On the (roughly) 300th episode of Being Well, Forrest and Dr. Rick share what they’ve learned from the many experts in psychology, personal growth, and mental health they’ve talked to on the show. They explore the importance of individual context, the gap between insight and action, self-honesty and acceptance as the catalyst for change, incremental change vs. sudden breakthroughs, and the role of distress tolerance.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction and two big themes2:25: Applying generalized information to your individual context7:50: The importance of insight and where it falls short9:20: White light moments and the importance of action13:25: Wants and needs25:40: Slow and steady effort29:35: Going to zero and the scaffolding that leads to sustained change36:15: Distress tolerance, valuing acceptance, and what you know to be true41:25: The three mechanisms of change44:25: Reducing inner friction through mental training, and cultivating trust47:50: How do you want to use your time?49:10: RecapSupport the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.New Program From Rick! If you want to break old patterns and step out of the familiar scripts that hold you back, Rick's Change Your Mind online course is for you. It's a 6-week program starting March 18 designed to help you step out of old assumptions and attitudes and into new, helpful thoughts about yourself and others. Visit RickHanson.net/ChangeYourMind to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Sponsors: This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show: Subscribe on iTunes Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Forrest on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Visit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Somatic therapist Elizabeth Ferreira returns to the podcast and joins Forrest for a deep dive into somatic psychology. They explore what a somatic therapy session looks like in practice, how it differs from traditional talk therapy, the connection between the body and the mind, and why people with complex trauma are sometimes better served by body-based approaches. Elizabeth then talks about how somatic therapy has supported her own journey with CPTSD and PMDD, and shares some of the practices that have helped her clients.About our Guest: Elizabeth Ferreira is an associate therapist working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her practice is open, and if you’d like to reach out to Elizabeth you can do so through Instagram. Elizabeth also has her own podcast, My Therapist's a Witch.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction1:45: What happens in a somatic therapy session?5:00: Attunement and a quick demonstration9:55: Moving slowly and navigating dissociative patterns12:45: Cognitive bypassing and catharsis in letting go15:40: Trauma and integrating alienated parts of ourselves21:15: Elizabeth’s experience feeling anger25:30: When the thing that brings you into therapy isn’t the root of your problem29:00: Safety allowing comfort with feeling difficult feelings31:40: Interoception, physical embodiment, and more on attunement35:50: Clean and dirty pain, different parts, and appreciation40:25: Resistance, joining with the defense, and compassion44:50: RecapSupport the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.New Program From Rick! If you want to break old patterns and step out of the familiar scripts that hold you back, Rick's Change Your Mind online course is for you. It's a 6-week program starting March 18 designed to help you step out of old assumptions and attitudes and into new, helpful thoughts about yourself and others. Visit RickHanson.net/ChangeYourMind to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Sponsors: This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show: Subscribe on iTunes Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Forrest on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Visit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you listen to a podcast like ours, you’re probably familiar with the phrase “daddy issues.” A more accurate way to understand daddy issues is as a form of attachment wounding, which describes situations where our adult relationships are affected by complicated, difficult, or traumatic experiences we had as a child. In this episode, Forrest and Dr. Rick explore what daddy issues are, how they relate to attachment theory, sexism and the broader social and historical context, different forms of attachment wounding, and a simple way to understand your attachment style. They then walk through four common sets of symptoms and challenges related to attachment wounding, and what a person can do to move toward secure attachment.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction1:50: What are daddy issues?6:35: Parental roles and symptoms of attachment wounding 13:35: How attachment patterns are created19:35: Yearning for narcissistic supplies22:10: Gendered dynamics, and the pejorative use of the phrase “daddy issues”28:20: Claiming your power31:15: Forming a coherent narrative, and looking for what was missing34:50: A simple method for assessing your attachment style41:50: Social support44:10: Who you are to others, and meeting person to person50:55: Situation #1: How to deal with fears of abandonment and being alone55:00: Situation #2: “I need a lot of reassurance and external validation.”58:10: Situation #3: Fears related to emotional vulnerability1:05:15: Situation #4: “I keep dating the same (problematic) kind of person.”1:10:30: Making deliberate effort1:14:50: RecapSupport the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.New Program From Rick! If you want to break old patterns and step out of the familiar scripts that hold you back, Rick's Change Your Mind online course is for you. It's a 6-week program starting March 18 designed to help you step out of old assumptions and attitudes and into new, helpful thoughts about yourself and others. Visit RickHanson.net/ChangeYourMind to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Sponsors: This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show: Subscribe on iTunes Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Forrest on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Visit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Zimmer, a behavior coach and host of The One You Feed podcast, joins Forrest and Rick to explore what supports us in changing ingrained behavior. They talk about insight, acceptance, shame, responsibility, and the balance between determinism and agency. They discuss the three-part process of change: insight, acceptance, and action. They also discuss the power of support and the challenges of recovery, as well as the struggle for positive change and the importance of self-compassion.

