About the Podcast

Bridging research and practice through conversations with leading experts

Psychotherapy and Applied Psychology

Psychotherapy and Applied Psychology is a show for people who want to go beyond the surface. In each episode, Dan sits down with applied researchers doing serious work — on suicide, trauma, personality disorders, eating disorders, therapist training, multicultural practice, and more — to ask the questions that matter most to practitioners and the people they serve.

What You'll Discover

  • The therapy debates that matter: Ruptures and repairs, personalized treatment, deliberate practice — conversations about what actually changes clients, not just what sounds good in a textbook.
  • Topics you don't hear enough: Male victimization in domestic violence, psychosis treated with talk therapy, why suicide risk assessment often fails — conversations that challenge comfortable assumptions.
  • The science behind the headlines: From GLP-1s and obesity to psychedelics in clinical trials, guests bring the nuance that gets lost in popular coverage.
  • Clinical training, honestly: What makes a therapist genuinely improve over time? How does supervision actually work? What do patients do that we don't talk about?
  • Breadth without losing depth: Multicultural orientation, masculinity, military culture, gender identity — the full human context of psychological practice.
Dan - Podcast Host

Meet Dan

Professor at the University of British Columbia

Dan is a professor at the University of British Columbia who studies what actually works in psychotherapy and other interpersonal helping contexts — and why. His research spans therapeutic responsiveness, interpersonal theory, suicide and crisis intervention, and generally, the science of how people change. The podcast grew out of a simple conviction: the researchers doing the most important work in psychotherapy and applied psychology are rarely the ones with the biggest platforms. That felt like a problem worth fixing.

Connect with Dan:

LinkedIn Profile Bluesky Email

Who This Podcast Is For

Mental Health Professionals

You're already in the room with clients. This podcast keeps you thinking — about what you're doing, why it works, and what the evidence actually says.

Students & Academics

Hear the researchers behind the papers talk about their work in their own words, including the doubts and dead ends that don't make it into publications.

Curious Minds

Whether it's the dark tetrad, the neuroscience of emotion, or what psychedelic therapy actually looks like — this show doesn't dumb it down.

Educators

Bring your students closer to working scientists and clinicians through conversations that model rigorous thinking and intellectual honesty.

Researchers & Scientists

Colleagues from McGill, UNSW, Boston University, USC, UW-Madison and beyond. A chance to hear how your peers are framing the big questions.

Those Considering the Field

Several episodes go deep on grad school, supervision, and what it actually means to build a career in psychology — straight from people who've done it.

Our Commitment

Quality & Integrity

Every guest is doing serious work. Dan reads the papers, pushes back on the findings, and makes space for nuance — because the questions are too important for easy answers.

Relevance & Accessibility

From DBT to the DSM alternative model, from control mastery theory to HiTOP — the concepts are real, explained by the people who developed them.

Diversity of Perspectives

Psychodynamic, CBT, ACT, EFT, motivational — the show doesn't have a theoretical allegiance. Good science and good clinical thinking come from many traditions.

Community Engagement

Got a question about an episode? A guest you'd like to hear from? A topic that needs more airtime? Record a voice message — it might shape the next conversation.

Ready to dive in?

Start Listening