Thirsty Topics podcast
Thirsty Topics is where unfiltered conversation meets culture, entertainment, and everyday life. Hosted by Lawrence Elrod and co-hosted by Meryl Klemow, the podcast dives into the latest headlines, social media buzz, and trending stories—always with humor, honesty, and fresh perspectives.
From pop culture and viral moments to real conversations about society, relationships, and lifestyle, Thirsty Topics is designed to spark dialogue and keep listeners engaged. No scripts, no filters—just real talk that’s as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.
What listeners can expect:
- Engaging weekly episodes featuring the latest cultural trends and stories
- Thoughtful and funny takes on social media, entertainment, and everyday issues
- Multi-perspective conversations that feel like sitting down with friends who aren’t afraid to “go there”
Available on all major podcast platforms, Thirsty Topics is part of the Elrod TV Network, expanding the brand’s mission to deliver bold, original, and diverse media.
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Thirsty Topics podcast
Bonus Episode of Thirsty Conversations: This conversation clarifies therapy paths, tackles stigma, and shows how to find the right help S1 Ep6
What’s the real difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist—and how do you know which one you need? We sit down with Jamie Harris to draw a clean, practical line between medication management, talk therapy, and psychological assessment, then follow that thread into the lived experience of seeking help, building trust, and staying well in a chaotic world.
Jamie shares how training shapes the work—psychiatrists focus on prescribing and medical care, while psychologists go deep on therapy methods and assessments like ADHD and autism evaluations. We get into the messy, human parts too: why the right fit with a therapist matters more than their modality, how nonjudgment and curiosity make therapy safer, and what keeps clinicians grounded when imposter feelings creep in. If you’re considering this field, Jamie lays out the real pathway—advanced degrees, supervised hours, and the wide range of settings that lead to meaningful work and viable income.
The conversation turns to our collective stress test: a pandemic that filled telehealth schedules, lengthened waitlists, and surfaced low-grade depression, boredom, and fatigue. We explore reentry anxiety, public anger, and that edgy fight-or-flight energy showing up on planes and in lines. Jamie offers calm, concrete guidance on where to start—primary care referrals for medication questions, Psychology Today for therapist fit, and community clinics or Medicaid options when cost is a barrier. Parents will find smart strategies for engaging kids and teens in therapy, including why privacy builds honesty. Along the way, we talk about values resets, learning what to keep from lockdown, and taking small steps back into social life with care rather than fear.
If you’ve wondered whether it’s time to talk to someone, or which door to knock on first, this conversation gives you a map—and the permission to choose what fits you now. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review to help more people find thoughtful mental health conversations.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."
Please help support our show by following us and telling others about our show. New podcasts weekly.
All right, everyone, welcome back. We have a great friend of mine. Her name is Jamie Harris. Jamie, welcome to the show. I really appreciate you spending some time with us today. We want to try to get to know a little bit more about psychology and also about psychiatry. I know there's different views of what people think that is and how it affects them. Can you kind of tell us in your words, based on your experience, what people should know about that?
SPEAKER_00:Sure. A lot of times they're used interchangeably. I think, you know, the prefix psych, but psychiatry is a medical degree that involves prescribing services, and that's mainly what psychiatrists do. So a psychiatrist is someone you're going to go to if you have a mental health concern that requires some medication. Some psychiatrists do do therapy, but many, to be honest, aren't necessarily qualified to do therapy because that's not something that their programs focus on. For psychologists, our programs focus on different types of therapy. We usually pick a different therapy track depending on what we're interested in. And we learn different methods that way and then through practice and training. And then another difference with psychologists is that we also do psych assessments. So depending on where you're working, what your area of proficiency is, it might be something like, you know, I want to know if I have ADHD, I want to know if my child has autism. So we also do those types of services as well where we do interviews and give appropriate assessments and then um are able to give somebody a good diagnostic impression with some data.
SPEAKER_02:So what inspired you to become a psychologist?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think as is true of many people in my field, I just have had a very colorful family background. Oh, who doesn't though? Yeah, exactly. So um it's something about helping people but also understanding things in a different way. And yeah, I found that it's a really great fit and I've met just amazing people. And you know, it's it's great to have a job where I really care about the people I work with and I get to spend time with different types of people and learn new things. So I really like that about it. So it's ended up being a good fit, but yeah, stressful at times.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, I know I I can imagine.
SPEAKER_03:Do you think that um the myth about mental health um has gotten better over time? Because I know years ago, um, especially for men, you know, a lot of men, you know, me included, would hold stuff in. We really, you know, you're kind of taught to not really display emotions, but do you feel that's kind of changing these days now?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I definitely think so. I mean, there is still some of that that sticks around, you know, especially from people of that generation and the generation before them. But um, it's amazing to see, you know, unfortunately, a lot of kids these days and teenagers are struggling with mental health concerns, and a lot of them are very pro-therapy and pro-seeking help, which is a really great thing. You know, certainly not happy to see more mental health issues, but definitely happier that people are talking about it more and making it more normal to seek out help when it's needed. So I would say it also depends on the region you live in, too. Really, you know, if you're gonna live in a more conservative area, more southern, mental health might not be as recognized as it is in a more urban area too, or as um normalized you know, Chicago is great because everybody has a therapist in Chicago, it seems like so.
SPEAKER_02:Everybody needs a therapist in Chicago. Um so what um it's it's kind of a thankless job, I I in my opinion. What keeps you going when you are listening to other people's problems all day long?
SPEAKER_00:I would say it's the people that I'm working with. You know, it's an honor to it's an honor for somebody to open up and tell you about, you know, their fears, their past, um their worries, their concerns. It's a very vulnerable place to be in, and I don't take that for granted at all. And I've just met some amazing people that have overcome so much and I'm really honored to be that person for them. And you know, there's also a lot of imposter syndrome that comes in there, like who am I to help this person with this problem? But people have free will, you know, and they could always go to a different therapist, and the fact that they stick with me means a lot to me. Sure.
SPEAKER_03:Now, what do you think about someone who's really thinking about, you know, getting into um some type of of you know, maybe psychology, uh maybe it could be psychiatry, you know, something to where they want to help people, but they're a little gun shy because you know, they're you know, all the myths of well, I'm not gonna make a lot of money, you know, you know, I'm gonna struggle, you know, who am I, you know, all these different things going on. What type of person will be a good person to try and get into this field, you think?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it's important for anybody to have good coping skills. You know, it's certainly not a requirement for somebody that goes into this field to have no mental health concerns. You know, in fact, I think some of the better therapists or drug counselors, alcohol counselors have had experience. Um, but a lot of it is how you cope and manage stress. So you have to really build those skills up so that you can be effective and not transfer too much on your clients while still being able to relate and empathize with them. So I think that is a very important part of it. Um having a curiosity is important, not being judgmental is huge, learning how to put your own biases aside is really huge because you hear things sometimes that are completely contradictory to what you've been taught or what you believe, and it's important not to let that show because that will turn somebody right away from opening up.
SPEAKER_02:And actually, similar to that, if there is someone who is struggling with their mental health and they just have nowhere to turn, where would you say is a good place to start looking into? I mean, going to your family doctor or just going to a support group, where would you say would be a good place to go?
SPEAKER_00:It really depends on what you're looking for. A family doctor can be a good place to start for a referral for like a psychiatrist if you're looking for medication. Um it's definitely good to have an evaluation, even if you don't choose to use medication, just to know what's available. And then as far as therapy goes, we know the most important thing with therapy is finding somebody that you fit with. Um it doesn't even really matter how much experience the person has had or what their modality is. It really depends on if you feel comfortable with them. So one thing that I always recommend, you know, is psychology today has a ton of therapists. It's like a menu, pretty much. You can like type in where you live, you can type in your insurance, and it gives you like someone's picture, it gives you their bio. And of course, you can't tell everything by reading a bio and seeing a picture, but at least it gives you a place to start, you know, especially if you're looking for a certain demographic of a therapist or something else that might help you feel more comfortable. So I think that's a really great resource. You know, also insurance has to be a consideration, um, unfortunately, because insurance, you know, we don't have um Medicare for all. So um, you know, it depends on also what's affordable to you. Um, there are some really great therapists that work at community mental health centers. So if somebody doesn't have insurance or if they have Medicaid, there are options available.
