Choosing a college major can be daunting. Personally, I changed my major a few times, at least partially because there was so much that I wanted to learn.
 
What if you could earn multiple degrees and explore a bunch of majors? How about 17 degrees?
Sounds like a fantasy but, believe it or not, that is exactly what my guest on this episode did. Dr. Benjamin Bolger (https://bolgerconsulting.com/) is known as a perpetual student and is the second most degreed individual in the history of the United States. He has studied in various fields and has attended schools like Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, and Columbia. In fact, during the window of 2000 to 2004, he earned six different master's degrees! 
 
Ben currently works as a college admissions counselor, and he has appeared in many national newspapers like the NY Times and TV programs like the NBC Today Show.
 
I had no idea what Ben would be like and it turned out he was as likeable as he was educated. It was so much fun to geek out with Ben about the topic of learning and all it can do for us. This is an unusual opportunity to listen as one of the most educated people on the planet talks about the benefits of being a perpetual learner.

#190 Lessons from a Man with 17 Degrees | Ben Bolger, Ph.D. (plus 16 other degrees!)

SuperPsyched is an award-winning podcast dedicated to improving your life with tools gained from interviewing world-class experts inside and outside the field of psychology. SuperPsyched will help get you more of what you want as well as gentle warnings to help you avoid things you don’t. See you there! 

The content on SuperPsyched is for informational use only and not intended to diagnose or provide any type of healthcare treatment.

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Training

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Self-Improvement

For this episode, I’m delighted to welcome back—a friend of the podcast, Dr. Emma Seppala
(https://www.emmaseppala.com/). Emma is a professor at Yale School of Management and we’re talking about her new book, Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos.  Indeed, we are sovereign individuals and, quite often, we need to be reminded of that fact. It's a word I’ve used many times with the people who see me, and I was thrilled to see that Emma dedicated an entire book to explore this crucial idea. She carves out a powerful path through scientifically-validated strategies to feel more in charge of ourselves and our own lives.
I loved the book as did Dr. Dan Siegal and previous SuperPsyched guest, Dr. James Doty. 
So, listen in as Emma and I talk about claiming your birthright as a sovereign person!

#209 You as a Sovereign Person | Emma Seppälä, PhD

Perfectionism. It can have its upsides and can catapult us to new heights. But it can also be stifling, cause pain to the perfectionist, and can cause pain to everyone around the perfectionist.
 
Many people who are perfectionists may not even realize it.
 
What is perfectionism, and why does it exist? What are the upsides and downsides? What effects can it have on an organization at work? And what effects can it have on life outside of work? How can the supervisor of someone who is hampered by perfectionism address their employee?
 
Dr. Greg Chasson (https://voices.uchicago.edu/gchasson/) is a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago Medical School. He has written a book on perfectionism in the workplace that I absolutely loved. Flawed is well researched, full of useful instruction, and really fun to read.
 
So, listen in as Greg and I talk about perfectionism, how it can affect perfectionists and those around them, and what can be done about it.

#208 Are You a Perfectionist? | Gregory Chasson PhD

Do you remember your 20s? Perhaps you are in your 20s! Regardless, for most of us, our 20s featured a different series of challenges than our teen years did. For many of us, we were just getting started with serious work, just getting started with serious relationships, and, oh, I don’t know, trying to figure out the rest of our lives.
Many of us traveled hoping to figure out who we were. Many of us were depressed and lonely. Many of us thought there was something profoundly wrong with us.
But as I have learned, there was generally nothing really wrong with us. We were in our 20s and that’s what that decade is like; it’s turbulent.
There are a lot of books on early childhood, late childhood, early adolescence, late adolescence, and books on various other stages of life including middle age and older age. However, there haven't been many books specifically looking at the decade known as our 20s.
That's where the guest on this episode comes in and, wow, how badly do I wish I had known during my 20’s the information we’re discussing! Dr. Meg Jay (https://megjay.com/)
 is a psychologist who specializes in treating people in their 20s. She’s written three outstanding books, and I cannot begin to tell you how much I love them! They include The Defining Decade, Supernormal, and her latest, The Twenty Something Treatment. Her books have received accolades high and low from the New Yorker, Slate.com, Adam Grant, and so many thought leaders it’s like a giant Meg Jay parade of fans. If there were such a parade, I’d definitely be in it and imagine that you will end up feeling similarly.
So, listen in as Meg and I talk about twenty somethings and what they need to know.

#207 Understanding 20-Somethings | Meg Jay, PhD

The current estimation that a marriage in the US will end in divorce is somewhere between 43 to 45%.
Divorce is also regularly cited as the second highest life stressor for Americans, just below the death of a spouse.Given the high incidence of divorce paired with the degree of stress it can incur, it’s a good idea to know more about it.
One of the top psychology experts in the field of divorce and child custody is my colleague, Dr. Michael Kerner (https://kernerevals.com/). Mike has performed over 450 child custody evaluations, and has practiced forensic psychology since 1986. Mike is the recipient of multiple awards including California Psychological Association’s Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in 2018.
Mike has been a mentor to many colleagues and certainly to me. His wisdom and gentle way of conveying it shows up in this interview.
So, listen in, as a top child custody evaluator talks about divorce.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-single/201702/what-is-the-divorce-rate-really
https://www.dartmouth.edu/eap/library/lifechangestresstest.pdf

#206 Divorce, Children, and Custody Evaluations | Mike Kerner, Ph.D.

Cancer. The “C” word. The disease that is so feared, people often whisper it in sentences.
Yet, according to recent statistics, nearly 40% of us will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in our lifetimes. With numbers this high, it behooves us to know more about this feared disease.
I was recently captivated by an article written by a colleague, describing her own experience with cancer and I asked her to talk about it on this podcast. Dr. Anna Lock (https://cbtcarolina.com/cbt-therapist-north-carolina/) is a fellow psychologist in private practice and she serves as the Clinical Director at Psychotherapy Networker. I’m grateful to her for all she shared on this episode. 
Anna was diagnosed with cancer while she was a mom of a young child. She describes her experiences and identifies many of the services that are sorely lacking by the systems that treat people with cancer. She also offers insights and advice for people who are currently dealing with cancer or who are in remission from it. Her insight is similarly valuable for those of us who love someone at any stage with the disease.
So, listen in as Anna and I talk about a psychologist’s experience with cancer. 
Source: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics

#190 Lessons from a Man with 17 Degrees | Ben Bolger, Ph.D. (plus 16 other degrees!)

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