State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

Welcome to the State of Mind Podcast. Tools, stories, and truth on being human. My name is Mike Stroh a Psychotherapist with a Masters in Counselling Psychology. This is a podcast for living with courage, clarity, and compassion. Through these conversations, I hope we don't just learn what people do, I hope we learn how they became the kind of person who can do what they do.

State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast is a health podcast hosted by Michael Stroh, with 123 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Michael Stroh hosts State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast, a health show with 123 episodes published.

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  State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

  #124 - Why an ER Doctor Gave His Kidney to a Complete Stranger | Dr. Matt Harmody

  Sep 30, 202650 min

  What makes someone give a kidney to a complete stranger? In this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Matt Harmody, a retired emergency physician, living kidney donor, and author of Ascending America. Matt walks me through leaving a stable engineering career at 30 before he had a single medical school acceptance, and what 25 years in the ER taught him about protecting his "empathy well" so compassion fatigue and burnout don't win. Then we get into the heart of it: his father's kidney failure, years on dialysis, and his refusal to let anyone in the family donate. In 2017, Matt decided that if he couldn't help his father, he could at least help someone else. I asked him about the pushback he got (including a colleague who asked why anyone would give up a perfectly good kidney), the hard conversations with his wife, what life with one kidney is actually like, and how he ran a 100K trail race four months after surgery. We also talk about end-of-life choices, the right to refuse treatment, medical assistance in dying, and how his faith holds up after decades of seeing suffering. This one is about courage, big decisions that just feel right, and making a difference in someone's life. Connect with Matt: mattharmodymd.com Book: Ascending America: Five Kidney Donors, Fifty Peaks in Fifty States, One Record-Breaking Journey Learn about living donation: nkdo.org and kidneyregistry.org More from me: mikestroh.com | startswithme.ca Chapters [00:00:00] Meet Dr. Matt Harmody: from engineer to ER doctor at 30 [00:07:47] The empathy well: staying steady in the ER [00:15:08] The gift my father refused, and why I gave a kidney to a stranger [00:21:33] Family fears, my wife, and the real risks of donating [00:26:37] Refusing treatment, end-of-life care, and medical assistance in dying [00:36:23] Ascending America and life with one kidney [00:42:48] Faith, suffering, and 25 years in the ER [00:48:21] Decisions that just feel right Free 1-month of the Meditation App - Waking Up https://dynamic.wakingup.com/guestpass/SC58BD912 Please Subscribe to my YouTube - YouTube Subscription Link Disclaimer Professional medical care and psychotherapeutic services are not offered on this Youtube channel. It is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such condition. Seeking professional support is encouraged if you think you have an issue and that you want help.

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  State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

  #123 - No One Taught Me How to Be a Man | Race, Porn, Loneliness & Raising Sons | Dr. Larry Freeney

  Sep 9, 20261h 4m

  Most people spend their lives seeking external validation, but Dr. Larry Freeney spent his proving he deserved to exist. Born in East Texas to a family that suggested his mother end the pregnancy, Larry grew up navigating complex racial identities and the shadows of the KKK. He shares how these early experiences formed a survival instinct that eventually drove him to extreme physical challenges like the Spartan Winter Death Race. We discuss how to build genuine emotional stability when your foundation is built on constant performance. Larry breaks down the male loneliness crisis, the necessity of finding your core four values, and why we often confuse achievement with self-worth. Learn more about Larry here: https://laetarehealth.com/ Chapters [00:00:00] Two million moments, and the one that erases them [00:05:33] Cultural orphan: not black enough, not white enough [00:12:09] Martial arts at three, and getting kicked down until you can't get up [00:17:56] The road to a doctorate, and men who look successful but feel empty [00:23:04] Soul port, and how to tell if your therapist is any good [00:28:48] Imposter syndrome, Dunning-Kruger, and why feedback makes therapists better [00:35:04] Porn, dopamine, and raising a son in a world that resents him [00:40:09] Junk food intimacy, and finding your core four values [00:46:05] The helix, and a Death Race waiver that says you may die [00:51:37] 1,500 jumping jacks, frostbite, and the moment I heard "you're enough" [00:57:02] Daily habits, and the ten-second decisions that write your story Free 1-month of the Meditation App - Waking Up https://dynamic.wakingup.com/guestpass/SC58BD912 Please Subscribe to my YouTube - YouTube Subscription Link Disclaimer Professional medical care and psychotherapeutic services are not offered on this Youtube channel. It is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such condition. Seeking professional support is encouraged if you think you have an issue and that you want help.

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  State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

  #122 - Sweat Dries, Blood Clots, and Broken Bones Heal - How Determination, Community, and Hope Transform Our Lives with Jay Setchell