SPEAKER_03:So now let me ask you this. If someone was serious about trying to get into this field, what advice or what direction would you give them if they really wanted to do this and they wanted to do something right now?
SPEAKER_00:Um the advice that I would give is to just know that you have to get an advanced degree in order to do um anything really independently. So I was pretty disheartened when I got my bachelor's degree, and I thought that was pretty fancy, and then I was not four years. I just had my own, yeah, I just I stayed at New York Jones as a inpatient unit because that was what I was qualified to do. And then I managed a group home, which was incredibly stressful and not something I had any experience in, you know. Yeah, sure. Um, and so it's just important to know that that might be discouraging, but then there is the next step where you can get a master's degree, um, you can choose to go on and get a doctorate. So main piece of advice is to know that it's going to be time consuming, it's gonna be costly, um, but the thing I've noticed about it that I think is really important is that you have a ton of options. So you can do so many different things within the field. And there are opportunities to make a decent living. Um not so much in community mental health, but private practice and in other places.
SPEAKER_02:If there again, I'm mean me and Lawrence are just bouncing off of each other here. Um if there was, let's say, if you wanted your child to go to um a psychiatrist or psychologist, um, is there a specific way to talk to them about that or to convince them? Or I mean, how would you get them to go? Do what you they don't want to do.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's definitely a challenge. And I've definitely dealt with that for. Oh, absolutely. Um, I worked at a nurse site clinic and we worked with a lot of kids who were on the spectrum. Um, they don't see the point of therapy. A lot of them don't, and I don't blame them for not seeing the point of therapy. So it was, you know, a lot of it was parents kind of making them go and then me trying to adapt with them and make it as fun as possible by bringing in their interests and making it about more than just talking so that it didn't seem like this torturous thing where they had to come talk to some dorky adult. Um it can be very hard to convince your kiddo to go if they're not into it. Um, you know, I think seeing more about what it's like and knowing that this is a person that's just here for you and you don't have to just talk the whole time. You can just hang out and do other things. I think that can be helpful too. So that they don't feel like they're being grilled, you know. Right. Oh, absolutely. Nobody wants to sit on a couch and get grilled for 45 minutes.
SPEAKER_02:Well, especially if they think there's a right in audience in too and just telling you what you want to hear, and so then it's not helpful at all.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and also for teenagers, you know, I'm thinking in particular, it's not like we have to tell the parents everything a teenager unless they're telling you something that's dangerous. You know, if they're putting themselves in any kind of harm's way, that's one thing. But you know, everybody does sneaky little things when they're teenagers, and that's not something I'm gonna go back and tell your parents, you know, unless there's a reason why I need to. So I think sometimes they don't want to talk to therapists because they feel like the therapist is just gonna go back and relay everything to their parents, and um, a good trusted worthy therapist will find a way to skirt that line without having to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Sure. Well, you know what? We have to take a quick break, but we want you to stick around because we're gonna have a great thirsty conversation. So for everyone else, we're gonna take a very quick break and we'll be right back. All right, everybody, we're back with Jamie Harris, and we're going to have a thirsty conversation. So, Kristen, what are we talking about?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so this has been a hunch, a suspicion I've had uh throughout the whole pandemic, and now I can actually ask a professional about it. Do you think and do you think the pandemic has caused more stress and anxiety and depression in the United States? And how and how has it affected us mentally?