In a Manhattan park, Dr. Michael R. Montgomery and producer Brandon Keogan begin with the word ‘psychophobia’: fear of the mind. Michael asks why depression is so often treated as a chronic illness rather than met with support, and whether anxiety can help us understand what isn’t right in our lives.
Beneath the conversation is a question of trust: in our own minds, in one another, and in those given the authority to define our experience as ‘abnormal’. What becomes possible when someone takes the time to truly understand us? Against the city’s passing noise, Michael and Brandon dissect the uncertainty of being human- and the possibility that mental health begins with a willingness to encounter one another.
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“If you don’t know your mind, then someone else can own it.” — Dr. Michael R. Montgomery
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Brandon Keogan is the producer of the psychophobia* podcast and co-founder of Kinsmen Sound, a boutique audio production studio focused on podcast and film sound. With a background in frontier AI, podcasting, film sound, a degree in music composition and a decade of zen practice, he also serves as Communications Director across Dr. Montgomery’s portfolio of projects, including PeaceFire.
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Dr. Michael R. Montgomery Dr. Montgomery is an existential psychoanalyst with international expertise in complex trauma, extreme states, addiction, and conflict resolution. He trained at Regent’s University London, the Tavistock and Portman, and the Anna Freud Centre. He is the founder of Logic23.com and Peacefire.us, and his clinical work is primarily community-based, focusing on patients typically excluded from quality care. A regular contributor to the Society for Existential Analysis, the R.D. Laing Symposium, and ISPS-US, he has over 30 published peer-reviewed works and is currently developing a new book alongside this podcast.
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Episode Chapters0:00:00 – Welcome to psychophobia*0:00:12 – Fear of the Mind: What Does Psychophobia Mean?0:01:32 – The Function of Emotion & Existential Anxiety0:02:18 – Unusual Experiences & the Stories We Tell Ourselves0:03:08 – Integration, Medication & the Pressure of Liability0:04:17 – Orwell, AI & Who Owns Your Mind0:05:47 – Where Did Your Beliefs Come From?0:07:00 – Postmodernism, Truth & the Question of Hierarchy0:10:04 – Psychiatric Assessment & the Three-Day Hold0:11:30 – Sleep, Setting & “Manufacturing Madness”0:13:22 – What Does It Mean to Encounter Someone?0:15:29 – Trust, Handcuffs & the Person as Product0:17:23 – The Silence Challenge & Internalized Psychophobia0:18:09 – Jesus, Love & What Gets Called Threatening0:19:22 – Form Versus Content: Listening to the Experience0:21:30 – “One Encounter at a Time” & the Clinician’s Own Work0:22:37 – A Prescribing Role-Play: “Have You Tried It?”0:24:39 – Altered States, Authority & Forced Medication0:26:05 – From Fear of the Mind to Love0:27:27 – Where to Find psychophobia*
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Please note that while I am a therapist, I am not your therapist. This podcast explores mental health and the human experience, but it is not a substitute for therapy, medical care, or professional advice. Any decisions regarding your mental health, including changes to medication or treatment, should be made in consultation with a qualified healthcare professional you trust.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psychophobia.substack.com
