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Showing episodes and shows of
Christopher Mooney, LCSW
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Lumen
Good Grief: Companioning Loss, Love, and the End of Life (Part One)
In Part One of this two-part conversation, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW sit down with grief, loss, and bereavement therapist and Fordham University professor Kat Hurley, LCSW to explore what it really means to companion people through life’s most vulnerable moments. Kat shares her unexpected journey from professional dancer to “grief nerd,” and unpacks the often-misunderstood world of palliative care—what it is, what it isn’t, and why it matters long before the moment of death. The conversation moves into grief beyond death, including divorce, identity shifts, empty nesting, and the loss of the “assumptive w...
2026-03-03
40 min
Lumen
Boys Don’t Cry: Men, Vulnerability, and the Cost of Silence
"I'm fine." It's a lie that so many men tell. Not only to others, but to themselves. In this episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW explore the quiet conditioning that teaches boys to “shake it off,” “man up,” and never let anyone see them cry. From scraped knees and hockey rinks to boys’ dormitories and adult relationships, they unpack how early praise for toughness can harden into emotional isolation. When vulnerability is equated with weakness, many men are left with only two socially acceptable settings: silence or anger. Drawing from clinical experience and person...
2026-02-24
42 min
Lumen
Joy as Medicine: Making Therapy Creative, Collaborative, and Human
In this uplifting episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW carve out some time with guest Andrew Tepper, LCSW, founder of BODA Therapy in New York, to talk about something that often gets overlooked in mental health work: joy. Andrew shares how his program blends short-term retreats in the Catskills, skill-based therapies like CBT and DBT, and real-world accountability to support clients beyond the traditional therapy hour. Together, the three clinicians discuss the power of experiential therapy, creative expression, and collaborative connection as pathways to healing. Drawing on Andrew’s 15 years of experience as a cl...
2026-02-18
37 min
Lumen
Good Enough: Letting Go of Perfectionism
What if perfectionism isn’t your greatest strength, but your most exhausting defense? In this episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW approach perfectionism not as a badge of honor, but as a trauma-informed coping strategy rooted in fear, shame, and the need for control. They explore how the drive to be flawless often comes from a deeper belief that we are only lovable or worthy when we perform at our best, and how all-or-nothing thinking and emotional “masking” keep us stuck in cycles of anxiety, burnout, and self-criticism. Ultimately, the conversation moves toward a gentle...
2026-02-09
40 min
Lumen
Why Are We So Tired?
In this episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW explore the quieter epidemic beneath so much modern distress: exhaustion. Not just physical tiredness, but the kind of mental and emotional fatigue that comes from living in a constant state of alert. The conversation explores how being tethered to our phones—a nonstop source of information, notifications, breaking news, and social comparisons—keeps our nervous systems activated long after any real threat has passed. From doomscrolling and political overwhelm to the subtle pressure to stay informed, responsive, and “engaged,” Christopher and Kenyon examine how helpless...
2026-02-02
43 min
Lumen
The Negativity Buffet: Why Your Brain Always Goes Back for Seconds
In this episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW unpack the runaway train of negative thinking—how a single mistake can spiral into shame, catastrophizing, and the feeling that you’re about to get fired from life. Drawing from everyday moments, clinical work, and a surprisingly accurate all-you-can-eat buffet metaphor, Christopher and Kenyon explore common unhelpful thinking styles like catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, fortune telling, and permissive thinking. In the process, they discuss why the brain is wired to scan for danger, how these patterns once helped us survive, and what happens when they get...
2026-01-26
42 min
Lumen
Connected, But Alone: Why Being Seen Is Harder Than Ever
We’ve never had more ways to connect—and yet so many of us feel profoundly alone. In this episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW explore the modern loneliness epidemic and how social media, curated identities, and fear of being fully seen have quietly reshaped the ways we relate to one another. From the awkward reality of needing to “text before calling” to the illusion of intimacy created by followers and likes, they unpack why connection can feel thinner than ever since the pandemic. Through a simple yet revealing relationship exercise, reflections on peopl...
2026-01-17
43 min
Lumen
Seeing, Being Seen, and the Survival Responses That Shape Us
In the inaugural episode of Lumen, hosts Christopher Mooney, LCSW and Kenyon Phillips, LMSW explore the meaning behind the name Lumen and how it reflects the heart of therapy: seeing, being seen, and creating a shared sense of understanding. Drawing from clinical work, creativity, music, dance, improv, and lived experience, they describe therapy as a collaborative, living process rather than a one-sided exchange. The conversation also touches on what happens when we don’t feel seen, how disconnection activates deep survival responses in the nervous system, and how the often-misunderstood stress responses of fight, flight, freeze, and fa...
2026-01-07
40 min