Un-Normal with Dr Emma Svanberg

Today I'm wondering why we so often look up to others as gurus. What happens when psychologists become celebrities? How can we learn about humans and relationships if we bring ego into that relationship?

In the aftermath of the U.S. election, I'm thinking about my own desire to change things. Maybe I'm really talking about activism fatigue, or maybe it's just that I'm getting older. Some of this is behind a paywall mainly because I talk about my own ego.

Today I'm talking about dissociation and becoming more 'alive' to the world as part of exploring autism and unmasking. This one is for paid subscribers because it's a more personal one.

A short one this week about the nagging disappointment of knowing you can't complete....life

I so often, as a psychologist, depended on models and theories. Recently, I'm letting go of that to focus on co-regulation. Meeting people heart to heart, nervous system to nervous system rather than just mind to mind. Here I discuss the process I've been through to do this, and I ask you a few questions about what stops us connecting heart to heart.

Today I'm wondering about a few loose threads - pulling together some seemingly disparate ideas under the umbrella of individualism. If we are told we must cope alone, but individualism is harming us, how to we begin to turn to others to heal?

In this week's episode, I'm talking about my discomfort at how social media (and the world in general!) encourages us to commodify ourselves and other people. What do we lose when our social relationships become 'for profit'?

Exploring whether attempting to be 'well rounded' is possible for children (and adults) who hyperfocus

We talk about 'haves and have-nots', people who are financially and environmentally secure. But I wonder if there is also a key difference between people who are able to access help and support, and those who have had repeated experiences of not being supported (or even, being shamed for asking for help).