The Thinking Mind: Mental Health & Personal Growth
"If you are interested in your mind, emotions, sense of self, and understanding of others, this show is brilliant."
Learn something new about the mind every week - With in-depth conversations at the intersection of psychiatry, psychotherapy, self-development, spirituality and the philosophy of mental health.
Featuring experts from around the world, leading clinicians and academics, published authors, and people with lived experience, we aim to make complex ideas in the mental health space accessible and engaging.
This podcast is designed for a broad audience including professionals, those who suffer with mental health difficulties, more common psychological problems, or those who just want to learn more about themselves and others.
Hosted by psychiatrists Dr. Alex Curmi, Dr. Anya Borissova & Dr. Rebecca Wilkinson.
Listeners have also said:
"Every episode is enlightening, the approach, conversations and depth of information is deeply enriching. So refreshing to hear practitioners with this level of insight into human behaviour. Thank you for the work and for sharing."
Podcast related enquiries: thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com.
If you would like to work with Dr. Curmi: alexcurmitherapy@gmail.com
Disclaimer: None of the information in the podcast is intended as medical advice for any one invididual.
Episodes
271 episodes
E187 | Can Psychiatrists Predict the Unthinkable? | The Lindsay Clancy Case
The Lindsay Clancy case has prompted an enormous debate about postpartum psychosis, criminal responsibility, psychiatric treatment and whether severe mental illness can ever be reliably predicted.In this episode Dr. Alex examines the cas...
How AI Shapes Our Beliefs (Key Moment w/ Dr. Tom Pollak)
How do you arrive at your beliefs?In this clip from E182 of the podcast, Dr Alex speaks with consultant neuropsychiatrist Dr Tom Pollack about what AI-associated delusions may reveal about human belief itself. Rather than treating belief...
Update on Channel 4's: The Great ADHD Myth?
In this update to last week’s episode, Dr Alex reflects on the response to Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth? and on an important new development. He also discusses what that means for the documentary, the wider ADHD debate, and the importa...
E186 | Channel 4’s New ADHD Documentary Missed a Huge Opportunity
In this episode of The Thinking Mind Podcast, Dr. Alex responds to Channel 4’s new documentary The Great ADHD Myth? Presented by psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, this film asks whether ADHD is really a neurodevelopmental disorder...
E185 | How Psychiatry Became Fixated on Chemical Imbalance (w/ Prof. Justin Garson)
What if one of psychiatry’s most influential ideas began with LSD, amphetamines and a handful of experiments that would be difficult to imagine today?In this episode, Dr. Alex speaks with philosophy Professor Justin Garson about his new ...
Why Tradwife Content Feels Dangerous (Key Moment w/ Dr. Rosy Blunstone)
Is being a tradwife really just about baking bread, homemaking and traditional femininity, or is there something deeper going on?This clip is an except from E181 of the Thinking Mind Podcast. In this episode, Dr Alex is joined b...
Podcast Announcements & Housekeeping!
The Thinking Mind is taking a short break, but there is plenty happening behind the scenes.In this quick update, Dr Alex shares what listeners can catch up on now, what is coming next, and why the podcast is making a move towards YouTube...
What the Manosphere Gets Wrong About Evolutionary Psychology (Key Moment w/ Dr Paul Eastwick)
In this exceprt from E179 of the Thinking Mind Podcast, Dr Paul Eastwick explains the “EvoScript” — the popular version of evolutionary psychology that many people have absorbed from online dating advice, red pill content, the manosphere and so...
E184 | Thinking Films: Obsession (2026)
Can we really love another person, or only the version of them we have created in our minds?Today Dr Alex explores Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, a psychological horror film about desire, consent, fantasy and the darker si...
E183 | Finding Your Life's Meaning (w/ Dr. Joel Vos)
This week Dr Alex speaks with psychologist and philosopher Dr Joel Vos about what it really means to live a meaningful life. They explore why modern culture can leave people feeling distracted, disconnected and overly focused on external goals,...
Key Moment: What We Get Wrong About Depression (and Anti-Depressants)
This is an excerpt from E178 of the Thinking Mind Podcast. In this clip, Alex speaks with neuroscientist and author Dr Dean Burnett about whether depression should really be understood as a disease.They discuss the disease model of ment...
E182 | Can AI Cause Psychosis? (w/ Dr. Tom Pollak)
Today Dr Alex speaks with consultant neuropsychiatrist and immunopsychiatry researcher Dr Tom Pollack about one of the strangest and most urgent questions emerging in mental health today: can AI chatbots contribute to delusions, psychosis, cons...
Key Moment: How To Break the Habit of Negative Thinking
This is an excerpt from E175 of the Thinking Mind Podcast.In this episode, Alex is joined by Professor Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva, Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and one of the world’s leading res...
E181 | Are Trad Wives Feminists? (w/ Dr. Rosy Blunstone)
Is being a tradwife really just about baking bread, homemaking and traditional femininity, or is there something deeper going on?In this episode, Dr Alex is joined by Dr Rosy Blunstone to explore the psychology of the tradwife phenomenon...
Key Moment: The Three Faces of Self-Hate
This is an excerpt from: E177 - Why You Must Deal With Self-Hate.Low self-esteem doesn’t always look like insecurity. In this clip, Dr. Alex explains three patterns of low self-esteem and self-hate: becoming aggressive, becoming submiss...
E180 | Thinking Films: Another Woman (1988)
In this episode of The Thinking Mind, Dr. Alex is joined by Michael Cohen and Jonathan Kirschner, hosts of That ’70s Movie Podcast, to discuss Woody Allen’s 1988 film Another Woman, starring Gena Rowlands, Ian Holm, M...
Key Moment: How Dating Apps Break Male Confidence (LooksMaxxing Explained)
This is an excerpt from E174 about LooksMaxxing. Looksmaxxing has become one of the most talked-about trends among young men online — but what does it actually mean, and when does self-improvement become harmful?This...
E179 | Why Attraction Isn't What You Think - Dr. Paul Eastwick
Dr. Paul Eastwick is a Professor at UC Davis where he runs the Attraction and Relationships Research Laboratory. Dr. Eastwick’s research investigates how people initiate romantic relationships and the psychological mechanisms that help romantic...
Key Moment: Make Your Life a Work of Art (w/ Emmy Van Deurzen)
This is an excerpt from E172 of the Thinking Mind Podcast. Emmy van Deurzen, one of the leading figures in existential therapy in the UK and internationally. Emmy has over fifty years’ experience as a psychotherapist, has published more...
E178 | Our Idiot Brains, Happiness & Antidepressants (w/ Dr. Dean Burnett)
Today Dr. Alex is joined by neuroscientist and author Dr Dean Burnett for a wide-ranging conversation about the strange, flawed and fascinating human brain.Dr Dean Burnett is the author of The Idiot Brain, The Happy Brain and several oth...
Sleep Series E4 | The Sleep Disorders No One Talks About (w/ Dr. Hugh Selsick)
For the final episode of our Sleep Series, Dr. Anya welcomes back Dr Hugh Selsick, consultant psychiatrist and lead for the UCLH Sleep Clinic in London. This episode covers sleep disorders we didn’t discuss previously on the last episode with H...
E177 | Why You Must Deal With Self-Hate
In this episode, Alex explores self-esteem, self-hate and self-criticism, not just as emotional issues, but as forces that can shape the quality of a person’s life.He discusses how poor self-esteem can affect relationships, work, ambitio...
Sleep Series E3 | How Do Children Sleep? (w/ Dr Anya McLaren-Barnett)
This episode in the sleep series is with Dr Anya McLaren-Barnett. Dr Anya is a pediatric respirologist, sleep medicine physician and creator of The Sleep Health Intelligence Program (SHIPTM).In this episode, we discuss how our sleep patt...
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E176 | LSD, Narcissism & the Science of the Self (w/ Dr. Anjali Bhat)
Dr Anjali Bhat is a neuroscientist, therapist and writer. Today we discuss the science of the self, the future of therapy, and what altered states of consciousness can teach us about the mind. Anjali explains her work in psychedelics research, ...
Sleep Series E2 | The Psychology of Insomnia (w/ Heather Darwall-Smith)
Heather Darwall-Smith is a UKCP Registered and Accredited Psychotherapist, specialising in CBT for insomnia and psychotherapy for sleep. She is the author of How To Be Awake (So You Can Sleep Through the Night), The Science of Sleep an...