Dr. Rick and Forrest open up the mailbag and answer questions from listeners related to how we can build better relationships (particularly with our families) and deal with difficult people. They explore the common traits of happy families, how to deal with people who weaponize psychological jargon, navigating different perceptions of “what happened,” and repairing a damaged relationship with a child. Forrest ends the conversation by talking about the importance of “going to zero” after a breach of trust.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.New Online Course From Dr. Rick: Learn the tools you need to build strong, healthy, fulfilling relationships of all kinds in Rick's new Strong Heart Relationship Series. The program begins on February 18th, and all the teaching is recorded so you can watch on your own schedule. Visit RickHanson.net/strongheart to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction1:00: Question 1: Common characteristics of happy families8:25: Differentiation and integration10:55: Symptoms of a less healthy family system12:15: The role of love 19:55: Question 2: What to do when people use psychological jargon during a conflict26:00: Defending yourself effectively, and staying on topic30:50: Question 3: Navigating different perceptions of a difficult event35:45: Question 4: Healing a strained relationship with a child (or parent)39:45: Functional repair before emotional vulnerability46:45: “Going to zero” with behavior when repair is needed56:10: Recap Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link. Sponsors:This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show:Subscribe on iTunesFollow Forrest on YouTubeFollow us on InstagramFollow Forrest on InstagramFollow Rick on FacebookFollow Forrest on FacebookVisit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All of our relationships include some conflict, the big question is how skillfully we handle that conflict when it appears. Dr. Rick Hanson joins Forrest to walk us through some effective ways to deal with common forms of interpersonal conflict. They explore the four common disagreements, the subtle ways power shows up in our relationships, separating content from process, and how to stand your ground.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.New Online Course From Dr. Rick: Learn the tools you need to build strong, healthy, fulfilling relationships of all kinds in Rick's new Strong Heart Relationship Series. The program begins on February 18th, and all the teaching is recorded so you can watch on your own schedule. Visit RickHanson.net/strongheart to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction and Rick’s new book1:25: Common conflicts Rick has seen in couples counseling3:40: The importance of the way something is said8:10: Disentangling tone from content9:45: Distinguishing intent from impact12:10: The unconscious functions of conflict17:50: Navigating differences in temperament, and cultivating enthusiasm25:05: Power tripping, control, and misinterpretation29:50: Primate politics, escalation, and identifying what’s really happening35:45: Trust39:15: How much are we willing to tolerate?41:10: Dealing with entitlement, and when to push back43:40: Peoples’ capacity to change, balancing harmony and truth46:10: Focus on communicating for yourself49:05: Recap Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Sponsors:This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show:Subscribe on iTunesFollow Forrest on YouTubeFollow us on InstagramFollow Forrest on InstagramFollow Rick on FacebookFollow Forrest on FacebookVisit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The main topic we explore on the podcast, in many different ways, is change. How can we come to understand ourselves better, let go of who we were, and become who we wish to be? In this episode Dr. Rick and Forrest are joined by meditation teacher and former Zen monastic Caverly Morgan. They discuss how we can release our conditioning, identify the inner voice that leads to change, and get to the heart of who we are.About Our Guest: Caverly is a meditation teacher, author, and the founder of Peace in Schools - a nonprofit which created the nation's first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Her practice began in 1995, and has included eight years of training in a silent Zen monastery. She’s also the author of the wonderful new book The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction1:55: Caverly’s path to Zen3:30: Truth and freedom7:20: Chop wood, carry water8:30: Why it’s okay to have a “conventional” path to enlightenment9:35: The voice that says “is this all there is?”12:25: Distinguishing our conditioning from what we really want15:40: What supports us in exercising our will21:20: Resistance, preference, and willingness23:25: Responding to “should”29:10: Our will and our ego35:30: Making room for our own nurturing voice37:35: Practical ways to listen to the heart40:40: Awakening together47:20: Coming home to our own being at the simplest level50:30: RecapNew Online Course From Dr. Rick: Learn the tools you need to build strong, healthy, fulfilling relationships of all kinds in Rick's new Strong Heart Relationship Series. The program begins on February 18th, and all the teaching is recorded so you can watch on your own schedule. Visit RickHanson.net/strongheart to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Sponsors:This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show:Subscribe on iTunesFollow Forrest on YouTubeFollow us on InstagramFollow Forrest on InstagramFollow Rick on FacebookFollow Forrest on FacebookVisit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before becoming the “Buddhist brain guy” Dr. Rick spent over 30 years working in private practice as a couples counselor and family therapist. Today we’re leaning on that experience, and learning what we can do to build healthier, happier, and more fulfilling relationships.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.New Online Course From Dr. Rick: Learn the tools you need to build strong, healthy, fulfilling relationships of all kinds in Rick's new Strong Heart Relationship Series. The program begins on February 18th, and all the teaching is recorded so you can watch on your own schedule. Visit RickHanson.net/strongheart to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction and Rick’s upcoming book3:20: The importance of deliberate action in making a relationship 5:50: 6 practical steps from Rick’s new book10:05: The relationship we have with ourselves13:10: When others don’t want the same thing18:50: Rick’s recurring observations in relationship counseling25:00: Balancing intimacy and autonomy, and asserting what you want30:50: Staying on topic and establishing thorough agreements36:25: Sticking to our needs without alienating others37:45: Tolerating discomfort40:20: Getting to truth with others41:40: RecapSupport the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.Sponsors: This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show:Subscribe on iTunesFollow Forrest on YouTubeFollow us on InstagramFollow Forrest on InstagramFollow Rick on FacebookFollow Forrest on FacebookVisit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman and Dr. Jordyn Feingold discuss choosing our best selves, balancing growth and discomfort, importance of social support, mindset, self-esteem vs narcissism, transcending dichotomies, practicing self-compassion, and daily positive medicine for collective growth.

This is the podcast’s five-year anniversary, and over that time I’ve submerged myself in psychology, self-help, and personal growth content - and as a result I’ve changed in many important ways. At the same time, some things have been very hard to change. It's surprising how even after learning so much I still often feel like I’m pushing the same old rocks up the same old hills. On today’s episode I’m joined by Dr. Rick Hanson to explore why we struggle to get better, how much change is realistically possible, what makes real change hard, the hidden barriers to lasting change, and what we can do to overcome them.Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.Key Topics:0:00: Introduction3:55: Why do you want to change?4:50: Four fundamental strategies7:00: Three common issues9:20: Effort, skillfulness, and luck12:40: People’s autonomy about whether they want to change or not13:50: “Tailwinds” to help yourself17:30: Secondary gains, avoiding change, and naming payoffs and costs24:15: Levity and affection for yourself27:15: Starting by owning that we choose our behavior30:10: Resistance and the parts of us that don’t want to change34:00: Framing, starting with benefits, and absolving shame39:35: Tactics vs. Strategies42:30: Celebrating small change, aiming for big healing46:40: RecapNew Online Course From Dr. Rick: Learn the tools you need to build strong, healthy, fulfilling relationships of all kinds in Rick's new Strong Heart Relationship Series. The program begins on February 18th, and all the teaching is recorded so you can watch on your own schedule. Visit RickHanson.net/strongheart to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.Sponsors:This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.Connect with the show: Subscribe on iTunes Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Forrest on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Visit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices