Best selling author and social psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson discusses motivational styles and how we can ensure people understand who we truly are. It’s a particularly actionable episode, where the listener can learn strategies aimed at effective communication, habit formation and making better motivational decisions.

In this raw and uncut episode, Mark Manson imparts his wisdom on the art of not giving a fuck. According to Manson, the key to living a good life is “not giving a fuck about more; it’s giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about only what is true and immediate and important”. In this interview, we learn about this unique art form, and all of the counterintuitive ways that giving less fucks in your life actually frees you up to get more of what you truly value. You’ll learn how the acceptance of one’s negative experience can itself be a positive experience, the benefits of suffering, the futility of searching for happiness, the ways that emotions are overrated, and how to distinguish between good values and unproductive values. You’ll also be inspired to learn that you are not as special as you think you are, and that you are wrong about everything. As if that wasn’t motivating enough, you’ll also learn to accept your mundane existence, and the inevitability of death. This was a fun, wise, and at times, rather profound, interview. Note: In the spirit of Mark’s message, this entire interview is uncensored and unedited, which means that Scott shows extreme vulnerability in a way that he hasn’t before in past episodes. Fuck it.

“Cognitive neuroscientist Kent Kiehl discusses his research and personal experience working with “those without conscience.” Scott and Kent demystify the historically fascinating illness as it relates to criminal activity, genius, evil, flourishing, the brain, gender and treatment."

Dr. Elaine Aron is one of the world’s foremost experts on the highly sensitive person. She ought to be – she was its first researcher! In this episode, we cover this fascinating concept as it relates to a broad swath of psychological concepts like self-esteem, gender, love, leadership, personality, genetics and more. Roughly 20% of the population can be classified as highly sensitive, so all of us likely know someone (or are someone) with this trait. Also, Scott performs a statistical analysis live on air – it’s a first and a lot of fun!

Five time international bestselling author Robert Greene shares his thoughts on creativity, finding your calling, social intelligence and his latest book about what it means to be a ‘Master’ of your craft.

Today I’m really excited to have James and Suzann Pileggi Pawelski on the podcast. James is Professor of Practice and Director of Education in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania where he cofounded the Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program with Martin Seligman. Suzie is a freelance writer, Psychology Today blogger, and well-being consultant specializing in the science of happiness and its effects on relationships and health. Together, James and Suzie are co-authors of the newly-released book “Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts”. They also give Romance and ResearchTM workshops together around the world.

In this episode we discuss:

• What people get wrong about relationships
• What the "relationship gym" is
• How to cultivate "Aristotelian love"
• The specific ways positive psychology can help you be happy with a partner
• The role of gratitude in relationships
• How to sustain passion in a relationship

Psychologist Dr. Todd Kashdan shares some unconventional research on how we can harness “negative” psychological characteristics to live whole, successful and fulfilling lives. Topics include the dark triad, emotional experimentation, mindfulness, education, evolution and what it means to live well.

The narcissists of the world will be happy to hear that they make for an extraordinarily interesting psychological discussion! On this episode we speak with an expert in the field, Dr. W. Keith Campbell, who has spent more than a decade studying narcissism and its effects on relationships. This interview is an in-depth look at the character trait as it relates to (takes a deep breath): dating, social media, reality TV, age, leadership, politics, diagnosis, grandiosity and more. We cover the different forms of narcissism, why narcissists have such a powerful affect on us, and how we can learn to spot the narcissists in our life. It’s a fun and fascinating topic – enjoy!

Today I’m really excited to have Kati Morton on the podcast. Morton is as an entrepreneur, YouTube creator, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in Santa Monica, CA. Morton has built a global mental health online community, and is author of the book “Are U OK?: A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health.”

In this episode we discuss:

• What’s the difference between mental health and mental illness?
• Breaking down the stigma of mental illness
• What should you look for when looking for a therapist?
• What are some warning signs of a terrible therapist?
• What’s the best way to deal with a toxic co-worker?
• What's the link between vulnerable narcissism and borderline personality disorder?
• How do you know if you need mental help?
• What are some of the most validated forms of therapy available today?
• How do you break up with friends that you’ve outgrown?
• The importance of healthy assertiveness
• How a very small no can equate to a very large yes
• How can you get more mental help when you need it?

Dr. Elaine Aron is one of the world’s foremost experts on the highly sensitive person. She ought to be – she was its first researcher! In this episode, we cover this fascinating concept as it relates to a broad swath of psychological concepts like self-esteem, gender, love, leadership, personality, genetics and more. Roughly 20% of the population can be classified as highly sensitive, so all of us likely know someone (or are someone) with this trait. Also, Scott performs a statistical analysis live on air – it’s a first and a lot of fun!

James Clear studies successful people across a wide range of disciplines to uncover the habits and routines that make them the best at what they do. In this episode, we speak with James about his behavioral psychology background to uncover practical advice on how to flourish. The conversation is light and pleasant, while the content is deep and immediately useful for people looking to live better through science. Topics include habit formation, identity crafting, self-quantification and personal well-being. Enjoy and tell us what you think in the iTunes comments section!

Today we have one of the world's most preeminent attachment scientists, Dr. R. Chris Fraley, on the podcast! Fraley is a Professor at the University of Illinois's Department of Psychology and received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award in 2007 for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of Individual Differences. In this episode of The Psychology Podcast, we take a deep dive into a few of Chris' many interesting research areas: attachment processes in close relationships, personality dynamics, and development.

Some of the questions we explore are: How are attachment styles measured? How does research on attachment styles differ between children and adults? What are the implications of individual differences in adult attachment styles? How does this relate to internal working models theory? How does all of that relate to one's own motivational account? What are the roles of nature vs. nurture in the development of attachment styles?

Today it’s great to have Dr. Rex Jung on the podcast. Dr. Jung is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico, and a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, he has practiced neuropsychology in Albuquerque since 2002. His clinical work now centers around intraoperative testing of patients undergoing awake craniotomy to remove tumors within eloquent brain tissue – work with particular relevance to the study of individual differences. He has contributed to over 100 research articles across a wide range of disciplines, involving both clinical and normal populations, designed to assess brain-behavior relationships. He is the Editor of the Cambridge Handbook of the Neuroscience of Creativity. His work has been featured on CNN, BBC, NOVA, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and National Geographic.

In this episode we discuss:

• Rex’s earlier work on the neuroscience of intelligence
• The distributed brain model of intelligence
• Rex’s investigation of Scott’s brain
• How the brain can compensate for disability
• How our intelligence can change over time
• Limitations of IQ tests for measuring intellectual potential
• The limits of neuroplasticity
• The genetics of intelligence
• The creative brain
• How the neuroscience of creativity is sometimes the inverse of the neuroscience of intelligence
• The “default network” of mental simulation 
• The human capacity to “simulate or try out ideas before you buy them”
• The beautiful architecture of the brain
• The neuroscience of genius
• Rex’s work on awake craniometries (neurological testing while a patient is awake and a tumor is being removed)

"What are the deliberate habits I can do consciously and consistently to keep getting better?" -- Brendon Burchard

This week I'm delighted to welcome Brendon Burchard to The Psychology Podcast! After suffering depression and surviving a car accident at the age of 19, Brendon faced what he felt were life’s last questions: “Did I live fully? Did I love openly? Did I make a difference?” His intention to be happy with the answers led to his own personal breakthroughs, and ultimately to his life’s purpose of helping others live, to love, and to matter. He spent his 20s researching psychology and leadership, and consulting at Accenture. By age 32, he went out on his own and became a #1 best-selling author, an in-demand high performance coach, a sought-after speaker, and an early pioneer in the online education space.

A #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, #1 Amazon and #1 USA Today best-selling author, Brendon’s books include The Motivation Manifesto, The Charge, The Millionaire Messenger and Life’s Golden Ticket. His latest book is High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way.

In this episode we have an enthusiastic and empirically-informed conversation about:

• How Brendon's past lead him to become the personal growth expert and multi-media pioneer he is today

• How thinking about life in terms of these 3 types can help you identify when it's time to take action or level up:
  1. Caged life
  2. Comfortable life
  3. Charged life

• How these 6 high performance habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being:
  1. Seek clarity
  2. Generate energy
  3. Raise necessity
  4. Increase productivity
  5. Develop influence
  6. Demonstrate courage

• How these 4 key characteristics set successful creatives apart:
  1. Identity
  2. Obsession
  3. Social Duty
  4. Deadline

• How Brendon thinks about backing his illuminating frameworks with research

We cover several useful frameworks in this episode, so be sure to enjoy it with a pen in hand. If you're like us, you'll want to take a lot of notes!

Links:

Preorder High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way

[Resource] You can read the first 2 chapter's of Brendon's book here

[Books] Albert Bandura's work on self efficacy (mentioned)

[Book] The Six Pillars of Self Esteem by Nathaniel Branden (mentioned)  

[Book] How Good People Make Tough Choices by Rushworth M. Kidder (Brendon recommends complementing the reading of his book with this book)

[Twitter] Follow Brendon on Twitter @BrendonBurchard

Today it’s great to have Dr. Steven Hayes on the podcast. Dr. Hayes is a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. The author of forty-three books and more than six hundred scientific articles, he has served as president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, and is one of the most cited psychologists in the world. Dr. Hayes initiated the development of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and of Relational Frame Theory (RFT), the approach to cognition on which ACT is based. His research has been cited widely by major media, including: Time magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Men’s Health, Self, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Salon.com.

In this episode we discuss:

• Steven Haye’s journey to studying the science of liberation
• The lessons you can learn from your own pain and suffering
• How you can apply psychology to human prosperity
• Some limitations of the CBT approach (“CBT gone bad”)
• How we all have a “dictator within”
• Scott and Steven roleplay an ACT session
• How to apply ACT principles to dieting
• How Steven defines values
• The definition and importance of “psychological flexibility”
• How to get out of the “anxiety trap”
• How to pivot to what you really want
• How consciousness connects us to the infinite
• The 6 things that get in the way of pivoting
• The social/environmental side of ACT 
• “What does it gain us to give up on people?”
• ACT and social transformation
• What is love?

This week we're excited to have Robert Wright on The Psychology Podcast. Robert is the New York Times best-selling author of Nonzero, The Moral Animal, The Evolution of God, and most recently Why Buddhism is True. He has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Time, Slate, and The New Republic, and has taught at The University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, where he also created the online course Buddhism and Modern Psychology. Robert draws on his wide-ranging knowledge of science, religion, psychology, history and politics to figure out what makes humanity tick.

In this episode we cover:

• How "taking the red pill" from The Matrix can be likened to the practice of mediation,
• How and why "our brains evolved to delude us",
• If and how Buddhism gets you more in touch with "reality", including the bottom-up processes of cognition,
• Whether or not one can take parts of the practice too far,
• How Buddhism can be beneficial for seeing beauty where you didn't before,
• Why our default state of consciousness isn’t necessarily good,
• How this book might infer that evolutionary psychology is not a complete explanation for many human tendencies,
• Why many feelings are illusions and how we know when they are,
• Why it's true that "the more we engage a 'module' the more power it has",
• Robert's interpretation of what the Buddha really meant by the "non-self", and how this does or does not conflict with one's sense of identity.

In our conversation, Robert offers Buddhism as a solution for finding and sustaining happiness, exploring the interplay between Buddhist practices and evolutionary psychology in an unprecedented way. You may also find this episode interesting if you're curious about whether it's possible to see the world "accurately" or whether that's even best for one's well being. Enjoy!

Note to Psychology Podcast listeners: This happens to be the 100th episode of The Psychology Podcast. Thank you for your support! It's been a fun journey so far, and we're looking forward to the next 100 episodes!

It’s great to have Dr. Robert Leahy on the podcast today. Dr. Leahy completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School under the direction of Dr. Aaron Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy. Dr. Leahy is the past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, past president of the International Association of Cognitive Psychotherapy, past president of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy (NYC), and a clinical professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill-Cornell University Medical School.

Dr. Leahy has received the Aaron T. Beck award for outstanding contributions in cognitive therapy, and he is author and editor of 25 books, including The Worry Cure, which received critical praise from the New York Times and has been selected by Self Magazine as one of the top eight self-help books of all time. His latest book is The Jealousy Cure: Learn to Trust, Overcome Possessiveness, and Save Your Relationship.

Topics:

• Why Dr. Lahey wrote The Anxiety Cure
• The new science of jealousy
• How jealousy differs from envy
• Why jealousy evolved
• What is the downside of intense jealousy?
• Why we don’t want to get rid of jealousy
• Are men and women equally jealous?
• The relationship between attachment style and jealousy
• What if there really is a reason to be jealous?
• What are some practical techniques that people can use to cope with their jealousy?
• The importance of normalizing jealousy

It is an honor to have Dr. Steven Hayes, the father of "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" (ACT), on the podcast this week. In this wide ranging episode, we learn about the "third wave" of cognitive behavioral therapies, and how to have greater psychological flexibility-- the ability to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being, and to change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends. We will learn the 6 core ACT processes, and how they can help you stop fighting the battles within your own head and live a more vital life. The message from today's podcast is that you can choose to live a vital life. This episode will teach you how! Enjoy, and please join in the discussion below.

Modern day philosopher Alain de Botton has become world renown for his ability to provide compelling real world answers to some of life’s biggest questions. For this episode of The Psychology Podcast, we cover the philosophy and science of a range of topics, including what it means to have a “normal” relationship, the origins of the desire for religion, the pervasive lack of systematic thinking about happiness, how the illusion of perfection creates problems, existential crises and much more. We get a bit cheeky with a high brow discussion of the human condition. Fair warning that this episode does include some discussion of sex and pornography as they relate to well-being.

In this episode we discuss:

• The fundamental themes of human existence
• Irvin Yalom’s influence on Lori Gottlieb
• Why we feel isolated in our experiences
• The loneliness crisis on college campuses
• How the internet helps us numb
• How to know when social media has become an addiction
• Why happiness as a goal is a disaster
• SBK analyzes Lori Gottlieb
• Why we are often scared to do things that excite us
• Why there is no “hierarchy of pain”
• The hierarchy of pain and the social justice movement
• Why is it so hard for us to change when we know what to do?
• Why we don’t let ourselves be happy
• The importance of self-compassion
• The most important factor in the success of therapy
• What makes for a boring patient?
• Why feelings sometimes don’t care about facts
• Common myths of therapy
• “Part of us wants something and there’s another part of us that goes against the thing we want”
• Why “our feelings need air”
• How numbness is a state of being overwhelmed by too many feelings
• The importance of seeing your own agency and the choices you have

“The only normal people are the people you don’t know very well.” — Jonathan Mooney

Today we have Jonathan Mooney on the podcast. Jonathan is a dyslexic writer and speaker who did not learn to read until 12 years old. He faced a number of low expectations growing up— was told he would flip burgers, be a high school drop out and end up in jail. Needless to say these prophecies didn’t come to pass. Today, he speaks across the nation about neurological and physical diversity, inspiring those who live with differences and advocating for change. Mooney’s work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, HBO, NPR, and ABC News, and his books include The Short Bus, Learning Outside the Lines, and most recently, Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive Outside the Lines. 

In this episode we discuss:

• What is normal?
• How the creation of special ed was originally an act of inclusion
• The unintended complications of creating a special education program
• Jonathan’s story growing up in special ed
• The twice-exceptional (2e) movement
• How giftedness comes with a “complicated brew” of assets and challenges
• The importance of recognizing the 2e within ourselves and sharing that with the world
• The importance of not hiding the things that make us different, but celebrating those things
• How Jonathan once took on many personas to hide his differences
• How the average got conflated with the impossible ideal in society
• The value judgement that is placed on IQ from a cultural perspective
• Going from “How smart are you?” to “How are you smart”?
• Jonathan feeling deficient because he was different
• How Jonathan went on a journey driving a school bus across the United States and listened to people with atypical brains and bodies
• The value of human fallibility
• The Eye to Eye mentoring program
• How the private sector corporate diversity policies can make difference by including atypical brains and bodies as part of diversity initiatives

Today it's great to have Paul Bloom on the podcast. Dr. Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. He is past-president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, one of the major journals in the field. Dr. Bloom is also author or editor of seven books, including Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion 

In this wide-ranging and provocative episode we discuss:

• Paul's graduate research with Steven Pinker
• Is language the result of biological evolution or cultural evolution?
• What "hardwired" really means
• Why innate mechanisms require environmental input
• The necessity of bias
• Some potential downsides of empathy
• The case for rational compassion 
• Cognitive empathy vs. affective empathy 
• Did Hitler have the capacity for empathy? 
• The joy of suffering 
• Why do we choose to suffer?
• The fundamental human need for exploration
• The human need to overcome challenges
• Would some people be content watching Netflix and smoking pot all day?
• The relationship between income and happiness 
• The importance of spending money well
• The psychology of expectation and pleasure
• If someone offer you more money, should you take it?
• Relief vs. pleasure
• Does enjoying something depend on how much we think we will enjoy something?
• Art and authenticity 
• Art and value judgements
• Would Tarzan believe in God?
• Are babies basically good?
• Why religion is so pervasive
• Are babies moral?
• How a powerful moral sense is responsible for an extraordinary amount of evil in the world
• Is moral grandstanding always bad?
• Why not everything is virtue signaling

In this episode we discuss:

• Cory’s transformation from frat boy to monk
• Can monks be self-actualizing?
• The importance of not being enslaved by certain parts of you
• How to overcame pain through mindfulness
• The emotional body vs. the sensation body
• The process of detaching sensations from the labels we put on them
• Equanimity and allowing life to happen
• How equanimity is more about our internal experience than our external experience
• The “pain box”
• How to soften the “pain wall”
• Dispelling the myth of the “real you”
• Barriers to real connection
• What it means to be fully seen and accepted
• The importance of radical acceptance
• How the more parts of you that are brought in and accepted the more you feel as though the wholeness of you is accepted and seen
• The "scrollercoaster" meditation
• How we can take control of technology and take back our lives

“Emotion skills are the key to unlocking the potential inside each one of us. And in the process of developing those skills, we each, heart by heart, mind by mind, create a culture and society unlike anything we’ve experienced thus far— and very much like the one we might dare to imagine.”  -- Marc Brackett

Today it's great to have Marc Brackett on the podcast. Dr. Brackett is founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor in the Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine at Yale University. His research focuses on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. Marc is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based, systemic approach to SEL that has been adopted by over 2,000 preschool to high schools across the United States and in other countries. He has published 125 scholarly articles and received numerous awards, including the Joseph E. Zins award for his research on social and emotional learning. He also is on the board of directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Marc consults regularly with corporations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating emotional intelligence principles into employee training and product design and is co-founder of Oji Life Lab, a digital emotional intelligence learning system for businesses. His research has been featured in popular media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today, Good Morning America, and NPR. He is the author of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Ourselves, and our Society Thrive, published by Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan, which has been translated into 15 languages.

In this wide-ranging episode we discuss:

• How Mark is feeling
• Mark’s rough childhood and how he felt “trapped in his feelings”
• Negative outcomes that can ensue when you don’t feel you have the permission to feel
• Some harrowing statistics about how depression and anxiety are on the rise
• How does the original Salovey and Meyer model of emotional intelligence differ from Daniel Goleman’s model?
• The emotion scientist vs. the emotion judge
• Skills of the emotion scientist
• How Marc’s Uncle changed Marc’s life forever by giving him permission to feel
• The main components of the RULER framework
• The many factors that influence how we express our emotions authentically and honestly
• The mood meter poster and app that allows you to track your emotions over time and look at patterns
• The malleability of emotional intelligence
• The difference between temperament and emotional intelligence 
• The most important thing Marc learned through teaching emotional intelligence
• How more emotional intelligence can bring world peace (at least according to a 3rd grader)
• Why we need to spend more time cultivating emotional intelligence

“I firmly believe there is no person, no group, no behavior, no thing that is objectively evil. Perhaps evil only really exists in our fears.” -- Julia Shaw

Today it’s great to have Dr. Julia Shaw on the podcast. Dr. Shaw is a psychological scientist at UCL. She is best known for her work in the areas of memory and criminal psychology. In 2017 Dr. Shaw co-founded the memory science and artificial intelligence start-up Spot. Spot helps employees report workplace harassment and discrimination, and empowers organizations to build a more inclusive and respectful work environment. In 2016 she published her bestselling debut book "The Memory Illusion", which has appeared in 20 languages and in 2019 she published her second international bestseller "Evil: The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side".

Note: This episode goes down a lot of taboo alleys. The dark side of human nature  is a fascinating topic, but there may be some issues that you'd rather not hear about. Please review the list of topics before listening to this episode.

In this episode we discuss:

• How Julia got into criminal psychology
• How we all do “reality crafting”
• The depths of human hypocrisy
• Why we don’t always act in accord with our own morality
• Julia Shaw’s criticism of the label “evil”
• The neuroscience of “evil” and Hitler’s brain
• Your brain on porn
• How kink is stigmatized in our society
• Can you be a feminist and engage in BDSM?
• The “deviant sexual interests” scale
• The prevalence of rape fantasies
• Pedophiles vs. ephebophiles
• Why “curiosity shaming” limits discussion and understanding
• The science of beastiality and what makes one animal sexier than another animal
• Why we shame vegans
• Rape culture and how systems fail and lead to harm
• What we can do to reduce sexual violence in society
• The bright side of your dark side
• How we can use the dark side to be a hero (the heroic imagination)

Today it’s great to have Dr. Rex Jung on the podcast. Dr. Jung is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico, and a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, he has practiced neuropsychology in Albuquerque since 2002. His clinical work now centers around intraoperative testing of patients undergoing awake craniotomy to remove tumors within eloquent brain tissue – work with particular relevance to the study of individual differences. He has contributed to over 100 research articles across a wide range of disciplines, involving both clinical and normal populations, designed to assess brain-behavior relationships. He is the Editor of the Cambridge Handbook of the Neuroscience of Creativity. His work has been featured on CNN, BBC, NOVA, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and National Geographic.

In this episode we discuss:

• Rex’s earlier work on the neuroscience of intelligence
• The distributed brain model of intelligence
• Rex’s investigation of Scott’s brain
• How the brain can compensate for disability
• How our intelligence can change over time
• Limitations of IQ tests for measuring intellectual potential
• The limits of neuroplasticity
• The genetics of intelligence
• The creative brain
• How the neuroscience of creativity is sometimes the inverse of the neuroscience of intelligence
• The “default network” of mental simulation 
• The human capacity to “simulate or try out ideas before you buy them”
• The beautiful architecture of the brain
• The neuroscience of genius
• Rex’s work on awake craniometries (neurological testing while a patient is awake and a tumor is being removed)

Today it’s great to have Dr. Steven Hayes on the podcast. Dr. Hayes is a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. The author of forty-three books and more than six hundred scientific articles, he has served as president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, and is one of the most cited psychologists in the world. Dr. Hayes initiated the development of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and of Relational Frame Theory (RFT), the approach to cognition on which ACT is based. His research has been cited widely by major media, including: Time magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Men’s Health, Self, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Salon.com.

In this episode we discuss:

• Steven Haye’s journey to studying the science of liberation
• The lessons you can learn from your own pain and suffering
• How you can apply psychology to human prosperity
• Some limitations of the CBT approach (“CBT gone bad”)
• How we all have a “dictator within”
• Scott and Steven roleplay an ACT session
• How to apply ACT principles to dieting
• How Steven defines values
• The definition and importance of “psychological flexibility”
• How to get out of the “anxiety trap”
• How to pivot to what you really want
• How consciousness connects us to the infinite
• The 6 things that get in the way of pivoting
• The social/environmental side of ACT 
• “What does it gain us to give up on people?”
• ACT and social transformation
• What is love?

Dr. Elaine Aron is one of the world’s foremost experts on the highly sensitive person. She ought to be – she was its first researcher! In this episode, we cover this fascinating concept as it relates to a broad swath of psychological concepts like self-esteem, gender, love, leadership, personality, genetics and more. Roughly 20% of the population can be classified as highly sensitive, so all of us likely know someone (or are someone) with this trait. Also, Scott performs a statistical analysis live on air – it’s a first and a lot of fun!

A leader in the psychology of human mating, and an expert on both the cultural and biological foundations of love, Helen Fisher shares science-backed information on attraction, mate selection, infidelity, the neuroscience of love and the effects of culture on our biology. There’s a wealth of interesting facts here and some surprising insight into humanity’s quest for romance. We LOVED this episode!

A leading expert in the psychology of savantism for over 40 years and the scientific advisor for the film Rain Man, Darold Treffert is a wellspring of knowledge on this fascinating yet often misunderstood condition. In this episode we cover the brain anatomy of savantism, its causes and some of the incredible abilities of famous savants like Kim Peak, who memorized thousands of books verbatim (down to the page number)! We feel fortunate to have had this chance to learn so much about such an interesting topic from one of the most well respected researchers in the field. Please enjoy and tell us what you think!

Psychologist Dr. Todd Kashdan shares some unconventional research on how we can harness “negative” psychological characteristics to live whole, successful and fulfilling lives. Topics include the dark triad, emotional experimentation, mindfulness, education, evolution and what it means to live well.

Angela Duckworth researches self-control and grit, which is defined as passion and perseverance for long term goals. Her research has demonstrated that there are factors that can be more predictive of success than IQ. In this episode we cover some of her findings on grit, including academic and popular misconceptions of this work. We also discuss research on standardized testing, self-control and more.

Today we have Dr. Jordan Peterson on the podcast. Dr. Peterson has taught mythology to lawyers, doctors and business people, consulted for the UN Secretary General, helped his clinical clients manage depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and schizophrenia, served as an adviser to senior partners of major Canadian law firms, and lectured extensively in North America and Europe. With his students and colleagues at Harvard and the University of Toronto, Dr. Peterson has published over a hundred scientific papers. Dr. Peterson is also author of two books: Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief and 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, which is a #1 bestseller.

In this wide-ranging conversation we discuss the following topics:

– Why “learned irrelevance” is incredibly important

– Why creativity requires keeping a childlike wonder

– How hallucinogens clear the “doors of perception”

– The “shared vulnerability” model of the creativity-mental illness connection

– The neuroscience of openness to experience

– The personality of personal correctness

– The practical implications of gender differences

– The function of the state in helping to make sure there is equality of individual expression

– How agreeableness and conscientiousness orient us differently in the social world

– The difference between pathological altruism and genuine compassion

– The link between pathological altruism and vulnerable narcissism

– The difference between responsibility and culpability

– How to help people take responsibility and make their lives better

Links

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan Peterson- What the State is For

Jordan Peterson- Future Authoring Program

Decreased Latent Inhibition Is Associated With Increased Creative Achievement in High-Functioning Individuals

Creativity and Psychopathology: A Shared Vulnerability Model

Openness to Experience and Intellect Differentially Predict Creative Achievement in the Arts and Science

Openness/Intellect: The Core of the Creative Personality

The Evolutionary Genetics of the Creativity-Psychosis Connection

Must One Risk Madness to Achieve Genius? 

The Real Neuroscience of Creativity

Personality and Complex Brain Networks: The Role of Openness to Experience in Default Network Efficiency

The Personality of Political Correctness

Default and Executive Network Coupling Supports Creative Idea Production

Gender Differences in Personality Across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five

Men and Things, Women and People: A Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences in Interests

Is There Anything Good About Men?

Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty

Pathological Altruism

Vulnerable Narcissism Is (Mostly) a Disorder of Neuroticism

Three time bestselling author and human guinea pig Tim Ferriss discusses how to become top 5% in the world with a new skill in just 6-12 months. Scott and Tim debunk the 10,000 hour rule, discuss general principles for accelerated skill acquisition, consider what it means to live the good life and take a sneak peak at Tim’s new show The Tim Ferris Experiment.

A pioneering researcher in the psychology of self-compassion, Dr. Kristin Neff provides deep insight into the incredible healing power of being your own ally. In this episode, we cover some immediately useful ways to practice self-compassion and gain its many benefits. Self-compassion has been linked to reductions in anxiety, physical pain, depression and the stress hormone cortisol. It’s been shown to increase motivation, improve a mastery mindset, and enhance well-being. There’s a great deal of levity in this episode as we discuss how we can benefit from learning to care for ourselves the way we care for others.

Today we have Robert Greene on the podcast. Robert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The 33 Strategies of War, The Art of Seduction, and Mastery, and is an internationally renowned expert on power strategies. His latest book is The Laws of Human Nature.

In this episode we discuss:

• What is human nature?
• How to transform self-love into empathy
• The deep narcissist vs. the the heathy narcissist
• Abraham Maslow’s encounter with Alfred Adler
• How to confront your dark side
• Returning to your more authentic self
• How people who are one-sided are concealing the opposite trait
• The importance of not taking yourself too seriously
• How to see through people’s masks
• The importance of assessing people’s actions over time
• Why toxic types have a peculiar sort of charm
• Healthy people-pleasers vs. toxic people-pleasers
• How to get in deep contact with your purpose
• The importance of becoming aware of the “spirit of the generation”
• How to confront your mortality and open your mind to the sublime

We are especially grateful (and giddy) to be sharing this episode with our listeners! Brene Brown's work really gels with our core interests here on The Psychology Podcast, and the resulting conversation contains some enthusiastic and empirically informed banter that is sure to inform and delight. We geek out over some counter-intuitive findings, like how incredibly compassionate people have a tendency to set the most boundaries and say "no." We discuss the power of being vulnerable and how the data suggests that it is one of the best predictors of courage. We chat about how trying to be cool is the enemy of truly being cool, how we can enrich future generation’s learning with wholehearted living, and how ignoring our creativity defies our essential nature. It’s ~45 minutes of two experts in the field sharing data, and themselves, and it’s one of our favorite episodes yet. 

We’re making a real effort to improve the show for our listeners and would hugely appreciate 15 seconds of your time filling out this short survey: http://survey.libsyn.com/psychologypodcast (Email is not required).

Best-selling author Susan Cain shares her personal philosophy and the research that started a movement to empower introverts! For this episode, we wanted to share ourselves – We discuss our values, epiphanies and perspectives on the good life. We also shed light on introversion across a range of topics, including vocations, testing and the differences between scientific and cultural conceptualizations of introversion.

In this episode we discuss:

• What is contemplative science?
• History of the idea of “contemplation”
• Including intuition under the umbrella of contemplative practice
• The aim of mindfulness
• Pop writers on mindfulness vs. scientists of mindfulness
• What do we know after 25 years of mindfulness research?
• The link between mindfulness and how we cope with pain
• The link between mindfulness and reducing anxiety
• The link between mindfulness and improving depression
• How there are a lot of crap studies out there on mindfulness
• What are the potential adverse effects of mindfulness?
• Why it’s difficult to look at the link between mindfulness and cognitive outcomes
• Mindfulness and its impact on impulse control
• The impact of mindfulness on attention
• The need for better measures of outcomes in mindfulness research
• The link between mindfulness and creativity
• The false narrative about mindfulness and mind wandering (and the default mode network)
• The relationship between mindfulness and wisdom
• The main challenges of investigating mindfulness through neuroscience
• Why mindfulness is not the end all and be all
• The usefulness of taking an evidence-based approach to looking at the benefits of mindfulness