The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

If you’re feeling “stuck” in your relationships, asking new kinds of questions can be a powerful way forward. This week Andrew talks with filmmaker and author Topaz Adizes about starting conversations that lead to a deeper, more authentic connection. Andrew and Topaz discuss Topaz’s new book, 12 Questions for Love, and highlight the importance of: Cultivating genuine curiosity. Asking open-ended questions. The “connective question”, which draws both the asker and the responder into a shared experience. Creating the right space to ask deeper questions. The difference between a question with an agenda, and a question with an intention. Topaz Adizes is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and experience design architect. He is an Edmund Hillary fellow and Sundance/Skoll stories of change fellow. His works have been selected to Cannes, Sundance, IDFA, and SXSW; featured in New Yorker magazine, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times; and have garnered an Emmy for new approaches to documentary and Two World Press photo awards for immersive storytelling and interactive documentary. He is currently the founder and executive director of the experience design studio The Skin Deep. Topaz studied philosophy at UC Berkeley and Oxford University. He speaks four languages, and currently lives in Mexico with his wife and two children. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Three things Topaz Adizes knows to be true. How To Be More Vulnerable. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools For more about The Skin Deep, visit TheSkinDeep.com. To learn more about Topaz Adizes and his work, visit TopazAdizes.com. Follow Topaz Adizes and The Skin Deep on Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube and Facebook. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.

The Meaningful Life Classic Episode: TRACEY COX on Great Sex After 50 No-one would deny sex is important to a meaningful life, but what that looks like changes as we age. In this first episode of The Meaningful Life, international sex therapist and Daily Mail columnist Tracey Cox discusses her book Great Sex Starts at 50: How to Age-Proof Your Libido. While wild, lustful sex can certainly be a unique and special life experience, the sex that brings us meaning is different. It’s the sex that lasts past the orgasm, to include that afterglow as you lie together or even just make each other a post-coital cup of tea. It’s about building a sexual relationship that is not solely focused on orgasm. Meaningful sex is also sex that the two of you work on - after twenty years you probably won’t want to rip each other’s clothes off, but you CAN plan time to devote to each other, to try new things and create desire. Trying new things is something the majority of couples never do - but it’s a simple recipe for exciting, meaningful sex, and Tracey and Andrew have plenty of tips on where to start. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Three things Tracey Cox knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things. Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools. Buy Great Sex Starts at 50: How to Age-Proof Your Libido by Tracey Cox Get the advice you need on your sex life from Tracey Cox. Listen to Tracey Cox and Kelsey Chittick’s SexTok podcast Follow Tracey Cox on social media: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Put the spark back in your relationship with Andrew’s book Have The Sex You Want https://andrewgmarshall.com/book/have-the-sex-you-want-a-couples-guide-to-getting-back-the-spark/ Read Andrew’s advice on what to do if your partner says the passion is gone Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.

Grief is a painful and confusing journey. Often, the culture encourages us to “move on”, squashing our grief down so that those around us are comfortable. This week Andrew talks to author and grief coach Shelby Forsythia. They discuss: Whether grief can turn “toxic” Coping with other people’s responses Living with grief as your companion Creating grief rituals Different causes of grief - death, divorce, infidelity, loss of identity. Shelby Forsythia is a grief coach, author, and podcast host. In 2020, she founded Life After Loss Academy, an online course and community that has helped dozens of grievers grow and find their way after death, divorce, diagnosis, and other major life transitions. Following her mother’s death in 2013, Shelby began calling herself a “student of grief” and now devotes her days to reading, writing, and speaking about loss. Through a combination of mindfulness tools and intuitive, open-ended questions, she guides her clients to welcome grief as a teacher and create meaningful lives that honour and include the heartbreaks they’ve faced. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Bustle, and The Oprah Magazine. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing. How to grieve the person you used to be. Three things Shelby Forsythia knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Visit Shelby Forsythia’s website Follow Shelby Forsythia on social media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.

Are you successful in the eyes of family and friends, but still feel empty and a little lost? Is there a nagging voice telling you that your life could have been bigger? Dr Esther Zeledon had scaled the heights of career success as a scientist and international diplomat, but suffered from a strong sense that things weren’t right. She left behind a successful career to become a life coach, author, speaker and workshop facilitator centred on the mission of helping others create their “limitless life”. Andrew and Esther discuss: Esther’s personal journey Overcoming negative voices Defining the meaning of success Finding clarity on your next steps. Dr. Esther Zeledón embodies the resilient spirit of a Latina immigrant. Her rich and diverse background has been the cornerstone of her trailblazing work as a life coach, speaker, workshop facilitator, former international diplomat, and scientist. With a commitment to inclusivity, Dr. Zeledón has transformed the lives of thousands worldwide, bridging gaps across communities, corporations, and countries. Dr. Zeledón's book, "Creating Your Limitless Life," blends her personal memoir and life-changing method and follows her journey from paycheck-to-paycheck to creating her limitless life. Through her work, she lives her purpose of elevating people and organisations to shatter limits and trailblaze. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Coping with the fear of being judged. Three things Esther Zeledon knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Dr Esther Zeledon’s book, Creating Your Limitless Life: On Your Terms. Visit Dr Esther Zeledon's website Follow Dr Esther Zeledon on Instagram @be.act.change Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.

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 if your in-laws just won’t observe your boundaries. Sue Atkins has over 35 years experience as a parenting coach and Deputy Headteacher, and has raised two children of her own. She is the Parenting Expert for ITV’s ‘This Morning’, BBC Radio, Disney Junior, Good Morning Britain and India’s Parenting World Magazine. Sue has a B.Ed (Hons) Degree and is a qualified Life Coach. She is also an NLP Master Practitioner & Trainer taught by Dr Richard Bandler & Paul McKenna. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Support yourself and your child through change. Three things Sue Atkins knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Visit Sue Atkins’ website. Follow Sue Atkins on Instagram @sueatkinsparentingexpert, on Twitter/X @SueAtkins and on Facebook @SueAtkinsTheParentingExpert. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.

Parents like to feel they are independent individuals making their own decisions, but in reality parenting is hugely influenced by our own experiences of childhood. In this classic early episode, Andrew and therapist and author Philippa Perry talk about how we are “links in a chain", and why it is important for parents to recognise that and ensure their own links are shaped to the needs of their children. Philippa Perry is a psychotherapist and author of several books, including The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) and How To Stay Sane. She has also presented a number of documentaries, is Red Magazine’s agony aunt, and writes for numerous British publications. Philippa has also starred alongside her husband Grayson Perry in the recent Channel 4 series, Grayson’s Art Club. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Three things Philippa Perry knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/ Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Philippa Perry’s book The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) Read Philippa’s advice column in Red Magazine Follow Philippa on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Read The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Sensitive Children Face Challenges and How All Can Thrive by W Thomas Boyce MD. Read Andrew’s book on building a stronger relationship as parents: I Love You But You Always Put Me Last: How to Child-Proof Your Marriage Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.

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 aunt. She also works as a well-being consultant to city corporations where she triages employees for psychological services. Pam has written 15 self-help books on topics from happiness to dating and The Emotional Eater's Diet. Her first children’s book is Eva the Bear and the Magic Snowflake and has just been published. Pam has had countless magazine and newspaper columns over the years, including in The Times, the Sun, the Express and in media outlets from Cosmo Bride to MSN and many others. She regularly appears on TV programmes including Sky News, Talk TV, GB News and the BBC. She was a popular contributor on the Big Brother shows for 12 years. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Ten essential principles to change your life Three things Dr Pam Spurr knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Dr Pam Spurr’s new book for children Eva the Bear and the Magic Snowflake Read Dr Pam Spurr’s book The Emotional Eater’s Diet Read Dr Pam Spurr’s other books about sex and relationships. Visit Dr Pam Spurr’s website Follow Dr Pam Spurr on Twitter/X and Instagram @drpamspurr Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 Developing a non-judgmental approach towards yourself, others and even your parents. Dr Kai Tai Kevin Qiu is the founder of Boundaries to Freedom, a healing transformation coach, digital nomad, and digital creator. His holistic and practical approach is based on his experience studying medicine, personal development, positive psychology, Buddhism, and spirituality. He is a first generation Chinese-Canadian currently living part-time in Thailand, Canada, and Europe. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Setting consequences if your parents can't stay within the boundaries. Three things Dr Kai Tai Kevin Qiu knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Visit Dr Kai’s website Get Dr Kai’s book Emotionally Immature Parents: A Recovery Workbook for Adult Children Take Dr Kai’s Am I Emotionally Immature Quiz Follow Dr Kai on Instagram and TikTok @hicoachkai Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 gaslight effect in different relationships. Robin also shares her personal experiences of gaslighting. Dr Robin Stern co-founded the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence with Marc Brackett and currently serves as the senior advisor to the director. She is the author of The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life, and a follow-up workbook edition, The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide. She launched The Gaslight Effect Podcast in 2022. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Gaslighting in the workplace. Three things Dr Robin Stern knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Dr Robin Stern’s books The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life, and The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide. Visit Dr Robin Stern’s website Listen to the Gaslight Effect Podcast Follow Dr Robin Stern on Instagram @dr.robinstern, on Facebook @drrobinstern and Twitter/X @RobinSStern. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 addiction. Dr Paula Hall is the founder of the Laurel Centre, and the author of 4 books on sex and porn addiction, as well as two Relate Guides, and Improving Your Relationship for Dummies. Her most recent venture is founding the not-for-profit organisation, Pivotal Recovery, to provide anonymous, accessible, professional self-help for people struggling with sex and porn addiction. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: New life after addiction. Three things Paula Hall knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools. Read Dr Paula Hall’s books, including Sex Addiction: The Partner’s Perspective and Sex Addiction: A Guide for Couples and Those Who Help Them. Visit the Laurel Centre website for resources on pornography and sex addiction, including videos, articles, courses and counselling options. ​ Watch the video The Road to Brighton, which is discussed in this episode. Visit the Pivotal Recovery website for an affordable, online therapy-based programme to quit porn addiction, sex addiction and compulsive sexual behaviours. Follow Dr Paula Hall on Twitter/X @paulahall_psych. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 to Heal and Feel More Secure in Love. She created the Self-full Method to help people in both one-on-one and online transformational group coaching who are struggling with anxiety, relationship conflict, marital issues, and codependent relationships. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: When does anxious attachment become love addiction or codependency? Three things Jessica Baum knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Jessica Baum’s book Anxiously Attached: How to Heal and Feel More Secure in Love. Visit Jessica Baum’s website to learn more about her work, including the Self-full method. Follow Jessica Baum on Instagram and YouTube @jessicabaumlmhc and on Facebook @beselffull Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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, Passive-aggressiveness, Unsatisfying relationships, Issues with sexuality. Dr. Robert Glover, therapist, coach, speaker, and educator is a relationship expert with over 40 years of professional experience. The author of the groundbreaking, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Dr. Glover has helped thousands of men world-wide transform their lives and get what they want in their careers and relationships. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Visit Dr Robert Glover’s website and take a look at some of the ways you can work with him, including workshops, online classes and one-to-one consultations. Buy Dr Robert Glover’s books No More Mr Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex, and Life and Dating Essentials for Men: Frequently Asked Questions. Follow Dr Robert Glover on YouTube @drrobertglover Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 immersion program for couples. Cheryl has helped thousands of couples jump-start their love life and create passion that lasts a lifetime. She lives in Vancouver, and is regularly featured in Mindful and Best Health magazines. Cheryl was also a Fulbright scholar, and has studied meditation and Buddhism for twenty-five years, in both the Tibetan and Theravaden traditions. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Join one of Dr Cheryl Fraser’s free online couple workshops and find out more about her Become Passion programme. Take Dr Cheryl Fraser’s Passion Quiz and rate your relationship. Read Dr Cheryl Fraser’s book, Buddha’s Bedroom. Follow Dr Cheryl on Facebook and YouTube Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 works, which type of therapy to choose, and why it works so well. Graham Johnston is a psychotherapist and educator. He is Director of Policy at The Bowlby Centre, the UK’s leading training institution in attachment-based psychotherapy, and has also worked for the UK Government, specialising in home affairs. He and Matt Wotton are the Co-Founders and Directors of LCAP. Matt Wotton is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and also Chair of The Bowlby Centre and Director at LCAP. Matt has over two decades of experience in forensic mental health in the criminal justice system - in operations, coaching leaders, and advising ministers. He led the review of Race in the Criminal Justice System (The Lammy Review), commissioned by the Prime Minister, and has been a member of the Prison & Probation Board. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/ Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools Read Graham Johnston and Matt Wotton’s new book A Straight Talking Introduction to Therapy: What it Is, Why it Works, How to Get it Learn more about the London Centre for Applied Psychology (LCAP), where Graham Johnston and Matt Wotton work as Directors. Learn more about The Bowlby Centre, the UK’s leading training institution in attachment-based psychotherapy. Follow LCAP on Twitter and Facebook @LCAPsychology. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

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 for Loss and Transition, actively practices as a trainer, consultant and coach, and has published over 600 articles and 35 books, most on grieving as a meaning-making process. His most recent books are New Techniques of Grief Therapy with Routledge and The Handbook of Grief Therapies with Sage. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/ Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools Read Dr Robert A. Neimeyer’s books, New Techniques of Grief Therapy and The Handbook of Grief Therapies. Find out more about the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition https://www.portlandinstitute.org/about-us . Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Have you allowed yourself to explore your sexual fantasies, or do they feel like dark territory that is off-limits? Have you explored them with your partner? This week I talk to Jungian psychotherapist Dr Douglas Thomas about his new book, The Deep Psychology of BDSM and Kink. We cover: Why it’s so hard to talk about your fantasies with your partner. How Jungian archetypes can provide a language to better understand BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) and kink. Whether BDSM can be a path to individuation and bringing soul into the world. Dr Douglas Thomas is an author and a Jungian psychotherapist in private practice in California. He has presented workshops and talks throughout the state of California on LGBTQ issues and on dream therapy, his two areas of specialization. He teaches at the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Dr. Thomas holds a masters degree from the USC School of Social Work, and a PhD in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in psychotherapy from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/ Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools Buy Dr Douglas Thomas’ new book, The Deep Psychology of BDSM and Kink https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Psychology-BDSM-Kink/dp/1032122072 Visit Dr Douglas Thomas’ website https://www.drdouglasthomas.com Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

If you were raised in a sad, chaotic home, you will unsurprisingly experience difficulties in your adult relationships. If your parents were cold and distant and discouraged the expression of emotions, you’ll be equally ill-prepared for successful relationships or effective parenting. This week Andrew talks to Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten (also known as Dr Psych Mom) about dysfunctional parenting and how to overcome its complex legacies. Dr Samatha Rodman Whiten is a clinical psychologist, a writer, and the mother of three children. She hosts and writes the hugely popular Dr Psych Mom podcast and blog. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Visit Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten’s website, DrPsychMom.com Listen to Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten’s podcast The Dr. Psych Mom Show Dr. Samantha Rodman Whiten also runs Best Life Behavioral Health, a virtual group practice of therapists and coaches. Follow Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @drpsychmom. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Estrangement from adult children can be one of the most disorienting and painful experiences of a parent's life. This week, Andrew talks to Dr Joshua Coleman, the author of Rules of Estrangement. They discuss: Why estrangement has become so common Why estrangement isn’t a one-sided story of parents who got what they deserved or overly entitled adult children. Approaches parents can take to achieve reconciliation with children and grandchildren. Techniques for starting a conversation. Dr Coleman’s own experience of estrangement from his daughter. Dr Joshua Coleman is a psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and a Senior Fellow with the Council on Contemporary Families. He has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. He has been a frequent guest on The Today Show and NPR, and has even been featured on Sesame Street. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools Buy Dr Joshua Coleman’s new book, Rules of Estrangement Visit Dr Joshua Coleman’s website You might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with Celia Dodd on how to Navigate Your Relationship with Your Adult Children Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Could the ancient wisdom of Taoism help us with the emotional challenges of modern life? Author and Taoist priest Greg Ripley believes that a little-known 6th-century Taoist text called the Bai Yao Lu (Statutes of the Hundred Remedies) offers some profound answers. In this episode, Greg and Andrew discuss some of the Hundred Remedies, and how they can help us go with the flow, deepen our meditation practice and find the natural balance in all things. Greg Ripley is a Taoist Priest in the 22nd generation of the Quanzhen Longmen tradition as well as a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in acupuncture from Northwestern Health Sciences University. He is the author of The Hundred Remedies of the Tao, Tao of Sustainability and Voice of the Elders. He lives in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Buy Greg Ripley’s book, The Hundred Remedies of the Tao: Spiritual Wisdom for Interesting Times Visit Greg Ripley’s website Follow Greg Ripley on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. You might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with Henry Emmons, Bring More Calm and Joy Into Your Life Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

For many women, intense caring and nurturing relationships cause their inner fire to dim, leaving them feeling they have lost themselves. Author and Jungian analyst Lisa Marchiano’s new book is called The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire. Lisa wrote the book to help women “break free from the conditioning that has kept them confined to rigid roles and muffled the sound of their soul”. Andrew and Lisa discuss the eight qualities Lisa identifies in the book: shrewdness, disagreeableness, desire, trickiness, sexuality, anger, authority, and ruthlessness. They also cover the ways in which the ancient wisdom of fairy tales (such as The Frog Prince and Fitcher’s Bird) can help women access these lost qualities and build a more complete, authentic self. Lisa Marchiano is an award-winning author, certified Jungian analyst, and the co-host of This Jungian Life podcast. Her highly-acclaimed books draw upon the healing wisdom of fairy tales to help women connect more deeply with themselves. Follow Up Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things. Take a look at Andrew’s new online course: My Best Relationship Tools Read Lisa Marchiano’s new book, The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire or her first book, Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself. Get a free 1-month trial of Lisa Marchiano’s new online fairy tale group for women, Spinning Straw Listen to or watch This Jungian Life podcast Visit Lisa Marchiano’s website. Follow Lisa Marchiano on Instagram and Twitter @lisamarchiano Listen to Andrew’s 2021 interview with Lisa Marchiano on Being a Mother. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Andrew’s Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Menopause is a seismic transition for women, and for their partners. The physical and emotional changes it brings will undoubtedly reverberate into a couple’s sex life. Irish therapist Beth Wallace believes that this transition can be an opportunity rather than an ending. While decreases in hormones definitely impact women’s bodies in some detrimental ways (which will need management), decreased satisfaction with our sensual and sexual lives is NOT inevitable. Andrew and Beth discuss the ways in which the natural changes of menopause can be a time to reflect on desire, expectations and sexual creativity. With good communication, menopause can allow a couple to reflect on their new life stage, and maximise its opportunities. Beth Wallace is a psychotherapist and applied psychology graduate. She supports adults to create and maintain satisfying intimate relationships with themselves, with others & with life itself through private client sessions with individuals & couples, workshops, online courses, retreats & intensives. Follow Up Get Andrew’s NEW free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online course: My Best Relationship Tools Explore Beth Wallace’s website Follow Beth Wallace @bethwallacerelationships on Facebook , @drbethwallace on Instagram and Twitter, and on LinkedIn. You might be interested in some of Andrew’s other interviews: Tracey Cox on Great Sex After 50. Rachel Weiss on Menopause. Fabian Edzard Schneider on Mismatched Levels of Sexual Desire. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

If you’ve suffered serious trauma, you may well be feeling confused by the sudden ubiquity of the term. The concept of trauma is having its cultural moment in the sun, and seems to be constantly under discussion on social media. This week, Andrew speaks to Jeremy Fox, a therapist and trauma specialist, about: How to define trauma Different types of trauma Whether it’s helpful to label your trauma. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as a trauma treatment. Jeremy Fox is a licensed mental health therapist, certified professional counseling supervisor, and an EMDR trauma counselor and consultant. He has been published in the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: The link between anxiety and trauma Three things Jeremy Fox knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s NEW free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Take a look at Andrew’s new online course: My Best Relationship Tools. Read Jeremy Fox’s Substack newsletter Follow Jeremy Fox on LinkedIn You might be interested in Andrew’s other episodes on trauma: Galit Atlas on Buried Trauma Fenella Hansen on Dealing With Trauma Julia Paulette Hollenbery on Seven Medicines for Healing from Trauma. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there https://bit.ly/TheMeaningfulLifeSubstack Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

