Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.68 | Feat. Natalie DeTraglia & Briana Brindisi!

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

Modern Counseling and Wellness Co. - A Deep Dive into Mental Health and Therapy In Good News York, Episode 69, host Mike Brindisi is joined by his sister Brianna Brindisi and Natalie DeTraglia of the newly established Modern Counseling and Wellness Co. They discuss their backgrounds, the importance of mental health, and the misconceptions surrounding therapy. The episode emphasizes the significance of relationships in therapy, the variety of modern techniques available, and the specific pros and cons of involving primary doctors versus psychiatrists in prescribing mental health medication. The duo also explores the importance of seeking a compatible therapist and introduces their vision for a holistic, community-focused practice. The episode closes with lighthearted moments, including a viral scare prank video compilation of Mike, demonstrating the value of humor and relatability in mental health discussions. 00:00 Introduction and Special Guests 01:14 Mental Health Advocacy and Personal Journey 02:24 Therapy Misconceptions and Tools 05:36 Natalie's Background and Inspiration 09:47 Brianna and Natalie's Professional Journey 15:41 The Importance of Therapist-Client Connection 22:58 Modern Therapy Techniques and Certifications 28:25 Encouraging Passion in the Workplace 28:47 Men and Therapy: Breaking the Stigma 32:02 The Importance of Emotional Expression 34:20 The 'Let Them' Movement and Setting Boundaries 38:31 Modern Counseling and Wellness Co. 41:55 Embracing Change and Growth 43:57 The Role of Primary Doctors in Mental Health 49:21 Humorous Scare Compilation 54:47 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

My name is Mackenzie, and I started to GoFundMe for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child. The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able to find adequate care for this autistic child. So she really needed some help with living expenses, paying some back bills. So I launched a GoFundMe to help support them during this crisis. And we raised about $10,000 within a go-fundme. just a couple of months. I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like really being very clear about what we needed, we had some really generous donations from people who were really moved by the situation that this family was struggling with.

GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform trusted by over 200 million people. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com. That's gofund me.com. Gofund me.com. This podcast is Supported by GoFundMe. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this.

If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free today at RSS. All right, welcome to Good News York, episode 69, which is gross, because it's my sister's episode. My sister is here, but we'll get to that. I am Mike Brindisi. This is Good News York, sponsored by ads on the go, get ads on the go.com. Shout out to Zach, who's in the truck driving around with our ugly faces on it. As I said, we have two very special guests here today.

All joking aside, it's very meaningful to have our career paths crossy. each other. We have my sister Brianna Bern dissey and Natalie detraglia. Did I say that correctly? DeTralia? But it's fine. Detralia? Well, strike one. I am Italian. Oh, strike two. This is going to be a tough interview. They are here from modern counseling wellness co. Brand new, I want to make sure I word this right. Brand new, what's the word?

Practice, right? That's your brand new practice. It's a group practice. And it's only you two at the moment. And an intern. We have a graduate intern that just joined us. She'll be starting in August. That's cool. That's great. So for those of you that listen or watch the show, you know that I am a huge advocate for mental health. We've had other mental health professionals on the show. It's one of those things where personally, like, when you battle mental health your entire life or struggle with it like I have and many others, you get to a point. You get to a point. where when you, at least in my case, once you're on the mend,

you make a vow to like, you know what, at least I do, anytime someone is struggling with mental health, like I want, if I have any sort of platform, whether it's this show, whether it's a platform where five people pay attention to me, I want to make it my mission to,

to spread the word about mental health awareness and to help people. And so many people will come to me and say, man, you should have been a therapist, you're really good. And I said, you know what? No, I shouldn't have. Because my sister is.

But also, that's the beauty of therapy is that if you do it right and you do it long enough, you take those tools with you for the rest of your life and you're able to help other people with that. And that's kind of what I wanted to kind of segue into to start it off, which is so many people have had this, I mean, it's different now with social media, right? I mean, we have a lot of transparency with many things.

But for a long time, it was like, I'm not going to a therapist. I don't want to lay on a couch and they have a clipboard. You know, there was all these false, right? And then, you know, there's also the people that think there's like a magic bullet. Like you're going to go there and then they're going to tell you something and then you're cured. But what I've found is that, yes, there is a lot that can be accomplished within the actual appointment, the meeting itself. but I found that the value comes in the tools that you give, and if you practice that outside,

that's the goal. Am I right? Yeah, 100% absolutely. It's actually a conversation that I have. Just bring that mic a little closer to you. It's not you. I just want to make sure. Yeah, that's perfect.

That's actually a conversation I have. The way that I frame it, I actually got this from one of my old coworkers. I explained to people who have never been to therapy before that it is very much, therapy is very much like if you woke up one day and you had a leaky toilet, right?

You had a leaky toilet, no tools, you lived alone. What would you do? Ask my wife to fix it. No, I'm kidding. You'd have to go to Home Depot, right? And you'd get the tools that you needed to fix your leaky toilet. And somebody would be standing there and go,

hi, how can I help you today? And you'd go, well, I got a leaky toilet and they'd go, oh, okay, well, you're going to need this and this and, ooh, don't forget this. This is important. Do this one. Don't skip that step. It's crucial.

They'll tell you to mow over it, but don't skip it. When you are fixing your toilet, there's a little ring that you need to put. The ring would be that. Perfect. Perfect. That's the one you don't want to forget. Right. Yeah. So, you know, and blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you cash out and you go home and you take the tools and you fix your leaky toilet. That sales associate doesn't go with you.

Therapy's a lot like that. That's great. We're certainly not sales associates, but you come here. You've identified a need for being here. and we provide you with the tools and the skills that we have as clinicians. And you, unfortunately, the burden of working on those things, it falls on you. You take those tools that you learn in therapy and you apply them in real life because it's not every day. In fact, I find that it's very few and far between where somebody's actually in crisis while in session.

You're coming to session, you know, to explain what's gone on in the past couple of of weeks or within your life it's it's very rare that it's happening in that moment and so you learn the tools in therapy and then you you go home and in real life when these things come about you then use the tools that you learned in therapy and you do the work very well said um yeah and that and that's that's kind of where i was going with it was you know at first i i didn't know what to expect but I guess I didn't realize that a lot of the work was done within yourself and practicing those things. I want to talk about your background though. I mean, obviously, I know your background.

