Holistic Psychiatry Podcast
by Courtney Snyder MD
Courtney Snyder, MD, is a physician and adult and child holistic, functional and environmental psychiatrist. In this podcast she shares information on the underlying root causes to brain related symptoms, how these roots are evaluated and treated. Her hope with this podcast is to challenge us to look at ourselves, our families, our culture and even our humanity through a different lens - a lens that offers more possibility and more hope. www.courtneysnydermd.com courtneysnydermd.substack.com
Episodes
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Common Root Causes of Brain Symptoms
Over the years, a number of practitioners have reached out, sometimes with specific questions, but more often to ask how they can learn more about root cause psychiatry. The amount of information can feel overwhelming: * One condition, such as depression, can be caused by different roots. * One...
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Is Perfectionism Holding Back Healing from Complex Illness
If you’ve been working very hard to heal and still feel stuck, I made this episode for you. I also made it for practitioners who wonder whether they’re overwhelming some patients with too much information, too many protocols, and too many steps. I share my own story of perfectionism during my...
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Complex Illness, Brain Symptoms & Paths to Healing - With Neil Nathan, MD
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Neil Nathan about the intersection between brain symptoms and complex illness. Dr. Nathan has practiced medicine for over 50 years. He is one of the leading experts in complex chronic illness and mold toxicity — author of the bestselling...
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Flourishing With High Sensitivity & The Art of Gentle Rebellion
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Andy Mort. I think you will appreciate his wisdom, poetic way with words and sense of humor. Andy is a UK-based songwriter and musician whose work as a creativity coach explores the intersection of high sensitivity, creativity, and the…
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Recognizing High Sensitivity in Children (HSP) & Helping Them Thrive
With it being back to school season, this topic feels especially timely. In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with family advocate Tracy Spiaggia, founder of Slingshot Health Coaching, about recognizing high sensitivity in children and how to support sensitive children and their...
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The Hyperfocus-to-Brain Fog Roller Coaster (And How to Get Off)
Are you someone who at times has great productivity and hyperfocus, but at other times can barely focus and get things done? Do you have problems focusing and getting things done unless you’re under pressure? Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you, after periods of high-intensity work — whether...
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The Mold-Brain Connection: What You Need to Know
I recently joined Annika Taylor on The Wellness Rebel Podcast to talk about mold toxicity, and how it can cause not only physical symptoms, but also brain symptoms such as anxiety, depression, OCD, brain fog, mood swings, and in more severe cases, psychosis. Watch the full conversation above.…
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High Sensitivity Through 3 Lenses: HSP, Pyrrole Disorder & RCCX Theory
As a holistic and functional psychiatrist, I see many people who are highly sensitive. Most are deep divers into information and able to connect a lot of dots. Many are gifted. Many struggle with overwhelm and low stress tolerance. Some struggled with anxiety, inner tension, or feeling “too much”...
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Why We Can't Separate Our Childhood From Our Physiology (& Biochemistry)
In this episode, Dr. Courtney Snyder, a Holistic Child and Adult Psychiatrist discusses: - The research into Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) and health outcomes (at a population level) - How early adversity can impact our physiology, biochemistry and thus neurotransmitter functioning - Why ACEs...
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How Nutrients Impact Neurotransmitters & Walsh Data
It is increasingly understood that our brain health is dependent on our having healthy nutrient levels. But how do nutrients actually impact our neurotransmitters. We might assume that certain nutrient levels would cause certain symptoms or conditions. Instead, what we find are biotypes - one...
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Children, Teens & Technology: Research & Resources for Parents
In light of the recent lawsuit against Meta and YouTube/Google, I want to share an overview of some of the research into the impacts of screen media on the development and mental health of children and teens. But more, I want to provide support and resources for parents. In this episode, I…
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Stop Chasing "Anti-Aging." Lower Oxidative Stress Instead
In this short episode, I discuss the relationship between accelerated aging “oxidative stress.” Oxidative stress is what accelerates aging, promotes chronic illness, including brain related conditions, and depletes our energy, focus and quality of life. Our left brain would like to control our...
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The Physiologic Roots of Panic - A Holistic Approach
In this episode, I discuss panic attacks and underlying vulnerabilities that can increase the sensitivity of our alarm system. * What is a panic attack and what does it feel like? * What neurotransmitters are involved? * What is panic disorder? * What nutritional, genetic, and hormonal factors…
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Mold Toxicity: A Common Cause of Brain Symptoms
In this episode, I discuss: * Mold related illness, with a focus on mold toxicity and mold colonization * The wide range of brain symptoms (and other symptoms associated with mold toxicity * How we can become exposed to toxic mold even when we don’t see mold growth * Why not everyone with the…
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Compulsive Caregiving - A Common But Less Obvious Attachment Pattern
In this episode, I explore compulsive caregiving from an attachment perspective. This is a more subtle form of insecure attachment that nonetheless affects one’s ability to thrive and enjoy healthy relationships. Related terms include over-functioning, codependency, and Nice Guy / Good Girl...
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The Cause of Bipolar Disorder - Recent Discovery by Dr. William Walsh
I am happy to share a recent conversation I had with Dr. William Walsh about his new book, “The Essence of Bipolar Disorder,” where he lays out his discovery into the cause of Bipolar Disorder, a condition with fluctuating high and low mood states that has baffled researchers and psychiatrists.…
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Anxious-Preoccupied Attachment Style
In this episode, I discuss the anxious (ambivalent–preoccupied) attachment style — a pattern marked by intensity, dependence, and a longing for reassurance. I address how this attachment pattern develops, how it can appear in adulthood, and what kinds of therapeutic and holistic supports can help...
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Dismissive-Avoidant Attachment Style
What do the TV and film characters Don Draper (Mad Men), James Bond, Miranda Priestly (The Devil Wears Prada), and Rick Blaine (Casablanca) have in common? Each is a fairly good illustration of the Avoidant-Dismissive Attachment Style portrayed in film. In the last episode, I discussed how our...
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OCD & Nutrient Based Therapies
OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is a debilitating condition that involves intrusive thoughts and time-consuming, repetitive behaviors. It impacts 80 million worldwide, 2-4% of the US population or 1 in 100 people here in the US. It can be difficult to overstate the suffering caused by OCD,...
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Breakthrough Theory of Bipolar Disorder
This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the Advanced Course for Walsh-Trained Practitioners. To date, 1,200 practitioners from 75 countries have been trained using the Walsh approach. For those unfamiliar, the Walsh Research Institute, founded by Dr. William Walsh, has looked at the...
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Understanding the Impact of Toxins on the Brain & Brain Development
Recently I saw a humorous reel of a man going through his day. As he does, you hear his inner dialogue. He’s trying to prepare a healthy snack, but at every turn, he’s stopped by his voice pointing out exposure to toxins - in the packaging, the water, the skin of the fruit. Eventually, he sits…
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Understanding the Pineal Gland, Melatonin & Sleep
There is a wealth of information about sleep. In this podcast, I'll highlight aspects I find especially interesting and significant. * The Pineal Gland * The Seat of the Soul * Flouride * Melatonin * Creating Melatonin * Cortisol * Brain waves * Falling Asleep & Waking Up * REM (rapid eye…
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Favorite Functional Medicine Psychiatry Books
After sharing my favorite books for engaging the right brain last year, I thought I’d now share some for stimulating the left brain. Anyone familiar with functional medicine knows the vast landscape of information—some empowering, some daunting, some helpful, and some even alarming. Yet, feeling...
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How Estrogen, Progesterone & Testosterone Impact Neurotransmitters
In previous podcasts, I’ve discussed many root causes of brain symptoms, none of which exist independently from our hormones. In this podcast, I’ll address the impact our sex hormones - estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone - have on our neurotransmitters. I’ll also discuss how changes in our...
