Life brings to all of us long periods where we feel lost or confused. We don't know how to get what we want, or even what it is that we want. 

The struggle to articulate the thing that might really make us “come alive” can be profound, even if we enter therapy.

Charlotte Fox Weber is the author of Tell Me What You Want, a new book that explores how to identify and navigate our deepest longings. 

Andrew and Charlotte discuss the idea that we have 12 fundamental desires: to love and be loved; understanding, power, attention, freedom; to create, to belong, to win, to connect, to control; and to want what we shouldn't. 

Identifying how these desires play out in your life can be liberating and beautiful, even if you also realise that acting on them is impossible. 

Charlotte Fox Weber is a psychotherapist, author and the founding head of The School of Life Psychotherapy.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️ The troublemaking twins: pride and shame.

⭐️Three things Charlotte Fox Weber knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. 

Read Charlotte Fox Weber’s new book, Tell Me What You Want 

Visit Charlotte Fox Weber’s website

Read Andrew’s book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier. 

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Throw away your FitBit, stop counting your daily steps, and instead learn to run mindfully. If you can find the three key elements of space, silence and patience, you’ll be far more able to tackle big problems at work and at home.

William Pullen is a psychotherapist who helps clients using his revolutionary method of Dynamic Running Therapy. His work combines movement and talk therapy to harness the synergy of mind, body and spirit.

In this episode Andrew and William discuss

🏃🏾‍♂️How a good walk is different from a good run

🏃🏽‍♀️The practice of “asking your run/walk a question”

🏃🏻What the way someone walks can tell us about them. 

William also tackles a particularly thorny reader’s letter about what to do if you find that your smartphone use is taking over your life and spoiling your relationships.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️Running to improve your anger management

⭐️ Three things William Pullen knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. 

Buy William Pullen’s book Run for Your Life: Mindful Running for a Happy Life

Visit William Pullen’s website 

Watch William Pullen’s TEDx talk “Movement is Medicine” 

Follow William Pullen on Instagram @dynamicrunningtherapy and on Twitter @pullentherapy

Get William Pullen’s iPhone app for Dynamic Running Therapy

Listen to Andrew’s interview with Machiel Klerk on how to Ask Your Dreams for Help 

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

How do you cope when life suddenly and dramatically falls to pieces?

In March 2017 psychologist and author Niamh Fitzpatrick’s beloved sister Dara was killed in a helicopter crash. 

Soon afterwards, Niamh’s marriage disintegrated, and she feared she would also lose the house she lived in. Life as she knew it had ended and the cumulative loss was staggering in terms of impact.

As a psychologist for many years, Niamh had helped hundreds of clients through the worst times in their lives. Her own experiences of loss and grief were nonetheless shocking and devastating, and she had to draw on the full extent of her skillset to survive and rebuild.

Andrew and Niamh share a wide-ranging discussion of grief, including the importance of naming and honouring all your experiences of loss.

Niamh Fitzpatrick is the author of Tell Me the Truth About Loss and also works as a psychologist and sports psychologist in Dublin, Ireland. 

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️ A sports psychologist's guide to recovering from injury and dealing with loss

⭐️Three things Niamh Fitzpatrick knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.

Buy Niamh Fitzpatrick’s book Tell Me The Truth About Loss 

Visit Niamh Fitzpatrick’s website  

Follow Niamh Fitzpatrick on Twitter

Listen to some of our other episodes about grief and loss, including therapist David Kessler on Finding Meaning: the Sixth Stage of Grief and writer/politician Catherine Mayer on Embracing Life at a Time of Death.  

Read Andrew’s memoir about the loss of his partner My Mourning Year h

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. 

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

When women and men argue, women can often be more comfortable in expressing their feelings of hurt and anger. 

Men can feel distressed by this strength of feeling, and may pull away emotionally. They may feel a very strong urge to occupy the ground of rationality and objectivity, which in turn leads their partner to push harder, desperately seeking emotional connection.

Dr Avrum Weiss is a US-based author and psychotherapist specialising in the internal lives of men. His writing and his work with couples help men and women understand each other more deeply and build a stronger connection.