  Aug 24, 202659 min

  I sit down with Jay Setchell — Marine Corps veteran, serial entrepreneur, and author — who has died and been brought back more than once. At nineteen, Jay was declared dead in Vietnam. Seventeen months and twelve days into his service. He spent the next year in a hospital, then fought seventeen more years for the disability rating he'd already been promised. In 1973, a drunk driver hit him nearly head on; he describes watching the scene from outside his own body. Then on the Fourth of July, 1981, he jumped into three and a half feet of water, broke his neck in four places, and drowned. He was under for eight minutes. He's seventy-six now, uses a power wheelchair, and is still building companies. What stayed with me wasn't the survival. It was that Jay says he never once asked "why me" — with one exception, and his mother's answer to it stopped me cold. We get into what he actually does when things get hard, why he thinks community and discipline are the two things we've quietly lost, and the story of the sculptor who taps the same spot ten thousand times before it finally breaks. I also push back on him a little, because "suck it up" doesn't reach everyone — and his answer to that is better than the phrase. His line is simple and he means it literally: it's always too soon to quit. Learn more about Jay: https://neverquittrying.com/ Chapters [00:00:00] Intro "I broke my neck in four places and drowned" [00:04:34] Why the Marine Corps — and the 17-year fight that followed [00:10:05] Three deaths: the auger, the drunk driver, and the pool [00:17:05] "Sweat dries, blood clots, and broken bones heal" [00:21:18] Some people won't take help — triage it and move [00:26:39] Community, casseroles, and the people you'll never repay [00:31:20] The burn, the betadine, and a little bit at a time [00:35:55] The sculptor, the sail to Paris, and why you need a target [00:42:18] What he actually does when it gets hard [00:47:16] Five lanes of traffic and a cut on his leg [00:51:26] Discipline, consistency, and what's actually in church [00:55:34] The 88-year-old who's planning her 95th birthday Free 1-month of the Meditation App - Waking Up https://dynamic.wakingup.com/guestpass/SC58BD912 Please Subscribe to my YouTube - YouTube Subscription Link Disclaimer Professional medical care and psychotherapeutic services are not offered on this Youtube channel. It is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such condition. Seeking professional support is encouraged if you think you have an issue and that you want help.

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  State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

  #121 - Limerence: The Psychology of Obsessive Romantic Longing with Amanda McCracken

  Aug 19, 202646 min

  On this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with award-winning journalist Amanda McCracken, author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover: Breaking from Infatuation, Rejection, and Perfectionism to Find Authentic Love. Amanda had dated over a hundred men by her late thirties and still couldn't understand why nothing was working — until her therapist said one sentence that cracked it open: "Amanda, longing is your lover." We get into limerence, the obsessive rumination on an idealized version of someone, and why it can feel better than an actual relationship. She walks me through the dopamine loop underneath it, how her late ADHD diagnosis made her crush-after-crush history finally make sense, and how purity culture and late-in-life virginity turned longing into a hiding place. She tells me about the concert ticket she bought for a man who never showed, the moment her body started shaking during intimacy, and the somatic work that taught her safety was not the same as boredom. Learn more about Amanda's work: https://www.amandajmccracken.com/ Chapters [00:00:00] Intro: Meet Amanda McCracken: Where "Longing Is Your Lover" Came From [00:04:19] Addicted to Longing: Dopamine, ADHD, and the Hamster Wheel [00:10:14] Purity Culture, Late-in-Life Virginity, and the Safety of Longing [00:14:49] Shame, Guilt, and "Does My Virginity Have a Shelf Life?" [00:19:32] Anchor Men: Self-Defining Memories and Why We Get Stuck [00:23:59] Chasing Him to Detroit: Red Flags and the 40th Birthday Concert [00:28:03] When the Body Wakes You Up: Shaking, Safety, and Receiving Love [00:32:28] Self-Compassion, Control, and Why She Had to "Win" Love [00:37:02] "You're Worth Waiting For": How She Knew He Was the One [00:41:20] Limerence in 2026: Ghosting, Swiping, and Intermittent Reinforcement [00:45:21] Closing Reflection: Imperfect Love and One Practice for This Week Free 1-month of the Meditation App - Waking Up https://dynamic.wakingup.com/guestpass/SC58BD912 Please Subscribe to my YouTube - YouTube Subscription Link Disclaimer Professional medical care and psychotherapeutic services are not offered on this Youtube channel. It is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such condition, Seeking professional support is encouraged if you think you have an issue and that you want help.

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  State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

  #120 - I Love Not Knowing - Humility, Addiction Recovery, and Getting Out of Your Own Way with Daryl Dittmer

  Aug 13, 20261 hour

  In this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with Daryl Dittmer — author of When I Stop Fighting and When You Stop Fighting, coach, and host of The Show Up Podcast — for a conversation about what actually changes a person from the inside out. Daryl got sober at 19 after an intervention and thirty days of inpatient treatment. Forty years later, he's still doing the work. We talk about why the 12 steps were never really about drinking, what he found when he started looking outside the faith he was raised in, and why he says he loves not knowing. We get practical, too: his morning pranayama breathwork and meditation, why he gives himself grace to skip a day, how gratitude keeps his ego in check, and what holds you steady when people tell you no all day long. He explains why he makes people work on themselves before he teaches them sales, and why the difficult things aren't bad things — they're stepping stones. We also get honest about aging, bodies that stop cooperating, and the voice that whispers you're not enough. Daryl's parting tool: first things first, and the rest gets added on. Learn more about Daryl's work here: https://www.daryldittmer.com/ Chapters [00:00:00] Cold open, intro, and Daryl's story [00:06:37] The 12 steps, surrender, and cleaning your side of the street [00:20:14] Reverence, humility, and our addiction to knowing [00:28:00] Why the inner work comes before the sales work [00:37:22] Easy culture and why difficult things aren't bad things [00:43:19] Breathwork, meditation, gratitude, and giving yourself grace [00:50:19] Aging, "I'm not enough," and the body you actually have [00:55:31] Life as an ecosystem — first things first Free 1-month of the Meditation App - Waking Up https://dynamic.wakingup.com/guestpass/SC58BD912 Please Subscribe to my YouTube - YouTube Subscription Link Disclaimer Professional medical care and psychotherapeutic services are not offered on this Youtube channel. It is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such condition. Seeking professional support is encouraged if you think you have an issue and that you want help.

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