If Adam Grant and Brené Brown had a smart, funny, slightly bossy sister who showed up with her own table, her own chairs, and a slightly inappropriate snack tray, you’d get Dr. Abby Medcalf.
Welcome to Workplace Therapy, the podcast where workplace relationships finally get the therapy they’ve always needed. Whether you're burned out from boundary-less coworkers, stuck in a people-pleasing loop with your boss, or dreading yet another “quick” check-in from a micromanaging manager, Abby has the insight and attitude you’ve been craving.
With decades of experience as a psychologist, organizational consultant, and no-nonsense New Yorker, Abby delivers research-backed tips and strategies you can use today. No fluff. No vague leadership lingo. Just honest talk about the human side of work and how to finally feel energized and confident in your career again.
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 26/09/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
35. Remote Work Loneliness: Why You Feel More Isolated Than Ever (And What Actually Helps)
Season 3 · Episode 35
Wednesday, July 15, 2026 • Duration 18:33
You have more flexibility than you've ever had. You're saving hours on a commute. You can work in your pajamas, and nobody knows. And somehow, despite all of that, you feel more isolated, more disconnected, and lonelier at work than you did when you were sitting in an office surrounded by people you didn't even necessarily like. Remote work loneliness is one of the most underreported costs of the modern way of working, and it's affecting far more people than will admit it. Today, I want to tell you what's actually driving it, because it's not what most people think, and what the research says actually helps, as opposed to the advice that sounds good but doesn't move the needle.
Grab the Remote Connection Plan, your one-page guide to building the kind of connection that actually addresses remote work loneliness rather than just filling the silence: https://abbymedcalf.com/remote-connection-plan
34. Working With People You'd Never Choose: When You Don't Like Your Team
Wednesday, July 8, 2026 • Duration 20:23
You didn't hire them and you didn't choose them. In some cases, you wouldn't have them over for dinner if your life depended on it. And yet here you are, expected to collaborate, coordinate, and produce results together five days a week.
Working with people you genuinely don't like is one of the most universal and least discussed workplace experiences. Today, I'm going to tell you what's actually happening neurologically when certain personalities set off your threat response, why the "just be professional" advice falls so flat, and what actually works when you're stuck with a team you'd never have assembled yourself.
Grab the free Team Friction Decoder, your one-page tool for identifying what's actually driving the difficult dynamic and where to focus your energy: https://abbymedcalf.com/team-friction-decoder
33. Perfectionism at Work: When Your High Standards Start Sabotaging You
Season 3 · Episode 33
Wednesday, July 1, 2026 • Duration 25:37
You care deeply about doing good work. You have high standards. You notice details other people miss and you hold yourself to a level of quality that, honestly, has served you well. And somewhere along the way, that same quality that made you good at your job started making your job miserable.
Today I want to talk about perfectionism at work, not as a character flaw or a humblebrag, but as a specific nervous system pattern that has a real cost and a real solution. Because the version of perfectionism that's quietly sabotaging you isn't about standards, it's about fear. And those are two very different things.
Grab the free Perfectionism Reset Tool, your quick guide to catching the pattern in real time and redirecting it toward the work rather than your worth: https://abbymedcalf.com/perfectionism-reset-tool
👉 Pick up a copy of my new book, Boundaries Made Easy: Your Roadmap to Connection, Ease and Joy:
Advertising Inquiries: Privacy & Opt-Out:
32. How to Give and Receive Feedback at Work Without Your Nervous System Losing It
Season 3 · Episode 32
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 • Duration 22:56
Feedback is supposed to be one of the most useful tools at work. It's how we grow, how teams improve, how managers develop their people, how problems get surfaced before they become disasters. And yet most people either dread receiving it, avoid giving it, or deliver it so carefully that nothing useful gets communicated.
Today, I’ll tell you the reason feedback is so hard (spoiler alert: it’s not a communication skills problem, it’s a nervous system problem), and how to give and receive feedback with ease.
Download the free Feedback Reset Card, your guide to preparing to give and receive feedback without your nervous system running the show: https://abbymedcalf.com/feedback-reset-card
You can’t control your boss. You can’t change their personality, override their decisions, or make them manage you the way you wish they would. But you can absolutely influence how the relationship works, how much visibility you get, how well your needs are understood, and how much your contributions actually register. That’s what managing up is. It’s not manipulation. It’s not going around your boss or undermining their authority. It’s the deliberate, strategic work of building a relationship with the person above you so you can do your best work and they can do theirs. Today, I’m walking you through exactly how to do it.
Grab the free Managing Up Starter Kit, your guide to understanding your boss’s working style and communicating in ways that actually land: https://abbymedcalf.com/managing-up-kit
30. Office Gossip and Rumor Mills: How to Stay Out of It Without Becoming Invisible
Season 3 · Episode 30
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 • Duration 19:58
Someone pulls you aside after a meeting. They lean in. They've got something to tell you about a colleague, a decision that's coming, a rumor making the rounds. And you feel it, that pull. The slight quickening. The part of you that wants to know.
Office gossip is one of those workplace dynamics that almost everyone participates in to some degree and almost no one feels good about. Today I'm going to tell you what's actually going on when gossip circulates, why it's so hard to stay out of it, what it costs you when you don't, and how to navigate it in a way that keeps you connected without compromising your integrity or your reputation.
____________________________
Full blog and show notes: https://abbymedcalf.com/office-gossip-rumor-mills-at-work
29. Conflict With a Coworker? Here's How to Actually Fix It
Wednesday, June 3, 2026 • Duration 22:32
Conflict with your boss has a clear power structure. Conflict with someone you manage has a clear direction of authority. But conflict with a peer? That's the one nobody really teaches you how to handle, because it sits in the most ambiguous territory at work, two people at roughly the same level, no one with formal authority over the other, and a problem that isn't going away.
Today I'm going to show you why peer conflict is uniquely hard to navigate, what's actually driving it most of the time, and a four-step approach for resolving it without blowing up the relationship, going over someone's head unnecessarily, or letting it fester into something that affects your whole team.
28. Passive-Aggressive Coworkers: How to Handle the Person Who Never Says What They Mean
Season 3 · Episode 28
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 • Duration 28:05
They said, "Fine." But it wasn't fine. You can tell by the way they said it, the email they copied three people on for no apparent reason, the "just checking in" that was actually a pointed reminder, the compliment that somehow left you feeling worse than an insult would have. Passive-aggressive behavior at work is one of the most maddening dynamics to deal with because it's designed to be deniable. There's nothing you can point to directly, and yet the message is loud and clear. Today I'm going to tell you what's actually driving this behavior, why it gets under your skin the way it does, and exactly how to respond without getting pulled into their game.
👉 Pick up The Workbook: Boundaries Made Easier to use as a companion to the book or as a standalone masterclass:
Advertising Inquiries: Privacy & Opt-Out:
27. Can't Say No at Work? Here's How to Start (Without the Fallout)
Season 3 · Episode 27
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 • Duration 21:45
Last episode, I told you why you can't stop people-pleasing at work. Today, I'm giving you what to actually say because knowing the pattern isn't enough. When your boss drops something on your desk at 4pm Friday, or a colleague asks you to cover for them again, or you're sitting in a meeting watching a bad decision get made and nobody's pushing back, you need words. Ones that don't blow up the relationship, don't make you sound difficult, and don't send you home replaying the conversation for three hours.
That's what today is. Six situations where people-pleasing shows up most at work, and the exact language to handle each one without losing yourself or burning a bridge.
26. People-Pleasing at Work: Why You Can't Stop (And What It's Really Costing You)
Season 3 · Episode 26
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 • Duration 18:50
You say yes when you mean no. You take on work that isn't yours because saying no feels too risky. You soften feedback until it loses its meaning, apologize for things that aren't your fault, and spend more energy managing other people's emotions than doing your actual job. And the strangest part? You know you're doing it. You can see it happening in real time. And you still can't stop.
People-pleasing at work isn't a habit you can just decide to break. It's a nervous system strategy that your brain developed for very good reasons, and until you understand those reasons, willpower won't touch it. Today you'll get the psychology and neuroscience behind why people-pleasing is so hard to quit, what it's actually costing you at work, and my three steps to change it.
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Ready to dig deeper? Take one of my online courses (some are FREE!) or grab a workbook: https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
A great idea to stay motivated and keep your head in a positive direction is to buy some of my fabulous, inspirational merchandise. Get yourself a t-shirt, mug, tote bag or notebook with that daily reminder that you’ve got this! https://abbymedcalf.com/shop
Discover shows related to Workplace Therapy with Dr. Abby Medcalf, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