In this episode Andrew and Dr Weiss discuss the emotion of anger and how our childhoods can influence our adult experiences of it. They share insights from Dr Weiss’ book Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships , and look at how men and women can better understand each other’s internal world.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️The seven fears of men in relationships

⭐️Three things Dr Weiss knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there https://bit.ly/TheMeaningfulLifeSubstack 

Buy Dr Avrum Weiss’ book Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships 

Find Dr Avrum Weiss’ other books via his website https://www.avrumweissphd.com

Read Dr Avrum Weiss' columns for Psychology Today

Follow Dr Avrum Weiss on Facebook @AvrumWeissAuthor and on Twitter @avrum_weiss

Read Andrew’s books on relationships and self-development

You might also be interested in hearing Dr Matthew McKay talking with Andrew about Loving in the Face of Pain 

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall 

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Better sex, building a stronger connection with your partner, coping with anxiety, and dealing with shame and fear: these were some of the big themes that resonated on The Meaningful Life in 2022.

Tracey Cox, international sex therapist, author and Daily Mail columnist, was the very first guest on episode one of The Meaningful Life. She joins Andrew again this week to discuss their stand-out episodes from last year.

Tracey and Andrew talk about how their favourite guests influenced their thinking, and what they’ll be taking forward into 2023.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️ Lessons in compassion

⭐️ Sex in long term relationships

⭐️Dealing with adult children

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.

Buy Great Sex Starts at 50: How to Age-Proof Your Libido by Tracey Cox

Get advice on your sex life from Tracey Cox at www.traceycox.com 

Listen to Tracey Cox’s podcast SexTok with Tracey and Kelsey 

Follow Tracey Cox on Facebook @TraceyCoxSexpert, on Instagram @traceycoxsexauthor and on Twitter @TraceyCox

Read Andrew’s books on relationships and self-development

Listen to some of the 2022 episodes discussed by Tracey and Andrew:

⭐️Terry Real on the Five Traps that Undermine Your Love

⭐️Frederic Luskin on Forgiveness: What It Is and Isn’t

⭐️Cheryl Fraser on How to Stay in Love

⭐️Thom Rutledge on Embracing Fear in Four Steps

⭐️Kathleen Smith on Making Anxiety Your Friend

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Do you experience regular bad headaches, or a stomach upset that won’t go away? Do you have nagging aches you put down to getting older?

Mind and body are two parts of the same system: problems like depression and anxiety almost always manifest in the physical body as well as the mind. 

The road to calm and joy is much faster if we can ensure to take care of mind AND body. 

Author and integrative psychiatrist Dr Henry Emmons looks at mental health problems like depression and anxiety by weaving together mind-body and natural therapies, mindfulness teachings and other holistic approaches. 

Dr Emmons is also a sought-after presenter and consultant on integrating natural and mindfulness therapies in psychiatry, the interface between spirituality and mental health, and personal and professional renewal. 

We hope you enjoy this very early The Meaningful Life episode we’ve reissued for Christmas 2023: what better topic to get you through the holiday season than “the road to calm and joy”?

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.

Visit Dr Henry Emmons’ website to find out more about his books:

The Chemistry of Joy

The Chemistry of Calm

The Chemistry of Joy Workbook

Staying Sharp: 9 Keys to a Youthful Brain Through Modern Science and Ancient Wisdom 

Visit https://www.naturalmentalhealth.com  a website co-founded by Henry Emmons to help people of all ages optimise their mental health and build resilience in mind, body, and spirit. 

You might also be interested in Andrew’s interview with Dr Kathleen Smith on How to Make Anxiety Your Friend

Read Andrew’s book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier 

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”

Philosopher William James (brother of the novelist Henry James) seems way ahead of his time with this insight. 

Our guest this week is author and philosopher John Kaag. John credits William James with helping him through several existential crises, including bouts of despair as a young man, and two divorces. 

Andrew and John discuss:

⭐️The pressing choice in modern life of where to put our attention

⭐️How philosophy helps parents

⭐️The ways daily habits and routines entrap us

⭐️The problem of empathy and the challenge of honouring the inner lives of others.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️When is it justified to believe?

⭐️3 things John Kaag knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. 

