Potential Psychology

Imagine controlling the world directly with your mind. That was my guest's dream - and she and colleagues brought that dream to life.

Ariel Garten has a fascinating and eclectic background in psychotherapy, art, fashion design, neuroscience, technology and start ups. She is a co-Founder of Interaxon, the developers of Muse, a brain sensing headband that translates your mental activity into the guiding sounds of weather to help you find focused calm. Busy mind? Stormy weather. Calm mind? Peaceful weather.

Ariel has lived a life without limitations. Her curiosity has led her to pursue bold, audacious goals within a broader quest to have a positive impact on humanity.

In this conversation Ariel and I talk about:

•Interaxon's project to create mind powered light installations across Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics
•How she came to be the CEO of a technology start up that started in a basement
•Muse - the brain sensing meditation headband. How it works, how it helps and my experience making the birds chirp
•The impact Muse is having on schools, clinical settings, research and individuals across the globe
•Using your mind to better understand your heart, breath and body
•And because you never know where a podcast conversation will take you - Ariel's interpretation of my mum's dreams

Are you ready to be informed and inspired? Then listen in!

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

How does a psychologist become a psychologist? What does the training involve? How long does it take? And could YOU last the distance?

In this episode of the Potential Psychology Podcast I'm joined by Glen Tanner, a recently registered Clinical Psychologist and we're talking about life in the early years of this fascinating career.

Glen and I discuss:

•The path to become a psychologist in 2019. (Did you know that it takes 8 years?)
•What led Glen to psychology as his second career?
•Why he chose clinical psychology as his area of specialty
•The rigours and challenges of eight years of study
•The competitive nature of the training and registration process
•His tips for current and impending students
•Where he hopes to take his career and make his mark.

Glen's passion for his work and profession shines through in this informative and enjoyable conversation. A must listen for all trainee and wannabe psychologists.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

If you could upgrade yourself to 'You Version 2.0' what would that look like? Who would you be? What would you do? And how would you get there?

Our guest for this episode is pursuing these very questions in a year long adventure in brain hacking. James Garrett, psychologist, former academic, entrepreneur and fellow podcaster has embarked on The Deep Change Project in 2019, exploring neuro technology, neuroplasticity and personal change to uncover the very best of James Garrett Version 2.0

James has been a guest on the show before. He's a great conversationalist, very knowledgeable and always keen to share his personal insights and experiences.

In this episode James and I discuss:

•The Deep Change Project and his attempt to rewire his brain in 2019
•New brain technology and the second cognitive revolution
•The neurotech that James has tested including direct brain stimulation, trackers, meditation devices and vibration tools for stress reduction.
•Making the choice: Do you create the future or be subject to it?
•Disruption and navigation the future of the human species
•How to prepare your kids for the future

If you're interested in performance, progress, technology and your brain, make sure you listen in. You'll walk away a little smarter, I promise.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

My first ever SOLO episode and we're talking motivation. Where does it come from? How do we create it in ourselves and others? And why is everything you know or think about motivation wrong?

Motivation is one of my favourite topics. I have two public workshops coming up in Ballarat exploring Six Simple Steps to an Engaged, Motivated Team, which I've cheekily subtitled 'Why everything you know about motivation is wrong'. Both workshops have now sold out I've had several people ask if I'm planning to run more or run them in different locations - which sadly I'm not right now - but I did think maybe I should share the tips here on the podcast as then no-one misses out?

So that's what we're doing in this episode. Just you and me delving into motivation and why everything you know about motivation is wrong!

Tune in to discover:

•The myths of motivation and where they come from
•Why rewards and punishment are counter productive
•Psychology's best kept motivation secret
•The three needs that drive our motivation
•5 top tips for motivating ourselves and others

Creating a solo episode was hard work but I'm excited to share with you what I've learned - and lived - when it comes to motivation.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

I have been talking to several clients recently about productivity, attention, focus, our expectations of ourselves and the feelings that come along with juggling all of the things - work, parenting, health, self-care, friendships, family, goals and plans. Worry, overwhelm, frustration and impatience are recurring themes.

