Episodes

In this season finale of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen assumes the role of guest as he is interviewed by guest host Dr. Preston Roche, co-host of How to Be Patient, in a wide-ranging retrospective on Season 4. Drawing on listener questions, critical feedback, and audience-submitted comments curated from Spotify, TikTok, Instagram, and email, the episode revisits the season's most clinically significant and intellectually provocative conversations, including sports psychiatry, meaningful psychotherapy, problematic screen use, decisional capacity, DSM reform, TMS, physician-assisted suicide, complex PTSD, mental illness in the carceral system, involuntary treatment, and the role of artificial intelligence in the future of the field.

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen welcomes Dr. David McDuff, the "grandfather" of sports psychiatry, to examine the origins, clinical framework, and practical application of this rapidly evolving subspecialty. Dr. McDuff brings more than three decades of experience as team psychiatrist for the Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens, alongside service on the International Olympic Committee's Mental Health Working Group, to offer a uniquely authoritative perspective on mental health care in elite sport.

In this profound episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, host Dr. Mark Mullen sits down with world-renowned researcher and clinician Dr. Jonathan Shedler. Moving beyond the "alphabet soup" of modern modalities, Dr. Shedler argues for a return to the foundational psychoanalytic principles that constitute the "trunk and roots" of all effective talk therapy.

The discussion challenges the standard medical model of "diagnose and prescribe," urging psychiatrists to unlearn passive history-taking in favor of a collaborative partnership that traverses into the unknown. From critiquing the superficiality of "therapy speak" and the "first aid" nature of short-term institutional treatments to highlighting the vital roles of personal therapy and high-quality supervision, Dr. Shedler offers a rigorous roadmap for practitioners seeking to restore the soul of psychiatry.

In this brief bonus segment of Psychiatry Boot Camp, host Dr. Mark Mullen steps into the feed with a direct request from you...the listeners.

As Season Four approaches its conclusion, the platform is shifting its final episode to a peer-responsive format driven entirely by listener inputs. Dr. Mullen notes that the season has featured highly controversial topics and that he frequently abandoned an unbiased stance to take explicit clinical positions.

Psychiatrists, residents, and mental health professionals are invited to submit their critiques, follow-up questions on any covered material, or general psychiatry queries to be read and answered on the air.

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, host Dr. Mark Mullen is joined by Dr. Justin Romano, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and host of the Millennial Mental Health Channel.

Dr. Romano explores the burgeoning crisis of screen dependence and technology addiction, drawing parallels between cell phone use and traditional substance use disorders. The discussion highlights how addictive design, powered by algorithms and AI, hijacks the dopamine reward pathways in children’s plastic, developing brains. Dr. Romano provides a sobering look at societal consequences, from the rise of "technology a-motivation syndrome" and extreme emotional dysregulation in schools to the isolation of the "loneliest generation".

Moving beyond diagnosis, the episode offers concrete family strategies, such as the "DJ Khaled approach", and a call for robust public health policies to hold tech companies accountable for the digital wellbeing of the next generation.

In this provocative episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Omar Mirza discusses the limitations and potential harms of the standard Applebaum-Grisso criteria for decisional capacity.

Dr. Mirza argues that the current medicalized focus on cognitive abilities (understanding, appreciation, reasoning) can inadvertently subvert patient autonomy. The conversation traces the legal evolution of informed consent, from Schloendorff to the Nuremberg Code, and introduces radical alternative frameworks: Dr. Jacob Appell’s Values-Based Assessment and Dr. Mirza’s own "FREE WILL" model.

This episode challenges clinicians to view the capacity assessment not as a benign measurement, but as a potent intervention with significant risks, advocating for a humble, approach that prioritizes the "dignity of risk" over institutional paternalism.

In this second part of a special double feature, Dr. Awais Aftab, MD, Clinical Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University, presents a rigorous framework for the next iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Dr. Aftab details six specific structural reforms for the DSM-6, beginning with a conceptual clarification of "mental disorder" to distinguish between biological dysfunction and socio-cultural atypicality. The discussion challenges the arbitrary nature of current diagnostic thresholds and the "equalizing" effect of the manual that obscures the empirical weight of different conditions.

Dr. Aftab advocates for the inclusion of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) as an alternative dimensional model and calls for radical transparency regarding pharmaceutical industry ties within the APA task forces. This episode serves as a high-level roadmap for clinicians and researchers seeking a more scientifically valid and clinical…

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, host Dr. Mark Mullen sits down with Dr. Awais Aftab, MD, a psychiatrist and Clinical Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Aftab, well-known for his "Psychiatry at the Margins" Substack and "Conversations in Critical Psychiatry" series, explores the necessity of "conceptual competence" in modern practice. The discussion delves into the "Psychiatric Psychodrama," analyzing how material inequalities fuel polarized culture wars between "repenting" and "repressing" psychiatric factions. Dr. Aftab further defines scientific pluralism, challenging the 20th-century hope for a unified, reductive biological model of mental illness. Finally, the conversation examines the "Rumpelstiltskin Effect", the therapeutic impact of the diagnostic ritual, while cautioning against the iatrogenic risks of internalized stigma and essentialist misunderstandings.

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen speaks with Dr. Owen Muir, psychiatrist, entrepreneur, and Chief Medical Officer of Radial Health, about the growing role of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in psychiatric treatment.


The discussion explores how TMS works as a form of noninvasive neuromodulation, using focused magnetic fields to influence neural circuits implicated in depression and other psychiatric conditions. Dr. Muir reviews the evidence supporting TMS for treatment-resistant depression, explains the FDA clearance pathway for neuromodulation devices, and discusses how stimulation parameters, coil positioning, and treatment protocols affect clinical outcomes.


The conversation also addresses the broader implications of neuromodulation in psychiatry, including emerging indications, technological innovation, and how clinicians can integrate TMS into modern psychiatric practice. This episode provides a practical and conceptual overview of one of …

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen speaks with psychiatrist and medical ethicist Dr. Mark Komrad about physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, focusing particularly on their implications for psychiatric practice.

The discussion reviews the terminology, legal frameworks, and international trends surrounding assisted death, including developments in Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, and multiple U.S. states. Dr. Komrad outlines concerns regarding capacity assessments, the expansion from terminal illness to psychiatric suffering, and the ethical tensions between autonomy and the physician’s role as healer.

The episode also examines countertransference, projective identification, and the clinical dynamics that arise when treating chronically suicidal patients in jurisdictions where assisted death is permitted. Position statements from the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association are reviewed, along with questions of conscientious…

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen is joined by Dr. Mark Ruffalo for an in-depth examination of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), a construct widely discussed in academic and public discourse, but not currently recognized as a distinct DSM diagnosis.


The conversation situates C-PTSD within the historical and theoretical landscape of psychiatry, tracing its origins to Judith Herman’s work and examining its proposed relationship to borderline personality disorder and classical PTSD. Dr. Ruffalo explores core questions of diagnostic validity versus reliability, drawing on foundational psychiatric theory, communication models such as the double bind, and contemporary critiques of the DSM’s proliferation of categories.


Listeners will gain a framework for understanding why diagnostic labels matter, how trauma-informed care can coexist with diagnostic rigor, and the potential clinical consequences of adopting constructs without clear discriminan…

In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen speaks with Jesse Bogan, journalist with The Marshall Project, about a profound and often invisible failure at the intersection of psychiatry and the criminal legal system: the prolonged incarceration of individuals found incompetent to stand trial without access to timely psychiatric treatment.

Using Missouri as a case study, the conversation traces how defendants with severe mental illness can spend months to years in jail awaiting competency evaluations and restoration, despite legal mandates requiring prompt assessment and care. Jesse shares detailed reporting on systemic delays, limited forensic bed capacity, underfunded community mental health services, and pilot programs that have failed to meet the clinical needs of profoundly ill patients.

The episode examines ethical and constitutional implications, including potential violations of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, and highlights the human cost of unt…

In this episode of Psychiatry Bootcamp, Dr. Mark Mullen is joined by Dr. Dinah Miller, psychiatrist, writer, and author of Committed: The Battle Over Involuntary Psychiatric Care, for a rigorous examination of civil commitment and involuntary treatment in modern psychiatry.

The conversation explores the legal structures underlying involuntary hospitalization, medication over objection, and outpatient civil commitment, while highlighting the profound ethical tensions between patient autonomy, public safety, and clinical responsibility. Dr. Miller traces the historical evolution of involuntary care, examines why state systems vary so widely, and explains why outcomes data remain limited and difficult to interpret.

Listeners will gain a framework for understanding the competing advocacy groups shaping policy, the real-world consequences of emergency department boarding and bed shortages, and the psychological impact involuntary care can have on patients long after discharge. The ep…

Psychiatry stands at the threshold of one of its greatest disruptions, the rise of artificial intelligence. In this episode, Dr. Mark Mullen speaks with Dr. Allen Frances, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Psychiatry at Duke University and Chair of the DSM-IV Task Force, about the clinical, ethical, and societal implications of AI’s rapid entry into mental health care. Drawing from his recent paper in the British Journal of Psychiatry (August 2025), Dr. Frances explores how psychotherapy chatbots have already become the world’s most widely used form of therapy, often beneficial for mild distress but profoundly dangerous for severe mental illness.

The discussion examines where chatbots outperform human therapists, where they fail catastrophically, and how clinicians can adapt their practices in anticipation of hybrid human-AI models. Dr. Frances also warns of broader threats, privacy loss, manipulation, and the potential use of AI for political or psychological control This con…

Welcome to Season 4! Join Dr. Mark Mullen and expert guests as we explore AI in psychotherapy, emerging treatments, and the ethical, clinical questions reshaping psychiatric care, and MUCH more.

To share topic ideas, ask questions, and get more of the pod, visit psychiatrybootcamp.com

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Dr. Nicholas Kontos, Director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, joins us for a reflective conversation on factitious disorder, malingering, and clinical deception.

We begin by unpacking the concept of “thinking dirty”—a term used in consultation-liaison psychiatry to describe the delicate and often uncomfortable task of considering deception in clinical care. Dr. Kontos walks us th...

Dr. Caitlin Adams, psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, provides an overview of functional neurological disorder (FND). This episode covers how to recognize, explain, and treat FND using a modern, evidence-based, and patient-centered approach.

We begin by defining FND and discussing nomenclature from hysteria through conversion disorder and into our current construct of FND. Dr. Adams directly addresses one of the most critical misconceptions in clinical practice: whether symptoms li...

Dr. Christina Wichman, Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical Director of The Periscope Project and Director of Women’s Mental Health at the Medical College of Wisconsin, joins us for an in-depth introduction to reproductive psychiatry. This episode is co-hosted by Erica Browne, an M4 at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

We explore the unique clinical and ethical challenges of treating psychiatric illness during pregnancy and the postpartum period, including how t...

Today we have TWO world renowned experts to teach us about eating disorders!

Dr. Anne O'Melia is the Chief Clinical and Quality Officer at ERC Pathlight, where she leads a multidisciplinary team of over 1,000 therapists, dietitians, and nurses caring for patients across the country. She is board certified in pediatrics, general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and consultation-liaison psychiatry. She has co-authored numerous articles and book chapters on eating disorders.

Dr. Patri...

Dr. Mira Zein, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stanford University, walks us through decisional capacity determinations.

This is a great episode for learners rotating through a consultation-liaison psychiatry service, and will really help you shine on rounds when you quote the Appelbaum-Grisso criteria (seriously, do it)! We also invite psychiatry residents and CL psychiatrists to share this episode with their favorite primary team to help non-psychiatrists make capa...

Dr. Paula Zimbrean, Professor of Psychiatry and Yale School of Medicine and Director of Transplant Psychiatry Services at Yale New Haven Hospital, introduces us to the field of transplant psychiatry.

We discuss the role of psychiatrists in solid organ transplantation, including pre-transplant evaluations. We then discuss the various phases through which transplant patients require support, starting with a diagnosis of advanced organ disease. We cover the pre-transplant phase, peri-operative rec...

A season on consultation-liaison psychiatry would not be complete without an episode on suicide risk assessment!

Dr. Black: "I say without exaggeration that this podcast, in which Dr. Mullen and I discuss suicide risk assessment, is one of the professional things in life that I am most proud of."

WOW! That's quite the claim from one of the world's foremost psychiatrists about a podcast episode. Take a listen and see what you think!

Dr. Tyler Black, a suicidologist and child psychiatrist at Br...

Dr. George Grossberg, Henry and Amelia Nasrallah Endowed Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, past president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and past president of the International Psychogeriatric Association, orients us to behavioral disturbances in patients with neurocognitive disorders.

We walk through common behavioral disturbances in patients with dementia, including apathy, depression, psychosis, and agitatio...

Dr. Mark Oldham, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, President of the American Delirium Society, and Deputy Editor of the Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, returns to discuss management of catatonia. We delve into management guidelines that everyone working with catatonia should know. We then have a candid discussion about common clinical challenges in treating catatonia, and describe unique cases of catatonia that require adj...