The Mind Gut Conversation Podcast

In this latest episode of the Mind Gut Conversation podcast, I talk to Dr. Kerry Wangen, a psychiatrist in clinical practice, with a longtime experience in working with trauma patients in the VA Healthcare system. Dr. Wangen is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California in Irvine and UC Riverside and currently provides psychiatric care via telehealth. Her approach to patients is based on a unique holistic view of mind and body, incorporating biological, pharmaceutical, contemplative, and spiritual dimensions.  In this podcast, I talk to her about here integrative approach to psychiatry and what impact it has on the treatment of common psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety. Here are just some of the topics we address:

1. How her career path to become a psychiatrist was influenced by an interest in the role of brain gut interactions.
2. How she has incorporated  contemplative practices and Buddhist principles in particular different forms of meditation, empathy, and compassion in her treatment approach to psychiatric disorders.
3. What role will psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy play in clinical psychiatry in the future?
4. Her view of the intriguing analogy between ancient healing traditions, like Ayurvedic Medicine and the Chakra system and the emerging new concepts about the interconnectedness of different organs with the brain.