My guest this week is Amanda Gilbert, a meditation teacher, speaker, and author of a book called Kindness Now: A 28-Day Guide to Living with Authenticity, Intention, and Compassion (affiliate link). This was Amanda’s second time on the podcast and it was great to catch up with her. This time we focused our discussion around how to develop a consistent meditation practice. If you’ve felt drawn to meditation but have struggled to do it regularly, this conversation is for you.

My guest this week is Dr. Joel Minden, a regular on the Think Act Be podcast. This time we focused on taking things less personally, whether we’re assuming people are upset with us when they’re not, or we’re blaming ourselves when things don’t work out, or anything else. We also talked about thinking errors, or cognitive distortions, that lead us to take things too personally. Toward the end we explored why we don’t have to see our own faults and limitations as personal failings. I think you’ll take a lot from this conversation.

My guest this week is Dr. Jonah Paquette, back for his third time on the podcast. As always it was great to speak with Jonah. This time we focused on his new book, Happily Even After (affiliate link), and especially on how gratitude contributes to happiness. I don’t know about you but I often feel like gratitude is an obligation—something that we’re supposed to do. So Jonah and I explored how to practice gratitude that’s freely given. I think you’ll take a lot from this discussion.

My guest this week is Dr. Carla Naumburg, whose new book is called You Are Not a Sh*tty Parent (affiliate link). We talked about how rare it is for parents to practice self-compassion, which can be a transformative experience. We also explored the difficulty with finding room for self-care, and how to make peace with the chaos that is parenting.

Stress is unavoidable, but we don’t have to be overwhelmed by it. In this week’s episode I offer three simple techniques for managing stress and finding true rest. These tools come from Mindful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Simple Path to Healing, Hope, and Peace (affiliate link). I hope you find them useful!

My guest this week is Dr. Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco. She’s a clinical psychologist and author of Mom Brain: Proven Strategies to Fight the Anxiety, Guilt, and Overwhelming Emotions of Motherhood—And Relax Into Your New Self (affiliate link). Ilyse specializes in helping parents, moms in particular, navigate the challenge and adventure of parenting. I love how she adapts the tools of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for parents. Ilyse obviously gets parenting from the inside, and offers recommendations that you can use in your own life. As always she shares super relatable wisdom in this episode.

My guest this week is Dr. Yael Schonbrun, a clinical psychologist with an excellent new book entitled Work, Parent, Thrive: 12 Science-Backed Strategies to Ditch Guilt, Manage Overwhelm, and Grow Connection (When Everything Feels Like Too Much). This episode is part 2 in a 4-part series on parenting. As you’ll hear in our discussion, Yael has a gift for both/and thinking. She acknowledges the conflict between our roles as parents and people who work for pay, and also underscores the ways that these roles can be mutually enriching.

My guest this week is Dr. Rebecca Schrag Hershberg, author of the excellent book for parents, The Tantrum Survival Guide (affiliate link). Rebecca shared some of her top tips for being a more effective parent, which starts with the simple recognition that we all struggle at times in our relationships with our kids. One of the biggest takeaways is about being present with our kids and finding ways to pause when emotions are high so that we can make better choices. (Which sounds a lot like what we try to help our kids with as parents!)

This week I’m flying solo on the podcast. It’s great to be back with you and I have a few updates since the last episode. I’ll also tell you more about my new book, Mindful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which will be released on Dec. 6, 2022, and I read a passage from the first chapter. In the rest of the episode I share with you some of the most effective ways to manage constant and uncontrollable worry.

My guest this week is Dr. Rachel Turow, author of the forthcoming book, The Self-Talk Workout: Six Science-Backed Strategies to Dissolve Self-Criticism and Transform the Voice in Your Head (affiliate link). In this final part of our series on managing stress, we explored how the way we talk to ourselves is closely tied to our stress levels. Rachel shared some powerful exercises for practicing self-kindness, including a guided exercise you can take part in. Toward the end she described ways to combine techniques to get the most out of them.