THERAPY ISN'T ENOUGH: The Missing Half of Mental Health - with Courtney Grimes
The Work of Being HumanShow Notes
What if anxiety and depression aren't always the problem—but symptoms of something deeper? In this conversation, I sit down with psychotherapist and founder of The Collective, Courtney Grimes, LCSW, to explore a dimension of healing that our mental health system often overlooks: social health. We talk about why so many people make tremendous progress in therapy, only to "face plant" when they return to their everyday lives. Healing isn't just about understanding yourself—it's about learning how to thrive in relationships, families, workplaces, and communities that don't revolve around you. Together, we explore: Why loneliness may be one of the biggest drivers of anxiety and depression.
The difference between mental health and social health.
Why therapy should prepare us for real life—not just the therapy room.
How to build resilience without living in an echo chamber.
Why disagreement isn't the same thing as danger.
The growing problem of emotional cutoffs, polarization, and tribal thinking.
How healthy boundaries allow us to stay connected without losing ourselves.
Why true resilience requires agency, adaptability, and the courage to engage with people who see the world differently.
If you've ever wondered why healing sometimes feels incomplete, this episode offers a compelling answer: we don't just heal as individuals—we heal as members of a community. The work of being human isn't simply becoming healthier ourselves. It's learning how to be healthy with other people. Have a show idea? Send us an email! [email protected]
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ADHD isn't a good enough explanation... Paul Drayton was diagnosed with ADHD in 2021. Like many people, receiving the diagnosis brought relief. Experiences and behaviors that had confused him for years suddenly had a name.But does giving something a name explain it?In this conversation, I wanted to try something different. Instead of interpreting Paul through the diagnosis, I wanted to understand HIM.So we moved away from the label and into his life.We talked about the sensitive little boy who sometimes escaped the noise of his home. A family where emotions weren’t easily expressed. A teenager whose mind wouldn’t quiet down. Alcohol. Addiction. Creativity. Impulsivity. Relationships. And a deeply human desire to be heard and understood.And the further we moved away from the diagnosis, the more interesting the conversation became.We also examine what we actually know about ADHD, what we don't know, and the difference between identifying a collection of behaviors and establishing their cause.This isn't about replacing one reductive explanation with another.I simply refuse to reduce a human being to one in the first place.Paul is not "ADHD."He is a man with a history, relationships, wounds, strengths, choices, adaptations, longings, and a story still being written.And, like every one of us, he is infinitely more interesting than a diagnosis could ever account for.Paul Drayton is an actor and author of Ride — Or Die Trying.Click subscribe to follow the show!Follow me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessathetherapist/Follow the show: https://www.instagram.com/theworkofbeinghuman/Paul's book: https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Die-Trying-Before-Laughter/dp/B0HDR233Q9/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.zbHEfHT7LWcK5skFtpnfetf2njpzYJGzMI6RJNu1CPpuD5HHsQjOh90A5MEFcA0xH3moj6EYSJ9y00dLLQ71rHc0ARZH9Qg04Yb57OK4wc8M8guK4rxDGn2jKNsggHDjlb9UXuyUB4xDRErXjDrauCiZ4SnmlsS45HtjoLyljj7cVOd7nU7tGGSGGzPb2zLu5-FPsc6xieqIVkY7LpgxRVYYS0qG-f4kSd5X3tCo9hs.ywH5bmWrV2VuQCVSm_epW66i1Kr9WKadQIPBtYjw5Dg&qid=1789350621&sr=1-1