode of Unravelling, host Kurt White sits down with Alette Smeulers, Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology, and International Crimes at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. Professor Smeulers has spent decades trying to answer the question: What is it that makes people perpetrators of mass atrocities, and why do people follow such leaders? Together, they unravel the specifics of the Milgram Experiment, the mental health implications thereof, and what we can learn about ...
Jul 30, 2025•51 min•Ep. 30
In this Disability Pride Month episode of Unravelling, hosts Mary Wilson Kurt White sit down with Cat Milo, former Coordinator of Accessibility and Diversity at Hampshire College and Dr. Madeline Peters, former longtime Director of Disability Services at the University of Massachusetts, to discuss the intersection of mental health and disability. They explore the concept of disability justice, emphasizing that societal barriers, not inherent conditions, are what truly disable people. Cat Milo an...
Jul 16, 2025•40 min•Ep. 29
In the third installment of Unravelling's 2025 Pride series, Mary speaks with Dr. Marley Balasco, an inpatient psychology specialist at the Brattleboro Retreat, about how to support young people as they explore and affirm their gender identities. Dr. Balasco breaks down the difference between gender and sexuality, and offers insight into how children and adolescents come to understand who they are. She highlights the vital role that family support plays in mental health outcomes, and explains wh...
Jun 30, 2025•30 min•Ep. 28
In this episode of Unravelling, host Kurt speaks with Evelyn Lee, a music therapist based in Singapore, about how music can be a powerful tool for identity, healing, and connection, especially within the LGBTQ+ community. Evelyn shares insights from her work with queer clients in a country where homosexuality was only recently decriminalized. Together, they explore how music supports self-expression, the evolving landscape of queer-affirming care, and the role of social media in shaping how we e...
Jun 18, 2025•41 min•Ep. 27
In this episode of Unravelling, Kurt White sits down with poet, playwright, and social worker Britt Billmeyer-Finn to unpack the ideas and impact of queer theory. Far from being just an academic concept, queer theory is presented as a lens that challenges societal norms around gender and sexuality, invites curiosity, and honors fluidity in how we relate to ourselves and others. Kurt and Britt delve into the pressures of hetero-cisnormativity, the psychological toll of rigid social expectations, ...
Jun 04, 2025•39 min•Ep. 26
In this episode of Unraveling , Mary Wilson talks with psychotherapist and group facilitator Donna Harris, LCSW, CGP, about the challenging work of healing across lines of difference. Donna explains that real connection in group settings isn’t built by avoiding discomfort, but by risking it with care, curiosity, and accountability. She speaks to the importance of confronting bias, honoring impact over intent, and working through the mistrust that often exists in diverse spaces. Donna highlights ...
May 21, 2025•40 min•Ep. 25
What makes a therapy group more than just a room full of people? In this episode, group psychotherapist J. Scott Rutan, Ph.D. joins Kurt to explore the transformative power of group therapy. Drawing on Dr. Rutan's decades of experience, he shares how people often reenact personal dynamics in groups, sometimes unconsciously, which gives therapists and peers the opportunity to reflect those patterns back in real-time. Rutan emphasizes that group therapy doesn't just talk about problems—it lives th...
May 07, 2025•40 min•Ep. 24
In this episode of Unravelling, Mary sits down with Lane Gardner, musician, educator, and founder of Thread, a nonprofit using collaborative songwriting to help communities heal from trauma. Lane shares the story of a powerful workshop with students affected by a school shooting, illustrating how music became a lifeline and a symbol of resilience. Through personal reflection and professional insight, Lane explains how creativity can serve as a powerful tool for self-expression, emotional release...
Apr 23, 2025•32 min•Ep. 23
In this episode of Unravelling, filmmaker and Occidental College professor Aleem Hossain joins host Kurt White for a wide-ranging conversation on the role creativity plays in both personal fulfillment and mental health. Aleem reflects on how making art can serve not only others, but our future selves—leaving behind breadcrumbs of who we were and what we felt. Together, he and Kurt unpack the personal and cultural barriers to embracing creativity, the importance of play and exploration without an...
Apr 09, 2025•49 min•Ep. 22
