Peace, Love, and Psychology
A Clinical Psychologist explores fundamental principles of psychology and sound approaches to improving your overall mental health.
Episodes
34 episodes
Episode 34: Three Angry People
Anger is one of the least understood and appreciated of the primary human emotions. Like all energy in the universe, anger, in the form of electrical and chemical energy, does not just go away on its own. When we try to ignore it, p...
Episode 33: Fixing the Most Important Relationship You Have
How we treat ourselves—our self-talk, our self-criticism, and the attributions we make about our emotional state—is one of the most significant determining factors that affects our emotional well-being and our functioning in life. Over the cour...
Episode 32: Ending the War between Logic and Emotion
A very common issue many of us struggle with is the apparent conflict between our logical minds and our feelings. There are times when the tension between what we think is logical or right and what we feel is like a perpetual tug-of-war. In thi...
Episode 31: Growing Up with a Narcissistic Parent
The issue of narcissism has found its way into the culture as a popular topic in the realm of intimate relationships, work relationships, and family dynamics. In this episode, we examine the topic from the perspective of what it means to be ...
Episode 30: Understanding and Treating Neuroplastic Pain
In this episode we continue the discussion about recent advances in understanding and treating neuroplastic pain. Pain can exist on a spectrum between purely structural and purely neuroplastic, and many types of chronic pain mig...
Episode 29: Neuroplasticity, Chronic Pain, and the Pain/Fear Cycle
Recent developments in the area of neuropsychology have highlighted the role of neuroplasticity in the perception of chronic pain. In this episode we will first examine current research about neuroplasticity and how it relates t...
Episode 28: What is Our Anger Trying to Teach Us?
Do you want to gain insight into the meaning of your anger and master it once and for all? Dr. Raker's new book, Disarm the Bomb! Defuse ANGER Before it Derails Your Life, along with the Workbook & Study Guide
Episode 27: Two Simple Ideas That Can Radically Change Your Life
In this episode, we explore two fundamental principles in Clinical Psychology that have far-ranging implications for the way we feel, think, and relate to other people. These ideas are simple to understand, but they play an important role in di...
Episode 26: The Anatomy of Emotional Hijacking
In this episode, we address the topic of Emotional Hijacking, a process where our emotions are stirred up in a way that we may struggle to make rational, healthy choices or engage in effective planning for our long-term benefit....
Episode 25: Understanding Religious Trauma
I recently asked a group of people familiar with the podcast what subjects they would like to hear addressed in a future episode. With little hesitation, two people suggested the topic of Religious Trauma. This is a topic that c...
Episode 24: If I Could Do Anything, What Would That Be?
It is impossible to go anywhere in life if we do not know where we want to go. In this episode, we explore a famous technique used throughout the history of psychotherapy to help people clarify their direction in life. Known by many names, this...
Episode 23: The Path to More Fulfilling Friendship
Although there are not as many books and resources about it, the topic of friendship comes up often in therapy. In a general sense, problems with friends and friendship fall into one of two broad categories: problems with the relationshi...
Episode 22: Meditation for Psychological Well-Being
This episode is an in-depth discussion of meditation as it is specifically used in Behavioral Health settings to produce positive effects on psychological well-being. First, we discuss what meditation is, starting with a good de...
Episode 21: How Psychology Provides Support to the Chronic Pain Patient
This second episode focusing on the experience of chronic pain focuses on how psychologists and counselors support the patient in pain treatment. We first discuss how a person being treated for chronic pain would come to also be in psychologica...
Episode 20: The Problem of Pain
In this episode we begin to explore the psychology of pain and pain management. We begin by discussing what pain is and what the function of pain is. We explore how acute, localized pain can develop into chronic, generaliz...
Episode 19: Bringing Trauma Home—Intergenerational Trauma and Interpersonal Dynamics
In this fourth episode on the topic of trauma, we shift from discussing the impact of trauma exposure on individuals to a discussion of how it affects families and couples. First, we discuss the phenomenon of intergenerational trauma
Episode 18: The Wounded Time Traveler
In this episode we continue the discussion of trauma by focusing on the impact of early childhood traumatic exposure throughout the lifespan and into adulthood. Exposure to trauma in early childhood can carry through to adulthood and may presen...
Episode 17: Coming Back from Trauma -- Recovery, Healing, and Post-Traumatic Growth
In order to give hope and provide context to the healing process, in this episode we look at the three levels of coming back from a traumatic exposure: recovery, healing, and post-traumatic growth...
Episode 16: Understanding Trauma
In this episode we discuss the phenomenon of traumatic exposure in three parts. First, we define what trauma is and explore how the definition has changed and expanded over time. Second, we break down what is happening within ou...
Episode 15: Introduction to Therapy – Why Therapy Fails and How to Find the Right Therapist for You
In this episode we conclude our two-part look at the process of psychotherapy. We discuss how therapy can be seen to fail when a patient participates but does not experience any relief from their symptoms and how therapy can be seen to be “stuc...
Episode 14: Introduction to Therapy – What It Is and How it Works
In this episode we begin a two-part look at the process of psychotherapy. We define the process of talk therapy, and we discuss the roles and responsibilities of both the person seeking therapy and the person pro...
Episode 13: How the Past Affects Our Present Relationships, Part Two
Part Two: The Power of PatternsIn the second part of this two-part series on relationships, we look at how repeating patterns of conflict are created in relationships, and we look at how to identify and address these negative cycl...
Episode 12: How the Past Affects Our Present Relationships, Part One
Part One: Attachment TheoryIn honor of February and Valentine’s Day, we begin a two-part exploration into how our past affects the quality of our relationships. In Part One, we begin by discussing attachment the...
Episode 11: The Psychology of Self-Esteem
Self esteem is a way of describing how we think and feel about ourselves and our worthiness. While low self-esteem (or low self-confidence) is not a specific diagnosis or separate pathology, it is often a component of mental health diagnoses. I...
Episode 10: Making The Best Resolution You Can for a Great Year Ahead
Have you made resolutions in the past, only to fall back into the same old patterns a little while later? Why do get trapped into patterns of failure? If we are to make changes for the better in our lives, we need to understand why we keep doin...