Category: Psychology

Terry Real: Fierce Intimacy

Terry Real is a family therapist, author, and founder of the Relational Life Institute, which hosts workshops on family and relationships throughout the country. He has written several books, including The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Make Love Work. Terry will be a featured presenter during Sounds True’s upcoming online training summit Psychotherapy 2.0, which will take place September 7–13. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Terry talk about the inherent challenges of being in relationship and the many approaches to addressing those challenges in couples therapy. Terry discusses how men and women relate to one another in different ways, as well as the steps necessary when couples are badly out of sync. Finally, Terry and Tami speak on the Relational Life approach to therapy and the skills we need to develop in order to take our interpersonal relationships up to “full throttle.”
(67 minutes)

Diana Fosha: The Transformational Therapist

Diana Fosha is the developer of AEDP—Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy—a transformational psychotherapy model that grows and changes according to the latest findings in attachment theory, neuroplasticity, and interpersonal neurobiology. She is one of the featured presenters for Sounds True’s second annual Psychotherapy 2.0 online summit, which will take place September 7–13, 2016. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Diana and Tami Simon discuss the central concepts of AEDP and its flexibility as a therapeutic approach. They speak on the role of transformational therapy in modern society, and how AEDP helps clients “undo aloneness.” Finally, Diana and Tami consider in full AEDP’s motto, “Stay with it and stay with me.”
(68 minutes)

Bruce Tift: Buddhism Meets Psychotherapy

Bruce Tift has been a psychotherapist since 1979, a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism for more than 35 years, and has taught at Naropa University for 25 years. He is the author of the Sounds True audio learning course Already Free: Buddhism Meets Psychotherapy on the Path of Liberation. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Bruce about his perspectives on therapy as informed by Buddhist insights—examining how our “neurotic organization” exists to insulate us from legitimate suffering, why much of our growth comes from acting in ways that are counter-instinctual, and what it might mean to practice psychotherapy with the view that there is no problem we actually need to solve. (66 minutes)

Andrew Holecek: Dream Yoga, Part 2

Andrew Holecek is an author and spiritual teacher whose work blends a background in ancient Tibetan Buddhism with the leading edge of contemporary Western thought. With Sounds True, he has released the book Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep. In the fascinating second part of his interview on Insights at the Edge, Andrew speaks with Tami Simon about pressing beyond lucid dreaming and into the actual nighttime practice of dream yoga. They talk about illusory form yoga and invoking specific imagery within dreams to cultivate positive qualities. Finally, Andrew describes the ability to actually meditate within dreams—as well as the doorways to personal inquiry this practice can unlock. (78 minutes)

Andrew Holecek: Dream Yoga, Part 1

Andrew Holecek is an author and spiritual teacher whose longtime study of Buddhism blends ancient wisdom with contemporary knowledge and insights. With Sounds True, he has published the book Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Andrew and Tami Simon speak on the practice of dream yoga and the foundational practice needed to plumb its depths: lucid dreaming. They discuss how to train to induce lucid dreaming, including daytime practices one can use to awaken in a dream. Finally, Andrew talks about the innate need for healthy sleep and how beginning a new spiritual practice during the nighttime hours is not something to be undertaken lightly.
(67 minutes)

Listen to Dream Yoga, Part 2 »

Steven Hayes: Self-Acceptance and Perspective-Taking

Steven Hayes is a professor, the chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada, and the author of more than 35 books and 500 scientific articles. The cofounder of the acclaimed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (known as ACT), Steven is a contributor to the Sounds True book The Self Acceptance Project: How to Be Kind and Compassionate Towards Yourself in Any Situation. In this episode of Insights of the Edge—which previously aired as part of an interview series on self-acceptance—Tami Simon and Steven discuss his experiences living with a panic disorder at a young age, and how his own bouts with anxiety shaped his clinical studies. They talk about the practice of perspective-taking and how it can be a powerful bulwark against self-recrimination. Finally, Steven offers his perspective on spirituality and how that perspective informs the core tenets of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
(42 minutes)

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