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Limbic System Dysfunction & What We Can Do About It
Our limbic system (commonly called the lizard brain) plays an important role in our safety. If it’s over-functioning, however, we can feel chronically unsafe. Previously, I discussed how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) puts us into fight, flight, or shut down when we feel threatened. The ANS...
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Addiction: Multiple Root Causes Aligning
“Addiction” - a compulsive, chronic, physiological, or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal…
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Mold Prevention For Brain Health - Home Exterior Maintenance
“Exterior building maintenance is crucial for preventing mold from growing inside a building” - Jerry Parker, CEIC, CMR Twenty-five percent of people appear to be susceptible to mold toxicity - a surprisingly common cause of brain symptoms, including brain fog, fatigue, depression, anxiety, mood...
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What Skin Symptoms Can Tell Us About Brain Symptoms
Skin conditions are common in those with brain-related conditions. Most of what you’ll find about this relationship is the suggestion that one is causing the other. It is believed, for example, that the stress of having a skin condition can cause depression and anxiety, which makes sense…..or…
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Smart Meters, Brain Symptoms & Solutions
Eric Windheim, BA, BBEC, EMRS, RFSO is a Certified Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist and Certified Building Biology Environmental Consultant. He is the founder of Windheim Solutions, which provides inspection, testing, and remediation of problematic EMFs. In this episode, we discuss smart...
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Walsh Biotypes of Depression With a Focus on Undermethylation
I recently had the pleasure of being on the Nourished By Nature: Mind Body Wellness Podcast with Annika Taylor, a holistic health practitioner. After sharing with Annika how I became a holistic psychiatrist and how I define holistic psychiatry, we discuss: * The Walsh Research Institute’s data on...
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Effective Prevention & Treatment of Alzheimer's
Because Alzheimer’s starts before the onset of symptoms and because having almost any psychiatric condition appears to raise our vulnerability, many of the tools mentioned here relate to other brain symptoms and conditions as well. “What we call Alzheimer's disease is actually a protective…
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Alzheimer's: The Factors We Have Control Over
Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, meaning it involves the death of brain cells and the eventual loss of brain tissue. The brain changes leading to Alzheimer’s dementia begin twenty years before the onset of symptoms. This is important because the emerging research and clinical…
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Intermittent Fasting & Brain Health
In this newsletter and podcast episode, I share the simple yet powerful tool of intermittent fasting. Here, I discuss: * The types of intermittent fasting with a focus on “time restricted eating,” in which fasting is extended to 12-16hours a day (from the more typical 8-10 hours). * Why it makes...
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Mental Health, Media & the Election
My purpose in this video is to remind us to protect our mental health, our physical health and our relationships this election season. We have a natural impulse to pay attention to danger. News networks and social media take advantage and profit from this instinct. Here in the US, we are facing...
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Pyrrole Disorder & Low Stress Tolerance
In this video and podcast episode, I discuss pyrrole disorder - one of the most common nutrient imbalances in brain-related conditions affecting adults and children. Elevated Hydroxyhemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL) in the urine, often referred to as “pyrroles,” has been associated with depression…
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Zinc & the Brain
In this video newsletter, I discuss why zinc is so important for the brain. I’ll address: * Psychiatric conditions linked to low zinc. * Three ways that zinc impacts neurotransmitter functioning. * Zinc’s role as an antioxidant and its relationship to metallothioneins. * The importance of zinc…
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Candida - Barriers to Healing
Candida is the most common fungi in the microbiome. Several factors, including antibiotic exposure, can lead to its overgrowth and colonization in the gastrointestinal tract. Brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, depression, mood swings, insomnia, carbohydrate cravings, and gastrointestinal symptoms...
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Hypermobility, RCCX Theory, Mental Health & Complex Chronic Illness
Hypermobility - having one or more joints that bend further than normal -is a surprisingly common trait in those with brain symptoms. Using RCCX theory, I’ll attempt to explain why this may be. RCCX is a gene module (cluster of genes) that appears to be at the foundation of many psychiatric...
