Episodes

Somatic symptom disorder involves focusing too much on physical symptoms such as pain or tiredness. This focus causes major emotional distress and makes it hard to function. You may or may not have another medical condition that causes these symptoms. But how you think, feel and behave because of the symptoms can be extreme. Tune in all learn how to identify and work through somatic pain!

Mania is a state of elevated energy, mood, and behavior, most often seen in those with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or who have taken certain drugs or medications. While the feelings present in mania can be positive, energetic, or even euphoric, they may also manifest more negatively—as emotions like irritation, anxiety, or grandiosity. Tune in and lern how to recognize and work through manic episodes!

Curiously, many of my clients report that they don't feel "chosen" by their significant other, while remaining uncertain about what it would mean to feel chosen. Life partners are engaged in choosing or not choosing one another. It typically remains unspoken and may lie just below the surface of consciousness. To be clear about what counts toward feeling chosen brings a new level of depth and meaning to a relationship. Tune in and learn the power of being chosen!

Freedom, as described by the German social psychologist and humanist philosopher Erich Fromm (1941), is the final goal in the process of individuation. Fromm’s concept of freedom is close to David Shapiro’s (1981) concept of autonomy—becoming an independent agent in the world. It encompasses a capacity to manifest what makes you uniquely yourself without recourse to either self-absorption or self-abnegation. Murray Bowen’s concept of “differentiation of self” also entails this idea and ideal of ...

No one enters marriage expecting it to fail. You enter with hope, commitment, and the faith that love will see you through the hard times. But when things fall apart, it’s generally not because partners didn’t care. Often it’s because they felt disconnected, hurt, or unsure how to find their way back to each other. Tune in and learan how to keep your marriage strong!

It's not easy to break a covenant. Grounds for divorce in a covenant marriage are limited to abuse or adultery; otherwise couples must seek counseling and wait two years, as opposed to the six-to-12-month separation that is imposed in no-fault divorces. Tune in and learn all about staying in a covenant marriage!

In the realm of psychological inquiry, much focus has been placed on the "knowledge-action gap," which separates what we know from what we do. However, another critical yet underexplored area is the "question-answer gap." This gap is where uncertainty, the unknown, and the unknowable live, marking the distance between the questions we pose and the answers we seek. Tune in and learn all about how to live in uncertainty!

Erikson's old age, the age of wisdom, started at 50. In his 1950 book, Childhood and Society, Erikson called the eighth stage of development, old age, a crisis of integrity versus despair, a stage of generalization of sensual modes with the basic strength of wisdom. Tune in and learn al about how aging effects us and how to realize we are getting old!

Childhood trauma significantly impacts brain development and function, leading to long-term psychological effects like anxiety, depression, PTSD, emotional dysregulation, trust issues, and self-esteem problems, alongside physical issues such as chronic health conditions, sleep disturbances, and altered stress responses, often manifesting as behavioral challenges, learning difficulties, and relationship problems in adulthood. Trauma can rewire stress pathways (fight-or-flight), affecting how chil...

Human development is influenced by, but not entirely determined by, our parents and our genes. Children may have very different personalities, and different strengths and weaknesses, than the generation that preceded them. Caregivers should pay attention to their children's distinct traits and the pace of their development, and not assume that the approach to parenting that worked for their mothers and fathers will be equally successful in their own families. Parents, and the home environments t...

BDSM is an umbrella term for a wide range of sexual practices that involve physical bondage, the giving or receiving of pain, dominant or submissive roleplay, and/or other related activities. The acronym is a combination of Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, and Sadism/Masochism. Though BDSM has long been socially stigmatized or thought to be a sign of mental illness, recent research suggests that it has no clear connection to psychiatric disorders and can in fact be a part of healthy, lo...

Anxiety is both a mental and physical state of negative expectation. Mentally it is characterized by increased arousal and apprehension tortured into distressing worry, and physically by unpleasant activation of multiple body systems—all to facilitate response to an unknown danger, whether real or imagined. Tune in and learn all about anxiety and how to overcome it!

