This is the podcast’s five-year anniversary, and over that time I’ve submerged myself in psychology, self-help, and personal growth content - and as a result I’ve changed in many important ways. At the same time, some things have been very hard to change. It's surprising how even after learning so much I still often feel like I’m pushing the same old rocks up the same old hills. 
On today’s episode I’m joined by Dr. Rick Hanson to explore why we struggle to get better, how much change is realistically possible, what makes real change hard, the hidden barriers to lasting change, and what we can do to overcome them.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
3:55: Why do you want to change?
4:50: Four fundamental strategies
7:00: Three common issues
9:20: Effort, skillfulness, and luck
12:40: People’s autonomy about whether they want to change or not
13:50: “Tailwinds” to help yourself
17:30: Secondary gains, avoiding change, and naming payoffs and costs
24:15: Levity and affection for yourself
27:15: Starting by owning that we choose our behavior
30:10: Resistance and the parts of us that don’t want to change
34:00: Framing, starting with benefits, and absolving shame
39:35: Tactics vs. Strategies
42:30: Celebrating small change, aiming for big healing
46:40: Recap
New Online Course From Dr. Rick: Learn the tools you need to build strong, healthy, fulfilling relationships of all kinds in Rick's new Strong Heart Relationship Series. The program begins on February 18th, and all the teaching is recorded so you can watch on your own schedule. Visit RickHanson.net/strongheart to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.
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This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and you can join over a million people using the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.
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Why Don't We Get Better?

Forrest Hanson is joined by clinical psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson and a world-class group of experts to explore the practical science of lasting well-being. Conversations focus on the key insights from psychology, science, and contemplative practice that you need to build reliable inner strengths, overcome your challenges, and get the most out of life. New episodes every Monday.

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Self-Improvement

Dr. Lindsay Gibson joins the podcast to share her groundbreaking work on emotional maturity. Forrest and Dr. Gibson explore how growing up with emotionally immature caregivers can affect our adult relationships, and what we can do to recover from these experiences, build healthier patterns, and disentangle from emotionally immature people. They start by discussing what emotional immaturity means, some of its key characteristics, and the consequences of growing up with emotionally immature parents. They then talk about how we can move away from “role-self” and develop a deeper connection with who we really are. You’ll learn practical tools for recognizing emotionally immature people, managing your relationships with them effectively, and establishing healthy boundaries.
About our Guest: Dr. Lindsay Gibson is a clinical psychologist and the author of a number of books including Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents and Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People. Her most recent work is the Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents Guided Journal.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:20: What is emotional immaturity?
7:25: Affective realism and involuntary coping mechanisms
14:00: An example of a childhood with emotionally immature caregivers
18:50: The “role-self,” and how children respond to a parent’s lack of empathy
25:15: Receiving guidance from the authentic self
29:25: How the role-self affects relationships in adulthood
41:25: Healthier relationships by connecting with the authentic self
50:10: Letting go of healing fantasies in adult relationships
56:10: Guilt, emotional coercion, fear of loneliness, and finding optimal distance
1:02:55: How to identify with yourself as a secure base
1:06:20: Recap
Offer from Dr. Rick: If you'd like to improve your self-worth, check out Rick's new 4-hour, live online workshop. You'll learn methods and practices that can actually change your brain and your habits, so you start nurturing your sense of worth and belonging. Our listeners can get 20% off with coupon code BeingWell20: https://selfworthworkshop.com/
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there. 
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
Trust your gut with Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic. Go to Seed.com/BEINGWELL and use code 25BEINGWELL to get 25% off your first month. 
Zocdoc helps you find expert doctors and medical professionals that specialize in the care you need, and deliver the type of experience you want. Head to zocdoc.com/being and download the Zocdoc app for FREE.
Visit airdoctorpro.com and use promo code BEING to receive up to $300 off air purifiers! When you use our code, you’ll also receive a free 3-year warranty on any unit, an $84 value
Connect with the show:

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Dealing with Emotionally Immature People (and Parents) with Dr. Lindsay Gibson

Twentysomethings are bombarded with misinformation, hype, and contradictory messages that pull them in many different directions. Dr. Meg Jay, a specialist on what she calls the “defining decade,” joins Forrest to explore how we can navigate this transformative and often anxiety-provoking time in our lives. They discuss the biggest misunderstandings about our 20s, balancing having fun with setting yourself up for the future, and common mental health issues. Topics include the pitfalls of self-diagnosis, creating a strong self-concept and building identity capital, dealing with burnout, strengthening our relationships, and more. 
About our Guest: Dr. Meg Jay is a developmental clinical psychologist who specializes in twentysomethings. She is on faculty at the University of Virginia, and is the author of a number of wonderful books, including The Defining Decade and her new book The Twentysomething Treatment: A Revolutionary Remedy for an Uncertain Age.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:20: The biggest misunderstanding about life in your 20s
4:55: Uncertainty, and becoming confident in our abilities
8:30: Nihilism about the current state of the world
14:50: Self-diagnosis, social media, and over medication
23:25: The “strength of weak ties”
27:20: Self-concept and identity capital
30:30: What helps people take action
34:15: Navigating avoidance and anxiety
41:55: Finding evidence that you’re capable of being loved
46:35: What to do you when you feel stuck
49:20: How to choose purpose
58:55: Advice to people who feel like they messed up their 20s
1:04:45: Recap
Offer from Dr. Rick: If you'd like to improve your self-worth, check out Rick's new 4-hour, live online workshop. You'll learn methods and practices that can actually change your brain and your habits, so you start nurturing your sense of worth and belonging. Our listeners can get 20% off with coupon code BeingWell20: https://selfworthworkshop.com/
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there. 
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
Zocdoc helps you find expert doctors and medical professionals that specialize in the care you need, and deliver the type of experience you want. Head to zocdoc.com/being and download the Zocdoc app for FREE.
Trust your gut with Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic. Go to Seed.com/BEINGWELL and use code 25BEINGWELL to get 25% off your first month. 
OneSkin focuses on delivering more than superficial results for your skin. Get started today with 15% off using code BEINGWELL at oneskin.co. 
Connect with the show:

Subscribe on iTunes

Follow Forrest on YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

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How to Make the Most of Your 20s with Dr. Meg Jay

What do dissociation, avoidance, and emotional shutdown all have in common? They’re connected to the “freeze” response to stress. In one of our favorite episodes to date, Dr. Rick and Forrest explore the freeze response in detail. 
They talk about what stress responses are, how they impact our behavior, and why different people tend to default to different coping strategies. Forrest explains what freezing looks like in practice, and why the freeze response can be particularly difficult to navigate. Dr. Rick then shares a number of helpful strategies for working with the freeze response, including strengthening self-confidence, and the feeling of ourselves as someone who can create safety. Towards the end of the episode they discuss managing these tendencies in a relationship.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction 
1:15: Understanding stress responses
9:05: Stress responses in relationship
15:25: Why it's hard to see that you're freezing
19:05: Dissociation, and what freezing looks like in practice
23:55: Steps of moving through dissociation
30:05: Self-awareness, ‘global’ conditioning, and unconditional positive regard
38:10: How Rick would work with someone who freezes: a hypothetical case study
53:45: Seeing yourself as a source of safety
1:02:55: Recap
Offer from Dr. Rick: If you'd like to improve your self-worth, check out Rick's new 4-hour, live online workshop. You'll learn methods and practices that can actually change your brain and your habits, so you start nurturing your sense of worth and belonging. Our listeners can get 20% off with coupon code BeingWell20: https://selfworthworkshop.com/
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there. 
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors
OneSkin focuses on delivering more than superficial results for your skin. Get started today with 15% off using code BEINGWELL at oneskin.co. 
Get your stand on with UPLIFT Desk! Go to UPLIFT Desk.com/BEINGWELL for 5% off your order of one of their fantastic standing desks or office products.
Trust your gut with Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic. Go to Seed.com/BEINGWELL and use code 25BEINGWELL to get 25% off your first month. 
Connect with the show:

Subscribe on iTunes

Follow Forrest on YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Follow Forrest on Instagram

Follow Rick on Facebook

Follow Forrest on Facebook

Visit Forrest's website


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing the Freeze Response: Dissociation, Emotional Shutdown, and Creating Safety

Forrest and Dr. Rick open up the mailbag and answer questions from listeners focused on how we can work with irrational fears, create separation from our thoughts and feelings, and set healthy boundaries in dysfunctional families. Rick then goes off on the topic of “evidence-based” vs. “not evidence-based” approaches to therapy, leading to an interesting conversation about research, statistical significance, and what makes for good therapy. We think you’ll enjoy this one, thanks for listening!
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction 
1:25: How can I respond to fears I know are irrational?
11:05: How can I disidentify from my thoughts?
21:35: How do I set healthy boundaries in a dysfunctional family system?
39:25: Are “not evidence-based” therapeutic approaches such as IFS or somatic therapy inferior to “evidence-based” approaches like CBT?
55:20: My relationship is full of conflict, and I’m considering divorce. How should I think this through?
1:05:10: Recap
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there. 
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Soonsors
Get your stand on with UPLIFT Desk! Go to UPLIFT Desk.com/BEINGWELL for 5% off your order of one of their fantastic standing desks or office products.
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
Trust your gut with Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic. Go to Seed.com/BEINGWELL and use code 25BEINGWELL to get 25% off your first month. 
Start each day right with IQBAR’s bars, hydration mixes, and mushroom coffees. Just text BEINGWELL to sixty-four thousand (64-000) and get an exclusive offer of 20% off plus free shipping.
Connect with the show:

Subscribe on iTunes

Follow Forrest on YouTube

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Working with Irrational Fears, Setting Healthy Boundaries, and Understanding Therapy: March Mailbag

Our 20s are a unique decade filled with opportunity…including the opportunity to make a lot of mistakes. On today’s episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest share (roughly) 10 things they wish they’d known back then. They explore the balance of enjoying freedom with the compounding value of effort, a framework for finding meaning and purpose, and some of the common pitfalls that keep us stuck. Regardless of where you are in life, you’ll learn how to find and embrace your natural talents, appreciate meaningful relationships, and see things in a new light. 
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction 
1:35: The importance of the choices you make in your 20s
4:45: Balance the freedom of youth with the value of action
8:00: Embrace mentorship
13:40: Find the Three Circles: Talent, Enjoyment, and Values
21:30: Try things, and let yourself change
24:20: Avoid getting stuck (and codependent relationships)
27:35: Identify useful feedback
31:00: Avoid swerving away from natural talents, kindred spirits, good advice, and failure
36:05: The intrinsic value of creating, and lightening up about results
38:25: Focus on where you have agency
44:45: Appreciate relationships based on shared values
46:55: You get to decide what your relationships look like
47:50: Showing appreciation for your younger self
49:50: Recap
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there. 
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors
Get your stand on with UPLIFT Desk! Go to UPLIFT Desk.com/BEINGWELL for 5% off your order of one of their fantastic standing desks or office products.
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
Trust your gut with Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic. Go to Seed.com/BEINGWELL and use code 25BEINGWELL to get 25% off your first month. 
Start each day right with IQBAR’s bars, hydration mixes, and mushroom coffees. Just text BEINGWELL to sixty-four thousand (64-000) and get an exclusive offer of 20% off plus free shipping.
Connect with the show:

Subscribe on iTunes

Follow Forrest on YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Follow Forrest on Instagram

Follow Rick on Facebook

Follow Forrest on Facebook

Visit Forrest's website


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Don't We Get Better?

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