Grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren and make them happy, whereas as a parent, you take your responsibility for your children’s health and wellbeing seriously. This, together with different experiences of what childhood means, can be a recipe for anxiety and conflict. In this episode, parenting expert Sue Atkins talks with Andrew about how to have positive conversations with your in-laws. Andrew and Sue cover: When to start a conversation. Recognising the value of grandparents’ input. Discussing where shared values might lie. Finding balance and seeing the bigger picture. What to do ..read more

Each month, 20% of us embark on a new diet. Sadly, 95% of all diets prove unsuccessful. According to psychologist and author Dr Pam Spurr, emotional eating to soothe difficult feelings is to blame.  This week Andrew and Pam discuss the ways emotional eating is culturally ingrained, other strategies to self-soothe and how you can develop a more holistic approach to your health. Pam also offers some advice to Andrew on his struggles with his doctor’s orders to cut back on crisps and crackers! Dr Pam Spurr is an academic and a psychologist who works mainly in the media, including as an agony ..read more

As a child, were you made to feel like your feelings didn’t matter, while your parents’ feelings loomed large? Were your boundaries repeatedly crossed? Were you emotionally neglected? If so, you may have been raised by emotionally immature parents.  In this episode Andrew talks to TikTok's popular healing transformation coach Dr. Kai Tai Kevin Qiu, the author of Emotionally Immature Parents: A Recovery Workbook for Adult Children. Andrew and Kai discuss: How to know if your parents were emotionally immature. Creating boundaries in the present day Processing difficult memories Deve ..read more

Gaslighting is an insidious form of emotional abuse in which a gaslighter undermines and controls another person by deflecting, twisting, and denying their reality. Gaslighting leaves victims second-guessing themselves, unable to make decisions and destabilised by constant shifts in reality.  In this week’s episode, Andrew talks to author and psychoanalyst Dr Robin Stern about gaslighting, and how to pull yourself out of this form of emotional abuse. Andrew and Robin discuss what makes you vulnerable to gaslighting, how to build your capacity to trust yourself, and how to identify the gas ..read more

Sex and pornography addiction is on the rise. It can affect young and old, rich and poor, male and female. Those who are in the grip of this type of addiction struggle to create and maintain "real-life" relationships, and their partners may experience feelings of grief and betrayal. In this episode Andrew talks with psychotherapist Dr Paula Hall about pornography and sex addiction. Andrew and Paula discuss: What we mean by “addiction” in this context. How pornography can wreck a couple’s sex life. Starting your recovery.  Moving forward as a couple if one of you has a pornography or sex ..read more

An anxious attachment style is very common, and can lead to chaotic and unsuccessful relationships. Research suggests that anxious types are more prone to insecurity, jealousy, codependency, and other behaviours that get in the way of finding and sustaining love.  In this episode psychotherapist Jessica Baum talks with Andrew about identifying and understanding our attachment style, and building the inner resources required to create more secure, happier relationships.  Jessica Baum is the founder of The Relationship Institute of Palm Beach, and the author of Anxiously Attached: How ..read more

People-pleasing is an ultimately futile and self-defeating approach to life. If we focus on making everyone else happy, we can end up frustrated, confused and resentful. Ironically, in trying to be “Mr Nice Guy”, people-pleasers often end up driven into behaviour that is anything but nice. This week Andrew talks to therapist and author Dr Robert Glover about why people-pleasing is an inauthentic way to exist, and how it often leads to destructive patterns including: Giving to get Difficulty setting boundaries Dishonesty Caretaking,  Fixing Codependency,  Conflict avoidance,  Pa ..read more

If our partner really loved us, wouldn’t everything be a lot easier? If they were “the one”, surely we wouldn’t be losing our minds over towels dropped on the bathroom floor? In this episode marital therapist Dr Cheryl Fraser joins Andrew to discuss the destructive myth of the soulmate. According to Cheryl, there is no such thing as a soulmate. When we set aside the naive expectation that love will conquer all, we can begin to learn the skills required to build lasting intimacy.  Dr Cheryl Fraser is the author of Buddha’s Bedroom, and the therapist behind the Become Passion online immersi ..read more

Good therapy changes lives: people stop worrying as much, they make better decisions, they are kinder to themselves and their loved ones, they achieve more at work, they can control their anger, they are able to stop destructive habits, they form loving relationships. This week therapists Graham Johnston and Matt Wotton talk to Andrew about their new book, A Straight Talking Introduction to Therapy. Matt and Graham both experienced the transformative power of effective therapy, and both left lucrative, high-status careers to retrain as therapists. They discuss the evidence that therapy wo ..read more

How can we live with loss? What can we do when death shakes to the core our comfortable belief that life is predictable, the world is just, and people are reliable?  This week Dr Robert A. Neimeyer of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition joins Andrew to discuss the work of grief. Andrew and Robert discuss the task of rebuilding meaning in the face of death, relationship breakdown or unwelcome life transitions. Robert shares his “six tasks of grief”, which are designed to help integrate loss into our lives.  Dr Robert A. Neimeyer directs the Portland Institute ..read more