Buy John Kaag’s new book Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James

Buy John Kaag’s other books:

• American Philosophy: A Love Story

Follow John Kaag on Twitter @JohnKaag 

Read Andrew’s book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier

You might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with Andy West on Inherited Guilt: How Philosophy Helped Me Heal 

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. 

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Leaving a toxic relationship is really just the beginning: how do you then pick up the pieces and build a new life? 

Certified relationship coach Tara Blair Ball is a second-time guest on The Meaningful Life - her first interview on attachment theory was so popular that we invited her back to discuss her new book on surviving toxic relationships. 

According to Tara, 

⭐️Personal responsibility is the key to change

⭐️Healthy relationships are built, not found

⭐️Whether you’re single or partnered, you can recover from toxic relationship patterns and learn a healthier way to relate.

Tara draws on her personal experience of life with a toxic partner to help others learn how to create healthy relationships. In this episode, she and Andrew talk through her 7-step healing process.

Tara Blair Ball is the author of several books on love and relationships. Her content on relationships and dating has been viewed more than 6 million times.  Tara’s latest book is Reclaim & Recover: Heal from Toxic Relationships with a 7-Step Guided Journal. 

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️How to overcome victim mentality. 

⭐️3 things Tara Blair Ball knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.

Buy Tara Blair Ball’s new book Reclaim & Recover: Heal from Toxic Relationships with a 7-Step Guided Journal 

Read Tara’s other books The Beginning of the End: A memoir about a broken relationship, addiction, and human frailty AND Stop Wasting Your Time on Women Who Don’t Want You.

Take a look at Tara Blair Ball’s website 

Listen to Andrew’s previous interview with Tara Blair Ball on Attachment Theory 

Follow Tara on TikTok @tara.relationshipcoach or on Twitter @tarablairball

Read Co-parenting with a Toxic Ex by Amy Baker

Read Andrew’s books I Can’t Get Over My Partner’s Affair and I Love You But I’m Not In Love With You

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. 

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

⭐️What is something you could do right now to help your future self?

⭐️What is the most dangerous thing you have survived?

⭐️Who is a person you’re glad exists?

These are the kinds of questions writer Amanda Deibert asks her Twitter followers everyday, and which she has now gathered into a beautiful gratitude journal called You Already Have the Answers.

In this episode, Andrew and Amanda discuss the ways in which our lives are full of insight and wisdom, if we can only slow down and find a meaningful route inward. Most of us are much stronger and braver than we think. 

Andrew also explains how he came to get his first tattoo in his sixties, and Amanda shares some eye-opening stories illustrating how her early life experiences shaped her grounded, real-life approach to self-love and self-care. 

AND - we have our first listener competition. US and UK based listeners can win a copy of You Already Have the Answers by going to our podcast page and using our “Get Involved” form to submit an answer to the question “What Have You Learned and Put Into Action After Listening to The Meaningful Life?  Entries due by close of day Thursday 15th December.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️How to take a leap of faith

⭐️3 things Amanda Deibert knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there

Buy Amanda Deibert’s book You Already Have the Answers 

Follow Amanda Deibert on Twitter @amandadeibert

You might also like to listen to Andrew’s interview with Chester Elton on How Gratitude Could Revolutionise Your Life 

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Family secrets can live on for generations, shaping our lives in ways we may not recognise or fully understand.

In this episode Andrew talks to Dr Galit Atlas, author of Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma about how our struggles in life are linked to the emotional inheritance we receive from our families.

Dr Atlas is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in Manhattan.She is a clinical assistant professor on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis and faculty at the National Training Program (NTP) and the Four-Year Adult training program at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP) in New York City. 

Dr. Atlas has published three books for clinicians and numerous articles and book chapters that focus primarily on gender and sexuality. Her New York Times publication “A Tale of Two Twins” was the winner of a 2016 Gradiva Award

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️How to repair a relationship with an estranged family member

⭐️3 things Galit Atlas knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. 

Read Dr Galit Atlas’ new book Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma 

Visit Dr Galit Atlas’ website

Follow Dr Galit Atlas on Facebook @GalitAtlas and on Instagram @galit_atlas

If you’re interested in the drama triangle discussed in this episode, you might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with therapist Chris Partridge on Being a Rescuer

You might also like to listen to Andrew’s interview with Julia Samuel MBE on Inherited Pain

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall