The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

Psychotherapist Dr. Paula Hall discusses sex and pornography addiction with Andrew. They cover defining addiction, its impact on relationships, and starting recovery. Dr. Hall founded the Laurel Centre and Pivotal Recovery to help those struggling. Subscribers get bonus content on life after addiction.

Jessica Baum, a psychotherapist and founder of The Relationship Institute of Palm Beach, explores the challenges of anxious attachment styles in relationships. She explains how such anxieties can lead to jealousy and codependency, affecting relational happiness. Jessica discusses the importance of understanding attachment theories and personal healing, highlighting practical strategies for emotional regulation. She also shares insights on how to navigate infidelity and foster secure connections, encouraging self-compassion and support in relationships.

Therapist and author Dr. Robert Glover discusses the pitfalls of people-pleasing including dishonesty, codependency, conflict avoidance, and passive-aggressiveness. He emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries, authenticity, and self-discovery to lead a more fulfilling life.

If our partner really loved us, wouldn’t everything be a lot easier? If they were “the one”, surely we wouldn’t be losing our minds over towels dropped on the bathroom floor? In this episode marital therapist Dr Cheryl Fraser joins Andrew to discuss the destructive myth of the soulmate. According to Cheryl, there is no such thing as a soulmate. When we set aside the naive expectation that love will conquer all, we can begin to learn the skills required to build lasting intimacy.  Dr Cheryl Fraser is the author of Buddha’s Bedroom, and the therapist behind the Become Passion online immersion program for couples. Cheryl has helped thousands of couples jump-start their love life and create passion that lasts a lifetime. She lives in Vancouver, and is regularly featured in Mindful and Best Health magazines. Cheryl was also a Fulbright scholar, and has studied meditation and Buddhism for twenty-five years, in both the Tibetan and Theravaden traditions. 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  Join one of Dr Cheryl Fraser’s free online couple workshops and find out more about her  Become Passion programme. Take Dr Cheryl Fraser’s  Passion Quiz and rate your relationship. Read Dr Cheryl Fraser’s book, Buddha’s Bedroom. Follow Dr Cheryl on Facebook and YouTube  Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. 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 

Good therapy changes lives: people stop worrying as much, they make better decisions, they are kinder to themselves and their loved ones, they achieve more at work, they can control their anger, they are able to stop destructive habits, they form loving relationships. This week therapists Graham Johnston and Matt Wotton talk to Andrew about their new book, A Straight Talking Introduction to Therapy. Matt and Graham both experienced the transformative power of effective therapy, and both left lucrative, high-status careers to retrain as therapists. They discuss the evidence that therapy works, which type of therapy to choose, and why it works so well.  Graham Johnston is a psychotherapist and educator. He is Director of Policy at The Bowlby Centre, the UK’s leading training institution in attachment-based psychotherapy, and has also worked for the UK Government, specialising in home affairs. He and Matt Wotton are the Co-Founders and Directors of LCAP.  Matt Wotton is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and also Chair of The Bowlby Centre and Director at LCAP. Matt has over two decades of experience in forensic mental health in the criminal justice system - in operations, coaching leaders, and advising ministers. He led the review of Race in the Criminal Justice System (The Lammy Review), commissioned by the Prime Minister, and has been a member of the Prison & Probation Board.  Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools  Read Graham Johnston and Matt Wotton’s new book A Straight Talking Introduction to Therapy: What it Is, Why it Works, How to Get it  Learn more about the London Centre for Applied Psychology (LCAP), where Graham Johnston and Matt Wotton work as Directors. Learn more about The Bowlby Centre,  the UK’s leading training institution in attachment-based psychotherapy. Follow LCAP on Twitter and Facebook @LCAPsychology. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. 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   

