Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

I had a blast with Kevin Allison in this session. At over a million downloads a month, live shows all over the country, a book and more-RISK! is described as, "a hit podcast where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share." Listen to any episode and you will see what we're saying! It's sooooo exceptional. Kevin is a professional sharer, so he didn't hold back with Dr. Lisa. He talks about his gay group therapy that shrinks kept quitting, his current shrink, what he's really like vs. the onstage version of Kevin, some of his dating experiences, how relationships with his fellow members of "The State" developed throughout the show, and how there will never be enough downloads to make him happy.

Ikechukwu Ufomadu is an actor, comedian and entertainer. He trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and internationally in The Netherlands and Indonesia. Who would've guessed we'd wind up talking about Buddhism? And so much more! I didn't know a whole lot about Buddhism, so it was fascinating to hear about Ike's practice‚— and which helped me understand why Ike is an original performer, like no other. He has a background in experimental theater from NYU Tisch. When you combine it with his original sense of humor and innate desire to simply entertain you get this: http://www.ikehimself.com/ In my role as Dr. Lisa, I got to find out a lot about Ike. How his father moved back to Nigeria when he was a kid and left him with his siblings and mother in Texas. We also dig into what part of Ike does his character come from and represent? I loved hearing Ike talking about how he came to New York to go to NYU and what that was like for him to be new in such an open town. "I’ve always felt strongly that I should discover things in front of an audience as much as possible. I can promise you that the character and the impulses that guide him are very carefully thought out. The exact moment you see onstage, perhaps not so much." - Ikechukwu Ufomadu

Rebecca Goyette is a magical artist—what I mean by that is there is an alchemy between her and her work. Her latest body of work displayed at her recent solo show, My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake at Freight + Volume gallery focuses on her dad, his passing and the process of selling her childhood home. Since you can't separate Rebecca's life and her work, there is so much discovery and recognition of her relationship with her dad, her family and her childhood. Rebecca was brought up in a small town in New England, where suffice to say, her nature was outside the norm growing up. This session is great because Rebecca puts into words what a lot of us feel in our surroundings as children in our own ways and demonstrates how our innate nature comes through for better or worse. Clearly at this point, it's a gift for her—though not a simple one to own. More about the exhibition: My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake is an exhibition initially conceived in 2018 when artist Rebecca Goyette’s father passed away and she placed her childhood home on the market. Goyette immediately started to create a ceramic replica of the house, fashioned after a dollhouse that her father had crafted when she was five. For Goyette, who has an interest in magic, Childhood Home was designed to set off prosperous intentions. She ended up selling her father’s actual house to a man wearing a shirt that read: “My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake.” Goyette was dressed in red, carrying a lobster-shaped purse so she could safely carry the sizable check back home to NYC on the Greyhound bus. Goyette saw this comical exchange as a face-off between Lobster Queen and Snake Man. See Rebecca's video she created for the exhibition HERE. See the work from the show and read the full press release HERE. Rebecca's website HERE.

Rachel Cleary is a fellow Radio Free Brooklyn host of the show, "Hear and Now with Rachel C.". Plus, she is the significant other of our co-founder, Robert Prichard. In our session, Rachel talks openly about her domestic abuse experience with her now ex-husband. Rachel generously is interested in sharing her story in the spirit of offering support to other domestic abuse victims and to help eliminate the shame that they might experience. Don't feel sorry for Rachel, though. It's well behind her now. Her life kicks ass and she's in a great relationship with Rob! http://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/hear-and-now-with-rachel-c/

Alexandra Torres won a therapy session with Dr. Lisa. We talked about what's important in her life that she's missing that's essential to her happiness—her art practice. Like me—most of us, she has obstacles of her own making. We identify them together and make a plan to move forward productively. We'll check in with her next month to see her progress! Alexandra was terrific at expressing herself and this session was very satisfying!

I have to say, Eryn Levine, host of RFB's Game Play Radio on Thursday's 2-3pm does not hold back on diving into her exploration of doing more than she needs to so other people will be happy. Eryn is an impressive young woman who is intelligent, responsible, initiative taking... all those things that will make her a huge success. She sees how her people pleasing is getting in her way and is becoming vigilant about jettising some of this behavior. I would say Eryn's affliction is not uncommon, but her honestly and drive to change her behavior is. We explore Eryn's background on how this behavior has developed in her past and we figure out some tactical ways to change her behavior so she can focus all that valuable energy on her own goals. Eryn has smarts and motivation, so we agreed she will come back for a second appointment in a month or so. I anticipate great progress which we can all learn from. Eryn is a gem. Her show Game Play Radio harnesses her prodigious storytelling skills.

I knew Jonathan is host of a very popular RFB show, THE NEXT BEST THING which airs every Monday, 10-midnight. I thought I knew him pretty well from our station, but now I think I really understand him. There's a lot here—I also learned Jon has an amazing voice! Jon is a super talented guy - check out more about what Jon does HERE His range of talent and experience is massive!

Dr. Lisa compares and contrasts the industries of comedy and psychotherapy with a licenced therapist and comedian, Wilson Mc Dermut. Checkout his comedy and more HERE! About Wilson (Dr. Wil): Wilson McDermut has a PhD in psychology, and lives and works in New York City, where he performs regularly in clubs and anywhere else that will let him. He is a regular at Broadway Comedy Club and The Comic Strip Live (Late Night) in New York City, and has performed across the country from Maine to Missouri. An active member of the Gotham Comedy Foundation (a non-profit organization affiliated with Gotham Comedy Club), Wilson runs a monthly comedy show for patients and their families at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on Manhattan's Upper East Side. In addition to performing at most of the major clubs in New York City, he appeared on BBC America's Crash Course in Comedy with Richard Hammond.  In collaboration with New Media Comedy, Wilson performs under the name Dr. Wil. New Media Comedy and Dr. Wil post comedy content on Instagram and Facebook. These short comedic videos touch on a variety of topics all related to psychology in one way or another. Follow @newmediacomedy and @dr._wil to for more comedy.

I really connected with Sharon Spell. Sharon is a comedian and podcast host of https://www.facebook.com/TheSharonSpellShow I had that rare feeling of a new best friend - brought down by the reality that we're all too busy to hang out anymore. Sharon spoke honestly and directly about drinking, divorce and how great things are now after all she's been through. Her guy she's with now is a keeper! #comedy #divorce #drinking #therapy http://sharonspell.com/

Clifford Owens is late so Dr. Lisa continues her discussion with station direct Tom Tenney about the effect working on the show has had on her life and they exchange tips on local thrift stores. Clifford Owens comes in and we hear about his childhood and about his directly and indirectly sexual,intimate performance video and photography work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Owens