Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Research shows that therapy is as effective as medication for depression, with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy being particularly impactful. The alliance between therapist and client plays a crucial role in therapeutic outcomes, with empathy being a key factor. Experience of the therapist doesn't seem to affect the outcome, and therapy changes how clients use their brains in meaningful ways.

Does power corrupt? Where does compassion come from? And do positive or negative emotions serve as the basis for our true nature? Today we're exploring these questions with Dr. Dacher Keltner, a world-class expert on emotion, power, and morality.About Our Guest: Dr. Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he directs the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab. He’s also the founder and co-director of the Greater Good Science Center. Dr. Keltner is also the author of three books: Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, and most recently, The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence. Here's the referenced research from Dacher on emotion and facial expression.Key Topics:2:15: What is an emotion, and how many emotions are there?7:45: The complex weave of positive emotions. 11:30: Why did we evolve positive emotions?15:00: The influence of compassion. 20:45: Power dynamics, and in-groups vs. out-groups.25:30: How and why power corrupts.33:30: Are we only nice to other people because we have to be?38:45: Finding awe in mystery. 44:00: Committing to daily practice. From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Sponsors:Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Connect with the show: Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a long, strange, challenging year. As we get toward the end of it, and look forward to 2021, it feels appropriate to start by taking a look back and seeing what, if anything, we can learn from the year that’s gone by. Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Key Topics:2:30: The importance of internal resources.4:15: "It can happen to us too."6:00: Putting more effort into what’s local.8:30: Interdependence and interconnection. 12:30: Appreciating the pains that aren’t happening.17:30: Seeing clearly and allowing yourself to take appropriate action.22:30: Your compassion is not dependent.25:45: Avoiding playing into grievance theater.30:40: Nonattachment.33:00: Focusing on what really matters, and being fed up.38:45: Lessons from our listeners.43:30: What’s still here?From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Sponsors:Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Connect with the show: Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jack Glaser from UC Berkeley discusses implicit bias, the myth of meritocracy, and scaling individual biases to systems. He explores biases under pressure, errors of attribution, and how to become less biased through effort. The podcast emphasizes the ongoing process of fighting bias and the complexity of changing biases for better decision making.

On today's short episode, Dr. Rick Hanson leads a guided meditation aimed at experiencing gratitude and finding the small pleasures in life. Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Connect with the show: Subscribe on iTunes Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Forrest's Website Sponsors:From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holidays are coming up, and for many people they’re likely to be very different this year from usual. Experiencing sadness or disappointment around the holidays is normal even among the best circumstances, and we're far from those. On this episode, Dr. Hanson and Forrest explore how to work with this year's natural feelings of sadness and disappointment.Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Key Topics:4:50: A therapy session focused on sadness with Rick. 9:30: Associations between current sad experiences and our past material. 11:45: A process for experiencing and working with sadness. 17:45: Imagery to aid experiencing.19:00: Helping sadness soften and release. 24:30: Non-judgement 28:40: Identifying underlying beliefs.29:40: Letting in good experiences alongside challenging ones. 33:10: Finding the root experience, and communicating our needs. 37:00: Sadness vs. depression. 41:30: Dealing with disappointment. 45:00: Finding agency in a moment of disappointment. 48:10: “Strong hopes, weak expectations.” 50:20: Recap. From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Sponsors:Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Connect with the show: Subscribe on iTunes Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Forrest's Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA and The First 20 Hours, joins the podcast to discuss efficient learning. They explore the 20 hour rule, the problems with 10,000 hours, cognitive biases, and the importance of feedback loops. They also discuss the impact of psychological state on learning and the role of cognitive biases in decision-making.

If you live in the United States – and probably for many people who don’t – it’s been a bit of a stressful week. Today Dr. Hanson and Forrest talk about relaxing anxiety, weathering the storm, and taking in the year as a whole. Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Key Topics:1:30: Where do we want to allocate our attention?5:00: Rational, appropriate stress and anxiety. 8:00: The cost of ‘negative’ emotions. 12:30: Practices of calming stress. 14:45: Giving yourself grace, and accepting some amount of stress. 17:40: Deal with the bad, turn toward the good, take in the good. 22:15: Seeing what is true. 26:45: Being happy when others are not. 36:40: A practice for calming and centering. 44:45: Learning from the hard parts of practice.If you'd like to learn more about Jaimal Yogis, here's his website. Overcome Anxiety:  Let go of anxiety and grow a greater sense of calm strength with Rick's Dealing with Anxiety program, which offers 5 powerful practices for managing stress and worries. Save 10% with coupon code BEINGWELL.Sponsors:From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Connect with the show: Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second part of our 10 most essential lessons for a great life, we explore accepting difference, open heartedness, healthy skepticism, embracing life, and impermanence. Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Key Topics:2:30: Different people are different.10:00: Open your heart. 13:45: Open heartedness as a ‘field.’19:20: Cultivate a stance of healthy skepticism. 27:00: Honor the gift of your life. 33:00: All things end. 37:00: The feeling of one minute.Overcome Anxiety:  Let go of anxiety and grow a greater sense of calm strength with Rick's Dealing with Anxiety program, which offers 5 powerful practices for managing stress and worries. Save 10% with coupon code BEINGWELL.Sponsors:From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Connect with the show: Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are the most essential lessons we've ever learned? Today we're exploring the first half of our 10 most important practices, skills, techniques, and reflections for the long road of life. Today we cover getting on your own side, the impact of childhood, widening your view, slowing down, and taking in the good.A quick summary of Rick's approach to taking in the good.Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Key Topics:1:30: Introduction: The view from the porch. 4:10: Get on your own side. 7:10: Respect the impact of childhood experiences. 13:20: Widen your view. 21:10: Grow the space between stimulus and response.30:00: Take in the good. 44:00: Recap and ending.From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Sponsors:Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Connect with the show: Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices