The Overwhelmed Brain

Polyamory sounded like a good idea...

Imagine you have a partner who decides they want to date someone else. Imagine being okay with it. Most people wouldn't be. In this episode, someone told me that this hap

Follow-up - When people make you believe untruthful things about yourself.

Follow-up episode for "688 - When people make you believe untruthful things about yourself." Take time to reflect on 10 self-assessment questions based on the key themes

When people make you believe untruthful things about yourself

Some people have a way of making us feel bad about ourselves. There's no reason for it. Some people are just awful. And they do it to get a reaction from us, giving them

Follow up - Is it love or control

This is a follow-up episode for number 687: "Is it love or control?" Take time to reflect on 10 self-assessment questions based on the key themes from that episode. Pause

Is it love or control?

Feeling strangled by someone else's demands, guilt trips, or subtle punishments? In this episode, I provide a list of both loving and controlling behaviors so you have no

When you just don't see eye to eye on everything and it's a big problem

Wanting different things than your partner (kids, stability, freedom) doesn't make you a bad person — it makes this relationship a system with incompatible "inputs." And

Grounding yourself to make the best decisions possible

Life is really all about a series of decisions from moment to moment. Most are no-brainers: You know when to eat, for example. But others can literally be life-changing.

One way to stop the head games

Some conversations go down a path of dysfunction because one or both people refuse to be direct, or perhaps they're trying to manipulate to get a certain outcome. The hea

How to express emotions for the emotionally unexpressive

If you feel stuck or awkward expressing emotions, I've been there! In this episode, I confront how avoidance, people-pleasing, fear of judgment, and more keep you emotion

The foundation of all dysfunctional behavior

Toxic, dysfunctional, and emotionally abusive behavior stem from the same foundational challenges in almost everyone. Learning what those challenges are and healing them

Is toxic energy blocking the life you want?

What are the obstacles to peace, comfort, and happiness? You may be walking amongst people and things right now that are literally draining positivity from your life.

Are you living your life on a foundation of fears and insecurities?

Sometimes what drives our decisions isn't necessarily what has our best interests in mind. Old survival mechanisms can be running the show, steering us into unfavorable o

Can you get more time with someone without controlling what they do with their time?

You're not crazy for feeling lonely in a relationship where schedules clash and one of you seems to be filling their time with other things to do. Hmm... what's really go

Is sarcasm supposed to be funny or mean or...

Sarcasm can hide contempt while being disguised as humor. But, it can also bring humor to a difficult situation. Is there a limit to sarcasm and can it hurt relationships

When you don't talk about the hard stuff, hard stuff tends to stick around

It might feel better not knowing the answers to some questions becuase, after all, knowing might mean you now have to do something about it. But when you don't ask the ha

When your values collide with others

What you value may not be what others value, but should that lead to black and white, all or nothing thinking where one person has to give something up so the other perso

Moving forward through loss

After loss, it can feel like there's no movement, as if time stopped on that exact moment of grief or pain, never to move forward again. However, grief, sadness, pain, an

When those we love die

The death of my brother-in-law was hard and got me revisiting the concept of the death of loved ones. No one can tell you it's going to be okay, even though eventually yo

The "It's not my fault" apology

If you've ever felt hurt or offended by someone's words or actions, and their "apology" was more like a deflection than compassion for how it affected you, was it really

Making hard decisions when you're not sure what's true

Sometimes you might wonder if things are going to change or not. Perhaps you're waiting for someone to show up better or differently, or your waiting for your boss to sto