We’ve all seen service dogs in action, but most of us don’t know just what heroes they are.  Today’s guest is here to tell us all about the secret lives of service dogs. Shannon Walker is the CEO & Founder of Northwest Battle Buddies, a nonprofit providing service dogs to combat veterans with PTSD. Inspired by her father, who was a veteran, she also founded Man’s Best Friend Dog Training and has worked tirelessly to not only train service dogs but to educate the public about what they do and how they provide a vital lifeline for veterans. In this episode, you’ll learn:

From childhood, we’re taught that helping others is the right thing to do. But what happens when it goes too far? This week, host Paula Felps sits down with author and podcast host Amy Wilson to talk about her entertaining new book, Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser, to learn more about what turns us into people pleasers, when to know it’s a problem, and what to do about it.

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This is a time of year when we celebrate love, but we sometimes take for granted the special love that our friendships offer. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with professor and research psychologist Dr. Kimberly Horn to learn more about just how important friendships are for our health and happiness — and what we can do to make them stronger and more fulfilling.

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The cold, gray days of winter can have a direct effect on our mental health, so this week, host Paula Felps sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Michele Leno to learn more about how we can make the next few weeks a little brighter — regardless of what’s going on outside our window. Michele offers insight into how seasonal changes affect our brains and what we can do for ourselves and those around us.

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It's a common belief that achieving our goals and reaching success equates to peace and happiness. But what happens when it doesn’t? This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Tom Rosshirt, a former Capitol Hill press secretary and White House speechwriter who reached the pinnacle of his career only to find himself battling anxiety, depression, and illness. In his new book, Chasing Peace: A Story of Breakdowns, Breakthroughs, and the Spiritual Power of Neuroscience, Tom reveals how his relentless pursuit of success led to a physical and emotional breakdown. He shares how he used neuroplasticity to address ailments rooted in the brain's neural circuits, ultimately reversing the patterns that kept him unwell and opening the door to the life he was seeking.

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As we grapple with the challenges of living in a polarized society, psychologist Kurt Gray returns to talk about how we can find common ground. In the second part of this two-part episode, Kurt, author of the new book, Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground, guides us through the steps to foster more civil dialogue. He also delves into the role that empathy plays in overcoming our outrage and explains why we need people who don’t think like we do.  

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We have entered a time of unprecedented polarization that’s creating division among friends, family members, and co-workers. Understanding what’s driving our outrage is the first step in discovering what we can do about it, and in this first of two episodes, host Paula Felps sits down with Kurt Gray, author of the new book, Outrage: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground. This week Kurt – a professor in psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and director of its Center for the Science of Moral Understanding – unpacks how our perceptions of harm shape our outrage and then explains how our concerns and differences can foster hope for the future.

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This is the perfect time to think about what we’d like to accomplish in the new year, and starting a creativity practice is one way to discover new strengths and reach new goals. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Rochelle Seltzer, a leadership coach, speaker, and author of Live Big: A Manifesto for a Creative Life. She explains why creativity is a natural boost for our mental health and tells us how we can use it to navigate uncertain times and how it can give us direction for the new year.

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As we wrap up 2024 and head into the new year, many of us start thinking about what we’d like to accomplish in 2025. But it’s important to pause for a moment and look at what we’ve done over the past 12 months. This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Live Happy CEO and co-founder Deborah Heisz to talk about the power of reflection. Find out why taking time to celebrate what you’ve done and review what you’d like to do better can have a profound impact on the way you approach the new year.

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It may be called the most wonderful time of the year, but for many people, it’s the most stressful. Nine out of 10 Americans report feeling stressed out right now, so this week host Paula Felps talks with author and mindfulness expert Julie Potiker about how her SNAP mindfulness method can help lower your stress level throughout the holiday season — and beyond.  

In this episode, you’ll learn: