Author, researcher and psychotherapist Dr. Laurie Nadel joined Ian Punnett (Twitter) to discuss her work helping people differentiate between intuition and anxiety, as well as the powerful force of the placebo effect. Nadel started by quoting Sigmund Freud and his idea that the mind is like an iceberg, meaning "the majority of who we are is the beneath the surface of our attention." This, she said, is where the placebo effect is operating, even to the point of contradicting a physician’s diagnosis when it doesn’t agree, such as when a patient receives a diagnosis of incurability and the subconscious does not accept the news. She described the mechanism of phobias or PTSD when the mind reacts to trauma by "flooding you with the chemistry of dread."
Nadel also warned of the dangers of depersonalization caused by our reliance on digital media that divides people rather than providing empathy and understanding, such as trying to live up to an impossible ideal as presented on social media. She also decried the American idea that "we can void all this suffering with positive thinking" and has studied the psychology of populations who have been through real crises such as war and natural disasters like tsunamis. One of the tools she discovered was the concept of humility and the way that it seems to eliminate "the sense of entitlement" to a stress-free life that leaves some of us asking "why me?" Nadel also mentioned that she uses a technique called "soul collage" with some of her patients which allows them to "solve a mystery that the mind has struggled with in vain" by using their hands to manipulate images.
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During Open Lines, Christopher called from Iowa to tell of his sightings of shadow people beginning when he was a child and continuing to the present. He claimed that he is "now dealing with a succubus" and didn’t know what to do. Ian suggested he start keeping a record of his paranormal events. Kim in Arizona reported that she "really didn’t believe in them" but had just observed a large UFO fly over her home. Continuing the theme of mindset described by Dr. Nadel, Mariana in New York recalled her brother, who said he would never reach the age where he could collect his pension and then died the day before this was to happen.
Justin in Michigan reported on Shadow People he saw at a friend’s house and then began seeing in his home. He related that "sometimes they come into a room and just stand there and they won’t leave," but that burning sage seems to eliminate them. Fred in Michigan said he had PTSD as a result of reporting on a "group of people who should not be in this country" and then "started getting death threats." He said that he’s moved to a different town and now has a concealed carry permit, although he hopes to never use it. A tweet came in from Mike in Utah who said he saw the same UFO that Kim reported earlier in the program.