But Natalie, we'll start with you. Tell me how this all began for you. Like what inspired you to go into mental health. Because I found more than any other industry, I found that a lot of times people who get into the mental health field have either been touched by mental illness themselves or maybe a family member or friends. And then there's some that just that's what they've always wanted to do. How did it start for you? So it's funny because we were talking about this before we came in, but one of the things that

I think is honed in on when you're in graduate school is like don't talk about, you know, the things that you've been through. You don't ever want a client to use that against you in session, right? If you tell them you've been through X, Y, and Z, they might come back at a later point. And while this professor that I had that kind of ingrained this in us was fabulous, it's the one thing that I've never bought in on, right? Because all of my success so far has been due to the fact that people can relate and they're not alone. So when I was, I mean, I've struggled with anxiety, ADHD, undiagnosed ADHD my entire life. Right.

Where I've just kind of had to learn, I think, again, growing up, it wasn't something that was looked at as normal or something that the average person goes through. but I remember being a freshman in college. This is when it really, like, if I think back, yeah, there's a lot of things, but this is kind of really when it started. I was going through a breakup as a freshman in college. My basketball coach was like, you need to go talk to somebody. Like, I made you the appointment and I, you're going, right? Like, or you're not playing.

So I went. Which is awesome. And no fault of maybe the person that was there, but it was terrible. Really? It was the worst experience ever. In what way? In that I had all this stuff that had been bottled up for how old was I? 18 years.

And I went in and I felt like I talked about everything in 45 minutes and nothing was said back to me. Somebody sat and they just kind of looked at me. And then the time ran out and I still had things to say and it was like, okay, we'll pick this up next time. And I remember feeling more alone and more isolated than when I walked in in the first place. And that kind of was what jump started me going into our. All right, so I'm going to be a psych major from being a psych major. Like, I want to help people, right? I want to go into education.

I don't know if I want to go in. What do I do? And it was a bunch of trial and error over the course of time. I've been in private practice before. I started in private practice. Again, not so great experience. Yeah. You know, and I circled back around.

I became a high school counselor, which I think is one of the reasons I am, we are as successful as we are right now, bringing those skills into the setting to be able to relate to teens and adolescents, be proactive. Career counseling, like we don't just do traditional. Oh, wow. You know what I mean? We do career counseling. We're working on, we've added play therapy.

Rihanna wants to introduce her dog Charlotte and do some animal therapy, things like that. I know these are a lot of things that people try to talk about, but the modern counseling piece, right? Like that name modern. Right now, everybody wants. modern new vibe, whatever. But the idea is exactly like, let's get away from the pen and paper, the couch. I would love to see, yeah, I would love to see a place where we're able to incorporate more walk and talk situations. How do we take the client and like, let's go walk with Charlotte?

Like, let's go walk around, you know, the village of Clinton or whatever that looks like. But it started with some really not great experiences, my own personal struggles. I know I'm not alone. A handful of students, a handful of my students being like, please be my therapist outside of here. And that generated, yeah, don't leave me. That generated this idea that while I love what I am doing in the school setting, it's very limited. It is. Yeah.

You know, and it's constricted to certain things that I wanted to branch outside of that. Good for you. Yeah. And so when did you open modern counseling and wellness co? So when I became a high school counselor at Sequoite Valley in, what was it, 2020, I was there for just a little over four years. But two years in was when I had this epiphany. I'm like the biggest Golden Girls fan. Yeah.

Love me. It's go Blanche and Dorothy. Yeah. Yeah. I even watched the, there was a, a spinoff of Golden Girls called Empty Nest where their neighbor had a dog named Dreyfus. and they had their own show after Golden Girls, and sometimes, which is mind-blowing in the 80s and 90s, they would do a crossover where, like, the Golden Girls would come over.

I mean, they do that now with Chicago Fire, Chicago PD. Anyway, we just went on a Golden Girls side tangent. That's what I love. Anyway, sorry. No, you're good. But no, I was stressed to the max. I mean, I couldn't even comprehend what was going on. I'm in the school.

It's Christmas time. These kids go crazy. at Christmas. And I'm like, what do I do? I'm going to make a cup of coffee, right? And so, like, people probably look at our logo, which is a coffee cup with a little leaf in it. What the, what the, what the fuck? You can say fuck. Yeah. Like, what the fuck does a coffee cup have to do with mental health? Right. My husband was like, you're not a coffee shop. Why are you doing this? But I had this Betty White cup that I just, it was everything to me, right? And I'm like, I'm going to make a cup of coffee. And I made this cup of coffee. I know, my lady. I know. I made this cup of coffee.

one o'clock the afternoon and I took the first sip and I was like what that fuck is in this couple of feeling but really what it was was this idea of what we explain and what we talk about in session are these grounding techniques like what's your coffee cup thing what is the thing that's going to bring you back to baseline and make you feel good oh I love that you know and so for me it's not a cup of coffee it is the first sip of a cup of coffee yeah yes like liquid but anyway so we're kind of going on but yeah it brought me to opening my independent practice, N.P. Life and Career Counseling, where my kids were like, let me come see you. I can't do that. I see you at school. But of course, there's going to be

tons of other kids in neighboring schools, you know, where we're at who wanted that help. And then that led me to us having a conversation and me saying, hey, come help me crush this. And we're going to open a group practice. And it's going to be great. Modern counseling and wellness company. I love it. Just to side note, just to give a little, like, backstory. Natalie and I asked. I was going to ask you next. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So go. Natalie and I actually met when we both worked at the House of Good Shepherd in Utica, New York.

And still, to this day, that is probably, no offense. My favorite, my favorite job. Shout out. Shout out House of Good Shepherd. I absolutely feel the exact name. I love my HGS family. You know who you are. That was a meaningful chapter of your life.

It was stressful. It was the most crucial time of our lives. 100%. I mean, a lot. happened. I was there for nine years and a lot happened in those nine years, not only at that place, but also in our personal lives. And that's where we actually met. And Natalie and I vibed, I mean, we just, we clicked. Like, it was one of those things where you just like, lock eyes. You're dealing with a really tough situation. And, you know, there are certain people that will

handle a situation a certain way. And then there's people who will hand it it a different way. and Natalie and I have always been very in sync in terms of... Shout out in sync. I am a wanted. Sorry. ADHD? So, yeah. So, yeah, we've always been very, like, in tune with how we deal with things and how we respond to situations

and how we are as clinicians. I think we're very similar in how we practice. It definitely had nothing to do with her taking a giant luggy to the face in the middle Nothing. You used to... And I'm holding this. I mean, because you were trained to do this, right? Like, you have students that are, unfortunately, they become dangerous.

You have to restrain them, so they're not hurting others. Hey, it's Trevor from the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show. Have you ever had an energy drink that makes you feel like your head's going to explode? Liquid death now makes a better for you energy drink. Liquid death, sparkling energy feels like a coffee, not an electric chair. It has zero sugar and just five calories. No sucralose, no aspartane, or artificial colors and dyes. Plus, it has essential vitamins.

You can find it in four delicious flavors that have clean taste. Scary strawberry. Strawberry with a hint of lemon. Tropical terror, which is like a pinocalada. Orange horror. Tasty orange with a hint of orange cream and murder mystery. A blend of cherry cola and spices. I love a good energy drinking.

When I wake up at 2.30 in the morning to get us on the air at 5 a.m., I need something that's going to keep me going, and now I have liquid death, sparkling energy. I can't wait to keep drinking all these amazing flavors. They have an unextream only 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee. You can buy Liquid Death, Sparkly Energy drink at fine retailers like 7-11, or learn more at LiquidDeath.com. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too.

With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free today at RSS.com. She's trying to do what she's got to do, and she just takes one. And I'm like, I looked at her. Oh, no.

I just looked at her and I like my head snap back. Lugi just. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And she looked at me gagging. That was when the connection happened.

So what we've learned is that a lugie brought you two together. 100%. But how did that come about where you asked Brianna to be a part? When I knew, I knew I wanted to go group practice, right? So leaving Sequoite was hands down, other than leaving as yes, but leaving Sequoite was very, very difficult for me. Because when I took that job, it was like, here I am. This is what I wanted.

I'm going to be here for life. So when I decided to take the lead for the group practice, when you do that, right, it's one thing to bring on clinicians that you can train in mold and kind of help them see your vision. That's great. But you want somebody that you know, for me, I'm looking for that relationship thing that we talked about. Like, I need you to sit in front of somebody and I need them to go, I don't care about even what you're like, I know we vibe. And I knew that about her. We had just, I don't even know, we had just reconnected over a random conversation.

And she was just kind of like, hey, if you are ever looking for clinicians to come join. and you like I would be very interested and as soon as she said that to me I was like she might just be saying that to be kind but in my mind I was like she would fucking crush it like she would kill this and I and I know that because I know her personality um I'm not worried about you know anything else I'm worried about the fact that she's going to connect with these people yeah you know um I'm excited I'm very excited for modern counseling and wellness co and I love that my sister is a part of it obviously um you know there's so many, you know, we were talking before in the green room about this whole industry

and how finding the right therapist is important. And, you know, I've said it before. It's crucial, you know, and I want people that are listening or watching to know that, you know, the hardest part about going to therapy, in my opinion, is the first time. It's like going to the gym, right? But you finally muster off enough confidence or whatever to go. And then you got out of face with the, oh, well, Do I have to pay out of pocket?

Will insurance accept it? So there's a hurdle. And then you get there and sometimes you don't vibe. Like you said, I had a same thing. I bounced around with therapist where I am there pouring my heart out. I am struggling and they're just sitting there. And for some people that might work, but for me it didn't. So now you have the third hurdle.

You know, you finally get the courage to get up there. You get through the health insurance part. And now you're not vibing. And you're like, well, I don't want to go through the process of having to find somebody else. But it is so crucial because it's not going to help you if you were with somebody that you are not viking with. And, you know, what would you say to people listening or watching if, let's say you finally go and you're not viving with your therapist? Like from a therapist perspective, let us know like what you don't take it personal. And it's crucial, correct?

My gosh, no, absolutely not. You know, it's, this is exactly the authenticity that we're trying to create and why we're putting this out there is we want. people to know like this is who we are. Me dropping an F-bomb, me doing whatever. Like you're going to share something exciting with me. I'm not just going to be like, oh my gosh, that's great. I'm going to flip this goddamn table over and we're going to celebrate. We're going to hug.

Because we are celebrating, you know, these major progress. And that was the other thing about like bringing her in is that's what I want. I want something authentic, you know? And I think it's not about bringing in so many clients and building this capital. It's about making a difference in the community. And that is exactly why I could have stayed right. where I was, you know, making a difference with my students. I want to make a difference, and I want that relationship to just thrive.

That is the whole purpose behind this. I mean, if you want somebody who's, like, going to make you laugh, and maybe you're not going to accomplish things because you're going to laugh all throughout session, like, Brianna, she's here. My sis. If you want somebody who's, like, going to sit here and tell you, like, what are you doing? I'm going to call you on your shit. You know what I mean?

Like, you're coming here. You're investing. Like, I'm here for you. I'm going to tell you what's up, you know? And some people don't want that, like you said. some people are looking for the old school traditional. How does it make you feel? Let's really hone in on the cognitive behavioral practices and do it that way.

I think we're looking to do something a little bit different and just let our personality mesh. I think I do a try anyway to do a little bit of everything. And I want to preface this by saying that, you know, to the people listening that if we know as clinicians that if the vibe is not vibing, We don't take it personal. We know that it doesn't mean that we're a bad clinician and that we are the worst on the planet and we should just, we went into the wrong field. It's just we are energy. And if our energies don't match, that's okay. We don't take that personal.

You should be up front and honest about it. Like, hey, this doesn't feel, doesn't feel viy. Because we feel it too, for the record. But also, don't let that hold you back from still like exploring. and, you know, trying to find the right one. It's trial and error. You know what I mean? It's like finding a friend.

You got to connect, right? And you're not going to connect everybody. Yeah. But I can't tell you how many times, you know, I've asked people on that intake assessment, have you ever been to, you know, seen a mental health professional before? And they'll go, ugh, I went one time. It was horrible. And I just never went back.

Which is fine. But now 20 years have passed and you have now more stuff added onto the price of stuff you originally went for and and you just never explored it again like you always always keep going and search for that right one because mental health and therapy is so beneficial and important for everybody everybody should have no i i i 100% agree i've always said that this world would be such a better place if we could i mean obviously i don't want to make people mandatory to you know to go to therapy but i mean really would change so much and you know i go ahead no i was just going to say it's just way you view it. You know what I mean? It's the way you view. Like when you think, and that's why we try to

use terms like mental wellness, right? Mental health. Everybody hears mental health. They get scared. They get freaked out, right? Like think these clinical term. Health is something wrong with me. It's scary. Health, doctor, medicine, et cetera. Right? So like when we say things like mental wellness, and this is why we're incorporating the wellness piece, we have some big plans. We have some big things coming. I won't share too much, but incorporating the wellness piece, it's like, what do you do with a kid who cannot go sit in an office space and talk, but they have ADHD. You know what you do? You hand them a set of drums, a drumstick. Hell yes. Right? And like you teach them those skills that way. Um, so, so we have some wellness stuff coming. It's going to be very exciting. But, you know, kind of going back to like what

you are saying about making sure you're connecting with the right condition. This is the other thing. Again, I think that people go into the practice idea with this, like let's build some capital. Let's boost this. Let's be big. Whatever. If you comment it's not the right vibe, we're not just sending you off. Like, we're going to connect you with another clinician. Like that's part of what we're doing is building relationships with other therapists. There is not like, there's a shortage of therapists. You know what I mean? There's no competition in getting clients. We're going to connect you with someone who does meet your vibes. I demand not enough of us to go around. No, and that's wonderful. And that, I mean, that just shows the kind of, you know, professionals you are. And that's the way

it should be. You know, the one good thing I can say about going through the, you're talking about how daunting the process of finally going to therapy and, you know, finding the right therapist. It is a little bit easier now because I know there's psychology today and there's all these websites out there. Do you find that the majority of those are reputable for those listening? I think that it's just dependent. It's, again, it's how you're going to try and sell yourself to your client. But it's, this is so beneficial, right?

Like, they get to see us in our real selves here now and time. I think there is a lot of things that can be, I had a great conversation actually with another guy from home. home that I did a different podcast with, who was just kind of like nip things in the butt right away so that they know who you're aligning with. And that's something like psychology today, for example, doesn't necessarily do. Do you take like our specific insurance? There's a difference between Excelis ProClaasbushield and Medicaid. We don't. 100%. You know what I mean? Not right now. That's just not something where we're invested in yet. So so alleviating those things right up front is helpful.

She does not have late afternoon availability right now. She has a couple slats. She has like two slots left. But that's for something like more. So how do you get rid? That's not something those sites and things do. That's a good point. So we try to right now, while we're fine tooth combing all of parts of becoming a new business. That's awesome. Trying to work that out.

I mean, they are all verified. Correct. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I got you. You know, the other part, you know, kind of the advanced stage of finding your, you're a therapist these days is now you're seeing terms like EMDR therapy.

and craniosacral therapy. You and I have talked about all this stuff. You know, for those listening who aren't familiar, and please correct me if I'm wrong, when I started going to therapy about 15 years ago or so, maybe even more, it was mostly CBT, which is cognitive behavioral therapy, which is kind of, to sum it up would be,

they're going to listen to you, but they're going to give you techniques on how to train your brain to get out of these negative thought patterns. And it's very helpful. But I found it gets to a point where, well, I know and I have those tools, but I'm still struggling. Now you're seeing out there, in addition to actual DNA testing, which we can go down that road in a second, there is EMDR, like I just said. There's all these different techniques. First, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think of those techniques.

And then how do you guys stay up on those kind of new trends and do you have to get certified for, some or all. Right question. So something like EMDR. I want to do that. Yeah, but here's an interesting tip and this is actually something I work into a lot of my sessions, specifically with people who have trauma. Right. The idea of EMDR is you're really helping people look to resolve some in-depth trauma. And how that's done is by using bilateral eye movement. Like that's the whole point. When you're doing something like walking, you are stimulating bilateral eye movements. That's why. Really? Yes. So doing something like a walk and talk session where you can take a client and you can walk and you want to explore those traumatic incidences or talk about things that are really hard to talk about sitting still here like I'm nervous

I'm twitching when you get up and you're you're you are stimulating both hemispheres of the brain the logic the emotion they're coming together so by incorporating walking you're going to come up probably you're going to feel a little better talking about it you're going to come up with more rational solution see that you always hear like if you're if you're if you're feeling depressed, like one of the baseline, like, stage one things you can do is go for a walk and you used to roll your eyes. Right. But then it does help and you're like, oh, it's exercise, the endorphins.

I didn't know that part of it. So that's, you just brought up a great point. When I talked to people about this, that's exactly it. And again, going back to the school piece. So when we, we would do that with students, go take a walk. They don't understand why taking a walk is so important. Go take a walk. It's more.

Think about what just happened. How could you have done things differently? how can you portray yourself differently when you come back into the classroom? If they have a task, if they have something to think about while they're walking, they're stimulating bilateral eye movement. They're going to come up with a more logical solution

on how to perform or maybe do better. Maybe, not always. Right. You know, yeah, there's meaning behind it that doesn't get talked about it. That was our motto with Charlotte. We had the sign. It was stay calm, take Charlotte for a walk.

That's great. Something like that. Well, and it goes back to two, like, but the CBT, like when I first, started therapy, I didn't understand, I didn't even understand the concept of like, so I talk to somebody and it's going to make me feel better? Like, that's not, but it does. Just talking about it. But again, there's so many more things. And now with EMDR, I've seen videos. That's where they, like, they say, you talk about the trauma and then they move their finger in certain patterns and they

make them follow with their eyes. And I know it sounds like pseudoscience. It's not. It's, is it pseudoscience or is it science? I mean, I don't know. But either way, it works. And it's unbelievable. And there are so many other things out there, the craniosacacrit therapy. So how do you guys stay up on that stuff? And are these things that you need to be certified in? EMDR, yes, 100%.

Like something like EMDR you need specific training for, which is again why like being able to offer something like going for a walk and explaining why it helps alleviates like there's a cost associated becoming trained in all these types. There's a platform that we as clinicians can use. to become certified. It's costly, but we can become certified. In anything.

You basically pick what, you know, it's got a whole 100 pages of different webinars and training and live trainings. And you can choose whichever you want and whatever, but it can be very costly. Can you, is that a weird strategy? Could you ever build your practice around like, ooh, I want a therapist that does EMDR. I want a therapist that does it. Can you do it that way? Not.

So it's very funny that you say that because, again, I think that sometimes the strategy for private practice is bring people in, fill their caseload. I want people to perfect a craft, right? I am, I will, I won't touch EMDR. It's just not something that I want to work with. Have you or a loved one ever suffered from an exploded head due to an extreme energy drink? Hi, this is Larry Deathstein, attorney at law. Every day, thousands of Americans pound extreme energy drinks and literally explode their heads right off.

At Death Steen and Partners, we fight for you. So take action today. It's stopped by the Death Steen and Partners Office, where we only serve liquid death's new sparkle and energy. A better-for-you energy drink. There's nothing extreme about it. With only 100 milligrams of caffeine, that's equal to a cup of coffee. Plus, liquid death energy has got zero sugar. And none of that freaky stuff.

like sucralose or aspartame. When it comes to extreme energy justice, Deathstein and partners will fight to the death. Also, if you're not near our office, you can still try Liquid Death's sparkling energy and find retailers like 7-Eleven. Or learn more at LiquidDeft.com. Where?

LiquidDeath.com. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this. Even with just 10 listeners a month.

If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at RSS.com. Okay. She wants to potentially explore something like that. The graduate intern that's coming on is going to have a specialty specifically in play therapy. And we've had a conversation about, do you want to explore other areas? No, she wants to stay in play. And the benefit of that is, like, while I will always encourage people to branch out and do different things,

when you perfect a craft, you're going to make a bigger difference, right? I am pushing her a little bit. I am encouraging her to do some things that she hasn't necessarily touched, but she's phenomenal. And she knows that. I know that. Right? And so like I think that when you encourage somebody to do something that they're really good at, they're going to, they're going to perform better. So I would like to see, you know, when we bring people on for them to have an interest specifically in what they're working in.

I would never ask her to do something that she's just not comfortable doing. She's not going to do her best work in that setting. So well said. Have you noticed either of you or both of you because of the rise in with social media. and mental health awareness and there's a lot of it, which is great. Do you find more men

are coming to therapy and getting help? Less men the same. Did you notice any sort of? Because I'm hoping, I'm feeling like there's a trend where men are starting to do that. We've had some guests on,

we've talked about that, some men that have admitted that, yeah, that's something that they've never done and they're starting to. Yeah, I mean, I... Because there's a stigma. There's... 100% a stigma.

100%. My current caseload, I would say I have more women than I do men, but I do have some men on my caseload. I would say probably my last job, I had a lot more men than I have now. And there is a huge stigma, and it's wild to me that that's even still a thing. Like, it's so archaic.

I know. It's archaic. I know. You know, like we all have a brain. We all have experiences that we have gone through. We've all deal with day-to-day stress and like, it's just like work through your shit. I used to who you are or what gender you are. Like, just work through your shit.

I used to have a joke in my set a couple years ago. Basically, the joke was like, it's 2025 now. Like, if you don't have anxiety and depression, like, you need to get that checked out. Like, it's weird or if you don't. Yeah, there's definitely more of us. God bless you. I just want to choke them. When someone's like, I'm so sorry you go through anxiety.

Like I just, I never have. And I want to be like, what do you mean? How do you do that? I call bullshit. Yeah, I call bullshit. Yeah, I mean, it's important. I mean, men, it's kind of this extra burden that we've had is that, you know, you're weak. And I, but as I said, like, I see that kind of fading out.

So I was just, I was curious. And I want to say, for the record, I feel like some of the most, like, we all have, like, really powerful. like powerful sessions, that aha moment where it clicks. And I have a aha moment written down. I was going to ask you if you've had one. And I've had my most like, wow, this, like you have grown so much. Like this has been like we feel the success too. We know when it's successful.

We know when you're really investing. And I have to say for the record that a lot of most of the men that I've seen have been those sessions where I'm like, wow, look at now. Like let's. Yeah. on what life looked like when you came here versus life now. Look at all the changes that you made, the growth. I have grown men that tell me that they do yoga every single morning before they,

you know, get their day started and that was life changing for them. You know what I mean? And it is because it works. It's science. Yeah. So it's, you know, if you and it doesn't matter what gender you are, if you invest, you will have success. It will be effective.

If nothing else, it's at least a place to go to get it from here and out into the world. And because when we, you know, I explain emotions like a beach ball. Okay. If you had, if I took you into the middle of a lake with an inflated beach ball. You would push me off. I would absolutely. Yeah. But if I told you to hold that beach ball underwater, you would only, that inflated beach ball,

you'd only be able to to hold it for so long before either a it's going to pop up and snap you in the chin or you're going to drown because you can't keep yourself afloat and the beach ball down when it's fully inflated emotions are very much like that if you push your emotions down and you suppress everything it's only sustainable for so long before it explodes so if so the only successful way to do that is to to open that cap and to slowly deflate the air a little at a time, you won't have to work so hard to keep that thing underwater. That's what emotions are like and that's what therapy is a place to do that, to deflate that air. Mike drop. Don't drop the mic though. Um, that, no, and, you know, I have a similar, one of my aha moments early on in therapy was along those same lines where my therapist said, imagine you're a barrel and your emotions are the water and you wait. up and your barrel is up here. It's going to take that much water for it to all spill over. So that's why when you see these fucking psychos on social media like having road rage,

it's not about the stop sign. It's not about the lane change. It's because they woke up and their barrel was to the brim and that was the thing. And that's what I try to say that like when people are like, well, therapy's not going to help me. I'm like, you don't understand. It is a butterfly effect. It is a trickle effect that, you know, and and but within that there are ways CBT is part of it just talking about it helps you know maybe you have to heal your inner child I mean there's so many yeah I love the inner child work but there's so many it's not just like go to therapy and talk there are so many nuances there's there's like we said the inner the inner

child stuff there's the the childhood trauma there could be attachment issues anger issue but but the only way to figure it out is to go now before we go I want a couple more things. There's a movement on social media calling let them or something like that, like where basically it's like you let things happen. And I, I, I, okay, okay. So I heard about it. And my first, and I could be wrong, my first reaction was, okay, I kind of like that

lazy, like, yeah, just let it be. but then that kind of contradicts to like setting boundaries and uh and just i don't know i don't know how i feel what what are you guys what are your thoughts on this let let them do you know what i'm you obviously no absolutely um i mean first of all right like so the idea of boundaries like they're needed everywhere we definitely incorporate them at all points in time i think the idea of let them is setting boundaries with yourself and understanding like i can't let this affect my peace my thing is how is that different

than minding your fucking business I mean yeah that's what it sounds like in all seriousness like focus stay in your lane

what are you doing like let's grind let's be good for ourselves like you're doing this for you you're not doing this for anybody else can you explain what is let them I didn't explain it well what is let them

explain it better than I did it's essentially like you know if if um you know know, you have a group of friends that decided to go to dinner and excluded you, instead of getting upset about it and internalizing that, let them, right? If, you know, somebody makes you the villain of their story,

if they, you know, splatter your name all over the walls and just let them. Let them think what they want. Let them feel that they want. Let them do what they want. Okay. Don't allow anybody to have your peace. Power over you. Right.

Don't give them that power. Right, right. Which, for the record, like, I 100% agree with. I don't disagree at all. My reaction is because I know. It's because she walked, when she moved in, the day she moved in, she, like, put her book up on the stand, and I was like, take that fuck. No.

No, not seriously. Because let me, I, I see where you're coming from, and I agree. But I'm actually asking. I'm not pushing back. I'm asking because one of the things you taught me is you're not, what was it you it's not up to you to care what people what think of other people's opinions of you are is none of your fucking business right with none of your business it's none of your business it's none of my business what you think of me what he thinks of me what she thinks of me

it's none of my business I don't want to know because yeah it has the power to probably impact me in a negative way if your opinion is negative but like it's none of my business because here's the the cold hard facts is that it's just an opinion just because that's somebody's perception of you just because that's somebody's opinion of you doesn't mean that it's real we get a you know we get offended and our piece is disrupted when we when we internalize what we think other people think of us but really that's just a reflection of what you think about yourself and so stop worrying about what other people think because it doesn't matter that's their opinion they're entitled to their opinion I don't have to

be liked 100% of the time I know that's not possible I know that's not possible that's not possible. That's not my goal. My goal is to live my life, be at peace. I just want peace. Yeah, for sure. And so it's, it's just a matter of literally just my fucking business. It's none of anybody's. But this framework that's a Zick said for how long, like, you know what I mean? So I think that's when we, when we chuckle and we laugh. It's just kind of like from a therapist's perspective, right? This idea of let them. It's this big selling thing right now where people are grabbing onto it and we're over here going, we do this every day. Yeah. This isn't new.

So would that fall under let them? You know what I mean? That theory of what you were just talking about? That's what that is. That's what it is. But it's taking a framework that's already existed and spinning it. And spinning it. That's where the rub is. And it's like, you know what I mean? Yeah. Well, that's phenomenal.

I got to get you out here. I know I've been keeping you guys forever. At Modern Counseling and Wellness Co, which is in New Hartford, New York, your brand new practice. You guys are looking for a new clinician, which we'll talk about in a second, but I'll put you on the spot a little bit. What is it that separates, what are they, what separates you from others because everybody has a, you know, something to give in this industry.

But what will people get if they come to see you and work with you guys? Because this is kind of like, you know what, folks? We talk about having to go and Google and try, go to psychology today and find Find out if you vibe. Here's your, you can see here if you vibe with these two lovely women that I'm lucky to have on the show. This is the chance to kind of vet that. What are people going to get if they come and work with you? Number one thing that we are trying to drive is relationship.

We talked about this at the beginning of the podcast, the relationship. Anybody that wants to come and be a part of this team, which we are very excited about, has to have the ability to form that relationship, have it be unique, have it be fun. and to yourself very authentic, but perspective and peace. Like, that's what we're trying to give to people, right? Like, a different perspective on this as a whole. And ultimately, there's a difference between being happy and feeling peace, right? Like, happiness is a feeling and peace is a state of mind.

We want you to get to be. Straight wisdom. Yeah. That was awesome. Happiness should never be the goal. Nobody is. It's unrealistic. It is so unrealistic.

You're setting yourself over failure. I've never heard it. I've never heard it that way. That's why people, for the record, those of you don't have anxiety, and someone's going through anxiety, I was in a band for a long time, and we were on the road once, and my bass player and I suffered from anxiety, depression, and everything else,

and we would have these moments, and our guitar player, nicest guy in the world, didn't mean any heart, he just didn't understand, and he'd go, I don't know, guys, just stop worrying. And we were like, I'll fucking kill you. That's all we want is to stop worrying. All we want is peace. Yeah.

But I've never heard a frame that way. You're right. I always talk about I just want to be happy. I just want to feel peace. You want to, you want to, the goal should be to find peace, but to be able to experience the happy moments. And also, for the record, you're never going to not feel the emotion, anger or sadness when a situation happens that would produce that outcome for you. You know what I mean? Like, you're going to feel angry. You're going to feel sad at times when difficult things happen. And the goal should be to find peace to be able to experience the happy moments. But also, I would go on to say embrace, embrace the hardships. Embrace the bad because that's an opportunity for growth.

You can't grow, you know, if there's no challenge, right? If you're not faced with a challenge, you're going to stay stagnant. You're going to have no room to grow. That boxes you in. That keeps you in one place. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be in one place for the rest. of my life. I want to grow every day. I'm a different person today than I was yesterday. Yes.

And so on. You know what I mean? And those moments of hardship and heartache and you know, financial ruin. Like that is an opportunity. It's the universe going, hey, you need some movement here. Hey, it's Cubby. Have you ever had an energy drink that makes you feel

like your head is going to explode? Well, liquid death now makes a better for you energy drink. Liquid death, sparkling energy. Feel like a coffee, not an electric chair. It has zero sugar and just five calories. No sucralose or aspartame or artificial colors and dyes. Plus, it has essential vitamins. You can find it in four delicious flavors that have a clean taste. Scary strawberry, strawberry, kind of a hint of lemon, tropical terror, which is like a pinocalada, orange ha, tasty orange with a hint of orange cream

and murder mystery, a blend of cherry cola and spices. You see, I love a good energy drink to keep me moving. And I'm glad now I have liquid death sparkling energy to keep me awake. I can't wait to keep drinking all these delicious flavors. They have unextremed 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee. You can buy liquid death sparkling energy at a fine retailer near you like 7-11 or learn more at liquid death.com. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.S.com, start Your Own podcast is free and easy.

Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free today at RSS.com. Get out of this. Yes, and I'm so glad you said that because before therapy, I used to come home to visit and you know back in the day you go out like maybe night before Thanksgiving right and you go out and you see all your friends from high school and they say dude Mikey you haven't changed a bit

and I was like fuck yeah I haven't changed a bit now I look at it different I'm like I I absolutely I haven't forgotten anybody I'm that same person but I am a completely different person than I was then and that so my advice and I'm not clinical or whatever I'm not official but I would say embrace it that you are not the same person. If you are the same person, and again, I don't mean like you're not funny anymore or you're not nice anymore. I'm talking about like if you are just still the same person with the same patterns, then that's a negative thing. I want to grow every single day and be a better husband, father, brother person, you know? And it's so important.

And you guys are the ones that are facilitating that and allowing that. One last thing, and then we'll do the plugs. I thought of this as you guys were talking. I don't know if this is a good idea or not. You guys are the professionals. In my experience, so I have some medication that I'm on. Nothing crazy. But I started working with an ADHD specialist

who is working with side by side with a doctor at Cornell. And they are doing cutting edge testing, where I've done DNA testing, hair testing, urine, stomach. and one of the tests not only told me what kind of mental health meds work for me, but what ones don't and what ones won't hurt me, but you're just not going to get the benefits. And I'm not even saying like an SSRI. I'm saying they're like Zoloft good, like by brand name.

So there are a lot of tests out there. So part one of that is what do you guys think about all the new, you know, the new testing and stuff like that, have you had experience with it? And part B is I've always said I don't think primary doctors should be able to prescribe medicine. Because in my experience, when I went to a primary doctor the first time and said, I need help. They genuinely, he was on his laptop. I'm over here. He's not even looking at me.

And he goes, uh, I don't know. You want Prozac or you think you want Lexa Pro. And I remember my jaw because he couldn't see me. I was just like, he's asking me what I. I don't fucking know. and you guys both know that the side effects that can happen if it's the wrong one, what are your thoughts on both of those? When I was at the House of Good Shepherd, I remember there was a couple months period

where I was like, I can lift up right here on my hair, pull like my scalp and like feel just at least I'm, that's not right. Something's wrong there. What's going on? And so I go, I go to my primary or whoever it was at the time. And I had explained this. I was like, I really am feeling this pressure in my head. And he did a couple of things, asked me a couple of questions.

And he was like, you're experiencing tension headaches. Like, you know, I'm going to prescribe you in blah, blah, blah. It's an antidepressant. Had I not, why do I need that? I'm going to go to right aid and get a fucking box of excedron tension headache method. Yeah. And relieve the issue. I don't need an antidepressant.

And like, had I not been in the field that I was in, I probably would have picked that up. I probably would have started taking an antidepressant that I didn't need. Who knows if I don't have an addiction problem? Sure. Something of that nature where that's going to lead to X, Y, and Z, and that's obviously something we experienced. So it's like, should a primary care physician be able to prescribe? I won't speak to that because I'm not a primary care physician,

but I can say that there needs to be a more in-depth process for receiving the medication. That's what I meant. Yeah, like involving a. If anyone, and I doubt doctors listen to this show, but if you do, I'm not shitting on primary doctors. I was just going to say. I was just going to say. Like primary doctors are obviously absolutely capable of prescribing meds. But the way I explain it, when I have a client that comes to me and asks me about my take on medication and what should I take?

Or I immediately say, well, first of all, I don't prescribe. But secondly, if you are interested in the idea of medication management, I would strongly encourage you to see a psychiatrist. The way I explain that is that if you, uh, walked out of, you know, your front step and, and twizzed, broke your ankle. You missed a step and broke your ankle. What would you do? You'd go to the hospital and you'd see a doctor who'd get you an x-ray. He'd read the x-ray and he'd go, you broke your ankle.

And then he would probably give you some pain medicine, wrap it, some ice, and he would discharge you and say, okay, I made you an appointment. He'd refer you to an orthopedic doctor because that's their school. doctors have a very general they can deal with all areas correct address all areas excuse me but there are certain specialties psychiatry is a specialty

their scope is the brain their scope is mental health the side effects the the the um it's why you go to a heart surgeon the medication piece of it right so so if you're ever considering medication again primary doctors are fully capable it's obviously a more accessible easy way to get in

get it quick but psychiatry is their scope and there should be a more extensive process because of what you're described. That's exactly where I was. Yeah. You know, but so something we do, like when someone says that to us, you know, we have, we make sure we have the conversation with them that if, if somebody needs some additional information from us, we'd be more than happy to, you know, write something up or whatever,

but to just give a different perspective of what they've been going through, what could potentially benefit them, what is their past experience. I mean, yeah, it just needs to be more in-depth, I think. Yeah. And you guys basically worded it way better than I did. And that's what I meant, which is, do I think primary doctors should be stripped of, no. I love my primary doctor. Shout out at Guthrie, Dr. Melissa O'Bannon, I love you.

She's amazing. So in-depth. And by the way, same thing. You should vibe with your primary doctor. That's another thing. But my point was, and I probably would trust my primary with mental health because I know the way. Well, and that's the thing, relationship. That's right. That's what you're talking. That's right.

So if you don't have a relationship. Right. Yeah. That's important. But I just. Relationship with your doctor. Like, but I just mean for those that are just kind of going in blind, don't, don't, you know, depending on your relationship with your doctor, you know, you make that choice. But I always think that it should become common practice for, as you said, to include a mental, like, you know what? I'm going to refer you to a mental health specialist to prescribe that for you. I think the word psychiatrist is scary to people. It is. It goes back to like why you. You use wellness.

People immediately go psychiatrist. That means I'm crazy. Or they're going to lock me up in a padded room. And, no, no, it's a 15-minute appointment. They ask what your symptoms are and get background information and decide which one is the best for you. And especially for someone like me, hypochondriac, any of those white coat terms are very triggering. All right. Before we go, this, I wanted to do this.

Brianna... So my sister likes to scare me. She always has. And, you know, here we are talking about why I have fucking anxiety. I'm like a skittish... I'm a skittish chihuahua. Now, everybody here around the office knows,

they'll just come in and be like, hey, Mike, can you copy it? I'm like, Bragma! And they're like, I just need you to fucking copy this. But anyway, my sister likes to scare me. So with the rise of social media, she got a TikTok I just had a stroke

she got a TikTok account And about five I do Five years ago She anytime she comes to the house Or I go to the house for family Holiday Gathering She scares the shit out of me and records it And she does it all weekend long

Or however long I'm there She created these compilations And put them on social media And I bust my ass on this show every day I've played All over the country and about band. I am probably most famous for being scared on social media. And you're, I think one of the compilation has got like 500,000 views. Oh, million. I, I, I, I, I went viral twice. We've been

trying to go viral for, I don't know how long. Well, I just give the people what they want. So I wanted to pull up, I'm going to let Danny choose how many or which one, but I wanted us to watch one of these compilations. So you guys can all see why I need mental health. Uh, Help and it's exposure therapy. That's exactly what it is. I didn't realize it Oh, I say the F word a lot when I get scared when I get scared and You might have to change the input on the on the iPad. I had to do that the other than why the fuck it It does all but yeah, I mean you could even without the sound oh this one I had a giant bottle of vodka I was going to get more

Gildv Throw us it over my head But uh And the even funnier part Is earlier when I went to Oh my favorite one When I was a skinhead apparently Right there

I was peeing God damn I actually pissed A little bit I think Yeah I could have moved Because I was literally

Pets Latrale La Trelie Polly Polly Good cat We're talking Go to another one, Dave.

We didn't get the full. Oh, wow, I love it. We didn't get the full. How do you do? I love it. And I scream. Which that's the other thing. Well, that's why I do it.

Because here's the thing that is mind-blowing to me is that you would think that over time you just almost expect it. No. No. That scream is why I do it, because I cannot understand how, that sound comes out of a grown man

Yeah, well, and that's also What sucks about getting scared other than getting scared is I'm like, that's what I fucking Like if I was in public and a crisis Went on, like, and I'm with my kids If I'm with my children You know, maybe we're going to a Yankee game, we're getting on the subway And some guy pulls out a gun

I'm going to go, and if my kids are going to go, dad Yeah, you're supposed to protect me I will, I will Well, anyway Uh, Natalie how do I say the last? Detralia. DeTralia. Rihanna Brandisi, my sister.

Modern counseling and wellness company in New Hartford, New York, www.w.w.com. Tell us what you're looking for, other than if you're looking for mental health, help, please go to them. But on your side of things, are you looking for more?

Always. Yeah, we always want to continue to help serve the community, but I think commitment is the number one thing. Like people have to know, you know, if you're not there, that's okay. That's totally okay. And we'll also tell you that. You know, we'll also tell you if we feel like you're not there yet. But the commitment to this process, it is long term, regardless of what people tell you,

you're not going to come in. This is not about us fixing you. We don't fix you. We give you the tools. And if you're committed to using those tools outside and you're committed to yourself, you are going to see whether it's small or whether it's large. You're going to see bouts of progress. And are you guys looking for other therapists to join your practice?

Yeah, definitely. I think we have some big expansion plans coming right now. We're kind of just doing it little by little. We don't want to bite off more than we can shoot. All right. But yeah, there will be an official, I think, LinkedIn posting. We don't, again, we don't want any informal applications coming through. We want to make sure, again, that it's a right fit, their relationship, the authenticity.

Keep the website up to date. Yeah. And it's beautiful website. Yeah. Modern Counselingco.com. If you're looking for help, please go to them. as you can see they're amazing but also if you are a therapist

or I don't know what the psychologist whatever if you're in the mental health field they are looking for people to join the practice so get a hold of them that any other way you want them to get a hold of you a phone number website's perfect it's got everything there

Natalie Detralia my sister Brianna Brindisi I love you I'm proud of you modern counseling and wellness co check them out and just go get just go get it you know even if you're not completely struggling, you don't have to wait until you're completely struggling.

Go. You know, one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was stopping going to therapy, because guess what? Life still goes on and more problems come. You don't graduate. I'm not saying you have to be in, you don't have to be in therapy your whole life.

I want to be and I need to be. Some people can stop, but don't think that you have to graduate. Sometimes it's a lifelong commitment, but that's all up to the individual person. Anyway, it is Good News York sponsored by Ads on the Go Get Ads on the Go.com.

Mike Brindisi out. Matt is on vacation. I think he's up at Enchanted Forest bottling his own water at the water slides. I don't know what the fuck he's doing. But he will be back next week and I'll be back tomorrow. I might be flying solo. I forget if we have a guest or not. But thank you for

tuning in to Good News York. We'll see you tomorrow. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're in a podcast chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this.

If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free today at RSS.com.