Reimagining Love with Dr. Alexandra Solomon

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, channels her outrage over gun violence into meaningful activism. She discusses her transformation from sadness to righteous anger, encouraging others to trust their instincts and step into their purpose. The conversation dives into the complexities of navigating relationships amid societal change, the dual nature of anger, and the importance of emotional support in activism. Shannon also emphasizes that personal empowerment knows no age and inspires listeners to create impactful change in their communities.

We are all connected to folks with disabilities, whether they’re part of our inner circle, or members of our broader community. Unfortunately, there’s a great deal of stigmatization, misunderstanding, and judgement that crops up around disabled folks and their families. Parents of disabled children are traveling on a different path than other parents, and often need more support, but the people around them don’t always know how to provide it. Therapist Amanda Griffith-Atkins joins Dr. Alexandra on this episode to offer guidance to those parents, as well as the people around them. When Amanda’s son Asher was born, she discovered her life's purpose: to help parents of children with disabilities find their stride. She has become a leading expert in helping parents of kids with special needs navigate their emotions, relationships, and parenting, and her book, How to Handle More Than You Can Handle: Caring for Yourself While Raising a Disabled Child, is out in the world today. Amanda and Dr. Alexandra discuss parenting as well as the experience of partners who are raising a disabled child together and what this journey can bring up for couples. There’s so much goodness in this conversation for everyone, whether this is a new topic for you or one that’s near and dear to your heart."Your Anxiety Toolkit" on MasterClass: www.masterclass.com/youranxietytoolkitHow to Handle More Than You Can Handle: Caring for Yourself While Raising a Disabled Child by Amanda Griffith-AtkinsGot4titude, support and resources for fathers raising children with disabilitiesOrder Dr. Alexandra’s book, Love Every DaySubscribe to Dr. Alexandra’s NewsletterSubmit a Listener Question Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listener questions lead to some insightful discussions on relationship struggles. A woman questions how to navigate her feelings after a difficult conversation with a partner. Another listener seeks support after infidelity, exploring the idea of post-traumatic growth. The episode also addresses ambivalence in long-term relationships, pondering whether to stay or move on. Throughout, the importance of supportive connections and effective communication shines through, encouraging listeners to seek guidance and share their experiences.

When family members or friends hold views that we oppose, we can feel stuck. These days, polarization is everywhere, both in our culture at large and within familial and intimate relationships. So often, conversations online feel like a zero-sum game. At the same time, most of us want to live in a world where we can have thoughtful, nuanced conversations with people we don’t see eye to eye with on every issue. In her book, Do You Still Talk to Grandma? When the Problematic People in Our Lives Are the Ones We Love, speaker and teacher Brit Barron offers us a way forward that goes beyond the black and white thinking that’s so characteristic of this time, while also emphasizing the importance of holding fast to our personal boundaries and values. In this conversation, Dr. Alexandra and Brit discuss reminders and a roadmap for cultivating curiosity, humility, and openness, which are essential when it comes to connecting with loved ones we disagree with."Your Anxiety Toolkit" on MasterClass: www.masterclass.com/youranxietytoolkitDo You Still Talk to Grandma? When the Problematic People in Our Lives Are the Ones We Love by Brit BarronOrder Dr. Alexandra’s book, Love Every DaySubscribe to Dr. Alexandra’s NewsletterSubmit a Listener Question Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Adam Dorsay, a licensed psychologist and executive coach, explores the significance of genuine connection in combatting modern anxiety. He emphasizes that true connection transcends mere physical presence, involving emotional vitality. Listeners learn about self-compassion's role in nurturing healthier relationships and the four vital ways humans connect. Dorsay also discusses finding joy in personal connections, the balance between grief and joy, and strategies for nurturing adult friendships, ultimately highlighting that investing in relationships leads to greater fulfillment.