How can we live with loss? What can we do when death shakes to the core our comfortable belief that life is predictable, the world is just, and people are reliable?  This week Dr Robert A. Neimeyer of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition joins Andrew to discuss the work of grief. Andrew and Robert discuss the task of rebuilding meaning in the face of death, relationship breakdown or unwelcome life transitions. Robert shares his “six tasks of grief”, which are designed to help integrate loss into our lives.  Dr Robert A. Neimeyer directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, actively practices as a trainer, consultant and coach, and has published over 600 articles and 35 books, most on grieving as a meaning-making process. His most recent books are New Techniques of Grief Therapy with Routledge and The Handbook of Grief Therapies with Sage. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools  Read Dr Robert A. Neimeyer’s books, New Techniques of Grief Therapy and The Handbook of Grief Therapies. Find out more about the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition https://www.portlandinstitute.org/about-us . Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall  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 

Have you allowed yourself to explore your sexual fantasies, or do they feel like dark territory that is off-limits? Have you explored them with your partner? This week I talk to Jungian psychotherapist Dr Douglas Thomas about his new book, The Deep Psychology of BDSM and Kink. We cover: Why it’s so hard to talk about your fantasies with your partner. How Jungian archetypes can provide a language to better understand BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) and kink. Whether BDSM can be a path to individuation and bringing soul into the world.  Dr Douglas Thomas is an author and a Jungian psychotherapist in private practice in California. He has presented workshops and talks throughout the state of California on LGBTQ issues and on dream therapy, his two areas of specialization. He teaches at the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Dr. Thomas holds a masters degree from the USC School of Social Work, and a PhD in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in psychotherapy from Pacifica Graduate Institute.  Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/  Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools  Buy Dr Douglas Thomas’ new book, The Deep Psychology of BDSM and Kink https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Psychology-BDSM-Kink/dp/1032122072  Visit Dr Douglas Thomas’ website https://www.drdouglasthomas.com  Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall  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   

If you were raised in a sad, chaotic home, you will unsurprisingly experience difficulties in your adult relationships. If your parents were cold and distant and discouraged the expression of emotions, you’ll be equally ill-prepared for successful relationships or effective parenting. This week Andrew talks to Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten (also known as Dr Psych Mom) about dysfunctional parenting and how to overcome its complex legacies.  Dr Samatha Rodman Whiten is a clinical psychologist, a writer, and the mother of three children. She hosts and writes the hugely popular Dr Psych Mom podcast and blog.  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 Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten’s website, DrPsychMom.com  Listen to Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten’s podcast The Dr. Psych Mom Show  Dr. Samantha Rodman Whiten also runs Best Life Behavioral Health, a virtual group practice of therapists and coaches. Follow Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @drpsychmom. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall  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   

Estrangement from adult children can be one of the most disorienting and painful experiences of a parent's life.  This week, Andrew talks to Dr Joshua Coleman, the author of Rules of Estrangement. They discuss: Why estrangement has become so common Why estrangement isn’t a one-sided story of parents who got what they deserved or overly entitled adult children. Approaches parents can take to achieve reconciliation with children and grandchildren. Techniques for starting a conversation. Dr Coleman’s own experience of estrangement from his daughter.  Dr Joshua Coleman is a psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and a Senior Fellow with the Council on Contemporary Families. He has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. He has been a frequent guest on The Today Show and NPR, and has even been featured on Sesame Street.  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 Dr Joshua Coleman’s new book, Rules of Estrangement  Visit Dr Joshua Coleman’s website  You might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with Celia Dodd on how to Navigate Your Relationship with Your Adult Children Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. 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 

Could the ancient wisdom of Taoism help us with the emotional challenges of modern life? Author and Taoist priest Greg Ripley believes that a little-known 6th-century Taoist text called the Bai Yao Lu (Statutes of the Hundred Remedies) offers some profound answers. In this episode, Greg and Andrew discuss some of the Hundred Remedies, and how they can help us go with the flow, deepen our meditation practice and find the natural balance in all things. Greg Ripley is a Taoist Priest in the 22nd generation of the Quanzhen Longmen tradition as well as a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in acupuncture from Northwestern Health Sciences University. He is the author of The Hundred Remedies of the Tao, Tao of Sustainability and Voice of the Elders. He lives in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Buy Greg Ripley’s book, The Hundred Remedies of the Tao: Spiritual Wisdom for Interesting Times  Visit Greg Ripley’s website  Follow Greg Ripley on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.  You might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with Henry Emmons, Bring More Calm and Joy Into Your Life  Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.