Harvesting Happiness

These days, more often than not, financial market headlines include the terms ‘market crash’, ‘bubble bursting’, ‘inflation’, or ‘downturn’. What do these terms mean for long-term investors or for those who don’t invest but are impacted by job loss or economic hardship? How can everyday Americans attain enough financial security to be happy? To get expert advice about staying financially healthy, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers

Kamen speaks with two economic experts who talk about the psychology of money and how to achieve financial security.

Michelle Singletary is a well-known financial advisor and a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post and other high-profile news outlets. She discusses tips for creating a savings

cushion in the event of an emergency and how financial security means paying for basic needs first. The information is from her book, What to Do with Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival

Guide. Scott Nations is the president of a financial firm and a regular contributor to CNBC. He talks about his book, The Anxious Investor: Mastering the Mental Game of Investing, and the human behaviors that lead us to either be averse to risk or embrace it.

The widely-used adage ‘you can’t pick your family’ generally translates into making the best of what you have when you have no choice in the matter. People rarely have the option to choose who provides their mental and physical nourishment, especially children. How we handle relationships with relatives once we reach adulthood is up to us. But, if we have been subject to years of gaslighting or mental manipulation, it can be difficult to discern between what we believe is good for us and what we truly need to thrive. To dissect the cycle of both gaslighting and estrangement, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with a therapist and a researcher about the complex relationships we engage in and disconnect from. Doctor of Psychology, Deborah Vinall offers an in-depth look at gaslighting, describes the key takeaways from her book, Gaslighting: A Step-by-Step Recovery

Guide to Heal from Emotional Abuse and Build Healthy Relationships, and shares the steps people can take to set self-

honoring boundaries when confronting a gaslighter. Kristina Sharp, Director of the Family Communication and Relationships Lab, at the University of Washington and Michigan State,

describes her role as a researcher who studies estrangement from first-hand accounts of those who have severed ties with families and the misguided perception of what a family is as

portrayed by American media.

Think about all the times you felt angry today. Were you in traffic and someone using their phone cut you off? Did your teenager shout at you because you told them they couldn’t do something after school? How did you respond? Calmly or did you get defensive?

 

To gain a better understanding of some specific tools we can use to de-escalate tense situations and have better communication with our friends and loved ones, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two legal professionals turned peacekeeping, conflict negotiators. The practice of Tai Chi helped Douglas Noll transform from lawyer to peacemaker. He explains a three-step process to peace, based on empathetic listening and emotional de-escalation from his book, De-Escalate: How to Calm an Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less. Conflict resolution expert, Jim Tamm describes how to negotiate through conversations that are not easy to have and the reason people use defensiveness as a communication style from his book, Radical Collaboration.

A study by the National Institute of Health found an estimated 21 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in 2020. Beyond the sheer number of people affected, what makes these findings astounding is the limited number of treatment options available for those who reach out for help.

To gain perspective into the issue and discover why many suffering from clinical depression don’t reach out for help, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two authors experts about advanced mental health and alternatives to the medical merry-go-round.

Integrative Psychiatrist Dr. Gregory S. Brown shares the Five Pillars of Self-Care from his book, The Self-Healing Mind: An Essential Five-Step Practice for Overcoming Anxiety and Depression and Revitalizing Your Life.

The founding director of the UCSD Adult ADHD program, the UCSD Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) program, and the Center for Advanced Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Dr. David Feifel shares some breakthrough treatments for treating depression.

What is true is not always what some choose to believe. There are some people who subscribe to the ignorance is bliss philosophy and others have difficulty discerning which information is born in conspiracy or in science. To gain a better understanding of those who wish to remain passionately ignorant and willfully disinformed, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two authors who specialize in the science of the mind. In Andy Norman’s book, Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think, he examines what makes some groups more susceptible to mind ‘bugs’ and mental hijacking. His cognitive hygiene concept offers mental immunity to those who prefer to think rationally and want to protect themselves from conspiracy theories. Sociologist Renata Salecl shares the core theme of her book, Passion for Ignorance: What We Choose Not to Know and Why. Her research studies why in this modern age of big data, genetics, and neuroscience people still choose to be ignorant about things that affect them and their health.

A staggering statistic of today’s medical care is that in the average doctor-patient interaction, the doctor interrupts the patient within 18 seconds. This quick interruption offers very little time for a connection to be formed between a doctor and their patient. This transactional approach hinders the clinicians’ ability to provide solutions to patients who may not feel as if they were unable to express their true needs. To discover the steps being taken to raise the bedside manner bar, Positive Psychology

Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two authors about medical journeys, kinder doctors, and resilient patients. Dr. Adam Stern is a psychiatrist and author of Committed: Dispatches from

a Psychiatrist in Training . He is back on the program to share how he teaches the softer side of medicine to doctors in training and the therapeutic power of listening. David Richman is an author,

public speaker, and endurance athlete who interviewed hundreds of people about their medical journey and the impact of cancer on their lives. His book, Cycle of Lives: 15 People's Stories, 5,000

Miles, and a Journey Through the Emotional Chaos of Cancer shares those stories and offers insights into how caregivers can find relief from the pressure of compassion.

There are many facets of the human experience we have yet to fully comprehend. While we have mapped out the systems and attributes of our physical bodies, very little is understood about

the intuitive and spiritual aspects of our complex selves. Quantum physics offers us a glimpse into our connection with the universe. To help us navigate the widely uncharted territory of the ethereal, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with

three authors who write about mental agility, mental hygiene, and spiritual practice. Elaine Fox is the Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and the author

of Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility. She describes the concept of Switch Crafting and how to increase longevity and satisfaction in life. Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami, and Valentina Onisor, a pioneer of quantum integrated medicine discuss the essence of the book they co-authored,

The Quantum Brain: Understand, Rewire, and Optimize Your Brain. They also

explain the role of the chakras and preconscious in determining health and happiness.

What navigates your internal moral compass? Do you subscribe to a religion or belief in supernatural power to guide you? Or do you allow innate love, compassion, and empathy to steer you toward a better earthly experience for all? To examine the moral weight of religious obedience, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two professors about their books that address the virtues of love and morality. Prolific author Dr. Stephen G. Post discusses the virtue of love and unpacks the Eight Pathways of Positive Achievement and Goodness from his book,

Give and Live Better. Executive Director of the Humanist Global Charity, Phil Zuckerman explains the virtue of morality and the research behind his book, What it Means to be Moral: Why

Religion is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life.

From the famous ‘I have a dream’ speech by Martin Luther King to referring to America as the land of dreams, society often guides us toward creating a dream, or aspiration, to attain. Studies show that those dreams may change over time due to age, race, gender, and societal factors. To get the low down on higher intentions, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with three authors about what we dream of and why we have longer to acquire our aspirations. Co-authors Karen Cerulo and Janet Ruane share the findings from their book, Dreams of a Lifetime: How We Imagine Our Future and discuss how dreams differ based on a person’s lot in life. Former president and publishing director of Hearst Magazines, Michael Clinton shares statistics gleaned from his research while writing his inspirational book, Roar: into the second half of your life (before it's too late). Micheal contends that life after 50 is the perfect time to expand our horizons and nurture and develop what is important to us.

There is a wide gap between feeling not enough and good enough. The secret to feeling good enough is using boredom and frustration to propel us forward toward achieving our goals. We become frustrated when we face obstacles to getting things we care about and it forces us to try another way of something new. By embracing our imperfections, and relinquishing our need to be right, we can all lead a good-enough life. To discover how to use our emotions in a way that creates a greater good for ourselves and our community, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two professors and authors about how to live a good life. The author of Propelled: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead Us to the Good Life, Professor Andreas Elpidorou describes how boredom and frustration are often misinterpreted and can be real opportunities for improving life experiences. And, the author of The Good-Enough Life, Professor Avram Alpert shares his secrets for good-enoughness and how being a part of the social construct offers a greater good for all.