Checking In with Susan David

Dr. Steven C. Hayes, Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada and one of the leading voices in modern psychology, guides us in exercises that help us connect with our experiences of loneliness and loss.

One of the best things that parents can do right now to help their children thrive is to teach them emotional skills. For parents, the most effective way to teach these skills is by practicing them yourself. Learn how to help your kids (and yourself) validate, label, and process difficult emotions.

Practicing self-compassion is so vital right now that we consulted Dr. Kristin Neff on exercises for directing compassion inwards. Kristin is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research and a co-developer of the empirically supported training program "Mindful Self-Compassion." Here she guides us on some self-soothing exercises and unpacks the research on why this approach is one of the most powerful sources of strength, coping, and resilience.

Showing yourself kindness becomes even more important during life's difficult moments, and the current pandemic certainly qualifies. Learn why it’s a misconception that you need to be tough on yourself to succeed, and how practicing self-compassion can make you even more resilient.

Many of us are separated from people we typically rely on. Others are sharing space in closer quarters than they're used to. How do we navigate our relationships under these tough new conditions? Susan is joined by Dr. Julie Gottman, the president and co-founder of the Gottman Institute and co-founder of Affective Software, Inc. As one of the world's foremost experts on relationships, Julie shares strategies for maintaining healthy relationships during this crisis.

Many of us are witnessing a tyranny of positivity right now — with calls to “find the silver lining” and “stay positive” amidst a global pandemic. But we are wired to feel negative at times. Contrary to what our culture tells us, accepting our negative emotions can have tangible and powerful benefits. Learn how to rethink happiness and positivity as paramount goals, and how to effectively cope with negative emotions.

As life under COVID-19 tests our emotional bandwidth on a daily basis, we need strategies for managing grief now more than ever. Learn how putting your grief into language can help you gain a sense of organization and initiate a process of moving forward with it.

A special coda to our last episode! Maintaining routines is so important right now that we decided to dive deeper. How do we maintain our stability when our routines are being challenged on a daily basis? Susan speaks with James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, to get some prescriptive, actionable advice.

Many of us are feeling stuck right now, forced to adapt to a world that we have little control over. But if we focus too much on these uncontrollable aspects of our lives, we greatly increase our suffering. Learn why our routines and habits are so important to our wellbeing, and how there are ways we can exercise control even when every day feels unpredictable.

If you’re feeling consumed by fear, panic, worry, or any other difficult emotion during this global pandemic, you’re not alone. But pushing these feelings to the side, or passing them along, simply doesn't work. Instead of rejecting your difficult emotions, learn the steps that you can take today to boost your immunity to these social contagions.