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What if the pressure to “find the silver lining” is actually keeping you from healing?
In this episode, Dr. Risa Riger and I unpack the subtle—and sometimes harmful—ways toxic optimism, avoidance, and “bouncing back” culture disconnect us from our own truth. Together, we explore what real resilience looks like, why honesty must come before hope, and how trusting your capacity to be with discomfort can transform the way you meet your life.

Episode Highlights

• 2:13: The Self-Owned Mindset
• 3:50: The Problem with Silver Linings
• 7:44: The Fallacy that Everything Happens for a Reason
• 12:15: Building Self-Literacy
• 19:11: The Unsustainability of Bouncing Back
• 26:10: Cultivating Self-Trust 

Resources for this Episode: 

• Disruptive Conversation with Acamea Deadwiler 
• Disruptive Conversation with Dana Cohen M.D. 
• Disrupting the Inner Critic: Writing Change and the Self-Owned Mindset with Dr. Risa Ryger
• Writing to Heal with Laura Davis
• Sign Up for Revise Your Memoir 

Dr. Ryger’s Bio: Dr. Risa Ryger is a Clinical Psychologist, International Speaker, Author, Founder of 93% Consulting, and the Creator of The Self-Owned Mindset(TM). As an Expert in Change, she knows that positive change can happen at any point. Her goal is to help women build confidence and self-trust to powerfully step forward into their lives through developing their Self-Owned Mindset.” Dr. Ryger has held clinical appointments including Professional Associate of Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Clinical Instructor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College. She has served as a Consulting Psychologist for Victim Services NYC and on the Advisory Council of Mindfulness Without Borders. She has presented to Microsoft, Mastercard, CitiBank, United Bonds UAE, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Her Justice. She is a contributing author for Mind Body Green, Thrive Global, and The Female Quotient. She hosts a weekly Instagram Live Series, Disruptive Conversations with Dr. Risa Ryger, to highlight female disruptors in their fields. Her debut book on The Disruptive Self-Ownership Process(TM) is set to launch in early 2026. Dr. Ryger earned her Master of Science, Master of Philosophy, and Doctorate from Columbia University. She is the proud mother of two amazing daughters and lives in NY with her husband and two dogs, Penelope and Sammy – the dog who smiles.

Connect with Dr. Ryger:  

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.risaryger
• Website: https://www.drrisaryger.com/

Sign up for Revise Your Memoir series: https://bit.ly/4ooLTDi

Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Ditch Your Inner Critic: https://lisacooperellison.com/subscribe/
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Produced by Espresso Podcast Production