Dr. Rick and I explore self-abandonment, which occurs when we go against our authentic wants, emotions, and boundaries in order to serve others, meet external expectations, or protect ourselves emotionally.

Dr. Rick, Dr. Jud, and I discuss our eating patterns, shame spirals, and the many problems with diets. We then move the conversation from what we eat to how we eat, applying Dr. Jud’s work on habits and craving to the experience of emotional eating.

Associate therapist Elizabeth Ferreira joins me to explore how we can feel our feelings while staying calm, collected, and in control. We walk through two examples of under- and over-regulation, and Elizabeth offers specific practices that might help in each common situation.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford joins the podcast to explore how we can apply lessons from group therapy to build stronger friendships. Dr. Joy and I focus on how we can build the trust necessary for vulnerability, and how to manage attachment issues that show up in friendships.

Jessica McCabe joins me to explore her journey with ADHD, dealing with common challenges like self-criticism, shame, and sensitivity, and how we can work with our unique brain, not against it. 

Dr. Rick and I focus on the secret to everyday happiness: learning how to like without wanting. We talk about the lies our brain tells us, the rapid movement from liking to wanting, and how we can enjoy an experience without craving more of it.

Dr. Danny Penman joins the show to explore the role of vedanā, how we can help our brain interpret the world more accurately, and practical tools for relaxing suffering and enjoying life.

Dr. Rick and I open up the mailbag to answer questions from listeners. How can we understand and support someone going through a mental health crisis? Is meditation enough to heal trauma? And what can we do about family members that just won’t change?

Dr. Rick and I are joined by Dr. Richard Schwartz, creator of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy, to explore how we can integrate all the aspects of who we are.

Dr. Mariel Buqué joins the podcast to help us learn how we can heal from the past, create healthier patterns, and break cycles of trauma.

Dr. Rick and I kick off 2024 by exploring how we can relate to the past, plan for the future, and get more from the year ahead.

Forrest and Elizabeth welcome listeners into their home to talk about their changing relationship with the holidays, letting go of the past, healthy boundaries, glimmers, and different paths to taking in the good.

Dr. Rick joins me for a deep dive into harnessing our natural generativity. How can we become more productive and creative, experience greater satisfaction, and lean into our biological drives to get more of what we want out of life?

Dr. Amy Morin and I explore how couples can work together to identify their issues, deal with effort imbalances, and avoid common mistakes (like having, get this, not enough conflict).

In this episode we answer questions from listeners around boundaries in conversation, how to navigate repair in relationships, and what a “highly sensitive person” is.

I am joined by clinical psychologist Dr. Jacob Ham to explore what really helps people work with - and be with - trauma. I ask him how he "conceptualizes" different kinds of traumatic experiences, and he then takes us away from the conceptual, toward the felt. 

Dr. Rick and I explore how to survive the holidays with the dishes (mostly) intact. We talk about the pull of dysfunctional family systems, our tendency to return to the way things were “back then,” and how to make the most of things this year.

Dr. Stephen Porges, the creator of the polyvagal theory, joins the podcast to walk us through how its lessons can be applied to recovering from traumatic experiences.