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Well, you know, it's been an interesting year. It really has been. And, you know, from like a more, I guess, quantitative standpoint too, when I started my new job at the beginning, right at the beginning of the pandemic, very good timing, um, it did not take long for me to fill up a caseload because as the pandemic started, uh, very few people were really interested in doing telehealth. I think we thought that things were going to progress more quickly than they did and we were gonna get back to normal quicker. Um, but as things continued, more and more people reached out to the point where we have wait lists, you know. Yeah, because um I think more and more people are realizing that we need that human connection. Um we don't want to necessarily unload on our family members all the time, you know. We have a lot of great natural supports, but the best thing about a therapist is that it's somebody just for you to talk to. It doesn't have to be reciprocal. You don't have to worry about, oh, I'm going through a hard time, am I dumping too much on this person? That's my job. So that is something that more people seem to have been embracing. Um, and a lot of the themes that I've seen over this year, you know, a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression, a lot of boredom and malaise, and is this ever gonna end? You know, there has been a lot of the more lower levels of depression that I've seen with clients this year. Where it's not necessarily clinic, like necessarily clinical, it's not necessarily like interfering with functioning significantly, but it's enough where low motivation, I don't want to do anything, I don't want to get out of bed, you know, I'm not going to the gym, I'm gaining weight, and um, I think we all do that a little bit, but yeah, and that's part of the stress response, part of that low level of anxiety from being in a traumatic situation long time that doesn't resolve itself. Wow.
SPEAKER_03:Now, you know the interesting thing that I've seen, being that things are opening up, you would think that people will be happy, they want to get out, have a good time, enjoy themselves. What's surprising to me is the level of anger. Like, for example, on airplanes, you know, people fighting the attendants. You know, one attendant literally having her teeth knocked out. I mean, it's just nuts. Um, and it's, you know, kind of almost like an epidemic right now. And I've never seen it before. I mean, from from your standpoint, what do you think is going on there? I mean, I would think that, you know, everybody'd be happy. Okay, so what you gotta wear a mask on a plane, but I don't think it's worth, you know, getting into fights over. Yeah, injuring somebody. Exactly, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, I'm thinking, you know, when it comes to anxiety, we hear about the fight or flight system. I think these people are having a little extra dose of fight when they're out in public and something inconveniences them, um, and just being on edge already because we're not used to being out in public the same way, we're not used to being around people, um, and then not addressing that properly, it's going to come out um in a I guess what we call like a maladaptive way.
SPEAKER_02:Um, so I know you'd kind of mentioned this a little bit with your caseload influx. Do you feel that some people just reached out to you only to have somebody to talk to? And then you you talk to them and you're like, well, you don't seem extra extra depressed or extra anxious, like, and it just was like, oh, you need a friend.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, was that any of your I think to some extent, yeah. Um, you know, generally everybody has something that they're working on, but it's once again just the facet of having someone that you can talk to that's just for you, and not having to worry about um burning out a family or f family member or friend. So yeah, definitely have people that don't come in for a specific reason, but they're like, I think I just want to have a therapist.
SPEAKER_02:I think I just need somebody. Yeah. Which makes sense. And I also um I've personally thought, I guess until the pandemic, that um depression and anxiety were all biological traits. I mean, this is again me and my stupidity. Um, but you know, I I've always been the person that's like, you know, it's you can go through a bad situation and not necessarily get anxiety from it or depression. And then going through this and for this prolonged period of time has really m made me see that like a as you know, a situation can cause depression. I know that's you're like, yeah, I know. But I mean, really, yeah, a situation can can change you chemically and physically. That's astonishing to me.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you know, we tend to feel like we can get through anything. You know, people have had it worse, people have been through worse. It's a thing I hear all the time. And so I think it is surprising when we find ourselves like on the other end of that. Like, oh, you know, I'm really not myself anymore. I'm not sleeping well, and you know, I have no energy, I have no and it's amazing how those things can sneak up when you least expect it. So don't feel bad about not knowing that. It's you know, it's I guess part of our constitution in a lot of ways. Like we can get through this, right? People have gone through worse, but it really takes its toll.