So I thought it timely to revisit a conversation that has helped me with all of these things. In Season 2 of the Potential Psychology Podcast I interviewed James Garrett, the founder and CEO of Brain By Design - a US-based organisation that teaches strategies for getting more from your mind.

About James
James is a psychologist, a former academic, co-founder of a highly successful social venture and now host of The Deep Change Podcast. In this episode we discuss the science behind:

•Why your focus and attention is like a battery that requires recharging.
•How to get more done by working less
•How to use your mind to start on difficult or unpleasant tasks
•The importance of taking breaks for your productivity and creativity and why your brain doesn't know how to do this
•Why the standard '8 hours at your desk' is a disaster for your effectiveness, innovation, happiness and wellbeing.
•James's online programs and the science of productivity and wellbeing, and
•How he reads one book per week!

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

Join me behind the scenes at the IPPA 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology in Melbourne, Australia

If you follow Potential Psychology on social media you might have seen me out and about with my portable recorder, Potential shirt and matching red headphones at the International Positive Psychology Association's 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology in July 2019.

The World Congress was a four day event at which world's positive psychology, happiness and wellbeing experts descended on Melbourne, put their collective heads together and explored and shared the most mind-blowing quantity (and quality!) of research and knowledge on what helps us all to thrive and flourish.

There were great thinkers and speakers, research presentations, exhibitors, well being adventures, conversations, global perspectives and over 1000 people in attendance and and I've captured as much as I can to share with you in this episode of the podcast.

Join me as we:

•Race around Melbourne, well being adventure-style with Associate Professor Aaron Jarden, Dr Jo Mitchell, Dr Suzy Green and others
•Take to the streets in a #Happtivist March
•Unplug and Hug with Nicola Lipscombe
•Learn about how technology is boosting our young people's well being with Professor Dianne Vella Brodrick
•Listen in to psychology luminaries including Jonathan Haidt, Roy Baumeister, Michael Steger and Barbara Fredrickson
•Are inspired by outgoing IPPA President and past podcast guest Professor Lea Waters to go forth and heal the world.

You'll also hear me get lost in the streets of Melbourne and try to keep my balance while interviewing on a moving tram. This is onsite recording folks!

A huge thanks to everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this episode, the team at ASN Events for helping me to coordinate a media pass to the event and the IPPA Conference Leaders for allowing me to wander around and pester people with my microphone and hence bring you this behind-the-scenes episode.

For full details, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

'If the 5 trillion spiders in the Netherlands took to eating humans rather than insects, they'd consume all Dutch people in just three days.'

Not a nice thought, especially if you have a spider phobia but that was the Tweet that led me to today's guest and our discussion of phobias.

My guest is Dr Celin Gelgec, a clinical psychologist based in Melbourne, who specialises in anxiety and all of the different ways in which it manifests and challenges us, including phobias! Celin is a Senior Clinical Psychologist & the Director of the Melbourne Wellbeing Clinic. She works with children, adolescents, and adults who experience Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety disorders, as well as secondary depression.

In this episode Celin and I talk about phobias but we also venture into her favourite topic, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

My questions to Celin...

•What are phobias?
•Do we all have them?
•What causes them?
•Are some phobias innate? Or do we learn them?
•When do they become more than harmless?
•What are the symptoms and effects?
•What are some of the more common phobias?
•And how do we treat phobias?

We also explore...

•Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - What is it? And can you really be 'a little bit OCD?'
•The role of thoughts and emotions in anxiety and OCD
•The logic defying nature of the human brain
•And more!

For a heavy topic this is such a light hearted and fascinating interview and a great reminder that worries and fears plague us all but knowing why helps us to overcome them.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

Imagine this. You're 20 years old and a newly minted teacher with sole responsibility for a small rural primary school and the nine students who attend each day. It's your ninth day at work and although it starts in the same way as days one to eight, it will end very differently - with you and your nine students chained and captive in a remote camp site.

This is the true (crime) story of my guest, Rob Hunter. We're exploring what happened on that day 42 years ago and the impact that it has had on teacher and students.

Rob and I talk about:

•The incredible events of February 14 and 15, 1977 in Gippsland, Victoria
•The after effects of drama and trauma
•How times have changed when it comes to our approach to understanding and dealing with traumatic events
•Gratitude, forgiveness and resilience as tools for recovery and growth
•Rob's conversations with high school students and using his story to help them understand and access theirs
•Rob's new book - Day 9 at Woreen: Kidnapped with Nine Children

Listen in to hear Rob's amazing story of high drama, true crime, forgiveness and strength unfolding in the Australian countryside.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

'It's 'digital heroin': How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies'

That was the NY Post headline that sent the internet into meltdown in 2016. The article went on to state that 'your kid's brain on Minecraft looks like a brain on drugs' and every parent who has ever experienced a pang of guilt watching their child immersed in a screen-based game felt that guilt engulf them.

But is it true? Are video and screen-based games as terrifying as the headlines suggest?

In this episode of the Potential Psychology Podcast I'm talking to Peter Gray, Research Professor of Psychology at Boston College. Peter is the author of both a widely used introductory psychology textbook, Psychology which is now in its seventh edition and Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life

Peter writes a popular blog for Psychology Today entitled "Freedom to Learn". He is frequently invited to speak to groups of educators, parents, and researchers about children's need for free play and the ways in which children are designed, by natural selection, to control their own education.

Peter says that he was intrigued by the increasing anxiety about video games amongst parents attending his seminars and presentations. He too read the news headlines and wondered if we were getting the full story. So, being the good scientist that he is, he set about exploring the available evidence on the effects of video games on the brain.

In this episode Peter and I discuss:

•Whether your kid's brain on Minecraft really looks like a brain on drugs
•What we know from scientific research about the effects of video games on the brain
•The role of parents and society in the rise of gaming
•Internet Gaming Disorder. Is it really a thing?
•When should parents worry about their child's video game use?
•What are the pros, cons and alternatives to restricting use?

It's an intriguing discussion that may generate more questions than answers but it certainly opened my eyes to the complexity of the topic and gave me food for thought as a parent.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com

We're doing something a little different on the podcast today. For the first time, we are revisiting a past episode. In fact it's episode two of the podcast - my interview with parenting and e-safety expert Martine Oglethorpe from The Modern Parent.

Have you noticed a resurgence of interest in the mainstream media lately in video games and their impact on kids?

Specifically, the instances and issues surrounding video gaming as an addiction or disorder?

In late May of 2019 the World Health Organisation officially recognized "gaming disorder" as a mental health condition - adding the disorder to the International Classification of Diseases, or the ICD-11, the organisation's official diagnostic manual.

Screen time, video games and internet gaming are confusing topics. Everyone has an opinion. Parents feel guilt and uncertainty. 'Screen time' creates a huge amount of conflict within families. I wonder whether the conflict, anxiety and stress around internet games and screen time does more harm that the screens themselves?

So I thought it was timely to revisit Martine's wise advice on the topic, both as an expert and a parent to five teen boys.

About Martine
Martine works with students and parents through schools and other organisations to help them safely and smartly incorporate technology into their lives. She also works with teachers to explore how they can incorporate digital literacy into their classrooms.

In this episode Ellen and Martine talk positively about:

•Why parents don't need to fear technology when it comes to their kids
•Why parenting in the digital age is just parenting and the same rules apply
•The importance of teaching kids to think critically about their technology use, and
•Martine's 9 questions to ask when it comes to kids and screen time.

For a full transcript, guest profile, expert tips and the resources mentioned in this episode, visit potential.com.au/podcast or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/potentialpsychology/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit potentialpsychology.substack.com