In this episode, the docs are excited to welcome Dr. Elliott Conklin to unpack a growing trend in mental health: everything getting rebranded as “brain-based.” From polyvagal theory to neuroscience-laced explanations, mental health has become obsessed with the nervous system. But is any of this actually improving care? We dig into what’s driving this shift, where it goes off track, and what gets lost when we focus on mechanisms instead of meaning. We also come back to a simpler question: what actually helps people change? This is a conversation about cutting through the noise, trusting the fundamentals, and returning to the deeper traditions that have guided therapy long before it needed a neural stamp of approval.
Elliott Conklin is the CEO of the Kingsbury Wellness & Learning Group, a nonprofit clinical psychology organization located in Silver Spring, MD. He co-founded Kingsbury with his wife and fellow psychologist, Lauren Siegel, to explore new ways to make high quality psychological services affordable for everyone. Dr. Conklin works with adolescents and adults navigating a range of life’s challenges, including periods of anxiety and depression, major transitions, parenting struggles, and burnout. He has a particular interest in men’s psychology and the unique ways men experience and resist psychological suffering. Dr. Conklin writes frequently about what makes psychotherapy effective. Lately he’s been asking uncomfortable questions about some of the new waves of therapy sweeping the profession, and whether they are offering anything useful.
Mentioned in this episode:
Dr. Conklin’s DC-based practice, The Kingsbury Wellness & Learning Group: https://kingsburywellness.org/team/elliot-l-conklin/
How and Why Some Therapists are Better than Others by Louis Castonguay & Clara Hill
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
