From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson
Being Well Podcast: Trauma Therapy: What It’s Really Like with Dr. Jacob Ham and Elizabeth Ferreira
In this very special episode, Dr. Jacob Ham and associate therapist Elizabeth Ferreira join Forrest to discuss their trauma therapy work.
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Talk + Meditation: How to Balance Caring for Oneself and Caring for the World
Struggling to care about the world without burning out? Learn how to balance compassion for others with caring for yourself.
Relax Needless Fear Around Others
People don’t care what you’re doing – you are just a bit player in their own personal drama. Or if they do care, it’s a passing feeling.
Being Well Podcast: 6 Lessons from Existential and Transpersonal Psychology
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore the lessons we can learn from two of Humanistic psychology’s more challenging branches: existential and transpersonal psychology.
Talk + Meditation: Life’s Easier When You Surrender to What’s Already Good within You
Life feels hard when you override your inner wisdom. Learn how trusting what’s already good within you brings clarity, ease, and peace.
Pet the Lizard
The brain is highly integrated, so these three key functions – avoiding, approaching, and attaching – are accomplished by all parts of the brain working together.
Being Well Podcast: Self-Regulation: How a Little Becomes a Lot with Eric Zimmer
Forrest talks with Eric Zimmer about what healthy self-regulation actually looks like, the gap between insight and action, how shame can derail us, and why most change comes down to small steps taken consistently.
Talk + Meditation: Compassionate Action for Upstream Sources of Suffering
Feeling overwhelmed by the world? Learn how compassion + collective action can turn helplessness into meaningful change.
Avoid The Rush
Be mindful of rushing. See how other people assume deadlines that aren’t actually real, or feel pressured about things that aren’t that important.
Being Well Podcast: The Self-Abandonment Loop: Shame, Self-Criticism, and How to Break Free
Dr. Rick and Forrest discuss how shame and the inner critic fuel self-abandonment and what breaks the cycle.
Talk + Meditation: Wise and Courageous Compassion for Others – and Yourself
How to let go, speak truth, and practice fierce compassion for others and yourself without losing your heart or your strength.
Let It R.A.I.N.
R.A.I.N. is an acronym developed by Michelle McDonald but adapted a bit by me, to summarize a powerful way to expand self-awareness.
Being Well Podcast: Trauma in Relationships: What Actually Helps with Elizabeth Ferreira
Forrest is joined by associate therapist and his fiancée Elizabeth Ferreira for an honest, personal conversation about what it’s actually like to be in a relationship when one partner is living with trauma, complex PTSD, or another ongoing mental health challenge.
Talk + Meditation: The Personal Benefits of Empathy for “Them”
Discover how empathy for others can reduce stress, soften reactivity, and help you feel calmer, wiser, and more at peace.
Stay Well
To stay well, make sure you’re getting enough sleep, eating correctly, doing exercise regularly, avoiding health hazards, and having regular checkups.
Being Well Podcast: Family Systems Theory: The Invisible Force That Runs Your Relationships
Dr. Rick and Forrest explain why through one of the most influential frameworks in psychology: Family Systems Theory (FST).
Talk + Meditation: Exploring Radical Helplessness, Radical Trust, and Radical Acceptance
What happens when we stop fighting the vulnerability of being human? What if we practiced living with radical helplessness, radical trust, and radical acceptance?
Welcome Joy
What’s the spark and what’s the fuel? Welcome joy. Positive emotions – such as feelings of gratitude, love, and confidence – strengthen the immune system, protect the heart against loss and trauma, build relationships, increase resilience
Being Well Podcast: Embracing Productive Discomfort with Michael Easter
Forrest is joined by journalist and author Michael Easter to discuss how we can make our lives better by making them (the right kind of) harder.
Talk + Meditation: Mettā as a Somatic Response to Trauma, Oppression, and Hatred
How loving-kindness becomes a bodily state that interrupts fear, softens reactivity, and helps kindness become your baseline.
Leave the Red Zone
In a busy life, each day gives you dozens of opportunities to leave the Red zone and move toward Green. Each time you do this, you gradually strengthen the neural substrates of Green, one synapse at a time.
Being Well Podcast: The Freeze-Shame Loop, Therapy Speak, and “Everyone Has ADHD”: February Mailbag
Dr. Rick and Forrest answer listener questions about the freeze state, ADHD, and power imbalances in relationships.