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Functional Medicine Psychiatry - Addressing the Root Causes of Brain Symptoms
What is Functional Medicine? “An integrative, biology-based approach that promotes healing and wellness by focusing on the bio-chemically unique aspects of each patient, and then using individually tailored interventions to restore balance. This approach focuses on understanding the fundamental...
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The Gifts of Meditation & How to Begin
In this episode, I’ll address: * Common obstacles to starting a meditation practice * The uniting thread of all forms of meditation * The types of meditation and how to pick one for you * The gifts of meditation including and beyond the mental and physical health benefits * How to begin “We don’t...
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EMF & The Brain
I look forward to the day when lowering exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) will be right up there with other basic health recommendations, such as getting adequate sleep and exercise, managing stress and limiting or avoiding sugar. In the meantime, I’ll try, in this episode, to convince you...
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How We Can Assess & Lower Our EMF Exposure
As with toxins, EMF (a “toxicant”) can impact the brain in a number of ways. It contributes to inflammation, oxidative stress, disruption of the micro-biome, and interferes with our innate electricity. Anything we do to decrease it will benefit our health. EMF exists on a spectrum, which includes...
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Angry Outbursts - Responsibility to Get Help, Enabling & Biochemical Drivers
Whether it’s an older child with frequent tantrums, or an adult who easily loses their temper, I think of angry outbursts as a symptom with underlying root causes. While there may be triggers, someone’s inability to regulate their emotions, in my experience, suggests a biochemical and/or...
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Schizophrenia's Three Biotypes & Walsh Nutrient Therapies
Schizophrenia affects 1 in 300 people or 24 million people worldwide (2.6 million in the U.S.) It remains the most treatment resistant psychiatric condition. In this newsletter, using the story of John Nash (Beautiful Mind) as a reference point, I’ll discuss: * Theories attempting to explain...
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Compulsive Caregiving, Overfunctioning, Codependency & Nice Guy/Good Girl Syndrome
If you don’t identify with one of the labels in the title, you likely know someone who does. As with all labels, however, they don’t completely define us. Those of us who have these patterns are not the same, nor struggle to the same extent. Still, this psychological construct has been repeatedly...
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How Head Position & Neck Alignment Impact Mental Health
Misalignment of the upper part of the spine is an often overlooked problem for those with brain symptoms, chronic complex illness and/or mysterious health issues. In these modern times with cell phones and laptops, we look down A LOT. This raises our likelihood of having problems that originate…
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Treatment of High Copper
In the last episode, I addressed the causes, symptoms and conditions associated with high copper. In this episode I address: * Testing and why if copper overload is so prevalent, is it not being identified in conventional or allopathic medicine and how those of us trained by the Walsh Research...
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High Copper Causes and Conditions
In this podcast episode, I review how high copper affects dopamine and norepinephrine, how copper can become elevated and the conditions or situations in which I suspect copper is causing or contributing to brain symptoms. High copper should be considered in anyone with worsening of brain…
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Mold Toxicity & The Brain
Mold toxicity is a surprisingly common and important player when it comes to brain related symptoms. You won’t find it mentioned in the research into psychiatric conditions, but those of us who treat mold toxicity will tell you it is a very common root cause of ADHD, anxiety, panic, OCD,...
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The Art of Healing
In this episode, I discuss: * What I mean by creativity and art. * The many lessons we can learn from the creative process * Why I believe this shift in mindset is essential to healing essential and thriving To learn more about the root causes of brain related symptoms -...
About this show
Courtney Snyder, MD, is a physician and adult and child holistic, functional and environmental psychiatrist. In this podcast she shares information on the underlying root causes to brain related symptoms, how these roots are evaluated and treated. Her hope with this podcast is to challenge us to look at ourselves, our families, our culture and even our humanity through a different lens - a lens that offers more possibility and more hope. www.courtneysnydermd.com
courtneysnydermd.substack.com
Hosted by
Courtney Snyder MD