PsychEd: Educational Psychiatry Podcast

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.
This episode covers Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Dr. Kenneth Fung and Dr. Iline Guan.
Dr. Kenneth Fung is Staff Psychiatrist at the Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. He is Professor and Director of Global Mental Health with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. His research, teaching, and clinical interests include both cultural psychiatry and psychotherapy, especially ACT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and mindfulness. He is the Block Co-coordinator of the Cultural Psychiatry Core Seminars for psychiatry residents, and the seminar co-lead and psychotherapy supervisor in CBT at the University Health Network.
Dr. Guan is a psychiatrist who practices outpatient general psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, where she works in the Mood and Anxiety Ambulatory Services and the Northern Psychiatric Outreach Program. She also works with Inner City Health Associates in downtown Toronto. She has had training across various psychotherapy modalities, including psychodynamic therapy, CBT, DBT, IPT, MBSR/MBCT, and ACT. She is involved in resident teaching and psychotherapy supervision at the University of Toronto, and has implemented a pilot ACT group program in the Mood and Anxiety clinic at CAMH.
The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:
Describe the theoretical model and core processes underlying ACT

Identify the evidence base and clinical indications for using ACT across psychiatric presentations

Demonstrate core ACT techniques and how they can be integrated into clinical practice

Guest: Dr. Kenneth Fung and Dr. Iline Guan
Hosts: Victoria Meng (MS3), Dr. Katherine Bailey (PGY3), and Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3)
Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3)
References:
1. Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006
2. Gloster, A. T., Walder, N., Levin, M. E., Twohig, M. P., & Karekla, M. (2020). The empirical status of acceptance and commitment therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.009
3. Twohig, M. P., et al. (2025). Group acceptance and commitment therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy/exposure response prevention for obsessive compulsive disorder: A block randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39987908/
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psyched.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PsychEd Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), X (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Bluesky (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast.bsky.social‬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). You can email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠psychedpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our website at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ psychedpodcast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers factitious disorder.
Hosts: Jo Kikukawa (MS3), Dr. Kate Braithwaite
Audio editing: Dr. Kate Braithwaite
References: 
1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, text revision (DSM-5-TR). 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2022.
2. Irwin, M. R., Bursch, B., & Solomon, D. (2025, July 21). Factitious disorder imposed on self (Munchausen syndrome). UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/factitious-disorder-imposed-on-self-munchausen-syndrome?search=factitious+disorder&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~90&usage_type=default&display_rank=1&searchCorrelationId=681d447e-f8e6-4338-b905-ff937cad5972&searchCorrelationTerm=factitious+disorder#H368608737
3. PsychDB. (2021, December). Factitious Disorder. Factitious Disorder - PsychDB 
4. Roesler, T. A., & Jenny, C. (2026, June 12). Medical child abuse (Munchausen syndrome by proxy). UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/medical-child-abuse-munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy?search=factitious+disorder&source=search_result&selectedTitle=3~90&usage_type=default&display_rank=3&searchCorrelationId=681d447e-f8e6-4338-b905-ff937cad5972&searchCorrelationTerm=factitious+disorder#H90255160
5. Yates, G., & Bass, C. (2017). The perpetrators of medical child abuse (Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy) - A systematic review of 796 cases. Child abuse & neglect, 72, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.07.008
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psyched.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PsychEd Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), X (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Bluesky (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast.bsky.social‬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). You can email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠psychedpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our website at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ psychedpodcast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.
This episode covers the topic of grief with Dr. Cindy Grief, a Geriatric Psychiatrist at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, where she is the Medical Director for Mental Health Services. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and has played active roles in postgraduate and continuing education.
The learning objectives for this episode are as follows
Explain how acute grief becomes integrated over time, and how the dual process model helps us understand this adaptive process.
Recognize the clinical features of Prolonged Grief Disorder, understand factors that may increase vulnerability, and distinguish it from trauma-related disorders and depression.
Structure a bereavement-focused clinical history, differentiate the management of normative grief from Prolonged Grief Disorder, and approach suicide risk assessment in the context of grief.
Guest: Dr. Cindy Grief
Hosts: Ahmad Khan (incoming PGY1), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2), and Sara Abrahamson (MS3)
Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh
Resources:
T⁠he Center for Prolonged Grief (https://prolongedgrief.columbia.edu/)
Canadian Virtual Hospice  (MyGrief.ca)Association for Death Education and Counseling (https://adec.org)
What’s Your Grief (https://whatsyourgrief.com/)
Podcasts: AllThere Is; Griefcast
⁠⁠Books/Memoirs:
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
Helen Macdonald, H Is for Hawk
C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
Chimamand Ngozi Adichie, Notes on Grief
Articles:
A.C. Shilton, “There Is No Vaccine for Grief,” New York Times, March 2, 2021
M. Stroebe, “The Poetry of Grief: Beyond Scientific Portrayal,” OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 2018, 78(1), 67–96
References:
Shear, K., Frank, E., Houck, P. R., & Reynolds, C. F., III. (2005). Treatment of complicated grief: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(21), 2601–2608. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.293.21.2601

