Developing Meaning
A podcast about healing trauma and finding meaning.
Have you ever wondered what your therapist has figured out about life's big questions?
Join psychiatrist Dr. Dirk Winter as he speaks with colleagues, therapists, and other healers about what they have learned from their clinical work about how to heal trauma and build more meaning and purpose into our lives.
Developing Meaning is NOT CLINICAL ADVICE and is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS. It is intended to play with ideas that are emerging, fringe, and outside of the mainstream in order to discover the meaning of life.
Produced by Dirk Winter and Violet Chernoff
Episodes
18 episodes
#18: Ridghaus Follows the Golden Threads - A Story of Adoption, Grief and Meaning.
Can you imagine learning at 35 that you were adopted? In this episode Ridghaus, my friend and Level I IFS Program Assistant, shares how this discovery transformed his sense of identity and led him to advocate for adoptee rights and commun...
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Episode 18
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1:27:12
#17: Past Year Review (PYR) and Setting Intentions for Beginner's Mind, Questioning Assumptions, and Consilience in 2025.
This episode invites listeners to engage in a meaningful past year review, turning away from traditional resolutions toward a more insightful approach to personal growth. By exploring the themes of beginner's mind, questioning assumptions, and ...
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Episode 17
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33:11
#16: Jory Agate - Unitarian Minister and Internal Family Systems (IFS) Lead Trainer on Meaning, Kindness, and How IFS Heals Trauma.
The Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level I training is an experiential group learning process that teaches us how to identify and heal traumatized parts of ourselves and others. In October 2023 I began this training after having recently r...
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Episode 16
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55:56
#15: Do You Have One Mind or Many? How Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) Heals Trauma by Embracing Our Inner Multiplicity.
Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) is a type of therapy that views the normal human mind as an internal family of inner conscious beings. In this episode we unpack the key IFS concepts of 'Exiles,' 'Firefighters,' and the 'Self,' offer...
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Episode 15
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47:10
#14: Integrative Psychiatrist Dr. Bliss Lewis Shares Her Story of Holistic Healing, Building Communities, and How She Sets Her Life Intention
Dr. Bliss Lewis is a child and adult psychiatrist, expert in integrative and alternative treatments, and creator of Mind Body 7, one of the most innovative and successful group psychotherapy practices in New York. She learned natural heal...
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Episode 14
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1:34:26
#13: Dr. Richard Brown Leads 6 Minutes of Coherent Breathing (Supplement to Episode 12)
Please enjoy this guided six minute coherent breathing exercise led by Dr. RIchard Brown, co-creator of Breath Body Mind.This is a spontaneous demonstration taken out of our longer Episode 12 Interview in order for you to be able to cho...
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Episode 13
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6:19
#12: Dr. Richard Brown, Co-Creator of Breath Body Mind, on How Ancient Breathing Techniques Can Heal Trauma, Optimize Health, and Create Joy
For thousands of years breathing has been used to heal trauma, optimize health, and build connection. Dr. Richard Brown has spent his life mastering these techniques, and is also an expert in integrative psychiatry, and Associate Pr...
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Episode 12
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1:34:16
#11: Deb Dana - on Polyvagal Therapy, Neuroscience of Connection, and How Meaning Emerges From Our Internal States
Deb Dana is a master healer, teacher, author, and the creator of a unique polyvagal-informed approach to therapy that is based on The Polyvagal Theory of Dr. Stephen Porges.In this episode you will learn about the neuroscience of ...
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Episode 11
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1:16:20
#10: EMDR and The Meaning Of Life In One Word with Dr. April Minjarez
Dr. April Minjarez is the only therapist I know who is both experienced at healing infant trauma and an end of life doula. She is also an expert in multiple trauma healing modalities including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing...
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Episode 10
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1:09:40
#9: Dr. Richard Brockman - On Surviving His Mother's Suicide, Psychoanalysis, and Healing Trauma with Neuroscience, Storytelling and Love
When Richard Brockman was seven years old his mother died by suicide. He went on to become an expert in trauma and suicide, and is now a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia, Psychoanalyst, Playwright, Author and my mentor and friend. &nbs...
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Episode 9
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1:30:15
#8: 2023 Year End Review: How a Meaning Inventory Can Guide Us Into a Better New Year
In this episode I discuss how a year end review can help us prioritize and plan for the year ahead. I review what I have learned from this podcast so far and look ahead toward upcoming episodes and topics in 2024.Produced by Dirk ...
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Episode 8
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26:16
#7: Bruce Hersey - How I Built the Syzygy Institute - Healing Trauma by Combining EMDR, IFS, and Coherence Therapy.
"The more efficient a force is, the more silent and the more subtle it is. Love is the subtlest force in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi(quote lifted from Bruce's bio page)How can you know what type of therapy is most likely to ...
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Episode 7
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1:28:01
#6: My First Ketamine Journey: Audio Diary of Ketamine Assisted Therapy Training Experience at Menla
Join me as I share an audio diary of my first encounter with Ketamine, which is a legal psychedelic medication that can treat depression, trauma and more. Set in the serene Menla retreat center of the Catskill Mountain...
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Episode 6
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1:00:06
#5: Dr. David Merrill - on Psychoanalysis, Writing, and the Value of Exploring Our Unconscious Mind with Honesty, Kindness and Courage.
What would make a successful Columbia Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst fly across the country to write a story about a one-legged wrestling superstar? What does it mean to be Neurotic, and how can we recognize and change repetitive self-def...
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Episode 5
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1:02:06
#4: Justin Townsend, CEO of MycoMeditations - Journey into Psychedelic Retreats, Healing Trauma, and Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life.
Are you curious about psychedelic retreats? Join us for an insider’s perspective with Justin Townsend, CEO of MycoMeditations, the oldest and largest psilocybin mushroom therapeutic retreat center in Jamaica. We discuss the process of safety sc...
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Episode 4
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1:51:41
#3: Dr. Jean Marmoreo - on Medically Assisted Dying, Living Wakes, and Meaning at the End of Life.
Dr. Jean Marmoreo has been a family physician for upwards of forty years. For most of those years, she practiced mid-life medicine while breaking marathon records and hiking all around the world. Her sp...
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Episode 3
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46:08
#2: Annette Dubreuil Discusses Eugene Gendlin's Felt Sense as it Applies to Meaning, Creativity, and More.
Many emerging therapies like EMDR, IFS, Somatic Experiencing, and Psychedelics target a client’s “Felt Sense” and “Embodied Knowing” rather than intellectual and cognitive insight. The term “Felt Sense” was coined by philosopher Eugene Ge...
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Episode 2
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1:16:54
#1: Introducing the Developing Meaning Podcast
Have you ever wondered what your psychiatrist or therapist has figured out about life's big questions? In this first episode adult and child psychiatrist Dr. Dirk Winter begins his exploration of what clinicians have learned about how to ...
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Episode 1
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24:31