Forrest Hanson is joined by clinical psychologist (and his dad) 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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How to Live in an Anxious World: Uncertainty, Agency, and Resilience
Season 3 · Episode 325
Monday, August 26, 2024 • Duration 01:06:05
In this timely episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest tackle the anxiety and uncertainty so many are feeling about the state of today’s world. They discuss why everything feels so overwhelming right now, share practical ways to manage those emotions, and explore how we can stay grounded, take ownership of what we can control, and maintain a sense of connection with others. Topics include managing uncertainty, wise skepticism, developing agency, accepting impermanence, and understanding grief as a deep form of love and connection. Whether you're feeling anxious about global events or just navigating daily life, this episode offers practical advice for building resilience.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:55: Why do things feel so terrifying?
11:45: A typical response to the state of the world
17:40: Recognizing how much uncertainty there is
25:35: Feeling grounded in your personal integrity
32:30: Taking ownership of what you are able to contribute
39:00: Our felt sense of connection with others
44:20: Accepting impermanence
49:00: Grief as a form of love and connection
54:15: Recap
I am now writing on Substack, check out my work there.
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
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Embracing Perfectionism with Katherine Morgan Schafler
Season 3 · Episode 324
Monday, August 19, 2024 • Duration 01:19:21
Forrest explores how we can harness perfectionism’s strengths without getting captured by its vulnerabilities with therapist and author Katherine Morgan Schafler. They talk about perfectionism’s bad branding, and how our relationship with perfectionism can lead to it being either a superpower or a stumbling block. They discuss the different types of perfectionists, the limitations of defining perfectionism merely as a defense against criticism, and the importance of shifting our language around self-criticism. You’ll learn about the difference between power and control, why self-compassion beats self-punishment, and how to keep perfectionism in check while still reaching your goals.
About our Guest: Katherine is a psychotherapist, former on-site therapist at Google, and author of the recent book The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:35: Defining perfectionism
6:00: Ideals, identity, and asking yourself how and why you’re striving
12:40: The five types of perfectionists
21:55: Why defining perfectionism as a ‘defense against criticism’ falls short
28:20: Changing our vocabulary around self-criticism
34:00: Why self-punishment doesn’t work
38:10: The difference between power and control
44:40: Splitting vs. scaling, and reaching out for connection
49:10: When perfectionistic tendencies invade our relationships
54:10: The intention that drives real goals, and finding your metric for measuring success
1:07:10: Recap
I am now writing on Substack, check out my work there.
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors
Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/beingwell.
Transform your health with the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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.
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
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The Fawn Response: People Pleasing, Self-Abandonment, and Standing Up for Yourself
Season 3 · Episode 315
Monday, June 17, 2024 • Duration 01:13:14
Dr. Rick and Forrest finish their series on the stress responses with the fawn response: an appeasement strategy where we manage stressful situations by giving others what they want. Rick and Forrest start by discussing common symptoms, including people pleasing, self-abandonment, difficulty saying no, weak boundaries, and chronic self-sacrifice. They talk about the roots of the fawn response and its connection to complex PTSD before exploring people pleasing in detail. In the second half of the episode they focus on practical tools for developing healthy boundaries, self-acceptance, and a stronger sense of self.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
2:15: What the fawn response looks like
9:05: Power imbalances, shame, and contempt
11:35: What personal history tends to lead to fawning?
20:00: How to work on the tendency to fawn
36:30: Shame, self-acceptance, and opening up to self-expression
41:25: The fawn response in relationship
46:40: Becoming your own source of safety
52:20: Making equitable arrangements, and acknowledging your best efforts
1:01:50: Recap
I am now writing on Substack, check out my work there.
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors
Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/beingwell.
Transform your health with the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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.
OneSkin focuses on delivering more than superficial results for your skin. Get started today with 15% off using code BEINGWELL at oneskin.co.
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!
Connect with the show:
Subscribe on iTunes
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Follow Forrest on Instagram
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Visit Forrest's website
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How to Effectively Communicate What You Want
Season 3 · Episode 225
Monday, September 26, 2022 • Duration 01:02:29
On the previous episode of Being Well, we talked about how to identify our wants and needs...but identifying our needs is just the first step. After that comes the tricky business of coming to terms with those needs, and communicating them effectively to other people.
