Minds and Mics

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I chat with trauma and resilience researcher Dr. George Bonanno.

Show Notes:

• How to think clearly about trauma and PTSD
• Common misconceptions about trauma
• The resilience paradox
• The problem with the PTSD diagnosis
• Trauma concept creep
• How to develop resilience (The flexibility sequence)
• The end of trauma?
• Lisa Feldman Barret
• Mechanisms underlying beneficial effects of exercise on mood and emotional health

Learn more about Dr. Bonanno and his work here:

• George Bonanno (Personal Website) →
• The End of Trauma (Book) →

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In this episode of Minds & Mics, I chat with Dr. Daniel Erichsen about better sleep for high-achievers.

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I chat with Liz Fosslien about her new book, Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. We cover topics like perfectionism vs healthy striving, the difference between envy and jealousy, burnout and the Amazon Zen Booth, revenge bedtime procrastination, and the role of personal responsibility in mental health.

Show Notes

• The dark side of “coping” with difficult feelings
• No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work
• Jealousy vs envy
• Benign vs malicious envy
• The role of personal responsibility in mental health
• The Amazon Zen Booth
• How organizations can actually help foster well-being and resilience
• The relationships between burnout and self-awareness
• Why setting boundaries is so hard (and how to make it a little easier)
• Revenge bedtime procrastination
• Emotional opportunity cost
• Perfectionism and self-kindness
• Healthy striving vs perfectionism
• The benefits of playfulness

Learn more about Liz and her work here:

• Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay (book)
• LizandMollie.com (website)

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In this episode of Minds & Mics, I chat with Dr. Steve Hayes, the founder of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). We talk about everything from the importance of psychological flexibility and emotional tolerance to the future of psychotherapy and what to look for in a great therapist.

Show Notes

• Psychological flexibility
• Psychological rigidity
• Social anxiety and panic attacks
• Where does self-judgment and negative self-talk come from?
• The psychological function of religion and wisdom traditions
• Emotional tolerance
• 3rd wave behavior therapy, process-based therapy, and the future of psychotherapy
• What to look for in a good therapist 
• 2nd wave humanistic therapy

Learn more about Steve and his work here:

• The Liberated Mind (Book)
• Steven C Hayes (website)

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In the latest episode of Minds & Mics, I chatted with Michael Bungay Stanier about his new book How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters and a range of topics, including the obligation we all have to be "doubly ambitious," why SMART goals aren't usually very smart, the case for working in 6-week cycles, and the genius of cartoonist Gary Larson.

Show Notes

• What makes a book useful?
• The Coaching Habit
• Being “doubly ambitious” 
• How to think about overwhelm: realistic, consistent, grace 
• Working in 6-week cycles
• Why Michael hates SMART goals
• Should we follow our passion? 
• Relaxing into commitment
• Prizes and punishments of maintaining the status quo
• The Call of the Wild (Gary Larson)
• The value of the humble pros and cons list

Learn more about Michael and his work here:

• How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters (Book)
• Michael's Website

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

Kai Koch is the co-founder of ahead, which is a software company and app for building emotional intelligence. We talk about the opportunities and challenges for technology in emotional health, self-awareness, emotional intelligence in organizations, and what the future of technology-assisted emotional health might look like.

Show Notes

• The unique benefits of mobile technology for emotional health
• Making self-awareness social
• Making personal growth social
• Emotional granularity
• Emotional intelligence in organizations
• The future of technology for emotional health

Learn more about Kai and his work here:

• Ahead App
• Self-Awareness Test

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

Sleep psychologist Dr. Jade Wu returns to the show to talk specifically about sleep issues for new moms, including what’s normal and what should be addressed professionally, how sleep and postpartum depression interact, intrusive thoughts and anxiety, and some practical tips for new moms to get their sleep back on track.

Show Notes

• How sleep changes in pregnancy and postpartum
• Sleep deprivation vs circadian disruptions
• Types of sleep disturbances that predict postpartum depression
• Tips for minimizing sleep issues as a new parent
• How much to nap as a new mom
• What old-school pediatricians get wrong about sleep with new babies
• Parasomnias in pregnancy and postpartum
• Exploding head syndrome
• Sleep paralysis
• Postpartum anxiety
• REM rebound and nightmares
• Intrusive thoughts
• Sleep apnea and sleep-disordered breathing
• Poor sleep and postpartum depression 

Learn more about Jade and her work here:

• Website: JadeWuPHD.com
• Twitter: @jadewuphd

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Jade and I chat about uncommon sleep misconceptions, how to deal with nightmares, intergenerational sleep trauma, the problem with sleep hygiene, and the message about sleep Jade wants carved on her gravestone.

Show Notes

• Uncommon sleep myths and misconceptions
• My other chat about sleep myths with Dr. Daniel Erichsen
• Better Sleep with insomnia coach Martin Reed
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
• Conditioned arousal
• Bed time vs rise time
• How much deep sleep do you actually need?
• What causes nightmares?
• The behavioral model of nightmares and imagery rehearsal therapy 
• Parasomnias
• Sleep and social justice
• Intergenerational sleep trauma
• The problem with sleep hygiene
• Tired vs sleepy
• The message about sleep Jade wants carved on her gravestone

Learn more about Jade and her work here:

• Website: JadeWuPHD.com
• Twitter: @jadewuphd

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with author Nir Eyal about the relationship between technology use and wellbeing among children, parenting in the age of social media, and the virtues of getting out of your kids’ way.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Common misconceptions about kids and technology use
• Why screen time is a pointless metric
• What’s really behind increased rates of suicide and depression among kids?
• The mental health benefits of technology
• Root vs proximate cause of technology overuse
• Psychological nutrients
• Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory
• The importance of free play
• The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gropnik
• Variable reinforcement
• Play Anything by Ian Bogost
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Why consistent family meals are so important
• Implementation intentions and timeboxing

You can learn more about Nir and his work here:

• NirAndFar (Wesbite)
• Indistractable: How to Control Your attention and Choose Your Life (Book)

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with psychologist and author Pia Callesen about overthinking and the metacognitive approach to emotional struggles like anxiety and depression.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• What is overthinking, exactly?
• Types of overthinking
• The 2 reasons why we overthink
• The difference between anxious and depressive overthinking
• Overthinking as a universal mechanism for emotional suffering
• Scheduled overthinking
• Metacognitive Therapy vs traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Metacognitive Therapy vs Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• The busy train station metaphor
• The windowpane experiment
• The problem with coping skills
• How will psychotherapy be different in 50 years?

You can learn more about Pia and her work here:

• Pia’s website
• Pia’s book: Live More Think Less: Overcoming Depression and Sadness with Metacognitive Therapy
• Pia’s article on overthinking in Psyche: How to Stop Overthinking

Get New Episodes First

Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released