Category: Relationships

Elaine Gibson: Learning from Family Systems Theory

How do you view your family of origin? Our family dynamics have a tremendous influence on how we feel about ourselves, show up in the world, and relate to others. When these dynamics are subconscious, we remain bound and encumbered by them. But when we bring them to the surface, we can engage our power to change and grow. 

In this thought-provoking podcast, Tami Simon speaks with marriage and family therapist Elaine Carney Gibson about her new book, Your Family Revealed: A Guide to Decoding the Patterns, Stories, and Belief Systems in Your Family. They discuss family systems that serve each individual, making sacrifices versus being sacrificial, the metaphor of the labyrinth, healing emotional wounds, what a healthy functioning hierarchy looks like, the advice “wear beige and be quiet,” setting and maintaining clear boundaries, using disagreements as a tool for growth and connection, the parentified child, the phenomenon of triangulation in relationships, intergenerational trauma, the future of family therapy, and more.

Liz Goldwyn: Sex, Health, and Consciousness

Our sexuality is an integral part of who we are, yet our understanding of sex has been warped by everything from age-old taboos and religious dogma to a popular culture that views sexuality as transactional. In this “edgier” episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Liz Goldwyn about her new book, Sex, Health, and Consciousness, and how we can each reclaim our birthright of pleasure and joy. 

Tune in as they discuss why it’s never too late to experience better sex and more pleasure; the metaphor of the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi; a much-needed new vision of sex ed; inquiring into your beliefs about sexuality; how your individual relationship to sexuality is as unique as your fingerprint; bringing discipline, mindfulness, and practice to your sex life; creating a safe and healthy ethos around sex; the concept of aftercare; how bondage can become a healing tool; using sex to fill a void in your life; developing porn literacy; Orgasm Breathing—and a guided practice of its first stage; harnessing our sexual energy; and how the integration of sex, health, and consciousness is critical at this time in our collective lives.

Stretch Your Heart and Say What You Mean

Join Sounds True’s Tami Simon in conversation with author and teacher Oren Jay Sofer, as he shares his innovative method for productive discourse and authentic connection. In “Stretch Your Heart and Say What You Mean,” Tami and Oren explore how contemplative practice is an essential ingredient for healthy conversations and relationships, and vice versa; three foundations for mindful communication; the practice of pausing a conversation; the art of the “do-over”; the power of intention in conversation; curiosity, humility, and kindness; how focusing on what matters transforms reactivity and allows us to speak our truth; the shift from projecting blame to identifying and expressing our needs; the heart of compassion and nonviolence—seeing one another in a deeper way; three layers of needs—physical, relational, and spiritual; freeing our hearts from animosity and hostility, and becoming a force for loving unification; and more.

Soft Power: Moving from You and Me to Us

In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with “the relationship turnaround guy” and bestselling author Terry Real about: the origins of his two-day relationship intervention; the groundbreaking—and rule-breaking—approach of Relational Life Therapy; dealing with shame and grandiosity, and the contempt underlying both; the skill of “joining through the truth”; what healthy self-esteem looks like; why “there’s nothing that harshness does that loving firmness doesn’t do better”; speaking to and from the mature, wise adult instead of the adaptive, wounded child; relational mindfulness; recognizing your tendency toward “fight, flight, freeze, or fix”; our toxic culture of individualism and the shift to “soft power”; why an invitation works a lot better than a complaint; the essential rhythm of relationships: harmony, rupture, and repair; honoring the ecological system of your relationship while having your individual needs met; and more.

A Love Letter to Friendships . . . And How to Break Up...

Erin Falconer is an author, digital entrepreneur, and the editor-in-chief and co-owner of PickTheBrain, one of the most trusted self-improvement communities online. She was named “one of the top digital entrepreneurs in Los Angeles” by Los Angeles Confidential and one of the “Top 10 Women Changing the Digital Landscape for Good” by Refinery29. She has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and is the author of the books, How to Get Sh*t Done: Why Women Need to Stop Doing Everything So They Can Achieve Anything and, with Sounds True, How to Break Up with Your Friends: Finding Meaning, Connection, and Boundaries in Modern Friendships.

In this podcast, Sounds True’s founder, Tami Simon, speaks with Erin Falconer about the unique power of our personal friendships and how we can work to improve them—or let them go if necessary. Tami and Erin also discuss: opening to our inner guidance and the voice of truth within, why taking 100 percent responsibility for our lives leads to 100 percent freedom, taking an audit of your friendships—including what Erin calls “exposing the mediocrity,” self-knowledge and personal energy management, bringing clearer intentionality and deeper commitment to our friendships, difficult conversations and applying the concept of “rupture and repair” to relationships with friends, making amends in previous friendships, Erin’s “friendship questionnaire,” and much more.

Finding Meaning in Our Grief

David Kessler is widely considered the world’s foremost expert on grief and loss. He is the author of six books, including the new bestseller Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, and the founder of grief.com, which has more than five million visits annually from people in almost 170 countries. David has taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about the end of life, trauma, and grief. He facilitates talks, workshops, and retreats for those experiencing grief, and his experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him secrets to living a happy and fulfilled life, even after tragedy.

In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with David Kessler about his new book, including how our relationships transcend death and how we can all continue to love and cherish those we’ve lost. They also discuss David’s friendship and work with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross; misconceptions about the five stages of grief; finding meaning as the sixth stage of grief; why all grief does not have trauma, but all trauma has grief; making the decision to participate in life after loss; the importance of telling our stories, and why our grief must be witnessed in order to be healed; creating a grief-literate society; why “what we avoid pursues us, what we face transforms us”; how our lost loved ones can move forward with us in life; being with and there for someone in grief; our “continuing bonds” with those we’ve lost, and how death can never end our relationships; and more.

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