The HappiNest Podcast

Dr. Randy Schroeder is a pastor, couples’ counselor and family therapist. He is also author of a new book Simple Habits for Marital Happiness: Practical Skills and Tools that Build a Strong, Satisfying Relationship. Why do 50 percent of marriages end in divorce and 70 percent of married couples say they are unhappy? Tune in to hear tips from Dr. Randy!

Richard Slatcher is a psychologist at the University of Georgia who focuses on understanding the effects of close relationships on health and well-being. He researches self-disclosure and partner responsiveness when it comes to intimacy and explores the links between close relationships, biology and physical health. His lab also looks at smartphone and social media use and its impact on relationships. He has just launched an international study examining the impact of the pandemic on close relationships.

Dr. Terri Orbuch, aka “The Love Doctor,” is an expert on love relationships. She is also an author, speaker, therapist, and professor at Oakland University, and researcher at the University of Michigan. She has authored six books, including, “5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great”. Terri is also the director of a landmark study, where she has been following the same 373 couples for almost three decades.  Her PBS TV program is titled, “Secrets from The Love Doctor.”

Margie Warrell is an author and speaker extraordinaire! She’s spent much of her career telling people how to be brave. She had to find her own courage while her husband Andrew was hospitalized for 30 days in Singapore with Coronavirus, but now he has returned! The rest of her family life these days is mostly virtual as three of her four kids are scattered around the globe. In this podcast, we speak about how to get a better psychological grip on Life in the Time of Covid.

Rob Angel was a 26-year-old waiter from Seattle, when he created the bestselling board game Pictionary, which has sold more than 38 million copies worldwide. Rob parlayed an idea into a global powerhouse: Pictionary is now distributed in 60 countries in 45 languages. Rob tells his story in a new book— Game Changer: The Story of Pictionary and How I Turned a Simple Idea into the Bestselling Board Game in the World. Rob shows others how to be fun-loving, boundary-busting and creative.

Laura Gassner Otting is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropic activist and former White House political appointee. She has interviewed thousands of leaders at crisis points in their lives and careers. She is a speaker, consultant and executive coach. Laura is also the author of Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life. When we don’t find success in our own terms, “carving our own path becomes impossible.” Laura tells us how to get out of our own way!

Keisha Blair is an economist who lost her husband when she was 31. She later wrote an article with the 40 life lessons she learned from this tragedy. That article went viral and led her down a new path. She is now the bestselling author of Holistic Wealth: 32 Life Lessons to Help You Find Purpose, Prosperity and Happiness. Those lessons can help us all get a better grip on these uncertain times. Keisha advises people how to handle their hard-won nest egg so it covers their lifespan.

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor at Clark University, is an expert on “emerging adults." His two books, Getting to 30: A Parent's Guide to the 20-Something Years and Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties, can help explain how and why young people are reaching milestones of adulthood later than their parents. Here he offers advice for those “boomeranged” back home during this global pandemic.

Jelena Kecmanovic, aka Dr. K, is founder and director of the Arlington/DC Behavior Therapy Institute and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She has published articles and chapters on depression, anxiety, CBT, and relationships. Jelena is sharing advice based on psychological science regarding how to cope with Coronavirus uncertainty.

Today our guest is Xiaomeng Xu, who allow others to call her Mona, and also goes by Professor X for her students as her name is tricky to pronounce. Mona was born in Fuling, China and immigrated to the United States at age 5. Raised in New York City, she graduated in psychology from NYU and got her PhD from Stony Brook University.  Now she’s an associate professor of psychology at Idaho State University, researching behavioral health, close relationships—especially romantic relationships—and teaching