The Adult Chair Podcast with Michelle Chalfant

I can't wait for you to hear this podcast—it may be the most fun I've had hearing Pete have his mind blown!

This week, we're talking about EFT, or "Emotional Freedom Technique." You may have heard of it referred to as tapping for short, and it's one of my favorite tools for helping my clients break free from anxiety, depression, generalized stress — even physical pain and performance issues! It involves tapping along your meridian system with your fingertips — the very same meridians you may be familiar with in acupuncture — to help move clogged emotional energy through your system.

First things first, listen to this show. Pete was dealing with shoulder pain related to an injury and I talk him through EFT to address it. After you do that, head over to my resources page here for a quick video walkthrough I recorded just for you! You'll be up and running, tapping away stress, anxiety, frustration, cravings, and so, so much more in no time!

We strive to be whole and complete but deny the parts of us that embarrass us, that we hate and try and hide. These are our shadow parts. It is impossible to feel whole without embracing the shadow parts inside us. This week on the show, Pete and I talk about the shadow, how to move into a mode of discovery, to unlock and embrace the secrets of our shadow, and work to become whole.

Over the last few weeks, we've addressed some powerful topics. From approaching anxiety, to codependency, and finally love addiction/love avoidance. In each of these areas, our approach has been to discern where our emotional response sits — our child or adolescent — and invite them to sit in the adult chair, to approach these challenges from a position of rationality and confidence.

But accessing our inner child is not always easy, nor is it always comfortable without some help. That's why this week on the show, Michelle offers a meditation, a guide on your journey to reach your inner child. Sit back, close your eyes, and reach out with grace to a smaller inner-you.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve addressed some powerful topics. From approaching anxiety, to codependency, and finally love addiction/love avoidance. In each of these areas, our approach has been to discern where our emotional response sits — our child or adolescent — and invite them to sit in the adult chair, to approach these challenges from a position of rationality and confidence.

But accessing our inner child is not always easy, nor is it always comfortable without some help. That’s why this week on the show, Michelle offers a meditation, a guide on your journey to reach your inner child. Sit back, close your eyes, and reach out with grace to a smaller inner-you.

Love addiction and love avoidance define the relationship struggles for many of us as we enter deeper emotional connection throughout the course of our lives. These are damaging patterns and represent a long-running struggle to move from our adolescent to our adult chair as we learn to cultivate love with others in our lives. This week on the show, we're honored to have Sarah Bridge on the show. Sarah is a therapist and expert in love addiction/love avoidance. She joins us today to help frame these concepts and share her approach to helping others learn to love more authentically in her own practice.

Links & Notes

• Sarah Bridge, MSW, LSCW
• Growing Yourself Back Up — John Lee

Codependency represents a range of social and emotional behaviors generally described as an emotional or psychological reliance on another — a spouse, partner, teacher, friend, and so on — where the well-being of one is connected to the well-being of another.

I'm only OK if you're OK.

But codependency is a sign that we may not be living from our adult chair. This week, we take on codependent behavior from the perspective of the chairs, and talk about how stunted emotional growth can keep us living in our adolescent when it comes to some of the most important relationships of our lives. Join us, and share your learning with us, too!

Anxiety is a demon. It is the state in which we live uncomfortably between a past we will never have again, and a future fraught with uncertainty. But growing a stronger relationship with our inner-adolescent can pay dividends far beyond casual nerves.

This week on The Adult Chair, Michelle Chalfant and Pete Wright discuss anxiety and fear, demonstrated through the courage of "Lola" — a woman learning to combat the anxiety in her own life, willing to work with Michelle while being recorded to share here. Thanks to Lola, and to all who listen!

Addictions are subtle, insidious monsters, and they can take roost inside all of us. We're not just talking about the addictions we see in movies or television. We're not just talking about the addictions we sleight, either. We're talking about our broad human inability to deal with pain, and how that pain manifests in our lives in destructive ways.

This week on the show, Michelle leads us through the high level story of addiction and shares techniques for spotting addictive behavior, and uncovering the pain that sits beneath the surface. It's a terrific conversation that sets the stage for more addiction in coming episodes, so tune in this week!

The strongest relationships in our lives come when we are able to communicate with our partner from our adult chair, and they are communicating with us from their own.

This week on the show, Michelle teaches us how to approach our partner as a support rather than a cheerleader. We roll-play on the show this week, demonstrating and deconstructing a partner conversation and illustrate some key concepts that will absolutely change the way you communicate with your friends, partners, and spouse. Join us!

This week on the show, we're talking about stories.

An example: You're on the highway. Someone races up next to you and cuts into your lane. You're surprised and scared for an instant, which leads to frustration — and maybe anger. That person is rude, oblivious, stupid, probably didn't see you because they don't care about others in their lives. … and so on, and so on. This is your story. A story you've made up about a person you have never met, based only on a split second fear reaction.

These are the stories we tell ourselves to help us rationalize our reality. This week on the show, Michelle Chalfant shares where these stories come from, why it's so important to understand how they impact us, and offers insight to help us face our stories and let them go!