I’m excited to launch my new online course for couples: My Best Relationship Tools. This week, I talk with my friend and podcast engineer, Michael Dooney, about how the course can make a difference in your relationship. We discuss: Why couples struggle to communicate How to stop using failing strategies New ways of approaching conflict How to listen, build rapport and make certain both of you feel heard Healing your relationship. Follow Up Find out more about my course: My Best Relationship Tools. Get my free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Each and every one of us is awesome in some way - but, we are also human. Author, speaker and entrepreneur Nataly Kogan wrote her Awesome Human Journal to help people learn to honour their humanity, whilst also strengthening their emotional fitness. In this episode, Andrew and Nataly discuss how to: Edit your thoughts and quiet your inner critic Say “no” to things that drain your energy Make joy a priority without guilt Reduce overwhelm and fuel your motivation Talk back to your brain when it holds you back with fear Nataly Kogan is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author. She immigrated to the US as a refugee from the former Soviet Union when she was 13 years old. Starting her life in the projects and on welfare, she went on to reach the highest levels of corporate success at companies like McKinsey & Company and Microsoft. When she still found herself unfulfilled, Nataly set out to discover what really leads to a fulfilling, happier life. Her explorations led her to create Happier, a company whose award-winning mobile application, online courses, and “Happier at Work” training programs have helped more than a million people improve their emotional health. Nataly is a sought-after keynote speaker and has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, TEDxBoston, SXSW, The Harvard Women’s Leadership Conference, and The Dr. Oz Show. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Refilling Your Energy Reservoir Three Things Nataly Kogan knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Get Andrew’s NEW free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Read Nataly Kogan’s new book, The Awesome Human Journal Visit Nataly Kogan’s website and take a look at her Unleash Your Thriving coaching programme. Follow Nataly Kogan @natalykogan on Instagram and Twitter, and @natalykoganauthor on Facebook and @HappierwithNataly on YouTube. You might also enjoy Andrew’s interviews with Richard Paterson on No More Overthinking and Henry Emmons on The Road to Calm and Joy. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Hopes, dreams and goals stretch far into the future, but intentions are about the present. Setting intentions means translating your goals into small steps you can achieve right now. Intentionality offers you a roadmap for progress and personal growth. In this episode Andrew talks with therapist Erin Vandermore about what it means to set intentions, how to set up intentions that are achievable and positive, and the rewards that come with a regular intention-setting practice. Erin Vandermore, MA, LCPC, LCMHC, is a licensed therapist, and wellness coach with over 14 years of experience in the fields of mental health and life coaching. As the founder of Age of Uncertainty Coaching, Erin has dedicated her life to helping individuals discover their unique skills and talents—those often overshadowed by self-sabotage. Her empathetic lens, cultivated through her personal journey as a mother, a survivor of pre-eclampsia, and an individual living with dyslexia, ADHD, and anxiety, allows her to connect with her clients on a deeply human level. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: How to Deal with Emotional Eating. Three Things Erin Vandermore knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Visit Erin Vandermore’s website and take a look at her online courses. Follow Erin Vandermore Instagram @aoucoaching, on Facebook @AgeofUncertaintyCoaching, on YouTube @AOU_Coaching_with_Erin and on TikTok @ageofuncertaintycoach. Get Andrew’s NEW free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

More than one third of adults suffer from insomnia or some other kind of sleep disorder. Left unaddressed, lack of sleep can lead to debilitated health, lowered resilience, and decreased performance in all aspects of life. Psychologist, author and spiritual teacher Philip Carr-Gomm’s latest book is The Gift of the Night. The book combines an extensive knowledge of sleep science and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with techniques drawn from spiritual traditions and insights from the emerging field of psychedelic therapy. In this episode, Andrew and Philip discuss the sleep difficulties that can come with growing older, reframing your understanding of sleeplessness, and some of the practical techniques that can create a better night’s sleep. This is Philip Carr-Gomm’s second appearance on The Meaningful Life. Philip is an expert in psychosynthesis, an “awe-inspiring territory that has the power to transform us”. He believes that something magical happens when the worlds of modern psychology and ancient spiritual teachings are brought together. He has studied Druidry extensively and from 1988-2020 was the leader of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. He has a degree in psychology and has trained in psychotherapy, play therapy, Montessori education, yoga nidra, mindfulness meditation and sophrology. Philip recently created an online school, The Art of Living Well, to offer courses combining psychological and spiritual understanding. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Unhelpful Myths About Sleep. Three Things Philip Carr-Gomm knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Download Andrew's new FREE guide: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things. Read Philip Carr-Gomm’s new book, The Gift of the Night: A Six-Step Program for Better Sleep. Listen to Philip Carr-Gomm’s 2021 interview with Andrew on Creating an Authentic Life Take a look at Philip Carr-Gomm’s website Find out more about the courses offered at Philip’s online school, The Art of Living Well Follow Philip on Instagram at @philipcarrgomm and on Facebook at @philip.carrgomm Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Better sex, coping with strong emotions, healing your inner child and harnessing the power of compassion: these were some of the big themes that spoke to The Meaningful Life listeners in 2023. Jon from the Marshall Method team of therapists is Andrew’s special guest for this New Year’s Day episode. Andrew and Jon each choose their favourite episodes, and share highlights from them. These are the episodes chosen by Andrew and Jon as their 2023 favourites: What is the Feeling Trying to Tell Me? with Karla McLaren. Healing Your Lost Child with Robert Jackman Tantra: How to Make Your Lovemaking More Connected with Jan Day Slay Your Dragons With Compassion with Malcolm Stern How to Heal Stubborn & Inexplicable Health Problems with Sharon E. Martin Rites of Passage and Mentoring: How to Become an Adult with Conroy Harris Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Highlights from interviews with Avrum Weiss on Anxiety, and with Olivier Clerc on Forgiveness. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Book a counselling session with Jon or with one of the other Marshall Method team. Get Andrew’s NEW free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things. Read Andrew’s book I Love You But I’m Not In Love With You Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Christmas isn’t usually thought of as a romantic holiday, but this week Dr Cheryl Fraser explores some of the ways you and your partner can share intimacy, sensuality and thrill over the winter break (however you choose to celebrate). Andrew and Cheryl discuss: Making the most of beautiful moments. Finding the strength to say no. Planning ahead so things go how you’d like them to Avoiding the people-pleasing trap. Giving your partner a “sexy stocking”. Dr Cheryl Fraser is the author of Buddha’s Bedroom, the host of the Sex, Love and Elephants podcast, and the therapist behind the Become Passion online immersion program for couples. Cheryl has helped thousands of couples jump-start their love life and create passion that lasts a lifetime. She lives in Vancouver, and is regularly featured in Mindful and Best Health magazines. Cheryl was also a Fulbright scholar, and has studied meditation and Buddhism for twenty-five years, in both the Tibetan and Theravaden traditions. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Top Resolutions for Better Sex and Communication in 2024. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Learn more about Dr Cheryl’s online immersion program for couples, Become Passion, and join the waitlist. Sign up to receive Lovebytes, Dr Cheryl’s tips and techniques to help you create love that lasts a lifetime. Read Dr Cheryl’s book, Buddha’s Bedroom Listen to Dr Cheryl’s podcast Sex, Love and Elephants Follow Dr Cheryl on Facebook and YouTube Read Andrew’s book I Love You But I’m Not In Love With You Read Andrew’s blog Seven Secrets for Making Marriage Last Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson taught a path of self-reliance and self-knowledge. He emphasised self-knowledge and mindfulness as paths to happiness; also, self-reliance, cooperation, non-conformity, originality, adaptability, and receptiveness. This week, Andrew talks to author and teacher Mark Matousek about how Emerson’s twelve essential teachings hold the answer to living an authentic and fulfilling life, one that is in harmony with our souls. Key principles include: Each person creates their own reality. Obstacles are teachers in disguise Your character is your destiny Wonder and awe are the keys to the kingdom Nonconformity is the greatest virtue Nature is the doorway to God Life without self-knowledge is not worth living. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: When you're falling, dive. Three things Mark Matousek knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Mark Matousek’s new book, Lessons from an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life. Read When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living by Mark Matousek. Visit Mark Matousek’s website. Follow Mark Matousek on Facebook @mark.matousek Read Andrew’s book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

The idea of “imposter syndrome” has found its cultural moment - we hear it talked about constantly, and many of us resonate with the idea of feeling like a fraud in our work or relationships. In this episode, Susan Schwartz PhD returns to the podcast to help explore the concept of imposter syndrome in more depth. Susan and Andrew discuss The ways imposter syndrome is rooted in childhood. Painful experiences of imposter syndrome in our romantic relationships The difference between presenting different aspects of who we are VS suffering from imposter syndrome. The related concept of the “as-if” personality - the individual who goes through life pretending they have a meaningful identity, when at heart, they feel that they do not. This person faces a “conundrum around whether to hide or expose the truth of who they are”. Susan Schwartz is a Jungian analyst who trained in Switzerland and lives in the USA. She teaches in numerous Jungian programs, workshops, and lectures in the USA and worldwide. She is also a clinical psychologist and member of the International Association of Analytical Psychology. Her new book is Imposter Syndrome and The ‘As-If’ Personality in Analytical Psychology. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Ageing, the “As If” personality and Narcissism. Three things Susan Schwartz knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Dr Susan Schwartz’s latest books: Imposter Syndrome and The ‘As-If’ Personality in Analytical Psychology The Absent Father Effect on Daughters, Father Desire, Father Wounds. Listen to Andrew’s previous interview with Dr Susan Schwartz on Fathers and Daughters Visit Dr Susan Schwartz’s website Follow Dr Susan Schwartz on Facebook and Instagram Read Andrew’s book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there https://bit.ly/TheMeaningfulLifeSubstack Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Setting boundaries can seem really hard - you wonder how the other person will react, and whether you’re strong enough to manage such a task. You’re perhaps not even sure of the difference between boundary-setting and laying down an ultimatum. Relationship expert Krystal Mazzola Wood likes to focus on the good news. If you CAN learn to set healthy boundaries, your relationships will grow stronger, livelier and more sustaining. In this episode Andrew and Krystal discuss how recovering people-pleasers can approach boundary-setting, how to practice setting boundaries and how to find the boundaries that are non-negotiable for you. Krystal Mazzola Wood is a practicing licensed marriage and family therapist. She works with clients at her private practice, The Healthy Relationship Foundation, which she founded to help people experience greater self-love and deeper intimacy with others. Krystal is also the author of a number of relationship guides. Her latest book is Setting Boundaries: 100 Ways to Protect Yourself, Strengthen Your Relationships, and Build the Life You Want Starting Now!, Krystal also maintains a weekly blog, Confidently Authentic, which focuses on balanced, mentally healthy dating and relationship advice. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: How to Deal with Resentment Three things Krystal Mazzola Wood knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Buy Krystal Mazzola Wood’s books: Setting Boundaries: 100 Ways to Protect Yourself, Strengthen Your Relationships, and Build the Life You Want Starting Now! The Codependency Recovery Plan The Codependency Workbook Visit Krystal Mazzola Wood’s website The Healthy Relationship Foundation Read Krystal Mazzola Wood’s blog Confidently Authentic Follow Krystal Mazzola Wood on Instagram @krystal_mazzola. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Nobody dreams of becoming a stepmother. Yet for Michelle Brown, a blogger and step-parenting expert, being a step-mother feels like something she was meant to do. Michelle has a unique bond with her step-son, and through her writing she has also become a light in the darkness for many new step-parents struggling to make things work. Michelle is the first to admit, however, that step-parenting can be painful and exceptionally complex. In this week’s episode, Andrew and Michelle discuss: How society sees step-parents The challenges of running a blended family. Dealing with your partner’s ex (your step-child’s other parent). Defining your role in your step-child’s life. Parenting your biological child alongside your step-child. Looking after your marriage as a step-parent Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️What I learned having breakfast with my ex-husband. ⭐️Three things Michelle Brown knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Michelle’s writing on step-parenting at www.theponderingnook.com and on Medium Listen to Michelle’s podcast, The Pondering Stepmom Podcast Follow Michelle on Instagram and Facebook @theponderingnook and on Twitter @MichellePonders Read Andrew’s book The Happy Couple’s Handbook: Powerful Life Hacks for a Successful Relationship https://andrewgmarshall.com/book/the-happy-couples-handbook-powerful-life-hacks-for-a-successful-relationship/ You might also enjoy last week’s episode with therapist Terry Gaspard on Making Your Second Marriage Work. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

The divorce rate for second marriages is in most countries higher than the rate for firsts. If you’re onto a second or third marriage (or if you’re contemplating one) you’ll need a strong toolkit. In this episode, Andrew welcomes marital therapist Terry Gaspard back to the podcast for a second interview, this time to discuss the particular challenges of second marriages. These can include: Unfinished business with ex-partners Dealing with debts and handling money Blending families Finding time and space for sex. Terry Gaspard, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience in counselling and writing. Her latest book is The Remarriage Manual, and she is also the author of Daughters of Divorce. Sponsor This week's episode is sponsored by Biyaku: a sexuality app with the motto: ''Let your libido drive you.'' The app shares a huge variety of practices, including meditations, breath-work, Kegel exercises and even body movement that are specifically designed to help you connect with your libido. Download the app (iOS or Android) for a free trial for 7 days and see the effects for yourself. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️How to know if it's a small issue (and not sweat it) or a big one to be resolved ⭐️Three things Terry Gaspard knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Buy Terry Gaspard’s new book The Remarriage Manual https://movingpastdivorce.com/the-re-marraige-manual/ Read Terry Gaspard’s first book, Daughters of Divorce https://movingpastdivorce.com/order-daughters-of-divorce/ Visit Terry Gaspard’s website https://movingpastdivorce.com Follow Terry Gaspard on Twitter/X @MovePastDivorce and on Facebook @movingpastdivorce Listen to Andrew’s previous interview with Terry Gaspard on Daughters of Divorce: the Long-Term Impact of Marital Breakdown Read Andrew’s book The Happy Couple’s Handbook: Powerful Life Hacks for a Successful Relationship https://andrewgmarshall.com/book/the-happy-couples-handbook-powerful-life-hacks-for-a-successful-relationship/ Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there https://bit.ly/TheMeaningfulLifeSubstack Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Healing from profound exhaustion of the spirit requires more than just thinking of a good plan. Author and Jungian Bea Gonzalez believes in storytelling and myth as powerful tools for healing. In this episode, Andrew and Bea discuss: Why fairy tales have so much to teach us. Rediscovering feminine wisdom (which both men and women need) How to analyse a fairy tale to find the message it contains for YOU. The tale of the Skeleton Woman - Andrew and Bea tell this story section by section, discussing its rich metaphors along the way. Bea Gonzalez is the creator of Sophia Cycles, a project to bring feminine wisdom back to the world. She is the author of several novels (including Invocation, The Bitter Taste of Time and The Mapmaker’s Opera). Bea is also a lecturer and educator, and has taught classes on the work of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell all over the world. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Code Breaking: Unlocking the symbolic life Three things Bea Gonzalez knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Bea Gonzalez’s new novel, Invocation and her other books, The Bitter Taste of Time and The Mapmaker’s Opera. Visit Bea Gonzalez’s website https://www.sophiacycles.com/ Follow Bea Gonzalez on Instagram, Twitter/X and YouTube @sophiacycles You might enjoy Andrew’s other episode on fairy tales, How Fairy Tales Can Refresh & Move You Forward, with Libby Nugent, or his interview with Jungian analyst and author James Hollis on How to be Resilient. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

“Shame is a powerful, universal, mysterious emotion. It can be incredibly painful and destructive AND it is designed to protect you” (Sheila Rubin). Marriage therapist Sheila Rubin is a leading authority on how to heal the shame that might be holding you back in your relationships and your life. In this interview, Andrew and Sheila discuss how to achieve a deeper understanding of your shame, stop resisting it, and even turn it into an ally. Sheila Rubin, MA, MFT, RDT/BCT is a Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in Berkeley, California. She is the Co-Director of the Center for Healing Shame, a continuing education provider that offers Healing Shame workshops to therapists and other helping professionals. Sheila has developed therapy techniques integrating somatic and expressive processes to work with the all-pervasive shame and trauma that underlie eating disorders, addictions and toxic family dynamics. She is also the co-author (along with her husband, Bret Lyon) of a new book, Embracing Shame. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: Shame and eating disorders Three things Sheila Rubin knows to be true. AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Read Sheila Rubin’s new book, Embracing Shame. To download a free guidebook, Resilience and Hidden Shame, please visit www.SheilaRubin.com For more information about Sheila’s Healing Shame workshops, please visit www.HealingShame.com. Read Andrew’s book The Happy Couple’s Handbook: Powerful Life Hacks for a Successful Relationship. Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Quitting - jobs, marriages, musical instruments - is often seen as a sign of a weak character. Author and journalist Julia Keller is on a mission to reframe quitting as an act of self-love, which can help us lead more meaningful lives. This week Andrew and Julia discuss why it is that we value perseverance and “grit” so heavily, how to know when enough is enough, and the art of the “quasi-quit”. Julia Keller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist, playwright, and teacher, is the author of Quitting: A Life Strategy / The Myth of Perseverance and How the New Science of Giving Up Can Set You Free. Julia earned a Ph.D. at Ohio State University, and has taught at Princeton University, The University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame, and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She was the literary critic at The Chicago Tribune for more than a decade before quitting in order to write books. As well as her non-fiction writing Julia is the author of a series of mystery novels, a science fiction series for young adults. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️How to ask good questions. ⭐️Three things Julia Keller knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Buy Julia Keller’s new book Quitting: A Life Strategy Visit Julia Keller’s website Follow Julia Keller on Facebook @Julia.Keller.Writer Read Andrew’s book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Most couples grapple with mismatched levels of sexual desire at some point. Some find destructive solutions - pornography, infidelity - but it IS possible to deal with this in a positive way. This week Fabian Edzard Schneider chats with Andrew about the daily self-pleasure routine he is using to fulfil his sexual needs while his wife recuperates from the birth of their second child. Andrew and Fabian discuss the ways in which men can take responsibility for their own physical and emotional needs, and in doing so create a better life as a strong, loving man of vision and self-understanding. Fabian Edzard Schneider is based in Gottingen, Germany. He specialises in empowering men to lead happier, more self-fulfilling lives. Fabian leads men’s groups that focus on the practical and the physical, rather than on theoretical understanding. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️How can men get to know themselves better? ⭐️Three things Fabian Edzard Schneider knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Fabian Edzard Schneider runs an in-person and online training programme for men called MenEncounter. The training focuses on masculine identity, self-empowerment, vision, and implementation of heart-driven projects as well as sexuality and relationship. Take a look here: https://fabianedzard.com/start/ You might also enjoy Andrew’s interviews with Venus O’Hara on Spiritual Sex, with Silva Neves on How to Heal Compulsive Sexual Behaviour, or with Irene Fehr on Why Desire Disappears. Get Andrew’s advice on building a stronger relationship in his book The Happy Couple’s Handbook: Powerful Life Hacks for a Successful Relationship. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Forget fair fighting, what you and your partner should aim for is win-win problem solving. According to psychologist Dr Susan Heitler, If you can learn to investigate and share the deep-seated emotions behind a particular argument, the two of you can emerge stronger and more connected as a couple. In this week’s episode, Andrew and Susan explore how childhood patterns can be replicated in adult relationships, and discuss a case-study in which a couple is able to overcome a disagreement over food waste that had brought them to the brink of divorce. Dr Susan Heitler is a Harvard-educated clinical psychologist with a doctorate from NYU. She has authored multiple self-help books, plus books for therapists on treatment techniques. She aims to show how to handle life's bumps—the conflicts, difficult interactions, negative feelings, traumas, and tough decisions—in ways that sustain a sense of well-being. Dr Heitler’s articles on Psychology Today have received over 24 million reads. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️What can marriage counselling do that individual work cannot? ⭐️Three things Susan Heitler knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Visit Susan Heitler’s websites: prescriptionswithoutpills.com and therapyhelp.com Read Susan Heitler’s books, including Prescriptions Without Pills and The Power of Two: Secrets to a Strong and Loving Marriage. Read Susan Heitler’s articles for Psychology Today Watch Susan Heitler’s TEDX talk on Lift Depression With These Three Prescriptions - Without Pills. You might also enjoy Andrew’s interviews with Avrum Weiss on Couples and Anxiety; or with Tonya Lester on How to Have Healthy Conflict. Get Andrew’s advice on building a stronger relationship in his book The Happy Couple’s Handbook: Powerful Life Hacks for a Successful Relationship. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

If you wanted children but weren’t able to have them, you are tasked with making peace with a life you didn’t choose. This grieving process occurs inside a culture that often has little respect for the childless. In this episode, Andrew speaks with psychotherapist Jody Day about grief, how ageing is different if you are not a parent, and how to find meaning, purpose and identity in what can feel like a very negative social context. Jody Day is the British founder of Gateway Women, the global support & advocacy network for childless women. She’s the author of what many professionals consider to be the ‘go-to’ book on the topic, Living the Life Unexpected: How to find hope, meaning and a fulfilling future without children. Jody was chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2013 & a UK Digital Woman of the Year in 2021. She is a global thought leader on female involuntary childlessness, a psychotherapist, a 2017 and 2022 TEDx speaker, a founding and former board member at the UK Charity Ageing Without Children and a former Fellow in Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School. Often referred to as the founder of the ‘childless movement’ and less often, but more memorably as ‘the Beyonce of childlessness', she’s been an Ambassador for World Childless Week since its inception in 2017. After a lifetime in London, she now lives by the sea in West Cork, rural Ireland, where she’s completing a novel (featuring a childless heroine of course!) and nurturing her emerging Gateway Elderwomen project. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️ How to get your mojo back. ⭐️Three things Jody Day knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Details about Jody Day’s book Living the Life Unexpected: How to Find Hope, Meaning and a Fulfilling Future Without Children can be found here and you can download the Introduction and Chapter 1 free, here. There is a live reading group for those working through the book in Jody’s online community. Visit Gateway Women, the global support & advocacy network for childless women. Follow Jody Day on Instagram and Twitter @gatewaywomen and on Facebook @GatewayWomenUK. You might also enjoy Andrew’s interview with author Shani Silver A New Perspective on Being Single Get Andrew’s advice on creating real change in your life and relationships in his book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Our “shadow” is made up of the unconscious parts of ourselves that we try to suppress or deny. Acknowledging and understanding shadow can be a powerful path to healing and authenticity. If we pursue spiritual growth, we will certainly encounter shadow - both our own, and those of our teachers (whose secret desires around money, sex and power can come into play). In this episode, psychotherapist and author Connie Zweig PhD talks with Andrew about her new book, Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual Path. Connie shares some of the ways we can heal from bruising encounters with shadow on spiritual journeys, and how we can “recover from loss of faith and move from spiritual naivete to spiritual maturity”. Connie Zweig, Ph.D., is a retired psychotherapist, writer, and Climate Reality Leader. Known as the Shadow Expert, she has written several books about shadow-work, including a bestseller about ageing as a spiritual practice, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul. Connie has been doing contemplative practices for more than 50 years, and is a wife, stepmother and grandmother. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️Projection: how we see our shadow in others. ⭐️Three things Connie Zweig knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Connie Zweig’s new book Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual Path: The Dance of Darkness and Light in Our Search for Awakening. Take a look at Connie Zweig’s other books Visit Connie Zweig’s website You can email Connie Zweig about the questions raised in this episode at [email protected] Follow Connie Zweig on Twitter @InnerWorkofAge and on Facebook at @Dr.ConnieZweig Listen to Andrew’s previous interview with Connie Zweig on From Role to Soul: How to Become an Elder Rather than Just Old Get Andrew’s advice on creating real change in your life and relationships in his book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

How do we fall in love? And do men and women experience this differently? Psychiatrist Dr Paul Dobransky has combined science with the study of real-life case studies, and concludes that we do. Moreover, if we can understand something of how our brains move through the stages of love, we can make better romantic choices and create relationships that last. Paul Dobransky, M.D., is a psychiatrist and author of The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love and The Power of Female Friendship. He works with AI and machine learning models and algorithms for analyzing romance, dating, relationships (human courtship), the development of character maturity and virtues, and the theory of personality. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️ Power imbalances in relationships: How they cause fights. ⭐️Three things Paul Dobransky knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Buy Dr Dobransky’s books: The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love and The Power of Female Friendship. Read Dr Dobransky’s Substack articles. Read Dr Dobransky’s articles for Psychology Today You might also be interested in hearing Cheryl Fraser talking with Andrew about How to Stay in Love or with Mairi Macleod about Finding a Good Man in Midlife. Join our Supporters Club on Patreon to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

When families enter family therapy, they usually point to one person as the “problem” - this individual is seen as too much, or too angry, or too sensitive. Family systems theory, however, looks at the whole family ecosystem to identify how this “problem” is being created, and whether it is in fact a symptom rather than a cause. This week Andrew talks with psychotherapist Elaine Carney Gibson about family systems theory, and how “it is the relationships we experience within our families that shape who we are, how we feel about ourselves, and how we attach and relate to others”. Elaine Carney Gibson, LMFT, LPC, is a practicing psychotherapist of 50 years. She sees individuals, couples, and families, specialising in Relationship Therapy. She taught graduate courses in marriage and family therapy for many years and is the director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Training Institute of The Link Counseling Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️Family Secrets: To tell or not to tell? ⭐️Three things Elaine Carney Gibson knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Read Elaine Carney Gibson’s book Your Family Revealed . Visit Elaine Carney Gibson’s website You might also be interested in hearing Galit Atlas talking with Andrew about Buried Trauma: How the Past Can Unconsciously Trap You or with Julia Samuel MBE about How We Inherit Pain from Our Parents and Grandparents. Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Anxiety can be as contagious as a yawn. People who are feeling more anxious often try to get others to take some of their anxiety from them, and people who are not feeling as anxious naturally resist taking on someone else’s anxiety. In relationships, it’s often the case that one person takes on the role of the anxious person, whilst the other feels responsible for managing their partner’s anxiety. Combine this with damagingly rigid gender roles, and you have a recipe for disconnection. This week Andrew welcomes Dr Avrum Weiss onto the podcast for a second time. Andrew and Avrum discuss “playing hot potato” with anxiety in relationships. Dr Avrum Weiss is a US-based author and psychotherapist specialising in the internal lives of men. His writing and his work with couples help men and women understand each other more deeply and build a stronger connection. Subscriber Content This Week If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing: ⭐️What is your relationship with change? ⭐️Three things Dr Weiss knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Buy Dr Avrum Weiss’ book Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships Andrew and Avrum also discuss Avrum’s book Change Happens: When to Try Harder and When to Stop Read Dr Avrum Weiss’ article in Psychology Today “Why Some Couples Play Hot Potato With Anxiety” Find Dr Avrum Weiss’ other books via his website Follow Dr Avrum Weiss on Facebook @AvrumWeissAuthor and on Twitter @avrum_weiss Read Andrew’s books on relationships and self-development Listen to Andrew and Dr Avrum Weiss’ previous conversation: Why Men Withdraw When Women Get Angry Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Are you allowing your life to be run by “ghosts” - empty narratives, expired beliefs, tired fears, people who should no longer hold sway over your choices? “When the old stories and beliefs that once defined us have played out and grown exhausted,” writes Dr. James Hollis, “our task is to access our inner compass, the promptings of the psyche that help us find our way through the complex thickets of choice.” In this episode world-renowned Jungian analyst Dr James Hollis explores with Andrew the ways in which you can hear and answer a “summons of the soul”, and find your own individual sense of life’s meaning. Dr. James Hollis is a Washington D.C. based Jungian psychoanalyst and the author of nineteen books; the most recent is A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Center of Spiritual Gravity Dr Hollis was Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas, for many years and Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington (JSW) until 2019. He also worked as a Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, as a Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️Relocating your centre of spiritual gravity. ⭐️Three things James Hollis knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Read James Hollis’ new book A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Center of Spiritual Gravity. Join James Hollis’ September ‘23 poetry course with the Jung Society of Washington: Mosaic: A Gathering of Poems to Stir the Depths Read Andrew’s review of James Hollis’ book Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places: Read Andrew’s review of James Hollis’ book Living an Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey. Read Andrew’s review of James Hollis’ book Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times: Visit James Hollis’ website: https://jameshollis.net You might also enjoy Andrew’s interviews with other Jungians, including Lisa Marchiano on Being a Mother, Connie Zweig on How to Become an Elder, Robert Hopcke on Synchronicity and Susan Schwartz on Fathers and Daughters. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

What can Korean culture teach us about being happier and more fulfilled? New York literary agent and author Barbara Zitwer has spent decades figuring this out, culminating in her book, The Korean Book of Happiness. Barbara and Andrew discuss the ancient Korean philosophies of Han, Heung and Jeong (resilience, joy and the art of giving), and Barbara’s experiences staying in a Buddhist temple and meeting with nuns in the mountains. They also touch on the exuberant joy of modern Korean culture (which many of us may have experienced via Squid Game, K-pop, the 10-Step skincare routine or Korean daytime dramas). Barbara J. Zitwer is an international literary agent specialising in Korean literature. She discovered Man Booker prize winning author Hang Kang (The Vegetarian) and New York Times bestseller Kyung-sook Shin (Please Look After Mom) along with Jeong you-jeong (The Good Son) and Un Su Kim (The Plotters).She was awarded the 2016 International Literary Agent of the Year Award by the British Publishing Association. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️How to feed your soul (Korean style). ⭐️Three things Barbara Zitwer knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Read Barbara Zitwer’s new book The Korean Book of Happiness Watch this KBS World Radio interview with Barbara Zitwer about her work promoting Korean literature and culture. Follow Barbara Zitwer on Facebook @barbara.zitwer, on Instagram @barbarajzitwer and on Twitter/X @BZitwer You might also enjoy our episodes on How to be Happier with Richard Nicholls; or A Deeper Connection With Everything Through Haiku with Clark Strand. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Psychologist and author Renee Mill believes that practical, solutions-focused approaches to anxiety can be as important as deep psychotherapeutic work. Renee’s career has combined both approaches, and today she helps many of her clients manage anxiety with practical tools designed to “rewire” patterns in the brain that may date back to infancy. In this episode Renee and Andrew discuss some of these tools, and how they can help you to recognise, analyse and address automatic thoughts and behaviours. They share insights on how anxiety relates to our emotions, relationships and family history. Renee Mill, who is based in Sydney, is one of Australia’s foremost clinical psychologists. Her books include Anxiety Free, Drug Free and Parenting Without Anger. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️Parenting myths that make you anxious. ⭐️Three things Renee Mill knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Read Renee Mills’ books: Anxiety Free, Drug Free; Parenting Without Anger; No Sweat Parenting; Anxiety Management Workbook ; and The Anxiety Management Manual for Therapists. Visit Renee Mill's website. Read Renee Mill's blog Follow Renee Mill on Facebook and YouTube @AnxietySolutionsCBT, and on Instagram @anxiety_solutionscbt You might also be interested in our other episodes on anxiety, including: Make Anxiety Your Friend with Kathleen Smith, How to Sit With Anxiety with Anna Colton, Friedemann Schaub on How to Get Out of Survival Mode, No More Overthinking with Richard Paterson and The Neuroscientist’s Guide to Anxiety with Wendy Suzuki. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