SPEAKER_03:What do you say to people who have been fully vaccinated? You know, they've you know stayed away from people, stayed in their house, they did all the right things, now that things are opening up, they still have this anxiety about you know, going out not wearing a mask, even though they don't need to, going around people or even having people over their house. What do you say to people that are kind of struggling with now that things are opening back up?
SPEAKER_02:People like me is what you're saying. People like me. What would you say to people like that?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I didn't I didn't go there, but you know.
SPEAKER_00:So it's even hard to sit in that chair and be like, well, this is pathological, you know? Because it's hard to say like what's like agoraphobia or what's an anxiety disorder, and what's like somebody being extra cautious because we get different information all the time. So I think that's been a major struggle trying to help people navigate while not knowing because it's hard to tell where that line is. And I feel like even though things are opening up and seem safer now, we've got this delta variant and other, you know, other things are coming into play where you know it's it's really a thin line. And it's really hard to tell sometimes if I should be pushing somebody to do more or pushing them to address like anxiety and avoidance, or you know, if it's just a natural variation of the reaction that we have to this very bizarre situation that we're in now.
SPEAKER_02:And I think to me, it's it's changed me as a person. I used to be more like I used to go to parties and feel energized from them, and now like having experienced being in my house for a year, I like it. And I am like, I don't maybe want to go out, but you you know, I mean, I'm still living with a a daughter and a husband who are like, let's go. You know, so I mean I know I'm trying to relearn you know what old Kristen was like, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Right, yeah, we've never had that taken away for such a long time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. The length of time I think makes such a difference.
SPEAKER_00:It does. And we spent so much time being fearful and avoidant of other people because they could be carrying this disease, and now we're like, oh, I'm just supposed to be comfortable being in this crowded airport, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Right, and but and also avoiding um, you know, avoiding people because of the pandemic, you also avoided people you don't like. You know what I mean? So, right, like my life short, maybe I won't go to that brunch with because I don't really feel good doing it. And and COVID was a really good excuse to avoid those things. It really was. You know, or like family reunions, right? No, I love my family.
SPEAKER_03:It's a great time to re-evaluate because I know a lot of people, including myself, you know, when you're locked in your house for a whole year, you're not really going out, you're not doing anything, you know, you kind of evaluate what's important. And sometimes things that you look at don't look the same anymore. You know, it's like, hey, I'm doing this, you know, you get up, you go to work, come home, take care of your family, go to bed, then get up, do it all over again. And you know, you get to a point that's like, okay, life's gotta be more than this, this. You know what I mean? And a lot of times you get to that point where you evaluate things. So even though, yeah, it was it was hell going through that year, but I think it was self-reflection, in my opinion, you know, for a lot of people, as far as re-evaluating what they really want to do.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that that take on it though, I mean, I think personally shows, I mean, especially I think for you and I, because I know you and I well enough, uh, that I mean it shows how good we had it through the pandemic, also. Because I mean, I know anxiety's really flared for people who, you know, lost their jobs or whose loved ones, you know, got got COVID, you know. And so I mean, I really think that contributed to the you know, financial loss and and you know, losing a family member really contributed to people's depression and anxiety, and you know, I the the uh being stuck at home is almost the best part of the worst of it, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I tell you, this was a great great segment. We had so much fun with you, Jamie. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for being here. Hopefully you come back. Absolutely all right then. Well, everyone else, don't go too far. We're going to take another quick break. Welcome back, everyone. We had a fantastic show. We had so much fun with Jamie Harris.
SPEAKER_02:American Ardec. I feel like we we unpacked a lot of things. Psychologists.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Uh we went over a lot of stuff, had a lot of great fun. Um, I want to make sure that I want to thank uh the American Legion for letting us have our show there. We were really appreciative.
SPEAKER_02:Check us out on Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook, Thursday Conversations, and also on Cam TV.
SPEAKER_03:All right, everyone. Well, everyone, enjoy the rest of your day, and don't forget to have those Thursday conversations. Take care, everyone. Bye bye.
