Michael Imas speaks with Sarie Taylor, psychotherapist turned coach, about what happened when she was diagnosed with cancer — and chose to stop fighting it.Together, we explore how surrendering rather than battling changed her experience of treatment, why worry was never useful (not even once), and what cancer revealed about the psychology she'd practiced for years. Sarie shares her time in a mental hospital, why she walked away from psychotherapy, and what she now believes about the simplicity of human nature. Can peace of mind coexist with a life-threatening diagnosis? And what happens when a therapist realizes she was pretending?SPONSORI'm so grateful to The Listening World Summit 2026 for sponsoring this video. You can join the summit online for free or come to the venue in Prague, May 23rd to 25th 2026. I'd be happy to meet you there. Please check them out at https://thelisteningworld.comSUBSTACKFor early access to ad-free, uncut videos and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://michaelimas.substack.com/LINKSIf you'd like to check out Sarie's work, please visit her website at https://www.sarietaylor.comThe Enemies Project (mentioned by Michael): https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnemiesProjectINTERACTIONIf you have questions, suggestions or anything else you want to share: comment below! You liked the episode and want more? Please like, subscribe and share this episode so I can continue investing into more high quality episodes!MICHAEL IMAS SOCIALShttps://www.instagram.com/michael_imas/https://www.facebook.com/michael.mass.5/https://www.tiktok.com/@michael.imasREFERENCES provided by Sariehttps://www.apa.org/topics/stress/bodyhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5476783/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453018306954https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12609065_The_Spotlight_Effect_in_Social_Judgment_An_Egocentric_Bias_in_Estimates_of_the_Salience_of_One's_Own_Actions_and_AppearanceVideo made by Jonas Lyngdam - The Village Visuals Check out his website: https://thevillage.dk/thevillagevisuals-english/TIMESTAMPS00:00 The Day Everything Stopped04:26 It Wasn't a Fight — It Was a Surrender07:05 Making Decisions From a Quiet Mind12:31 Worry Never Helped. Not Once.15:46 What It's Like to Be a Therapist Facing Cancer21:56 This Isn't Just About Cancer29:01 We're Not Actually Afraid of Death31:52 What "Pressing Play" Really Means33:28 The Future Doesn't Exist (and Planning Is Still Fine)37:41 Why She Left Psychotherapy45:49 Self-Harm, Psychosis, and What the Brain Is Actually Doing48:27 Just Be Average50:43 She Has Low States Too58:10 The Smoking Room1:02:25 Vulnerability, Pretending, and What It Means to Listen1:09:58 If You Could Put One Idea Into Everyone's Mind#psychology #cancer #anxiety