Is a psychiatric ward really that different from a prison?
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After twenty years of practice across five countries, Michael says he knows conclusively what a person in acute distress needs, and it isn’t a professional. In this table-talk episode, producer Brandon Keogan sits across from Dr. Michael R. Montgomery to ask how the podcast came to exist, where it’s headed, and what has shifted since Season 1.
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"You have to be mad enough to imagine peace for it to happen."
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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 film and podcast production. With a background in music composition, audio post-production, and AI he also serves as Executive Producer and Chief of Staff across Dr. Montgomery’s portfolio of projects, including Psychophobia, Peacefire, and Logic23.
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Dr. Michael R. 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 – Cold Open: What If the Anxiety Is a Message?0:00:54 – “They Need a Friend, Not a Professional” 0:03:14 – How the Podcast Began0:05:58 – Epistemic Injustice, Loneliness & Destabilization0:07:59 – Cult Consciousness & Seeing Through the Guru0:11:05 – Epistemic Annihilation & Forced Incarceration0:12:57 – The Cancer Question & the Thought Police0:15:34 – The Emperor’s New Groove & Paul McCartney’s Lamb0:17:30 – The Hunger Strike, the Beatles & the Death of Innocence0:20:06 – PeaceFire, Orwell & Why Imagination Gets Removed0:22:37 – A Terrible Epiphany: The Patient as Product0:26:48 – “If You Create a Beast, It Needs Fed”: Big Pharma & Pharmakon0:31:40 – The Benzo Example: Letting Suffering Breathe0:34:38 – All Mental Suffering Is Spiritual Crisis0:37:59 – The One Thing to Take Away
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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
