Episodes

You feel attraction to someone who’s a hard nut to crack. They exude vibes of mystery and aloofness you can’t get close to. And you can’t help but keep trying to conquer their attention. Or, you seem to have found your soulmate. You both feel emotional and sexual chemistry. And you both see a clear perspective of starting a relationship. But they always avoid talking about their feelings and retract right before the important step. Can you relate to any of these stories? We’ve shared them not to...

Let’s start with the numbers and get that out of the way. Divorce is common, really common—in fact, according to the CDC, 2.9 out of every 1,000 people get divorced (as of 2017). In case that number seems lower than you thought, here’s some perspective, compare it to 6.9 per 1,000 people who get married. A little silver lining is that while it’s clear that divorce rates increased from 1990 through 2008, particularly for women over the age of 35; the rate is now declining. In other words, young m...

All bitterness starts out as hurt. And your emotional pain may well relate to viewing whoever (or whatever) provoked this hurt as having malicious intent: As committing a grave injustice toward you; as gratuitously wronging you and causing you grief. Anger—and resentment—is what we’re all likely to experience whenever we conclude that another has seriously abused us. Left to fester, that righteous anger eventually becomes the corrosive ulcer that is bitterness. Bitterness is a chronic and pervas...

Trauma is a person’s emotional response to a distressing experience. Few people can go through life without encountering some kind of trauma. Unlike ordinary hardships, traumatic events tend to be sudden and unpredictable, involve a serious threat to life—like bodily injury or death—and feel beyond a person’s control. Most important, events are traumatic to the degree that they undermine a person's sense of safety in the world and create a sense that catastrophe could strike at any time. Parenta...

Every couple’s situation and circumstances are different. So, too, are the reasons they drifted apart, ranging from a lack of communication to cheating. Still, there are certain exercises you can do as a couple and individual, plus small steps you can take with your partner now to increase love, trust, and intimacy in the hopes of keeping you together. When you think you may be on the brink of divorce, you may still have a glimmer of hope that you can save your marriage. You want to stay togethe...

Our inner child is a part of ourselves that’s been present ever since we were conceived, through utero and all the developing years after where we were young and developing into tender selves: baby, infant, toddler, young child and middle school year. The inner child can often recall good experiences as well as childhood fears, traumas, neglect or significant loss. It can be hard to pinpoint the exact event that is tugging at us, but we can start to notice our internal patterns that have left us...

We are becoming a nation of narcissists. We are so focused on superficial personal identity that it makes us obsessed with race, ethnicity, sex, and political ideology. Tattoos, body piercing ornaments, and body enhancement surgery have not been enough to satisfy our self-obsession. Like the legendary Narcissus seeing his reflection in a pool, we see and applaud ourselves because of our superficial external appearance. What matters most to narcissists and society at large, is their personal char...

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a disruptive behavior disorder that emerges during childhood or adolescence and is characterized by persistent angry or irritable mood, unruly and argumentative behavior, and vindictiveness. It frequently manifests in hostility toward authority figures. All children display defiant behavior at some point, especially when tired or stressed. Oppositional behavior is in fact normal in toddlers and in early adolescents. The behavior of a child with ODD is much ...

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or romantic relationships. Burnout is not simply a result of working long hours or juggling too many tasks, though those both play a role. The cynicism, depression, and lethargy that are characteristic of burnout most often occur when a person is not in contro...

What does it mean to be Spiritual Beings having a human experience and how does it relate to our everyday lives? We are not human beings striving to be Spiritual; we are already Spiritual Beings. Meaning, we existed in spiritual form before we were born into this physical world. First and foremost, we are eternal Souls. In the very quiet moments of our busy lives, we can re-connect with this knowledge. Our Soul, that part of us that observes quietly behind what we do, think, believe, and feel, e...

Forgiveness is the release of resentment or anger. Forgiveness doesn’t mean reconciliation. One doesn't have to return to the same relationship or accept the same harmful behaviors from an offender. Forgiveness is vitally important for the mental health of those who have been victimized. It propels people forward rather than keeping them emotionally engaged in an injustice or trauma. Forgiveness has been shown to elevate mood, enhance optimism, and guard against anger, stress, anxiety, and depre...

Many of us whine for a minute when things don't go our way. We need a little grief time, a little time to gather ourselves back together again, renegotiate our hopes and dreams more in alignment with reality, and then we're back in the saddle again. The time it takes for us to do that varies with each individual. Many people feel a tad embarrassed when they whine this way because, well, it feels to us as if we are on the pity-pot. And, you know, maybe for a minute we are. But really, don't we al...

What do you think you look like? Body image is the mental representation an individual creates of themselves, but it may or may not bear any relation to how one actually appears. Body image is subject to all kinds of distortions from the attitudes of one's parents, other early experiences, internal elements like emotions or moods, and other factors. The severe form of poor body image is body dysmorphic disorder, where dissatisfaction over a slight or undetectable defect in appearance becomes a s...

We started our relationship with alcohol be­cause it made us less likely to starve to death. Over time we gained the ability to stand upright and, eventually, invent Netftix. Some­where along that timeline we also started getting drunk from al­cohol, and not just fat. Today, alcohol is the most widely consumed intoxicant on earth. We spend well over a trillion dollars a year worldwide to get our buzz on, and for more sacred purposes than mere drunkenness; Christian churches across the world use ...

The most important and possibly universal quality for a “good man” is maturity. So many otherwise decent guys never seem to grow up. Maturity is not boring, btw; it basically means someone who is not emotionally stunted, childishly self-centered, or financially reckless. Other aspects of someone’s personality can be important and interesting and charming and irresistible, but maturity is the basis of an adult and long-term relationship. Women are desperately struggling to find a good man. This s...

Though more rare, rage can also be expressed inwards; and instead of external destruction, people who internalise their rage destroy themselves. It can lead to hate and self harm. Eventually though, this too will bubble up and be expressed externally in some way. It is never healthy to keep emotions bottled up; particularly one as extreme as anger and rage. Rage is extreme and scary when experienced from others; but we are all quite capable of it. For many people, they have likely experienced th...

We have suffered quite a bit over the past few years. Some people in this world, sadly, have suffered more than their fair share, and our hearts should go out to those folks. The unfortunate truth of life is that it is not fair. While I'm not a Buddhist, there is much to be appreciated and learned about how to deal with suffering from Buddhist philosophy and psychology. Tune in and learn all about how important suffering is to our commitments in life!

No couple wants their marriage to be dysfunctional, and yet, many couples live in perpetual dysfunction. They operate like two blind people learning to dance with each other…they keep stepping on each other’s toes! It doesn’t have to stay that way. If you’re one of the millions facing constant struggles in your marriage, your first step is to change your habits. If you’ve taken on any of these 5 common habits below, work to stop them and replace them with more productive practices. Don’t lose ho...

Those in a relationship with an emotionally unavailable partner often find themselves in conflict with the partner, or at the very least frustrated or confused. However, few understand what causes such emotional unavailability, much less how to reach out to connect. The person who is emotionally unavailable rarely realises the pain and confusion caused to the very person they want to hurt the least. But they see their emotions as negative or unnecessary and internalize them to the extent that th...

Parental messaging in childhood, even without qualifying as a disorder, can strongly impact feelings of inadequacy, leaving in their wake the message of “never being enough.” This is especially true if one or both parents were on the spectrum of narcissisticattitudes and behaviors. Parents with narcissistic traits often cannot adequately provide empathy, unconditional love, and acceptance to their children. Healthy attachment and secure separation and individuation are based on experiencing thes...

Jason Hopcus’s personal mission is to advance human connection by embracing the conversation among fighters; the folks whose journeys from black to light give hope to those that deserve a 2nd or even a 3rd chance to be the ambassadors of conversation. Jason - acts as a motivator and catalyst for powerful cultural change within both for-profit and non- profit organizations. - believes connection to oneself, one’s transparency, and one’s passion allows individuals to live a wholly authentic, full ...

For as long as the concept of love has existed, so has the concept of heartbreak. A breakup brings with it a myriad of emotions; rawest of them all being grief. Conventionally, the word grief may be strongly associated with death but it is also a significant part of breakups. A breakup signifies loss. The loss of companionship and expectations about the future. The ‘heartbreak syndrome’, states that grief after a breakup is akin to grief associated with death. A breakup can mimic feelings of ber...

People whose gender identity or expression does not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth are transgender. While individuals may be assigned to a sex at birth based on how they present biologically, their sense of their gender may differ. A trans man is a man who was identified as female at birth, and a trans woman is a woman who was identified as male. (Transsexual is an older term that referred to trans individuals who sought or undertook intervention to change their bodies.) Many tra...

We all have heard about the law of attraction. It is one of those popular self-growth methods used for personal and professional growth. The Law of attraction is based on the common saying “you attract what you are.” Before beginning, how many of you believe that it’s true “you attract what you are?” Tune in and learn how what we attracts effects who we become!