Andrew Panella & Practical Healthy Living

Summary

Dr. Larry Waldman joins Matt and Tom to explore what happens when a mental health professional stops thinking like everyone else. Over a 45-year career, Waldman built a practice that extended far beyond traditional therapy, applying psychology to family courts, personal injury cases, estate planning disputes, surrogate parenting evaluations, and senior wellness. The conversation explores mental health stigma, trauma, parenting, marriage, aging, and why some of the biggest opportunities come from solving problems nobody else is paying attention to.

A major theme throughout the episode is the hidden psychological impact of life events. From car accidents and workplace injuries to divorce and family conflict, Waldman explains how emotional trauma often goes untreated because healthcare systems focus primarily on physical symptoms. The discussion also covers why preventative approaches to parenting, marriage, and mental health remain unpopular despite producing better long-term outcomes.

The episode closes with an examination of aging, senior sexuality, physical fitness, and the importance of continuing to grow, learn, and challenge assumptions throughout life.

Key Topics

• Building a successful career by identifying overlooked problems
• Mental health stigma and barriers to seeking help
• Trauma and PTSD following accidents and injuries
• Family court work and high-conflict divorce cases
• Collaborative divorce versus adversarial divorce
• Parenting psychology and behavior reinforcement
• Why prevention is harder to sell than crisis management
• Estate planning, competency evaluations, and legal disputes
• Marketing and business lessons for therapists
• Mental health challenges among military personnel and first responders
• The impact of social media and instant-information culture
• Aging, fitness, yoga, and lifelong learning
• Senior sexuality and age-related misconceptions
• Longevity, relationships, and changing family dynamics

Chapters

00:00 Welcome Dr. Larry Waldman
02:30 Building a psychology practice beyond traditional therapy
05:00 Family court evaluations and helping judges make decisions faster
08:00 Discovering hidden trauma in accident victims
11:30 Using psychology in personal injury cases
12:00 Estate planning, competency evaluations, and the Anna Nicole Smith effect
16:00 The inheritance case that changed a father’s perspective
20:00 Why most therapists struggle in private practice
22:00 Trauma-informed care and what healthcare often misses
25:00 Mental health stigma in law enforcement and the military
29:00 How technology transformed therapy and telehealth
30:00 Therapist shortages and growing demand for mental health care
33:00 Why people fix their truck before fixing their marriage
35:00 Men, women, and resistance to asking for help
36:00 Marriage education and the challenge of prevention
38:00 Parenting without training and repeating generational patterns
40:00 Collaborative divorce and reducing family conflict
43:00 Why children often act out for attention
44:00 Social media, YouTube University, and shrinking attention spans
46:00 The YouTube parenting generation
50:00 Revenge, parental alienation, and divorce fallout
53:00 Dr. Waldman’s books and career evolution
55:00 Senior sexuality and the myths of aging
57:00 Becoming a yoga instructor at age 75
59:00 Sexual health, aging, and overlooked conversations
01:02:00 Longevity, relationships, and redefining later life
01:03:00 Final thoughts and where to find Dr. Waldman

The post Dr. Larry Waldman & Psychology first appeared on Irreverent Health.