Our lives begin within our most intimate tribe, our family, whose job it is to protect and nurture us until adulthood. But then gradually, over time, we get introduced to members of other related tribes — our racial and ethnic groups — with whom we share many of our most basic traits, including our phenotypes, genetics, and cultural histories. And then there are the tribes we choose, based on religion, politics, the places we live, the schools we attend, the teams we root for, and even the cars ...

Thoroughly woven into the tapestry of American culture has been the mythology or cult of the millionaire, a term which originated in France (by Disraeli in 1826) but was rarely used in the United States until the late 19th century. The word was reportedly first used in America in a newspaper obituary for Pierre Lorillard I, founder of the tobacco empire. “Mr. Lorillard was a ‘millionaire,’” the obit read, this was made possible by his giving people something they could “chew that which they coul...

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD or cPTSD) describes a set of disruptive symptoms that emerge after experiencing inescapable traumatic life events, especially those of a horrific or threatening nature or which recur or accumulate over a period of time. Such events are typically interpersonal, often involving abusive relationships with parents, caregivers, or other responsible adults at a young age. It may also be sparked by torture, the experience of being a refugee or asylum seeke...

With marriage having a fifty percent no‐go rate it’s obvious that people don’t follow their best thinking, just like people don’t eat healthfully even when they know what’s good for them. Paradoxically, it’s in our most enduring and important relationships that we’re least likely to be our most mature and thoughtful selves. Tune in and learn what it takes to be married!

Constant criticism, even if it’s self-inflicted, slowly chips away at your sense of self-worth over time. Before you know it, you’re left feeling inadequate and like you can never measure up. Tune in and learn how constant criticism can effect a person!

Schadenfreude[emdash]the sense of pleasure people derive from the misfortune of others[emdash]is a familiar feeling to many, yet it's poorly understood. The complex emotion may provide a valuable window into the darker side of humanity. Tune in and learn how people derive pleasure from others pain!

Intercultural relationships are increasingly common, especially in “hyperdiverse” Western cultures, where mixed marriage has been steadily rising over the decades. What used to be controversial, even anathema, is now commonplace, at least in progressive Western urban centers. Because the concept of race is misleading, contemporary scholars have moved away from describing mixed marriages as “interracial”, preferring the term “intercultural”. Tune in and learn all about cross cultural relationship...

Transactional communciation helps people see how these three states operate within them and how they shift between states in different situations. It can be applied flexibly. It may be brief and solution-focused, helping clients address specific issues quickly, or it can be used in longer-term therapy for deeper exploration of unconscious patterns. Transactional communication's versatility extends beyond psychotherapy, with applications in couples and family counseling, education, nursing, and e...

The conscious mind can be described as whatever you are currently aware of. What you are feeling, doing, seeing, touching, experiencing. You are conscious of it, or aware of it. Consciousness does not involve stored information. It is what is happening now. It does involve thinking and making decisions. It is easy to control your conscious mind because you are able to use it to make choices. Tune in and learn all about how you can tap into your subconscious superpower!

Relationships thrive on emotional and physical connections, and one of the most intriguing aspects of romantic bonds is the concept of a “turn on.” But what does it really mean to be “turned on” in a relationship? Is it purely physical, or does it go deeper? The phrase “turn on” is often associated with physical attraction, but in relationships, it encompasses much more. A turn-on can be anything—emotional, intellectual, or sensory—that sparks attraction, excitement, or deeper feelings for your ...

Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates using advanced technologies—such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering—to enhance human physical, cognitive, and emotional capabilities beyond natural limitations. The goal is to improve the human condition, potentially achieving longer lifespans, eliminating diseases, and even transcending mortality toward a "posthuman" state where humans merge with machines or evolve into supe...

•Repentance is not so much a feeling or sentiment but rather a process. It’s the process of honestly and thoughtfully reviewing one’s past actions, one’s motivations, sentiments, and underlying “issues,” and committing oneself to the task of “turning away” from old, negative patterns and making a conscientious effort to adopt and reinforce very different, healthier ways, thus becoming a new and better person. It’s an arduous process. Tune in and learn the value of repentance and how to do it!