Love and Life with Dr. Karin and Pastor Elliott

Are we losing the war on love? To begin the program, Dan and I play the “War on Love” card game created by this week’s guest, Alex Merritt, “The Love Engineer.” Alex then joins us to share the inspiration behind the game and what she’s learned about male/female communication when hosting her live events, “Dessert & Discussion.” Alex’s mission is to help men and women call a truce in the battle of...

In America today more than 33% of children grow up without a father in the home. Many of these children are left with a “father wound” which continues to impact them throughout their lives—often times without their awareness. John Finch of The Father Effect joins me to talk about the father wound he endured due to losing his father to suicide when John was just 11 years old. John shares his journe...

Audrey Mann Cronin, creator of the LikeSo app talks with me about the importance of “saying it like you mean it!” We discuss how filler words (e.g. like, so, um, right) impede effective communication and we delve into the pitfalls of common speech tendencies such as up-talk and vocal fry. Find out what actress Lake Bell calls the “sexy baby voice” (even if you haven’t heard about it, you’ve defini...

Why is it that so many people seem to have anxiety, depression, ADHD, or some other psychological disorder? Are we in the midst of a mental illness epidemic? Or, is it possible we've shifted our perception of what's "normal" such that what was once called shyness is now called Social Anxiety Disorder and grieving the death of a loved one is labeled as Clinical Depression? To exam...

Dr. Shannon Warden, co-author of the book Things I’d Wish I’d Known Before We Became Parents, joins Karin to discuss solutions to today’s most pressing parenting challenges. We delve into the importance of boundaries in family relationships and examine ways to nurture your marriage in the midst of pressing parenting responsibilities. Dr. Karin’s Love & Life hack reveals the MOST important job of a...

Author Jon Birger joins Karin to delve into today’s most frustrating dating dilemmas. What’s going on with the “hook-up culture” and why is it so much harder to have a solid relationship in the new millennium? Jon’s book, Date-onomics, sheds light on these questions and provides suggestions for increasing the odds of finding love. As always, Dr. Karin leaves listeners with a Love & Life Hack—strat...

In this episode, Dr. Karin answers questions from all the single ladies! Listeners ask, "After being single so long, is it possible to become so independent that I'll end up stuck in my ways and unable to find love?" and "How do I get my mom to stop bugging me about my love life (or lack thereof)?" and "Why do I keep getting back with my ex even though I know we're not 100% right for each other?"...

We all want to be great parents—but how? Actually, science points us in the right direction! This week Dr. Karin and her husband, Dan, discuss a well-established theory of parenting from the developmental psych literature—Diana Baumrind’s parenting styles take the guesswork out of parenting. It’s simple! Not easy, but simple!

Dr. Karin welcomes Kira Sabin of The League of Adventurous Singles to the podcast. Kira shares her philosophy for thriving while flying solo and reveals methods from her coaching practice, The Owner’s Manual. Spoiler alert: you will NOT learn the mysteries of the male mind (because Karin and Kira are women, after all) nor will you discover the secret to finding The One (because sadly, there’s no m...

How do you grieve the loss of something you never had? This week Dr. Karin welcomes to the program Nichelle Polston and Alisha Jones of the blog, Give Me a Ring and a Baby. We discuss the pain associated with a life that refuses to play out as planned—whether we’re longing for a husband but flying solo to yet another wedding or receiving a baby shower invitation the day we learn our IVF cycle has...

Enduring the loss of a loved one is horribly painful, but experiencing a unique grief can prove difficult in unexpected ways. In this episode, Dr. Karin examines how we process loss when our culture provides neither protocol nor terminology for our distress. She interviews Christine Infanger of Thirty Roses about the tragic, sudden passing of her 30-year-old fiancé. In addition to the pain of losi...

Dr. Karin always says, "Marriage is great, but only if it's a great marriage." So how do we keep the sparks alive? In this episode, Dr. Karin and her husband, Dan, discuss Helen Fisher's research on lasting attraction. She looks at couples whose brain chemistry evidences they're still "in love" despite spending 20+ years together and raising children. Dr. Karin leaves listeners with science based...

Let’s talk about marriage! On this episode, Dr. Karin invites her husband, Dan, to join her in discussing nine research-based ways to assist you in cultivating a happy, healthy marriage that will go the distance. Dan leaves listeners with a Love & Life hack for how to make any man happy! www.drkarin.me

British breakup coach, Laura Yates, joins Dr. Karin to share strategies for breaking up in the healthiest way possible. They delve into the challenges of splitting up in the age of social media and Laura leaves us with two Love & Life Hacks for renewing and reclaiming your life when a relationship has ended. www.drkarin.me

Dr. Karin gets personal talking about one of the most painful breakups from her 27 years of dating. Crushed when Dylan left Chicago, Karin channeled her pain into songwriting. She shares details of the breakup and plays You Made Me—the edgy, angst-ridden song it inspired. She leaves listeners with a Love & Life hack for how to “take charge of the pain!” www.drkarin.me

Dr. Karin answers listeners' questions on this episode of Love & Life. She helps Rebecca process her frustrations with married friends and assists newly divorced Mindy in navigating her way through the singles' scene. Dr. Karin then addresses Carly's question about the challenges of dating in the "Digital Age."

In this episode, Dr. Karin shares three research-based strategies to help us feel better about ourselves by focusing on our thoughts. She delves into the phenomenon of "Facebook Depression", discusses Dr. Carol Dweck's theory of mindsets, and explores the connection between ruminating and mood. Dr. Karin leaves us with 3 Love & Life Hacks you can immediately implement to increase your self-esteem...

We're kicking off March by renewing and reclaiming any areas of our lives that are out of step with our authenticity! Teresa G. Carey joins Dr. Karin to share her story of being trapped in an abusive marriage for 23 years. Her life appeared perfect on the outside, but things were horrible behind the scenes. Listen to learn how Teresa escaped "The Attractive Trap" and reclaimed her life!

The Love is Real Series: Part 3 The We love our BFFs and promise to stay close forever, but doing so can be difficult when life takes us in different directions. In this third episode of The Love is Real series, Dr. Karin talks about how to navigate the "seasons" of friendship. She invites her college roommate, Miriam Conner, to join the conversation and they discuss ways that helped them remain c...

Damia Jackson of "Single Girls Rock" joins Dr. Karin to talk about ways to thrive on Valentine's Day no matter what's going on in your love life! Damia gives advice from her blog post, "A Single Girl's Perspective on Valentine's Day" and explains how and why she started Single Girls Rock. www.drkarin.me

"Is this relationship the 'real deal'?" "Is he The One?" "Do we have what it takes to go the distance?" "How can I make my marriage better?" In this episode Dr. Karin unpacks these questions and more..to give you "love and life hacks" helping you better understand and enhance the love in your life. With input from her husband, Dan (#TheOne), Dr. Karin explains how to analyze relationships using Dr...

When making major life decisions, it's easy to let fear cloud our judgment. We play it safe and stay with what is known, rather than following out hears and living authentically. In this episode, Dr. Karin explains how to tackle fear head-on by examining our irrational thoughts. She shares how she almost married the wrong man because she worried that she may never meet the right one! Dr. Karin als...

Can Taking Selfies help you live more authentically? In this episode Dr Karin invites fellow therapist and friend Kate Lambie, to join her in tackling this question. They explore the benefits of authentic living (supported by science!) and argue that selfies serve as snap shots of who we are and what we're about. If observed objectively, they may indicate whether or not we're resonating with our t...

With a Ph. D. in psychology and 27 years on the dating scene, Dr. Karin Anderson Abrell brings life experience and academic acumen to her philosophy on love and relationships. In episode two, DR. Karin discusses the notion of "singlism" and how many of us experience -or are guilty of - "single shaming" without even realizing it! She gets personal sharing a story from her single days and explains h...

With A Ph. D in psychology and 27 years on the dating scene, Dr. Karin Anderson-Abrell brings life experience and academic acumen to her philosophy on love and relationships. In this first episode, Dr. Karin shares three key principles for living a happy, hopeful, and positive life expressed by her favorite hashtags! She Discusses how to #GetHappy by taking charge of your thoughts, to take charge...