“Stop crying now”, “cheer up”, “what a lovely smile” - these are the kinds of messages most of us hear from infancy. Karla McLaren’s work is all about undoing this learning, and valuing ALL of our emotions. Even though the way you work with emotions can have positive or negative outcomes, the emotions themselves are not good or bad. In fact, anger, shame or sadness are the bearers of important messages. And according to Karla, they also bring with them the skills and energy you’ll need to cope in each situation. Karla McLaren, M.Ed. is an award-winning author, educator, workplace consultant, and social science researcher. Her work revalues even the most “negative” emotions and opens startling new pathways into self-awareness, effective communication, and healthy empathy. She is the founder and CEO of Emotion Dynamics Inc. She is also the author of many books, including The Language of Emotions, The Power of Emotions at Work, and Embracing Anxiety, and she is the developer of the online learning site EmpathyAcademy.org. She is online at karlamclaren.com. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️ Conscious Complaining ⭐️Three things Karla McLaren knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Read Karla McLaren’s new book The Language of Emotions Read Karla McLaren’s other books Visit Karla McLaren’s website Find out about upcoming courses at the online learning site developed by Karla McLaren, Empathy Academy Follow Karla McLaren @KarlaMcLarenAuthor on Facebook, @karlamclaren.m.ed on Instagram, @EmotionDynamics on YouTube and on LinkedIn. You might also be interested in our other episodes, including: Healing Your Lost Inner Child with Robert Jackman, or What Do You Really Want? With Charlotte Fox Weber. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Filmmaker and Dad Saves America host John Papola is on a mission to celebrate the inspirational force of fatherhood. Rather than dwelling on the discourse around “toxic masculinity”, John’s work celebrates “the heroic role we play as men” by being present and joyfully involved in children’s lives. Rather than being a burden or an obstacle to self-fulfilment, John sees raising children as exciting and empowering. John discusses his own fatherhood journey. He describes how the birth of his son made him feel liberated from the pressures of a creative career, and enabled him to take risks he would not otherwise have considered. John Papola is the CEO and Co-Founder of the nonprofit aspirational content studio Emergent Order Foundation and the host of their hit celeb interview series Dad Saves America. John’s mission through his foundation is to celebrate fatherhood and promote the positive representation of fathers and father figures in popular culture. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️How stories help us understand ourselves and the world. ⭐️Three things John Papola knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Visit the website of the Emergent Order Foundation, John Papola’s non-profit aspirational content studio. Watch John Papola’s Dad Saves America series on YouTube. Watch John Papola’s documentary about Oscar and Bafta winning deaf actor Troy Kotsur and his relationship with his father. Follow John Papola on Twitter @JohnPapola. You might also be interested in other episodes on fatherhood: Men, Fathers and Meaning with Joe Horton; Becoming a Father with Jack Underwood; Daughters and Fathers with Susan Schwartz PhD; and Jed Diamond PhD on Your Personal Creation Story. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

How can we find the joy, connection, healing and sense of the miraculous that so many of us crave? For poet and spiritual teacher Clark Strand, the answer lies in writing Haiku. The ancient Japanese art of Haiku is the only form of poetry in all of world literature that makes nature into a spiritual path. Its message is simple: Haiku teaches us to return to nature by following the seasons—seventeen syllables at a time. By finding a connection to nature in this way, we can find resilience and hope amidst the world’s chaos. In this episode, Andrew and Clark discuss Clark’s spiritual journey; how to begin a Haiku practice if you’ve never written a poem in your life; and Andrew shares his own experiences of writing a Haiku every day for a year. Clark Strand has been writing poetry for fifty years and teaching haiku for thirty. He is a former senior editor at Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and has been Vice President of the Haiku Society of America. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Washington Post/Newsweek “On Faith” blog. He is the co-founder of Way of the Rose, a growing nonsectarian rosary fellowship open to people of any spiritual background. His latest book is an updated version of his classic book of Haiku, Seeds from a Birch Tree, and he is also the author of Waking Up to the Dark, Waking the Buddha, Meditation Without Gurus and How to Believe in God. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️How your paleo brain wants to sleep. ⭐️Three things Clark Strand knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there. Read Clark Strand’s updated classic, Seeds from a Birch Tree Read Clark Strand’s other books Waking Up to the Dark, Waking the Buddha, Meditation Without Gurus and How to Believe in God. Study Haiku with Clark Strand. Read the book by William Elliott mentioned in this episode, Tying Rocks to Clouds: Meetings and Conversations with Wise and Spiritual People Follow Clark Strand on Instagram and Twitter @clarkstrand You might also be interested in our other episodes: John McCullough on Seven Ways Poetry Could Make Your Life Richer, Deeper & More Meaningful; and Henry Emmons on The Road to Calm and Joy. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

If you’re living in survival mode, squashing down feelings of anxiety, depression and panic, then something needs to change. This week Andrew speaks with Dr Friedemann Schaub, a physician, researcher and personal development coach, about our deep-seated emotional baggage, and how to identify the self-sabotaging patterns and limiting beliefs that prevent us from leading productive, fulfilling and balanced lives. Dr Friedemann Schaub, a doctor with a Ph.D. in molecular biology, left his career in allopathic medicine to pursue his passion of helping people overcome fear and anxiety without medication. For more than twenty years, he has helped thousands of his clients worldwide to break through their mental and emotional blocks and become the empowered leaders of their lives. His newest book The Empowerment Solution, focuses on activating the healing power of the subconscious mind to switch out of stress- and anxiety-driven survival mode and make authenticity and confidence the everyday way of being. If You’re Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. This week supporters will hear: ⭐️How to deal with procrastination. ⭐️Three things Dr Friedemann Schaub knows to be true. ⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there https://bit.ly/TheMeaningfulLifeSubstack Read Dr Friedemann Schaub’s new book, The Empowerment Solution: Six Keys to Unlocking Your Full Potential with the Subconscious Mind Visit Dr Friedemann Schaub’s website to learn more about his courses on anxiety and empowerment. Follow Dr Friedemann Schaub on YouTube @Friedemannschaub, on Instagram @dr.friedemannchaub and on Twitter @DrFriedemannS You might also be interested in our other episodes on anxiety: Make Anxiety Your Friend with Dr Kathleen Smith, and The Neuroscientist’s Guide to Anxiety with Dr Wendy Suzuki. Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall