The Verywell Mind Podcast

Cobie Smulders is an actress who is known for her role as Robin Scherbatsky in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She’s also starred in many movies, including her role as agent Maria Hill in Marvel movies. She also knows a thing or two about resilience. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 25. She underwent multiple surgeries while starring in How I Met Your Mother and did not make her diagnosis public until several years later.Now, she's teamed up with Colgate because she wants kids to learn skills that can help them be resilient. She's concerned about the mental health health of young people following the pandemic, and she's launched a campaign to ensure young people are learning the skills they need to thrive during uncertain times.Some of the things she talks about today are why hope is such an important part of resilience, how nature improves her mental health, and why she apologizes to her kids (even though her parents never apologized to her). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe you’re having dinner with a friend and all you can think about is your to-do list. Or perhaps it takes 30 minutes to send an email because you keep questioning how to word each sentence.There are several reasons why our brains feel cluttered sometimes. Depression can cause us to ruminate on the past. Anxiety can cause you to worry about the future. Traumatic experiences can cause you to always be on the lookout for danger. But a diagnosable mental health condition isn’t always the culprit. Having a stressful life or a busy day can also lead to repetitive and unhelpful thoughts.Regardless of the reason, it’s tough to feel mentally strong when your brain is filled with thoughts that aren’t helpful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lauren Swanson is a board-certified physician assistant who prescribes Ketamine through a telehealth company. She says she has seen it make huge differences in the lives of people who are battling anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders.Some of the things she talks about today are the science behind how Ketamine works, the benefits Ketamine can offer, and what someone can expect when they begin Ketamine treatment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One person’s hallmark of mental strength might involve taking a little more time off to relax. Another person’s evidence of bigger mental muscles might involve pushing themselves to do more even though they don’t feel like it.Our behavior doesn’t always reveal the battle we’re fighting inside our own minds. So it’s important to remember that your actions are only part of the process. Mental strength also involves the way you think and the way you feel.Fortunately, there is a strategy that can help you discover whether you’re growing mentally stronger, even if your behavior doesn’t change right away. This one question can help you measure your mental strength every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ricky Byrd is a rock and roll guitar player, singer, songwriter, and music producer. For more than a decade, he was a member of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, where he contributed background vocals and music to many albums, including two platinum albums and one gold album.His most famous song might be “I Love Rock 'n Roll,” which was released in 1981. For many years, Ricky lived what might be the “typical” musician lifestyle. He drank, used drugs, and partied hard as he toured around the world alongside other famous musicians like Paul McCartney, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder. But Ricky made a decision to get sober over 30 years ago. Since then, he’s created a lot of new music that focuses on recovery and hope. He often performs at benefit shows to raise money for drug and alcohol treatment facilities. He’s become a certified recovery coach and drug and alcohol counselor. He frequently leads recovery music groups at treatment facilities around the United States. Some of the things he talks about are how his denial and desire to punish himself kept his substance abuse going, the one thing that inspired him to get help, and how he now helps other people who are struggling with addiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You may find yourself thinking you need more mental strength so you can go to the gym. But what if the opposite were true? You need to go to the gym to build mental strength.Most people focus on the physical muscle they build from exercise. But physical activity is also a great way to build mental muscle. Fortunately, you don’t necessarily need a gym membership to bolster your mental strength. There are plenty of physical activities you can do from home or outside to build mental strength.You also don’t need to do torturous workouts that prove you can stand pain (a common myth about mental strength training). Sometimes, a few simple physical activities might be enough to help you feel better, think clearer, and gain motivation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ronald Siegel, PsyD, is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School where he’s taught since the early 1980s.He’s a longtime student of mindfulness meditation, and he has taught internationally about the importance of mindfulness and mind-body treatment. He maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Lincoln, MA.Some of the things he talks about in this episode are why we equate happiness with achievement (even though success doesn't make us happy), the exercise that will help you discover what really matters to you in life, and how to conquer the fear of not being good enough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While you can’t control how other people behave, you can control how you respond to them.If you’ve allowed someone to treat you poorly and you didn’t address their behavior, it’s important to consider why.It may have to do with the other person–like you fear what would happen if you spoke up. Or, it may have more to do with you–like you fear what would happen to you if the other person stopped being in your life.Once you understand why you allow mistreatment to happen, you can take helpful action.In this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast, I explain the top seven reasons why you might allow someone to mistreat you. I also share how you can take steps to move forward in a healthy way if someone treats you poorly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boundaries involve setting rules that make it clear how you want to be treated.Sometimes, this means saying something like, “No, I won’t loan you my car.” Other boundaries involve telling someone what you expect like, “I expect you to call before showing up at my house.”It’s important to announce your boundaries to other people. You might say, “Please don’t ask about my health issues in front of other people.”At times, however, it’s best to show what your boundaries are with your behavior. If you’re at a dinner party where people start drinking heavily and you’re uncomfortable, you might find it’s best to leave without offering an explanation about why.Setting boundaries can feel uncomfortable at first if you aren’t used to setting them. But establishing clear boundaries shows you have respect for yourself, and it can be the key to establishing healthy relationships with other people. There are a lot of misconceptions about boundaries. These misconceptions often spread quickly on social media and cause many people to misunderstand how to set boundaries in a healthy way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lori Gottlieb is a psychotherapist and a New York Times Best Selling author. Her books, including Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, have been translated into 20 languages.She’s also a contributor to The Atlantic where she writes a regular column called “Dear Therapist.” She co-hosts a podcast with Guy Winch, called Dear Therapists, where they respond to listeners’ problems and walk them through therapy sessions with actionable advice.In her book, Lori talked about a mysterious illness she has. She struggled to get a diagnosis and treatment.So now she's talking about chronic illness and the impact it can have on well-being. She shares some actionable strategies for managing an illness and supporting someone else who has one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices