A radical approach to listening and creativity: Lessons from Open Dialogue

A radical approach to listening and creativity: Lessons from Open Dialogue

Author: Charts & Leisure October 9, 2024 Duration: 32:34


Description: In this episode of Unravelling, Kurt speaks with psychologist Dr. Jaakko Seikkula about his pioneering work in Open Dialogue. Developed in the 1980s in Western Lapland, Open Dialogue reshapes the way we respond to mental health crises, focusing on the power of human connection and the importance of involving a person’s entire social network in their healing process. Dr. Seikkula discusses his research in Finland, where Open Dialogue dramatically reduced relapse rates in psychosis and inspired mental health professionals around the world to challenge conventional approaches to mental health treatment. 


Links:

Learn more about the Open Dialogue Approach:
Re-humanising Mental Health Systems: A Discussion with Jaakko Seikkula on the Open Dialogue Approach - Mad In America

The Institute for Dialogic Practice: https://www.dialogicpractice.net/

Calling our listeners!
We want to hear from you! We're cooking up a special episode and need your voice in the mix. Have a question, thoughts on a past episode, or something happening in your life you’d love to explore through the lens of mental health? You can call, email, or send us a voice memo—and you just might hear yourself on a future episode of Unravelling. We’re excited to hear what’s on your mind!   


Leave a voicemail at 802-258-3763 (802-258-3POD)

Email or send a voice memo to unravel@brattlebororetreat.org




There’s a thread that connects our inner lives to the culture we live in, and Unravelling pulls on it to see what emerges. This isn’t a lecture series, but a conversation guided by therapist Kurt White and journalist Mary Wilson, who bring their distinct perspectives to every discussion. They explore how mental health is woven into everything from our daily fitness routines and societal pressures to the art we consume and the relationships we keep. In each episode, you’ll hear from experts who study the mind alongside individuals sharing their personal, lived experiences, creating a dialogue that feels both intellectually rigorous and deeply human. The aim is to move beyond simple definitions, examining how anxiety, resilience, joy, and struggle shape our collective reality. Produced by Charts & Leisure, this podcast provides a space for nuance, challenging the idea that our psychological worlds exist in a vacuum. It’s for anyone who has ever felt the tension between their private thoughts and the public world, offering not easy answers but a more textured understanding. By listening, you become part of a broader exploration into how compassion, for ourselves and our society, can actually be built from a place of genuine curiosity.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Unravelling
Podcast Episodes
We make the story together: Collaborative role-play groups [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:21
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 wi…
Not just a mood swing: Untangling the Bipolar spectrum [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:26
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…
Giving the music life: Remembering Dad one record at a time [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:53
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, B…
Comfortably uncomfortable: An introduction to psychotherapy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:24
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 so…
A Cage on Mars: Peter Mendelsund on Depression's Alienation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:48
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 Journ…
Treat the poison: MLK Jr.'s challenge to mental health [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:33
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 collabora…
Tending the wound, holding the vision [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:23
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 begi…
No neutral ground: Navigating the political self [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:20
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…