In this episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson explore best practices for claiming and expressing our needs. This includes how to navigate shame and inhibition, make effective agreements, be considerate of the person on the receiving end of our wants, and become more skillful at negotiation and repair.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
2:05: Getting real about meeting our needs.
7:10: Suppressing needs due to self-worth challenges
8:35: Patience, making your offering, and tipping points
11:45: Inhibition, and negotiating our needs with other people
15:50: Non-Violent Communication and “Wise Speech” models
26:30: The need for multiple cycles of communication
28:20: Expecting defeat, and two big moments of pain
32:10: Keeping agreements
37:45: Confidence in the ability to repair
39:35: Considering the person on the receiving end of your communication
43:00: Generosity
45:15: Questions to ask when feeling uncertain about how to express a need
49:30: Death by a thousand cuts, and facing discomfort
52:10: Asking others, “What else do you want from me?”
54:30: Recap
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors:
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MDbio is a plant-based medicine company with natural products that address sleep, anxiety, pain, and immunity. Get your FREE 10-count sample pack by going to mdbiowellness.com and entering the promo code BEINGWELL at checkout!
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Discovering Your Wants and Needs
Season 3 · Episode 224
Monday, September 19, 2022 • Duration 01:04:48
Everyone has needs, but many people find it difficult to identify what authentically matters to them. Even when we can identify them, shame or fear often stops us from expressing those needs to others or taking the practical steps that would help us achieve them.
Meeting our needs is a major source of well-being, and people who can identify their needs are more likely to get them met. On today’s episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson focus on how to look inside, and figure out what you really need. They discuss different frameworks for categorizing our needs, what to do when we are confused by our desires, and how to get in touch with what you really want.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
2:05: Common features among people who struggle to name their desires
7:05: Three basic steps to relate to wants and needs
8:00: Different frameworks for categorizing wants and needs
21:00: What helped Rick get in touch with his own wants and needs?
28:00: An experiential exercise
35:10: Why addressing your needs and wants is not just naval gazing
38:40: Forrest’s suggestions based on his own experience
45:25: What to do when what we want is probably not best for us
51:40: Creating a personal manifesto
54:30: Recap
New Course From Rick! Learn the lessons of a lifetime in the new and improved Foundations of Wellbeing 2.0 program. This yearlong, online program teaches you how to grow the 12 key inner strengths that lead to lasting wellbeing during difficult times. Our New Year's sale is running now, and you can use the code BeingWell25 to get an additional 25% off the purchase price.
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!
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Healing Trauma in a Toxic Culture with Dr. Gabor Maté
Season 3 · Episode 223
Monday, September 12, 2022 • Duration 01:05:03
Renowned physician Dr. Gabor Maté joins Rick and Forrest to explore the many problems for our bodies and minds that arise out of our modern culture, and what we can do to meet our needs, heal ourselves, and become more whole. They discuss our increasing separation from one another, issues with aspects of the medical model, the true nature of addiction, the developmental needs of children, the myth of “normal,” and recovering from traumatic experiences.
About Our Guest: Dr. Gabor Maté is one of the world’s leading experts on trauma, addiction, and childhood development. His work has had an enormous impact on how we understand the interactions between our internal world and the world around us, and he is the bestselling author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Scattered Minds, and his newest book The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:55: What Gabor means by a toxic culture
4:25: Interpersonal biology - our physiology is modulated by our relationships
7:10: What components are needed for a healthy culture?
11:55: Examples of toxic culture’s impact on people’s behavior
15:20: Addiction
21:00: How and when to distinguish degrees of trauma
27:05: Where and when to express healthy anger
33:10: How turning against the self manifests as illness
36:45: What supports people in returning to their authentic nature?
40:00: Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and creating a sacred context
41:45: Grief, integration, and letting go
44:55: Gabor’s relationship with his children
48:25: Five kinds of compassion, disillusionment, and truth
51:20: Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary?
53:25: 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.
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!
Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.
Connect with the show:
Subscribe on iTunes
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Understanding, Recognizing, and Dealing with Narcissists with Dr. Craig Malkin
Season 3 · Episode 222
Monday, September 5, 2022 • Duration 01:08:23
We all have narcissistic traits. Having some sense of our own specialness isn’t just normal, it’s actually psychologically healthy. The problems start when people go beyond normal levels, and become addicted to feeling special. On this episode, Forrest is joined by Dr. Craig Malkin to explore narcissism and narcissistic traits. They talk about the different forms narcissism takes, the difference between narcissistic traits and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), red flags, dealing with narcissists, treatment options, and finding the “right amount” of feeling special.
About our Guest: Dr. Malkin is a Lecturer in Psychology for Harvard Medical School, a licensed psychologist with several decades of clinical experience, and the author of Rethinking Narcissism: The Secret to Recognizing and Coping with Narcissists. He also has a great YouTube channel.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:35: Narcissism as a pervasive universal trait
4:10: What differentiates healthy narcissism vs. disordered narcissism?
5:45: “Triple E” - exploitation, entitlement, empathy impairments
6:45: Incapable of empathy, or unmotivated?
9:10: What distinguishes having narcissistic traits from having NPD?
13:05: Extraverted, covert, and communal narcissism
23:10: Healthy and unhealthy narcissistic traits often go together
25:20: Insecure attachment
28:30: Emotional hot potato
32:10: Social and cultural power dynamics
36:25: What does healing narcissism look like?
42:55: What modalities do you use in therapy?
45:20: Difficult relationships, communal activation, empathy prompts
50:35: Extinction bursts and using anxiety responses in therapy
53:25: How do you repair with your partner?
57:05: Recap
Grief and Loss Workshop: We all face losses in life, from separation and disappointment to shocking, even traumatic events. Join me August 13 and 14 for 7 hours of LIVE, online teaching focused on learning simple, powerful practices that help us come to terms with loss, heal, and find happiness again. Use coupon code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off the registration price.
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors:
Bombas designed their socks, shirts, and underwear to be the clothes you can’t wait to put on every day. Visit bombas.com/beingwell and use code beingwell for 20% off.
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, 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.
Connect with the show:
Subscribe on iTunes
Follow Forrest on YouTube
Follow us on Instagram
Follow Forrest on Instagram
Follow Rick on Facebook
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Visit Forrest's website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dealing with Difficult Emotions with Mollie West Duffy
Season 3 · Episode 221
Monday, August 29, 2022 • Duration 01:11:25
We all experience big, difficult feelings, from common emotions like uncertainty, anger, despair, and regret, to difficult experiences like the pains of comparison, burnout, and perfectionism. On today’s episode of Being Well Podcast, Forrest is joined by the wonderful author, coach, and content creator Mollie West Duffy to explore how we can accept those big feelings, learn to live alongside them, and develop tools that help us deal with them more effectively.
About Our Guest: Mollie is an expert in organizational design, development, and leadership who has helped advise and coach executives and founders at companies including Google, Casper, and LinkedIn. She’s the co-author of the bestselling book No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work, and the recently released Big Feelings: How To Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay, and is also one half of the Instagram account, @lizandmollie.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:30: Why is Mollie’s new book called Big Feelings?
5:10: The useful flip side
6:45: How Mollie’s relationship to anger changed during the creation of this book
9:20: Difficult emotions as a resource and source of regulation
11:30: Unhelpful myths in how to deal with difficult emotions
16:45: Healthy responses to those myths
21:10: Vulnerability
25:50: Emotional granularity
27:05: Lengthening the time between trigger and response
30:05: Processing anxiety
35:25: How to relax the desire for control
41:45: Medication
44:10: Anxiety doesn’t accurately reflect risk
46:40: Burnout - even around things you enjoy
55:25: Comparing our suffering with others
57:05: Comparing our accomplishments with others
1:01:35: Recap
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors:
MDbio is a plant-based medicine company with natural products that address sleep, anxiety, pain, and immunity. Get your FREE 10-count sample pack by going to mdbiowellness.com and entering the promo code BEINGWELL at checkout!
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, 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.
Ready to shake up your protein Ritual? Being Well listeners get 10% off during your first 3 months at ritual.com/WELL.
