The Overwhelmed Brain | Stress | Anxiety | Relationship | Critical Thinking | Emotional Intelligence | Emotional Abuse

As an adult, you've learned to take care of yourself. You believe you are making the right decisions and following the best steps you can to find happiness. But then there's family. Some family can believe you're doing the wrong thing and want you to follow their way and their path. If you don't want what they want, it can cause a big issue. 

Experiences of loss, such as a breakup and losing your job can have a profound emotional impact on you. In fact, it can feel devastating. Afterward, a childlike confusion can follow. Will the pain, sadness, or confusion ever end? Is there a path forward? If you can get out of the rut, yes there is. But it takes a perceptual shift you may not have while you're down and out.

Going for goals can be, well, disappointing. Trying to get something done might give you feelings of failure when you don't get it done. Are you a goal setter or do you wing it? I hate goal-setting myself. I'll share some of my thoughts on this to help you avoid disappointment after disappointment. 

What drives the important decisions in your life, fear or desire? In this episode I talk about a person's fear of visiting his father because of family that doesn't want him there. I also talk about how to start trusting again after someone betrays you... is there a path to wholeness after such an event? 

There's a fine line between real suffering versus just getting stuck in a cycle of feeling sorry for yourself. The chronic complainer's suffering is real, but is it self-inflicted? Do they really want to change? And do some people benefit from expressing their pain and suffering?  There's no victim-blaming here. I'm just exploring a subject many of us might run into.         

Trying to encourage a friend in a relationship to see the truth about their toxic partner can come with its own set of challenges, especially when the friend doesn't want to hear it and the toxic person wants to shut you down. 

What happens when you fall for someone who might still have feelings for the person they were with? Is it a relationship that can survive? Or will the fear of them returning to the person they cared about before you be too much for you to keep it going? 

When someone constantly puts you down, it’s not just hurtful; it’s destructive. I’ll share some personal strategies that could help you navigate these rough waters, aiming to keep your self-esteem intact.

A "germaphobe" shares their challenge at a work function with food being the catalyst for an embarrassing moment that ended up in tears. When you have behaviors and nuances that others might judge you for, do you hide them from the world? Should you? That's a great topic to talk about.

Why is it so hard to strike a balance between our own happiness and the happiness of those we care about? In today’s episode, I tackle the challenges of relational conflict and the importance of acknowledging when we’re not okay. We face tough moments in life. And it takes courage to assert our dignity. Sometimes, standing up for yourself is the most respectful thing you can do—for you and your loved ones. Let's explore the fine line between pleasing others and recognizing that you might be inadvertently contributing to your own unhappiness. Sometimes that means facing what you fear head on. 

Is there light at the end of the tunnel of a troubled relationship? Past difficult relationships can certainly leave you with sensitivities to current and future ones, so it's important to make sure you align with what's most important to you and follow that path. If you don't, you could end up sticking around for something that may never, ever change - and you'll wonder if you will regret your decision when all is said and done.   In this episode, I address one woman's question about how her partner put his hands on her in anger and she's not sure if she is wasting her time sticking around or if she should hold on to hope even though she can no longer trust the person she's with.

Why is it so hard to strike a balance between supporting someone's goals and managing our own reactions? Sometimes, we have to traverse a tightrope walk of love and support without the comfort of a safety net. When you want to love someone but they make it hard because of a habit or behavior they're doing, you might have no choice but to make a hard choice for yourself. 

Should you concede to another person's flaws to maintain peace?  We all seek approval at times, but in some relationships, this quest can take on a different hue, especially when one’s own insecurities are creating difficult and sometimes toxic conversations.   Getting through some conversations without one or both people getting upset might take some clever communicating. That's what I'm talking about today. 

What is the consequence of withholding a big secret from the person you are supposed to have an honest, transparent relationship with? Secrets can lead to lies that lead to people feeling betrayed, causing pain when all of it could have probably been avoided in the first place. 

Enforcing boundaries with family is hard enough, but what if they want to enforce them with you? What if they want to close the door to your relationship, even though you didn't do anything wrong?  In this episode, I read a message from a woman whose father decided his new wife and family were more important than his existing one. Very, very tough subject. 

Why do we sometimes struggle to make ourselves understood? You know that moment when you’re explaining something you’re sure you know inside and out, but the person you’re talking to just isn’t getting it? It’s not about the complexity of the topic, it's about understanding the unique ways we all process information. Our brains are all wired in their own way, which means what’s clear to you might be a jigsaw puzzle to someone else. Learning to communicate without sparking a battle shouldn't be a battle in itself. 

Have you ever had a tiny squeak in a door in your home that irritated you every time you used it? What happens after you oil the hinge and the squeak goes away? To some, it can feel like a life-changing moment! That and other quality-of-life improvements can actually create happiness and make the day to day that much better. 

Romantic relationships bring their share of challenges. In this episode, I Why is it that even with the best intentions, relationships can feel like navigating a minefield? You might have experienced the tension that comes with tough partners, the kind that test your patience and resilience. Today I'll be tackling four messages from four different people about their relationship challenges. Packed episode!

Your friends and family really want the best for you. But what are they going to say when they see you make a decision they believe is just crazy? I explore that very topic in this episode. A woman writes to me and tells me she's taking a break from her husband after telling her friends and family how awful he was. She has no idea to face them and tell them the news. 

Do you feel bad for what you did? Do you feel guilty? How long ago was it? Is feeling guilt a necessary component of healing? In this episode, someone feels guilty for moving on without their friends from the past and wants to know how to stop. Their life has improved and they've never felt better. But that guilt...