Nostalgia can be a balm. Especially when we’re in what feels like a never-ending season of upheaval and change, where every time we start to get our footing, something shifts yet again.

When we’re in the throes of change–in the liminal space, the in-between, the in-betwixt–we as human beings are neurologically wired to seek out what’s known, to reach for comfort and what feels like home. And nostalgia does that for us. It’s no wonder we look back fondly on simpler times, real or imagined.

Because nostalgia isn’t necessarily the truth. And nostalgia doesn’t always serve our growth. Connecting over “Remember when?” can too easily divide us when it becomes a rigid longing for a past that excludes and harms others or ignores painful truths.

So many of us are living and leading in the confusion, disorientation, and discomfort of these liminal spaces of change. Which is why I invited today’s guest to join me for a conversation about the pulls of nostalgia, the discomfort of liminal space, and the courage it takes to lead ourselves and others through uncertainty without losing our way.

Chris Hoff, PhD, LMFT is a narrative therapist, educator, podcaster, and founder of the California Family Institute. His work explores the intersection of psychotherapy, poststructural theory, and speculative futures. Chris is known for his ability to translate complex ideas into pragmatic tools for clients and clinicians alike. He is the host of The Radical Therapist Podcast and co-editor of An Encyclopedia of Radical Helping. Chris’s teaching, writing, and consulting center the creative, relational, and political dimensions of healing and change.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How the concept of liminal space can help us normalize the push-pull of the known and the possible
• How the process of Narrative Therapy can help people reclaim agency and possibility 
• Why building coalitions with shared commitments is vital for making change across our differences
• How intentional scenario planning can help people and organizations see what they need to make the best-case scenario more likely
• How nostalgia can keep us stuck in problematic storylines about the past

Learn more about Chris Hoff, PhD, LMFT:

• Website
• California Family Institute
• The Radical Therapist Podcast
• Liminal Lab on Substack
• Instagram: @drchrishoff
• YouTube: @drchrishoff
• An Encyclopedia of Radical Helping, Erin Segal, Chris Hoff, Julie Cho

Learn more about Rebecca:

• rebeccaching.com
• Work With Rebecca
• The Unburdened Leader on Substack
• Sign up for the weekly Unburdened Leader Email

Resources:

• Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
• The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients, Irvin Yalom
• Narrative Therapy
• Collective Cultural Action | The Critical Art Ensemble
• Beyond Community | Liminal Lab
• Therapy Rocks! | Against Nostalgia | Liminal Lab
• Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual But Not Religious, James Ishmael Ford
• Philosophy for Militants, Alain Badiou
• The Years of Theory: Lectures on Modern French Thought, Fredric Jameson
• The 1975 - Somebody Else
• Andor
• Valley Girl
• Some Kind of Wonderful