A Little Help For Our Friends

Does someone in your life panic, get angry, or accuse you of abandoning them whenever you set a boundary or need some space? Maybe it's your partner, your adult child, or someone you love deeply. No matter how much reassurance you give, it never seems to be enough. You feel like you have to be available 24/7 just to keep the peace. In this video, Dr. Kibby McMahon, clinical psychologist and fo...

Is your son suddenly spending hours at the gym or in the mirror, talking about being a “high-value man,” pulling away from family, or saying things about women that worry you? You’re not alone, and you’re not powerless. In this episode, I break down what the manosphere actually is: an ecosystem of influencers, online communities and programs that often start with something harmless, like fitness t...

What happens when you survive cancer, but the fear of dying doesn't go away? Cancer treatment can save your life, but the emotional aftermath can be an entirely different battle. In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon sits down with Anne Hamilton, founder and executive director of the Survivorship Collective, to explore cancer survivorship, trauma, and the emerging potential of psychedelic-assiste...

When someone you love is struggling with depression, addiction, or simply feeling lost in life, it can be heartbreaking to watch them lose their motivation and sense of direction. You can see their potential, but how do you help them see it too? In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon explores why having a sense of purpose is so important for mental health and addiction recovery, and how you can help a...

Why are so many young men feeling lonely, lost, and disconnected? And why do the things they turn to for comfort often leave them feeling even worse? In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon explores the loneliness trap affecting young men today. From dating struggles and social isolation to looksmaxxing, online communities, and the pressure to be successful, she breaks down how young men can get stuck...

What’s going on with young men? In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon sits down with Connor to unpack the rise of looksmaxxing and what it might reveal about a much bigger problem: young men feeling increasingly lost, lonely, angry, and unsure of what they’re supposed to be working toward. They explore how dating apps, social media, changing career paths, AI, rising costs, and the breakdown of tradit...

One minute, you’re the person who understands them better than anyone. The next, you’re the enemy. What causes that sudden shift? In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon explains what’s commonly called “splitting” in borderline personality disorder (BPD) , why intense emotions can lead someone to see themselves or the people they love as all good or all bad, and what’s happening psychologically when th...

What is social media actually doing to our personalities, relationships, and sense of self? Dr. Kibby McMahon sits down with social media strategist and Pugs Media founder Connor Flannery to explore the psychology of growing up online. They talk about why negative comments can affect us so deeply, how parasocial relationships can become a substitute for real connection, what happens to empathy whe...

Your loved one is sober. They’re getting help. They’re doing better. So why is it still so hard to trust them? In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon explains why trust doesn’t automatically return when someone enters addiction recovery. After months or years of broken promises, secrecy, unpredictability, or hurt, you may still be waiting for proof that things are really different. You’ll learn why re...

What happens when you’re overwhelmed, triggered, or emotionally flooded and the person you love just doesn’t seem to understand? In this episode, Dr. Kibby gets personal. Fresh from an experience that left her feeling overwhelmed and unseen, she shares what it feels like to be on the other side of an empathy breakdown. She explores why feeling judged or invalidated can turn an already difficult em...

How can experiences from childhood continue to shape our relationships decades later? And can trauma responses actually be changed? In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon sits down with psychotherapist and executive coach Jessica Connell, LCSW, to explore developmental trauma, EMDR, and the ways our early experiences can influence how we connect with others. Jessica explains what developmental trauma...

When someone you love gets sober, it can feel like everything should finally be okay. But addiction recovery isn’t an on/off switch, and for loved ones, this stage can bring its own fear, uncertainty, and challenges. In this episode, Dr. Kibby McMahon shares six research-backed ways you can support someone in addiction recovery while also protecting your own well-being. We cover: • How to make tre...

In the season 6 finale of A Little Help for Our Friends , Dr. Kibby McMahon looks back on a year of major change, both personally and professionally, and shares the three biggest lessons she’s taking with her into the next chapter. Kibby talks about what it means to let go of roles and relationship patterns that no longer fit, why real growth often comes from consistency and the right support, and...

Most people think therapy means talking about your past for years. But what if that's not always true? In this episode, Dr. Kibby is joined by clinical psychologist Dr. Chandler Chang, founder of Therapy Lab, to explore how mental health treatment is changing. They discuss why many people expect therapy to last indefinitely, how targeted, evidence-based treatments can often help much more quickly,...

This episode breaks down practical strategies for getting more out of therapy and the common mistakes that can quietly get in the way of real progress. Have you ever left a therapy session feeling better for an hour, only to find yourself stuck in the exact same patterns a week later? Or wondered why someone can spend years in therapy without seeming to change? In this episode, Dr. Kibby explores...

This episode shares practical strategies for how to talk to a loved one who is struggling with mental health about getting therapy. Have you ever said to someone "You need therapy" or "why don't you get help?" when they seem like they're struggling? Then what do you do if your loved one clearly needs help but feels defensive, misunderstood, or convinced that therapy isn...

In this episode, Dr. Kibby shares her deeply personal story of infertility, attachment trauma, and the unexpected path that led her to motherhood. How do you build a family when the journey doesn’t go the way you planned? And what happens when control, willpower, and even the best-laid plans aren’t enough? In this honest and vulnerable episode, Dr. Kibby opens up about the heartbreak, uncertainty,...

In this episode, Dr. Amy Todey joins Dr. Kibby to talk about the generational divide in modern families and how families can navigate difficult relationships. Are Boomer parents all narcissists? Or are the younger generations just fragile snowflakes? In this episode, Dr. Amy Todey joins Dr. Kibby to discuss how the generational divide in family relationships is deeper (and more fragile) than most...

This episode explores the biology and nature of anger in borderline personality disorder ("BPD Rage") and practical strategies family members, friends and partners can use to respond to BPD rage. Some people get angry, while some people just see red. In this episode, Dr. Kibby lifts the veil on what’s happening in the brain during these emotional storms and shares proven strategies to ma...

This episode describes how to respond when a teen, adolescent or young adult says they want to hurt themselves or kill themselves. It's horrifying when someone as young as 12-20 years old says they want to take their own life. When a teen or young adult confesses thoughts of hurting themselves or even hints at a plan, panic often kicks in...but what you do next can mean the difference between...

This episode explores the complexities of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and its impact on relationships. Are you close to someone who's charming but unreliable, impulsive, and manipulative? Dr. Kibby delves into the behaviors often associated with ASPD, a personality disorder that comes with a pattern of violating other people's rights, lack of empathy, and dangerous behaviors for thrill...

This episode dives into the mental health conditions and behaviors often mistaken for narcissism. When someone you love struggles with mental health and acts selfishly, the internet will immediately tell you that they're "a narcissist." However, you might be overlooking an underlying condition that just looks like narcissism on the surface. In this episode, Dr. Kibby reveals the five...

This episode breaks down what manipulation is and why it's so common in relationships with people struggling with mental health. It also gives actionable strategies for resisting the effects of manipulation. Have you ever been in a relationship where you found it hard to think for yourself? You somehow make decisions that are out of character and doubt yourself so much, you're not sure wha...

This episode talks about setting healthy boundaries in high-conflict relationships with people who have intense, dysregulated emotions. If you're in an emotionally charged or high-conflict relationship, you struggle to say "no" or assert yourself. If you’ve ever felt blindsided, criticized, or powerless in high-conflict moments with loved ones, this episode reveals the proven framewo...

This episode talks about how mood, especially dysregulated emotions, affect memory. It explains why people with emotional issues may have such a different perspective and memory for things that happened in the past. If you're close to someone with big emotions, you've probably gotten into an argument with them about something you remember...very differently than they do. You bring up somet...