Inspiration from the Couch

We sometimes forget that one of the most effective things we can do as parents is to simply get out of our kids' way. In today’s episode we talk about the importance of allowing our kids to face natural consequences. We touch on issues that can make it difficult for us as parents to take a step back, and we review specific strategies to help us “get out of the way.” We talk about specific life skills that are easier for our ki...

In today’s episode, we focus on disappointment, a feeling most of us don’t name or talk about enough. We explore what makes disappointment a harder emotion to acknowledge, highlighting the tendency to quickly detour to anger, judgment, shame, or embarrassment. We discuss our own experiences with disappointment. We talk about how disappointment often presents, including the thoughts, feelings, and body sensations that tend to accomp...

It’s our 100th episode! We mark the occasion by talking about milestones and taking a walk down memory lane. We discuss the different lessons we’ve learned along the way and relive some of our favorite moments on the podcast. We talk about some of the struggles and disappointments we’ve faced along the way too. 

One of our favorite parts of doing the podcast is getting to hear from our listeners and we’d love to hear from you! Drop ...

Today, Jamie, Lucy, and Avery discuss the often misunderstood emotion, envy. In short, envy can occur when someone has something or is doing something that you want for yourself! It often involves some sort of social comparison, usually with people who are similar to us in some way. We talk about the difference between envy and jealousy and why envy often feels “worse.” We share our own experiences with envy, a universal emotion, a...

Love is on our mind as we’re preparing for Valentine’s Day, and today we’re talking about self-love. While we may not be super-fans of the terminology (something about the phrase kind of gives us the ick), but we do actually do love the concept. In this episode, we define “self-love” as loving ourselves unconditionally and taking care of ourselves the way we would someone we love. We touch on the beautiful book The Body is Not an A...

Today’s episode was listener inspired! In this podcast, we talk about what it’s like when the trajectory of our lives is out of sync with what we imagined or expected. We see this during transitions and turning points (whether they are expected or unexpected). We discuss some of the major developmental tasks that we undergo throughout our lives and what it’s like to feel not quite in step with our peers. We also talk about how stor...

It’s the New Year, and resolutions are a hot topic! The concept of “self-discipline” has a tendency to sneak into our conversations about goals and resolutions.  So in today's episode, we take a deep dive into self-discipline: what it is, our (unpleasant) emotional reaction, how it can be helpful, and where it can lead us astray. We also offer alternative approaches to the strategy of “have more self-discipline” when we’re try...

Today’s episode is all about delight!  We explore how to be more present to delight, how to choose and feel more delight, and how delight can bring us together. We share some of our favorite, specific delights of the holiday season and what can interfere with being delighted. We also invite our listeners to join our December delights challenge (join our email list for more info)!

Links:

https://www.rossgay.net/the-book-of-delights

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Dr. Ellen Albertson is a psychologist, registered dietician, board certified health and wellness coach, reiki master, and mindful self-compassion teacher. She’s an author and has over 30 years of experience in the healing field. In today’s episode, Ellen  joins us for a conversation about mental health and how to “rock your midlife.” She shares several tips on how to change your mindset, empower yourself, improve your relationships...

Today we talk about 7 ways of thinking – 7 cognitive traps – that increase our suffering and increase the likelihood we’ll abandon ourselves. They are: 

1. Stories
2. Expectations
3. Rules
4. Shoulds/Oughts
5. Judgments / negative self-talk
6. Comparison
7. Perfectionism

We define each of these, exploring how they show up in our lives. We talk about how to shed these ways of thinking when they no longer serve us. We also discuss what makes these thoug...

“Life is a series of storms. As we get older, they tend to be more frequent. Taking time to have “fun” is how we weather them. The storms will keep coming so we must learn to dance in the rain.”  Find Your Unicorn Space by Eve Rodsky

Eve Rodsky is known for her game-changing book and social movement, Fair Play.  Fair Play is a groundbreaking system that uses organizational management strategies to more fairly divide unpaid labor in ...

In today’s episode, we continue talking about self-abandonment, briefly reviewing the 8 types of self-abandonment (i.e., people-pleasing, not speaking truth, not trusting yourself, over-working/uber-productivity, the quest for self-improvement, checking boxes/collecting gold stars or external validation, numbing out, and getting stuck in your head or ruminating). We talk about how the various types of self-abandonment overlap with ...

In today’s episode, we talk about self-abandonment, all the ways in which we “go outside of ourselves” or lose touch with ourselves in order to determine how to think, feel, or behave. We discuss the 8 types of self-abandonment including people-pleasing, not speaking truth, not trusting yourself, over-working/uber-productivity, the quest for self-improvement, checking boxes/collecting gold stars (external validation), numbing out, ...

“Rarely is there ever a hack. It’s me learning to relate to the thing differently that creates more peace and ease.” -Taylor

Taylor White Moffitt is one of our most favorite teachers and mentors. She’s a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and yoga instructor who lives in Boulder, Colorado, and she’s incredibly gifted at helping humans live with more peace, ease, and joy. During our conversation we explore her three cornerstones for tra...

Today we talk about the ongoing work of truly seeing our kids as individual humans apart and independent of us. We talk about the separation and individuation that typically happens in adolescence AND the process of tending to the parts of ourselves that are separate from our identities as parents. In this episode, we talk about the different ways that we attempt to nurture our kids’ identities apart from us and, at the same time, ...

We believe that “not enoughness” plays a fundamental role in both our suffering and our humanity. In this episode, we take a deep dive into not enoughness, exploring how it shows up in people’s lives, the impact it has, and its ripple effects. We share our own experiences with not enoughness, and we give the inside scoop about how we navigate not enoughness, both in our clinical work and in our personal lives. We highlight factors ...