Simon, N. M., & Shear, M. K. (2024). Prolonged grief disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 391(13), 1227–1236. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcp2308707

Zisook, S., & Shear, K. (2009). Grief and bereavement: What psychiatrists need to know. World Psychiatry, 8(2), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2051-5545.2009.tb00217.x

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers cultural concepts of distress.
The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:
Define cultural concepts of distress and describe how they are framed in DSM-5

Differentiate cultural concepts of distress from psychiatric diagnoses

Appreciate the varied clinical takeaways from cultural concepts of distress

Hosts: Sara Abrahamson (MS3), Grant Yao (MS4), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)
Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2)
References:
1. Lewis-Fernández, R., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2019). Cultural concepts of distress and psychiatric disorders: Understanding symptom experience and expression in context. Transcultural Psychiatry, 56(4), 786-803.
2. Patel, R., Ashraf, A., Myers, N., & Bhatt, N. (2025). Cultural Concepts of Distress: A Dive into Presentation and Avenues for Management. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(7-9), 14.
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠@psyched.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠), Facebook (⁠⁠⁠⁠PsychEd Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠), X (⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠), and Bluesky (⁠⁠⁠⁠@psychedpodcast.bsky.social‬⁠⁠⁠⁠). You can email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠psychedpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our website at⁠⁠⁠⁠ psychedpodcast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.
This episode is part of the PsychEd Book Club, a forum where we discuss books of interest to psychiatry learners from a variety of disciplines. We invite you to read along with us and contribute to our discussion.
This short introductory episode gives you a heads-up about our upcoming book club on How Can I Help? A Week in My Life as a Psychiatrist by David Goldbloom and Pier Bryden. Stay tuned for a longer episode in a few months where we’ll share our thoughts on the book.
If you’d like to share your thoughts or questions about the book, email us at psychedpodcast@gmail.com or reach out on social media.
Hosts:
Dr. Angad Singh, PGY2
Dr. Alastair Morrison, PGY2
Dr. Matthew Cho, PGY1
Sara Abrahamson, MS3
Dr. Sena Gok, international medical graduate and scientist
Dr. Nikhita Singhal, staff psychiatrist
Audio Editing: Dr. Matthew Cho, PGY1
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (⁠⁠@psyched.podcast⁠⁠),  Facebook (⁠⁠PsychEd Podcast⁠⁠), X (⁠⁠@psychedpodcast⁠⁠), and Bluesky (⁠⁠@psychedpodcast.bsky.social‬⁠⁠). You can email us at ⁠psychedpodcast@gmail.com⁠ and visit our website at⁠⁠ ⁠⁠psychedpodcast.org⁠⁠.