WGN Radio Podcast Series Features Adler Faculty, Students, Partners

In partnership with Chicago-based WGN Radio, Adler University created the weekly podcast series, On Social Health and Change, in which faculty, students, and community partners address social justice issues.

Raising a Child with Mental Illness

Part 1: The Over-Diagnosis of ADHD, Autism, and Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
Steven Migalski, Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, explains the driving factors behind over-diagnosis of mental illness in children and inappropriately prescribing psychotropic medications for treatment. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Helping Families Overcome Stigma
Lauren Nichols, Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, shares tips for parents raising children with mental illness in helping their children overcome stigma and managing their child’s treatment plan. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Improving Family Support for Mental Illness
Lauren Wetzel, doctoral candidate in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, describes the ways hospitals can assist families of children with mental illness by providing information, resources and counsel that help them cope with the experience. Listen to the podcast.

Creating a Better Generation of Athletes

Part 1: Raising Boys to Value Girls
Mitch Abrams, Psy.D., a leading sport psychologist, explains what needs to change in how we teach boys to be aggressive and, more generally, what we teach them about masculinity and how to value and respect girls. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Offering an Education, Not Just a Scholarship
Tanya Prewitt-White, Ph.D., chair of Adler’s M.A. in Counseling: Specialization in Sport and Health Psychology program, discusses the problems that come with full-ride scholarships for athletes, mostly that it doesn’t allow much room for study. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: The Impact of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Neil Bockian, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, describes his research on Traumatic Brain Injury in former NFL athletes, studying the effects on memory, emotional regulation and cognitive ability. Listen to the podcast.

Part 4: The Exploitive, Misogynist Game of College Sports Recruiting
Tanya Prewitt-White, Ph.D., chair of Adler’s M.A. in Counseling: Specialization in Sport and Health Psychology program ,describes the exploitive and misogynistic practices in college sports recruiting she chronicled in researching her dissertation. She and host Hannah Stanley also discuss the myriad ways misogyny pervades sport culture. Listen to the podcast.

Overcoming Barriers to Mental Health

Part 1: Integrating Behavioral and Mental Health in Primary Care
Neil Bockian, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, explains the far-reaching benefits of staffing psychologists on primary care teams. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Reducing Stigma and Understanding Mental Health
Leigh Johnson-Migalski, Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, discusses the perspectives and priorities that set Adlerian psychologists apart. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: A Solution in Prescriptive Authority
Joe Troiani, Ph.D., director of Adler’s M.A. in Psychology: Specialization in Military Psychology program and president-elect of the Illinois Psychological Association, explains how granting prescriptive authority to psychologists can dramatically improve access to mental healthcare in underserved communities. Listen to the podcast.

Healthier Cities, Healthier Lives Through Public Policy

Part 1: Public and Private Sectors and the Social Contract
Valerie Werner, Ph.D., director of Adler’s Public Administration and Public Policy programs, discusses how welfare reform and wage increases could significantly improve the lives of families and the overall economy. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Pay Now or Pay Later: Investing in Communities
Dan Cooper, Ph.D., co-executive director of Adler’s Institute on Social Exclusion, explains the benefits of investing in under-resourced communities. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Nothing About Us Without Us
Tiffany McDowell, Ph.D., co-executive director of Adler’s Institute on Social Exclusion, describes the process of training community members to conduct research that helps them advocate for better resources and policies. Listen to the podcast.

The Dangerous Lives of Black Children

Part 1: The Lasting Effects of Violence on Young Children
Benton Johnson, Ph.D., assistant professor in Adler’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, explains how chronic exposure to violence alters a child’s perception of the world–and how community supports can help children to cope. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: The Impact of Systemic Racism on Young Children
Nataka Moore, Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, discusses the effects of historical trauma and rampant inequality born out of centuries of racial oppression in the United States. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: The Criminalization of Black Children
Elena Quintana, Ph.D., executive director of Adler’s Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice, lays out the history of public policy that has led to disproportionate minority contact with law enforcement and the current age of mass incarceration. Listen to the podcast.

Facing Disaster

Part 1: Priorities in Emergency Response Management
Michael Schulz, M.S., director of Adler’s M.A. in Emergency Management Leadership program, discusses best practices in preparing for and responding to a disaster. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Bearing Witness, Carrying the Dead: The Life of First-Responders
Karen Koch, Psy.D., director of Adler’s M.A. in Counseling: Specialization in Forensic Psychology program, explains the impact of vicarious trauma for police, firefighters, and paramedics who help victims of a disaster. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Losing Everything, Starting Over
Janna Henning, J.D., Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program and coordinator of its Emphasis in Traumatic Stress Psychology, discusses how to help victims of natural disasters make sense of what has happened and move forward. Listen to the podcast.

Still Work to do in LGBTQ Advocacy

Part 1: The Final Word on Conversion Therapy
Josh Wolff, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, discusses his role in creating a federal report calling for an end to conversion therapy—and the impact that report may have on creating state laws to protect gay and lesbian children. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Creating Inclusive Environments
Peter Ji, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, explains his approach to developing students into allies and advocates for the LGBTQ community. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Raising Gender-Fluid and Transgender Kids
Jason Trautman, Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, discusses the issues parents face in recognizing and supporting gender variance in children. Listen to the podcast.

Fighting Addiction

Part 1: Understanding Addiction
Catherine McNeilly, Psy.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, clears up misconceptions about addiction, including the prevalence of illicit drug use, and which drugs are most dangerous. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction Treatment
Geoff Bathje, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s M.A. in Counseling: Specialization in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, talks about harm reduction, an emerging empathic approach to helping people with addiction and substance abuse issues. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Ending the War on Drugs
Dan Cooper, Ph.D., co-executive director of Adler’s Institute on Social Exclusion, talks about the negative returns of criminalizing drug use and the benefits that would come with reinvesting those resources into communities. Listen to the podcast.

The Sex Episode

Part 1: What Good Sex Education Looks Like
Kulky Nakai, a sixth-year doctoral student in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, describes what age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education looks like from kindergarten through high school. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: When Your Child Comes Out as Gay
Josh Wolff, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, discusses how parents can best support their child who comes out as LGBTQ+. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Rethinking Monogamy
Steve Du Bois, Ph.D., professor in Adler’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program, discusses the emerging prevalence of nonmonogamous relationships and how to make them work. Listen to the podcast.

The Impossibly Lonely Work of Policing

Part 1: Job Stress and Isolation
Karen Koch, Ph.D., director of Adler’s M.A. in Counseling: Specialization in Forensic Psychology program—and a former police officer herself—discusses the brutal nature of the job and its toll on officers and their families. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: A Culture Resistant to Change
Rachel Johnston, Ph.D., director of Adler’s M.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice program, discusses administrative and bureaucratic barriers to destigmatizing mental health issues for police officers. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: Finding Support
Brian Warner, an 18-year veteran Chicago Police Officer and founder of Chicago Police Survivors, explains how developing PTSD after a shooting inspired him to help other officers feel less stigma and receive better mental health supports. Listen to the podcast.

The Promise of Restorative Justice

Part 1: The Problem With Incarceration
Elena Quintana, Ph.D., executive director of Adler’s Institute for Public Safety and Social Justice, describes the racially-biased sentencing practices that ultimately only work to turn minority juvenile offenders into adult offenders. Listen to the podcast.

Part 2: The ROI of Restorative Justice
Dan Cooper, Ph.D., co-executive director of Adler’s Institute on Social Exclusion, explains why investing in communities and restorative justice programs is more effective and less expensive than incarceration. Listen to the podcast.

Part 3: A Better Way
Father Dave Kelly explains the guiding principles and approaches in practice at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation—a restorative justice program that partners with Adler University in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. Listen to the podcast.