Self-Awareness, Self-Compassion, Self-Leadership

The human experience is vast in its scope, and it is impossible to name all of the possibilities and provide sufficient resources for the reader to touch all areas. This website has evolved for over five years, and I am still figuring out the best way to present these resources. The concept of “self”—a short little name for a very big topic—underlies the resources that follow.

Emotions and Self-Awareness

Podcast #134: It’s Not Always Depression, So What is It? (Laura Reagan, Therapy Chat) Hendel proposes that depression, addictions, shame, anxiety, and other common clinical concerns are actually masking core emotions that have been inhibited due to early childhood or social messaging. Learning to understand our emotions, why we have them, and what they are telling us about the world around us can help reduce our symptoms and increase our feelings of efficacy in the world.

Gwyneth x Brené Brown: On the Roots of Shame, Courage, and Vulnerability If you haven’t listened to Brene Brown before, this is such a wonderful interview. She is down to earth and inspiring on the topic of shame, courage, and vulnerability. Gwyneth x Elizabeth Gilbert: Can Creating Something Small Heal Something Big? Paltrow interviews author Elizabeth Gilbert on the act of creativity and its place in our own management of anxiety and despair. A great interview.

Terrible, Thanks For Asking is hosted by Nora McInerny, who started the podcast after losing her husband to cancer. She asks real people to share their complicated and honest feelings about how they really are doing, and many episodes deal with grief and loss. The podcast is sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and often both. An episode I particularly enjoyed is The Truth We Live (surviving sexual abuse).

TU73: Building Grit Through Self Compassion with Dr Kristin Neff Dr. Neff teases apart themes of self-compassion and shame, and warns that when we get lost in negative thinking, we are at risk of becoming overly narcissistic and losing our perspective on the world.

Podcast #137: What Is Spiritual Bypass? (Laura Reagan, Therapy Chat)  “Spiritual bypassing is the use of spiritual practices and beliefs to avoid dealing with our painful feelings, unresolved wounds, and developmental needs. It is much more common than we might think and, in fact, is so pervasive as to go largely unnoticed, except in its more obvious extremes.” Robert Augustus Masters, PhD (click here to read an excellent article on the topic called “Spiritual Bypassing: Avoidance in Holy Drag.”)

The Good Life Project is a fantastic podcast with a library of over 500 interviews.  I have not even listened to a tiny fraction of what is available, but a few of my favorites include Curiosity and the Passion Fallacy (Elizabeth Gilbert), Accelerated Learning as a Path to Freedom (Jim Kwik), Garrard Conley: Boy Erased, Brene Brown: On Gratitude, Vulnerability and Courage, and Building Better Boys | Michael Reichert

TU81: How Good Boundaries Actually Bring Us Closer, with Guest Juliane Taylor Shore “Therapist Uncensored co-hosts Ann Kelley and Sue Marriott join the founder of IPNB Psychotherapy of Austin, Dr. Juliane Taylor Shore, in a discussion on interpersonal neurobiology and how it relates to boundaries. We’ll explore the three types of boundaries, how to co-create boundaries and how to stay regulated using internal mechanisms. After this podcast, you may very well be on your way towards building your own “Jello wall” and better co-regulating yourself when you’re overwhelmed!”

Podcast #128: Mindfulness and Trauma (Laura Reagan, Therapy Chat) discusses an extremely important and rarely explored issue—how, when, and why certain approaches to meditation can be the wrong approach for people with trauma histories. 

“The Ten Percent Happier Podcast”. Focuses on mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist thinking.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) founder Richard Schwartz has appeared on many podcasts to discuss what this approach actually is and how it facilitates self-leadership and self-awareness. This link is from his own website and is a collection of some of the many talks he has given.