Connect with the show:
Subscribe on iTunes
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Follow us on Instagram
Follow Forrest on Instagram
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Visit Forrest's website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How to Use Your Diagnosis (Without It Using You)
Season 3 · Episode 220
Monday, August 22, 2022 • Duration 01:07:16
Receiving a diagnosis can be emotionally challenging, and leave a person with a lot of understandable questions: What does this mean? What do I do now? How do I relate to this?
On this episode Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson explore what a diagnosis is, how the diagnostic process works, the limitations of diagnosing someone, dealing with the emotions that come up, and how we can better think about and relate to receiving a diagnosis. Throughout the conversation they focus on how we can come to understand ourselves better, and be liberated by that understanding rather than burdened by it.
ADHD is used a number of times during this conversation as an example, so if you have an ADHD diagnosis this episode could be particularly interesting.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
2:55: What is a diagnosis, and what is the process used to give a diagnosis?
6:50: What is the purpose of diagnosing someone?
8:50: Situating what defines pathology within our evolutionary and cultural context
11:40: Origins of mental health conditions, social environment, and privilege
14:40: How diagnosis done, and differentiating between different diagnoses
25:05: More discussion on environmental and cultural effects
31:10: Three subtypes of ADHD
33:00: The emotional complexity of receiving a diagnosis
42:30: What helps people in working through the emotions that come up?
46:35: Paying attention to your emotional experience as much as solving your problem.
49:35: Mental health awareness, resources, and support from others
51:00: Rick’s response when someone is given a diagnosis
58:50: Recap
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors:
MDbio is a plant-based medicine company with natural products that address sleep, anxiety, pain, and immunity. Get your FREE 10-count sample pack by going to mdbiowellness.com and entering the promo code BEINGWELL at checkout!
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, 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.
Ready to shake up your protein Ritual? Being Well listeners get 10% off during your first 3 months at ritual.com/WELL.
Connect with the show:
Subscribe on iTunes
Follow Forrest on YouTube
Follow us on Instagram
Follow Forrest on Instagram
Follow Rick on Facebook
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Visit Forrest's website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with Dr. Albert Garcia Romeu
Season 3 · Episode 219
Monday, August 15, 2022 • Duration 01:08:43
There’s been an explosion of interest in psychedelics over the last 10 years, and phrases like “psychedelic-assisted therapy” have gone from the relative fringes of the mental health conversation to bursting into the mainstream. Alongside a great deal of hype is a growing body of research revealing the potential of substances like psilocybin and MDMA as novel treatments for depression, addiction, and PTSD.
On today’s episode of Being Well, Forrest is joined by Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu from the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. They explore the history and current state of psychedelic research, their subjective effects, the necessity of the “trip,” how psychedelics work in the brain, why researchers are so interested in these substances, and what a psychedelic-assisted therapy session looks like.
About Our Guest: Dr. Garcia-Romeu is a member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research examines the effects of psychedelics in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction.
Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.
Key Topics:
0:00: Introduction
1:55: Dr. Garcia-Romeu’s background
3:00: What substances have been the focus of research?
8:10: The history of psychedelics
11:15: Usefulness and subjective effects of classical psychedelics (LSD/Psilocybin)
17:35: Ego loss or “ego-death” and the role of spirituality in mental health
21:40: What is happening neurologically with Psilocybin?
27:55: Psychedelics may be the best current treatment option for some conditions
35:05: How close is the research to proving efficacy?
38:05: The relative safety of psychedelics
41:00: What does a psychedelic-assisted therapy session look like?
47:00: Self-guidance in a session
49:50: Duration of treatment, financial and legal access
54:00: Using psychedelics for personal growth, spiritual practice, and even recreation
58:00: Where is the field going?
59:25: Recap
Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.
Sponsors:
Bombas designed their socks, shirts, and underwear to be the clothes you can’t wait to put on every day. Visit bombas.com/beingwell and use code beingwell for 20% off.
Join over a million people using BetterHelp, 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.
Ready to shake up your protein Ritual? Being Well listeners get 10% off during your first 3 months at ritual.com/WELL.
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
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