When there’s a struggling person in a family, the system often coalesces around that individual, and while we might imagine these patterns get left behind when kids grow into adults, the dynamic often endures for the long run. Reimagining Love listener Cristina wrote in to Dr. Alexandra from Chicago, asking about how to better handle the challenges of such a situation. She’s the only one in her family who is in therapy, and she is eager to disrupt the dynamic. Cristina wants to stay connected to her sisters, despite the challenges they’ve faced, and her hope is to break longstanding patterns of over-accommodation and resentment while honoring her own needs as well as other family members’. Dr. Alexandra dives into this question with the goal of exploring an empowering therapeutic truth: that when you change your own dance moves, you can transform the entire system. If you’re dealing with something similar, this episode is going to offer you ways forward you may not have experimented yet, that could have the potential to change everything. If you’d like to submit a listener question of your own, you can do so by following the link below."Your Anxiety Toolkit" on MasterClass: www.masterclass.com/youranxietytoolkitOrder Dr. Alexandra’s book, Love Every DaySubscribe to Dr. Alexandra’s NewsletterSubmit a Listener Question Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the age of modern technology, we have more information about each other than ever before. Sharing locations with our loved ones can make life more convenient, and while at first glance it may seem like a small decision, the choice to share or not to share actually encapsulates so many of the values and tensions that couples face—questions of closeness and privacy, trust and betrayal, safety and mystery. And if you’ve ever had tense conversations around sharing your location using apps like Find My Friends, Life360, or Snap Maps, Dr. Alexandra is going to help you understand why this topic carries more weight than we might realize, and how to navigate through it and make decisions about location-sharing with your partner."Your Anxiety Toolkit" on MasterClass: www.masterclass.com/youranxietytoolkitTechnology Safety & Privacy: A Toolkit for Survivors: Safety Net ProjectOrder Dr. Alexandra’s book, Love Every DaySubscribe to Dr. Alexandra’s NewsletterSubmit a Listener Question Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gretchen Rubin, renowned happiness expert and bestselling author of The Happiness Project, delves into the nuances of personal growth and relationships. She discusses the emotional 'open door phase' for parents as children leave home, balancing self-acceptance with aspirations. Gretchen highlights the power of succinct wisdom through aphorisms to inspire introspection. The importance of community over mere enjoyment in relationships, and the benefits of walking for tough conversations, are insightful themes that promise to enrich listeners' lives.

Parents of adolescents can sometimes feel like they’re in a tough spot: they get so much pushback and can lose their confidence when it comes to talking about the topics that really matter such as romance and love. Additionally, many parents don’t feel up to the task of talking with their teens about this subject—often because they’re still making sense of their own relationship journeys. In her new book, First Love: Guiding Teens through Relationships and Heartbreak, journalist, author, and professor Lisa A. Phillips reminds us that all adults are really still recovering from being teenagers, and that they bring their own experiences and ideas of first love into conversations with their kids. In this episode, Dr. Alexandra chats with Lisa about how our society has a tendency to demean and devalue fist love, the fact that most adolescents wish their parents spoke with them about relationships, and why a crush really is a milestone, too. They also explore how parents bring their own experiences and biases to these conversations, and often let their own fears and hang-ups stop them from having this important dialog in the first place."Your Anxiety Toolkit" on MasterClass: www.masterclass.com/youranxietytoolkitFirst Love: Guiding Teens Through Relationships and Heartbreak by Lisa A. PhillipsFrom WAMU’s 1A: How to talk our teens through their first heartbreaks, featuring Lisa A. Phillips, Alexandra Solomon, and Lauren Hamilton, hosted by Jenn White.Lisa’s websiteOrder Dr. Alexandra’s book, Love Every DaySubscribe to Dr. Alexandra’s NewsletterSubmit a Listener Question Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Breakups are heart-wrenching at any age, but when a partner leaves suddenly after three decades of marriage, it takes a lot of time to pick up the pieces. When Suzy Hopkins had this experience, she decided to team up with her illustrator daughter Hallie Bateman to channel her pain into a creative project, and their book, What To Do When You Get Dumped: A Guide to Unbreaking Your Heart, came to life. Suzy had a rich career in journalism including founding her own magazine, and Hallie is a writer and illustrator whose work has appeared in places like the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine. This is the second book Hallie and Suzy have made together, and on today’s episode, they’re giving us an inside look at what creating this illustrated guide entailed and how healing the creative process was for both of them. Dr. Alexandra chats with them about some of the most painful aspects of breakups, and they explore the incredible renewal that can occur in the wake of loss, when we are able to accept support from those we love and summon the courage to reimagine our lives. "Your Anxiety Toolkit" on MasterClass: www.masterclass.com/youranxietytoolkitWhat to Do When You Get Dumped by Suzy Hopkins & Hallie BatemanHallie’s websiteOrder Dr. Alexandra’s book, Love Every DaySubscribe to Dr. Alexandra’s NewsletterSubmit a Listener Question Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.