Life brings to all of us long periods where we feel lost or confused. We don't know how to get what we want, or even what it is that we want. The struggle to articulate the thing that might really make us “come alive” can be profound, even if we enter therapy. Charlotte Fox Weber is a psychotherapist, author and the founding head of The School of Life Psychotherapy. Her bestselling book, Tell Me What You Want, explores how to identify and navigate our deepest longings.  In this classic episode, Andrew and Charlotte discuss the idea that we have 12 fundamental desires: to love and be loved; understanding, power, attention, freedom; to create, to belong, to win, to connect, to control; and to want what we shouldn't.  Identifying how these desires play out in your life can be liberating and beautiful, even if you also realise that acting on them is impossible.  If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests  and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.  This week supporters will hear: Three Things Charlotte Fox Weber knows to be true.  AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Charlotte Fox Weber’s new book, Tell Me What You Want  Follow Charlotte Fox Weber on Instagram @charlottefoxweberpsychotherapy and on Facebook @charlottefoxweber Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Karla McLaren, an award-winning author and expert on emotions, discusses the value of embracing feelings like anger and shame for personal growth. She emphasizes that anxiety can provide crucial insights rather than simply being managed through mindfulness. McLaren offers practical techniques for engaging with intense emotions, advocating for self-awareness over repression. The conversation also highlights the importance of empathy in relationships and how understanding our feelings can lead to meaningful connections and healthier communication.

Have you ever felt so defeated and frustrated that you want to just throw in the towel and run away? Author KAY HUTCHISON did exactly that, fleeing her annual holiday to the Cote d’Azur, moving out of her home, and leaving behind her marriage and a well-established career.  In seeking to understand what forced this huge rupture in a previously smooth existence, Kay tried a range of mainstream and alternative therapies. In the end, she took part in 37 different forms of therapy to explore her particular midlife crisis and experience of the menopause. From colonic irrigation through to Shamanic therapy, Kay found solace and insight that she was able to share in her powerful book, My Life in 37 Therapies.  In this reissued classic episode, Kay and Andrew explore the many different ways in which therapy can help us cope with midlife, and its tendency to throw at us so many of the unresolved issues of early life.  Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  Three Things Kay Hutchison knows to be true.  AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Buy My Life in 37 Therapies by Kay Hutchison Find out more about dealing with midlife and the relationship issues it can cause in Andrew’s book It’s Not a Midlife Crisis, It’s an Opportunity. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Society teaches men that strength lies in ignoring their feelings and “soldiering on”. Author and relationship coach BRYAN REEVES has seen the costs of this approach both in his own personal life and those of his clients.  This week Andrew and Bryan discuss:  Bryan’s story of finding direction after leaving the US Air Force. The reasons why men resist unwanted feelings The damage this causes to their relationships with family and friends. A former US Air Force Captain, Bryan is an internationally renowned author, relationship coach and men’s coach. His blog, videos, courses, and books have been consumed by 50+ million people. Bryan co-hosts the popular podcast, “Men, This Way,” and his newest book, Choose Her Every Day (Or Leave Her) has so far sold over 10,000 copies as a self-published edition. Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  Three Things Bryan Reeves knows to be true.  Walk Away Man Syndrome AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Read Bryan Reeves’ new book, Choose Her Every Day (Or Leave Her) Listen to Bryan Reeves’ podcast Men, This Way.  Visit Bryan Reeves’ website Follow Bryan Reeves on Instagram @bryanreevesinsight and on Facebook and TikTok @bryanreevesofficial. Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Do you think about drinking alcohol more than you think about eating sandwiches? Do you spend significant amounts of time thinking about NOT drinking? Or are you one of the many with an uneasy feeling that alcohol is no longer bringing anything good into your life, and may well be holding you back? Therapist and sobriety expert VERONICA VALLI had a problematic relationship with alcohol for twelve years. She has now been sober for twenty years, and has helped countless others give up drinking. In this classic reissued episode Andrew and Veronica discuss: ⭐️How giving up alcohol can give you the energy and freedom to be your true self. ⭐️Why your friends may not always be your cheerleaders if you give up drinking. ⭐️Why a drinking problem is really a symptom of another, underlying problem. ⭐️What to do if your partner has an alcohol problem.  ⭐️Extreme social pressure to drink and how to deal with it. Veronica Valli has worked in the field of alcohol recovery for almost two decades. She is an author, podcaster and former clinical psychotherapist.  Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  Three Things Veronica Valli knows to be true.  AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Read Veronica Valli’s new book Soberful: Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol  Take a look at Veronica Valli’s website  Listen to Soberful: the Podcast  Find out about the Soberful private group on Facebook  Follow Veronica Valli on Instagram @veronicajvalli and on Facebook @soberfulpage Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Where did you find inspiration and meaning in 2024? This week sex therapist and friend of the podcast TRACEY COX joins Andrew to reflect on another year of The Meaningful Life, and to discuss the episodes that meant the most to them.  They share highlights from episodes with: Samantha Rodman Whiten (Dr Psych Mom) on Being an Adult Child of Dysfunctional Parents. Jessica Baum on Anxious Attachment. Douglas Thomas on What You Can Learn About Yourself from Your Sexual Fantasies. Robert Glover on People Pleasing Robert Neimeyer on the Six Tasks of Grief Joseph Lee on Jungian Dream Analysis (bonus material) Alan Pearce on Comas and Near-Death Experiences (bonus material).  Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  More things we learned last year and first news on exciting new projects for 2025  AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Buy Great Sex Starts at 50: How to Age-Proof Your Libido by Tracey Cox Get the advice you need on your sex life from Tracey Cox Listen to Tracey Cox and Kelsey Chittick’s SexTok podcast Follow Tracey Cox on social media: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

It’s hard to move on social media these days without bumping into a post on gratitude. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, this week’s classic interview with Chester Elton, “the apostle of appreciation”, is for you.  According to Chester, gratitude cuts to the heart of who we really are. Gratitude exists at an emotional level and is about WHO is in our lives, WHAT we find meaningful and HOW we live. If we make time for gratitude, we can find a way to live that makes everything less stressful.  Chester and Andrew also discuss the ways we can build gratitude into everyday life, adding meaning and lightness to our daily routines. Chester Elton has carried out extensive research into how gratitude can help us lead in the workplace. His books, co-authored with Adrian Gostick,  include Leading With Gratitude and All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results. Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  Three things Chester Elton knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Read Chester Elton’s Leading with Gratitude Book  Sign up for Chester Elton’s free LinkedIn newsletter, The Gratitude Journal  Read Chester Elton’s article on Why We Should be Grateful for Hard Times  Read Jay Shetty’s book Think Like A Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day  Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall   

Christmas is a time of heightened emotions: lots of fun, lots of food, plenty of arguments. This year Andrew invites friend of the podcast and love coach CATE MACKENZIE to explore what Christmas means to each of them.  Cate and Andrew discuss: Their best and worst Christmas experiences.  Christmas traditions that work. Most evocative Christmas songs Cultivating the right mindset to make the most of Christmas Accepting pain and disappointment if they arise.  Cate Mackenzie is a COSRT Accredited Sex and Relationship Therapist, Love Coach and Artist. Her passion is supporting people to fall in love with themselves, with life and with others. Cate was the dating coach for Channel 4’s 'The Undateables', a flirting coach on Channel 5's 'The Jeremy Vine Show' and a Sex Therapist on Channel 4's 'Kinky Britain'. Her heart paintings have been sold in 80 countries worldwide through IKEA. Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  Different Christmases for Different Times in Your Life Three things Cate Mackenzie knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Visit Cate Mackenzie’s website  Listen to Cate Mackenzie’s podcast, Love, Pleasure and Joy with Cate Mackenzie Follow Cate Mackenzie on LinkedIn and Twitter @CateMackenzie and Instagram @Catemmackenzie Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Do we need a complete rethink of the rituals we use to mark the end of life? This week Andrew talks to undertaker and author RU CALLENDER about what he’s learnt over the course of his career.  Ru Callender became an undertaker in order to offer people a more honest experience than the stilted formality of traditional ‘Victorian’ funerals. Driven by raw emotion and the unresolved grief of losing his own parents, Ru brought an outsider, ‘DIY’ ethos to the business of death.  Ru has carried coffins across windswept beaches, sat in pubs with caskets on beer-stained tables, helped children fire flaming arrows into their father’s funeral pyre, turned modern occult rituals into performance art and, with the band members of the KLF, is building the People’s Pyramid of bony bricks in Liverpool – all in the name of creating truly authentic experiences that celebrate those who are no longer here and those who remain. Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  How to design a ritual Three things Ru Callender knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Read Ru Callender’s book, What Remains? Life, Death and the Human Art of Undertaking Follow Ru Callender on X/Twitter @wayswithweirds Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall   

What does it mean to be wise? Do we grow in wisdom as we age? Pioneering neuropsychiatric researcher Dr Dilip Jeste has spent years investigating the biological and cognitive roots of wisdom.  In this reissued classic episode, Andrew and Dilip discuss what we mean when we talk about wisdom, and whether we can, in fact, grow wiser. Dilip describes what he has established as the key components of the wise individual: Self-reflection Empathy and compassion (including for yourself) Emotional regulation and resilience Gratitude Openness to new experiences Spirituality Andrew and Dilip also talk about cultural differences in the treatment of older people, and how we miss out when we ignore the wisdom of our parents and grandparents.  Dr Dilip Jeste is a neuropsychiatrist, as well as the author of Wiser: The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion and What Makes Us Good. Dilip has spent more than 20 years studying aspects of wisdom and healthy aging, and is a professor of psychiatry and neurosciences and the director of the Center for Healthy Aging at UC San Diego. He is also a past president of the American Psychiatric Association.  Subscriber Content This Week  If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:  Three things Dilip Jeste knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Read Dr Dilip Jeste’s book  Wiser: The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion and What Makes Us Good Visit Dr Dilip Jeste’s website Follow the UC San Diego Center for Healthy Aging on Twitter @UCSDHealthAging and Facebook @ucsd.healthy.aging Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall