Personal Stories of Creative Meaning Making

If you’ve been dragging some of last year around with you, or you’ve been feeling that strange mix of excitement and pressure that shows up every January, this episode is calling your name. 

Closing out the year, the POTC cohosts are bringing you a conversation about how creativity can be a lifeline, a mindset shift, and a really enjoyable way to start 2026 feeling more like yourself.

Walking you through simple ways to reflect on the past year, we share some creative exercises that spark real insight and explore how tuning into your creative side can help you make meaning, connect with people, and better handle the tough stuff life throws at you. 

If you’re craving more joy, connection, or just a new angle on the year ahead, you’re bound to find something that resonates.

So settle in, and join us in starting the year with intention, curiosity, and a little touch of creativity.

Listen and Learn: 

• Reflection Exercises, including: 
• Finding Meaning: Reflecting on the past year, where were you last New Year’s, and what were your biggest highs and lows since then
• Meaningful Moments: Reflecting on two or three meaningful moments from the past year and vividly recalling the sights, sounds, and feelings of each experience
• Lessons, Wins and Moving Forward: Reflecting on your past year to uncover lessons from mistakes, celebrate achievements, and clarify what truly matters to you as you move into 2026
• Vision for the Year Ahead: Reflecting on what you truly want, the areas you’ve neglected, and the values you want to prioritize in the year ahead
• How incorporating creative, life-affirming activities can boost your well-being and help you navigate life’s challenges
• Practical exercises and tips to spark more creativity in your life in the new year

Resources: 

• Access the New Year’s Reflection Questions from this episode (.pdf or editable MS Word versions available) 
• Debbie’s Guided Journaling Substack with writing prompts and a 30-day journaling challenge
• Year Compass worksheets: https://yearcompass.com/
• Word of the Year and Unravel Your Year worksheets by Susannah Conway: https://www.susannahconway.com/unravel 
• Creative Mornings: https://creativemornings.com/ 
• Jill | Betrayal Weekly: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jill-betrayal-weekly/id1615637724?i=1000726003078 
• If you have a story connected to trauma, crime, or someone who’s caused harm—and you feel ready to share it—Jill would love to hear from you. You can book a free 30-minute consult at:https://jillstoddard.com/contact-us 

About the POTC CoHosts: 

Debbie Sorensen, PhD, Co-host

Debbie (she/her) is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Denver, Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University. She is author of the book ACT for Burnout: Recharge, Reconnect, and Transform Burnout with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and co-author of ACT Daily Journal: Get Unstuck and Live Fully with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She loves living in Colorado, her home state, with her husband, two daughters, and dog. When she’s not busy working or podcasting, she enjoys reading fiction, cooking, traveling, and getting outdoors in the beautiful Rocky Mountains! You can learn more about Debbie, read her blog, and find out about upcoming presentations and training events at her webpage, drdebbiesorensen.com.

Jill Stoddard, PhD, Co-host

Jill Stoddard is passionate about sharing science-backed ideas from psychology to help people thrive. She is a psychologist, writer, TEDx speaker, award-winning teacher, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, bariatric coach, and co-host of the popular Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. Dr. Stoddard is the founder and director of The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management, an outpatient practice specializing in evidence-based therapies for anxiety and related issues. She is the author of three books: The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: A Practitioner’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Be Mighty: A Woman’s Guide to Liberation from Anxiety, Worry, and Stress Using Mindfulness and Acceptance; and Imposter No More: Overcome Self-doubt and Imposterism to Cultivate a Successful Career. Her writing has also appeared in The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Scary Mommy, Thrive Global, The Good Men Project, and Mindful Return. She regularly appears on podcasts and as an expert source for various media outlets. She lives in Newburyport, MA with her husband, two kids, and disobedient French Bulldog.  

Michael Herold, Co-Host

Michael (he/him) is a confidence trainer and social skills coach, based in Vienna, Austria.  He’s helping his clients overcome their social anxiety through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and fun exposure exercises. (Though the jury is still out on whether they’re mostly fun for him). He is also a certified therapeutic game master, utilizing the Dungeons&Dragons tabletop roleplaying game to train communication, assertiveness, and teamwork with young adults. Or actually, anyone ready to roll some dice and battle goblins in a supportive group where players want to level up (pun!) their social skills. Michael is the head coach of the L.A. based company The Art of Charm, running their confidence-building program “Unstoppable” as well as workshops on small talk, storytelling, vulnerability, and more. He is the scientific advisor and co-producer of their large podcast with more than 250 million downloads. As a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), Michael is the current President of the ACT Coaching Special Interest Group with nearly 1,000 coaches worldwide, and the co-founder of the ACT in Austria Affiliate of ACBS, a nationwide meetup for ACT practitioners in Austria. He’s a public speaker who has spoken at TEDx, in front of members of parliament, universities, and once in a cinema full of 500 kids high on sugary popcorn. In a previous life, he was a character animator working on award-winning movies and TV shows such as “The Penguins of Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda”. That was before he realized that helping people live a meaningful life is much more rewarding than working in the film business – even though the long nights in the studio allowed him to brew his own beer in the office closet, an activity he highly recommends. Michael grew up with five foster kids who were all taken out of abusive families. His foster sisters showed him how much positive change is possible in a person if they have the love and support they need.

Emily Edlynn, PhD, Co-Host

Emily (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric health psychology who works in private practice with children, teens, and adults. She has a BA in English from Smith College, a PhD in clinical psychology from Loyola University Chicago, and completed postgraduate training at Stanford and Children’s Hospital Orange County. Emily spent almost ten years working in children’s hospitals before pivoting to private practice, which allowed her to start a writing career. Emily has written her blog, The Art and Science of Mom, since 2017 and a parenting advice column for Parents.com since 2019. Emily’s writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, Scary Mommy, Good Housekeeping, Motherly, and more. She recently added author to her bio with her book, Autonomy-Supportive Parenting: Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent Confident Children and has a Substack newsletter. Emily lives with her husband, three children, and two rescue dogs in Oak Park, IL where she can see Chicago’s skyline from her attic window.   

Yael Schonbrun, PhD, Co-host

Yael (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist who wears a number of professional hats: She has a small private practice specializing in evidence-based relationship therapy, she’s an assistant professor at Brown University, and she writes for nonacademic audiences about working parenthood. She has a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and completed her postgraduate training at Brown University. In all areas of her work, Yael draws on scientific research, her clinical experience, ancient wisdom (with an emphasis on Taoism), and real life experiences with her three little boys. You can find out more about Yael’s writing, including her book, Work, Parent, Thrive, and about her research by clicking the links. You can follow Yael on Linkedin and Instagram where she posts about relationship science or subscribe to her newsletter, Relational, to get the science of relationships in your email inbox!

Related Episodes: 

• 410. Creativity and Making Things with Kelly Corrigan and Claire Corrigan Lichty
• 345. Writing for Personal Growth with Maureen Murdock
• 211. Subtract with Leidy Klotz
• 73. Essentialism with Greg McKeown
• 257. The Gift of Being Ordinary with Ron Siegel 
• 37. Post-Traumatic Growth with Diana and Debbie
• 375. Midlife: From Crisis to Curiosity with Meg McKelvie and Debbie Sorensen 
• 285. What Do You Want Out of Life? Values Fulfillment Theory with Valerie Tiberius  
• 351. You Only Die Once with Jodi Wellman     
• 138. Exploring Existence and Purpose: Existentialism with Robyn Walser 
• 329. The Power of Curiosity with Scott Shigeoka

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