The Curious Mind

I look back on eight years as an expat therapist, the specific challenges expats face and why I have developed a particular approach to work with them.For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me at https://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

The 'Inner Critic' is a common mental judge for many people. This function of the so-called 'Super-Ego' is well-known yet still needs more clarification. I distinguish two types of Super-Ego and Inner Critic: One is the 'Ideal Self' and makes us do things we ultimately enjoy. The second is the 'Ought Self' which makes us do things out of self-imposed obligation and duty - in best case such a fulfillment leads to pride but not to a vital joy and satisfaction.For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

In spiritual literature we often find an odd positive spin on ‘hopelessness’ and ‘death’. Both are usually horrifying experiences and we would be mad to seek them out. But then those spiritual teachers seem to insist on their spiritual values. This can easily be misunderstood – if we went into these states of mind without good preparation they would indeed have a devastating effect. What they mean is something else: When they say ‘Hopelessness’ it means ‘taking responsibility for my life, and not hoping that someone or something else will come to my rescue’. And when they portray ‘death’ in a positive light then it means either to let go of old dysfunctional parts of myself, or to come to terms with the fundamental impermanence in our lives.For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

In this conversation with tech entrepreneur and overall curious mind Adrian Avendano we explore general strategies to life: When is it useful to stay focused on a topic (e.g. at work) and possibly become rigid, and when is it better to explore freely with the danger to become unproductive and lost? We explore the nature of flow states and how these states of unified freedom can infuse our lives with a sense of general satisfaction.You can check out Adrian athttps://adrianavendano.medium.com/https://www.youtube.com/c/adrianavendanoFor feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

Even when we are not consciously interested in personal development we have to overcome difficult situations in which we are confronted with our limitations. Be it at work or in our personal life - we reach the end of our wits, and then we typically say or do something stupid, or feel inadequate, or embarrass ourselves. Some of these experiences of insufficiency can haunt us. Next to psychological approaches also meditation practices can bring relief in such cases, because in meditation we learn to emotionally detach from these painful memories. But if we 'meditate well' do we stop caring? Does then also our motivation vanish to actually change our behavior, to learn, and grow?For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30minThis episode starts a series of conversations about Buddhism-based psychology, loosely based on the book "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chödrön.

In this episode we discuss different categories of personal crises and which cases could benefit from a spiritual, a psychological, or a pragmatic approach. It turns out that it's not easy to figure out which approach would be best - observe quietly or get active. And even a 'spiritual' approach is not just easy contemplation but actually needs a lot of skill. We further deconstruct crises and how to tackle them.For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30minThis episode starts a series of conversations about Buddhism-based psychology, loosely based on the book "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chödrön.

Fear and anxiety belong to the most common mental issues people suffer from (that includes specific and general phobias and OCD). What is a good attitude towards them - should we accept them as a part of life, or rather try to get rid of them entirely? Obviously a good answer is somewhere in the middle. In this episode we reflect on how to regard fear, and the basic psychological and spiritual perspectives.This episode starts a series of conversations about Buddhism-based psychology, loosely based on the book "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chödrön. For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

As the pandemic affects most of us in one way or another it also changes the way we look at the future. Do we have to expect these kinds of global disruptions regularly. How do I want to factor that into my personal and business plans? What seemingly is a challenge mostly for health, work, and parenting, also sheds new light on the mental and psychological aspects of our planning. Therefore, in this conversation we reflect on the proper attitude towards planning and the future.For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

In the previous episode I focused on the fundamentals of self-love. This time I introduce the threefold structure of self-love with the perspective on past, future, and present. These three need specific approaches, and so in this episode I detail the approaches and describe exercises that can help with applying self-love on a practical level.This episode is part of my series about Buddhism-based Therapy. What are your specific questions about Buddhism-based Therapy? For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min

Self-love has become a common concept in wellness and therapy, it has even become sloganized. In contrast I claim that there are several issues with this concept, mostly a vagueness about its fundamental tenets. In this first part about this topics we discuss some of these basics and a way to proceed with more clarity.This episode is part of my series about Buddhism-based Therapy. What are your specific questions about Buddhism-based Therapy? For feedback, requests, or therapy sessions contact me athttps://www.gabriel-ellis.comFree discovery call: https://calendly.com/gabriel-ellis/30min