Today’s guest is Britt Frank. Britt is a licensed psychotherapist and trauma expert. She received her bachelor's from Duke and her Master's of Social Work from the University of Kansas. Britt is also the author of the book, The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward This is her second time on the podcast and today we are going to discuss many of the themes of her work but we are also going to chat about Britt’s incredible story. She struggled for more than two decades with relationships, chemical/behavioral addictions, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, OCD, and complex PTSD. After finding her way out of that mess (with a lot of help and a brief stint in a religious cult), Britt changed careers, went back to graduate school, and became a therapist.

In this episode, she shares her incredible journey and how she completely transformed all aspects of her life. We also chat about why taking micro-steps leads to big changes if you’re trying to become unstuck, how to effectively reduce anxiety when you’re feeling overwhelmed, why external validation cannot save you, how to transform the way you speak to yourself, why trying to heal your past and forgive others keeps you stuck, how to improve the way you set and achieve goals and so much more.

What to Listen For:

00:00 Intro
02:06 How to become “unstuck”
03:44 The power of taking “small steps”
05:19 The origin of Britt’s addiction journey
11:06 Did joining a religious cult save her?
14:27 What was her rock bottom moment?
17:14 No one is coming to save you
20:48 Being honest with yourself
24:21 How to ask for help
27:30 What helped Britt transform her life?
29:56 Making peace with your past
33:28 Coregulating with family members that hurt you
35:55 The opposite of trauma is “choice”
38:25 Britt’s contrarian view on laziness
41:04 Don’t fall into THIS trap
43:15 How to successfully change your life
45:15 Transforming negative thoughts
47:37 The problem with optimism
50:58 Reducing anxiety when you’re feeling overwhelmed

Steven Sashen - Episode 405