When East Meets West

Have you missed the  doctors? Well, they missed you more! Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin have been grinding, which means that they needed to take a break. Tune in to learn the importance of boundaries and self-care professionally and personally. They explain the importance of self-compassion, mindfulness, spirituality, and explain the need to take a break. Do not worry. Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin will be back...

You see that there? What is the dilemma with rules? Tune in to hear Dr. Rubin talk about how there are some issues with rules, but that we also need them. She schools Dr. Pete, as always, and sheds light onto the importance of rules in behaviorism. 

January 2022, one of the most influential Buddhist monks, transitioned to the next life. He was 95-years-old and after being ordained a monk at age 16, he went on to live a life dedicated to educating the world on peace and living compassionately. Dr. Pete discusses the role of death in eastern traditions, and what this means to his community. It made sense that Dr. Rubin would bring this episode...

Have you ever heard someone describe an event (e.g., dinner, fight, work presentation), but it sounds so different than you experienced it? that is perception. In the opening episode of season 3, Dr. Pete shares the dharma talk that was influenced by the role of perceptions, and how the mind interferes with behavior. While this concept of perception is common within the eastern spiritual teachings...

Oops, Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete forgot to say good-bye and all of a sudden, they found themselves in a short hiatus. In this season 2 closer, the co-hosts discuss the need for a break, setting boundaries, all within the context of a new year and the resolutions that people make as the world enters a new year. Learn about intention versus resolution, and both Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete share some of their...

Dr. Rubin asks and she receives, so Dr. Pete breaks down the Heart Sutra in a very basic, secular way. Listeners will learn about the role of chanting and sutras in eastern practices, specifically the heart sutra in this episode. If you want to learn more about the role of chanting in Buddhism, tune in! Listeners can read the heart sutra here: https://zmm.org/teachings-and-training/liturgy/heart-s...

Have you ever been to a dinner and then you ask all the guests what happened at dinner? If there were 6 guests, you will get 6 different stories. That is the power of perspective taking. Dr. Pete shares knowledge about how perspective impacts mood and behaviors, while Dr. Rubin drops knowledge about its role in western behavioral science. The psychologists discuss developmental aspects of perspect...

On November 1, 2021 the world lost the father of cognitive therapy, Aaron T. Beck, MD, known as Tim by his loved ones. He noticed issues with interpretations in traditional psychoanalysis and introduced the world of psychology to automatic thoughts, cognitive distortions, the idea that psychological concepts could be scientifically studied, and everything related to what we now know as Cognitive B...

Most of us think of risk taking behaviors as limited to putting ourselves in physical danger for a thrill (e.g., surfing a 50ft wave) or acting impulsively or without thinking (e.g., making a bet using your life savings). In this episode, Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete discuss how simply being alive is risky, and how making decisions, doing things that align with your values, or practicing vulnerability a...

Most of us tend to know when something feels fake or feels genuine or authentic—but how?? In this episode Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin introduce discuss the concept of authenticity, and how it may be a value, a personal experience, or something we assess in others. Tune in to learn how finding authenticity in your life is broken into four categories: self awareness, unbiased processing, behavior and rel...

Brains don’t like being uncomfortable, so they’ve come up with a simple behavioral solution: avoid it! In this episode, the docs discuss the function of avoidance, provide psychoeducation about experiential avoidance and its attempts to control what’s happening inside of our bodies, and discuss the comparable Buddhist concept of aversion. Everyone avoids thoughts, feelings, other people, situation...

Have you noticed that the music you listen to can directly affect how you feel? Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin share insights around the psychology of music, while reminding listeners that they are no musical experts. Dr. Pete introduces Marconi Union and the song “Weightless” that was found to be the most stress-reducing song studied. He also introduces Kirtan as a form of meditation, and Dr. Rubin provi...

Why do we worry about the future and ruminate about the past? In this episode, Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete discuss and distinguish between these two “covert” behaviors (behaviors happening inside you that are invisible to everyone else), their evolutionary purposes, and why the brain thinks these behaviors help solve problems (spoiler alert: they don’t!) Unsurprisingly, you’ll see once again how all ro...

You’ve heard koans mentioned on WEMW before, but what exactly are they? In this episode,  Dr. Pete explains what koans are and how they are used to try and untangle the mind through verbal paradoxes and riddles in the Buddhist tradition. Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin practice walking through one of the most well known koans together, and discuss how koans may help individuals connect with reality more ef...

We live in a busy go, go, go world, thus most of us like to believe that we are experts in multi-tasking. But believe it or not, the brain is actually incapable of focusing on more than one thing at a time! In this episode, Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin bust the multi-tasking myth by discussing the DBT skill of “one mindfully,” research on attention “switching,” and their own challenges with multi-taskin...

As Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete return from a short summer hiatus, they open up the second half of Season 2 by discussing the importance of sadness, evolutionary perspectives, and differentiate sadness from depression. Dr. Rubin highlights the behavioral role of sadness in the western world while Dr. Pete reminds us that sadness can be a gift from an eastern perspective. All of us have felt it, so tune...

Love is a basic emotion, and one that most humans desire. There are many aspects of love and it shows up at different points in our lives. In this last episode before summer break, Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin share their thoughts on love and the role it plays in human behavior. 

On this bonus episode, special guest Jean Semelfort, Jr. joins Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin to discuss toxic masculinity. Jean is a licensed professional counselor and owner of the private practice CACTUS in Montclair, NJ. He is a consultant who has worked with many universities on healthy masculinity and sexual assault prevention, and he has shared his expertise in his excellent  TED talk "Rolling...

Emotions evolved to give us information, but what happens when they become more intense than evolution intended them to be? In this episode, Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete discuss emotion regulation, including reasons why emotions become dysregulated and ways to work on regulating or mitigating their intensity. And no surprise here—mindful practices are often the way to doing so. Tune in to learn more. 

There are many positives and negatives involving the use of video games, and experts have been debating this topic for years. Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin break down some of the most recent research around video games, the development of e-sports, and generational implications of the role of video games in society. 

Without further ado, Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete bring you the first episode regarding the differences between behaviorism and traditional psychoanalysis as developed by Sigmund Freud. They highlight how the practices are similar and how behavioral health providers are often implementing more similar interventions than different, but how eastern traditions are nonjudgmental and likely more applicable a...

As the medical world advances, so too do the labels that help guide providers with treatment. In this episode, Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin chat about illness anxiety, OCD with a health focus, and other behavioral presentations related to health concerns. The east and west coast psychologists flush out the difference between the fear of having a disease versus contracting one, worry, obsessions, and muc...

If given the choice, do you prefer to compromise or do it your way? In this episode, Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin discuss why compromise is so difficult for human beings (hint: we’ve got those rigid and judgmental brains!) and how a willingness to practice compromise creates opportunities for more workable solutions. Letting go of attachment to being right, mindfully accepting and experiencing discomfor...

No one likes feeling guilty, but have you ever considered that maybe your guilt is trying to tell you something? In this episode, Dr. Rubin and Dr. Pete dive into what guilt actually is (hint: it’s information!), including its evolutionary roots. They also distinguish between justified guilt and unjustified guilt, and effective ways to respond to each. And of course, the docs present how mindfulne...

Today isn't about when East meets West, it's about East versus West! In this episode, Dr. Pete and Dr. Rubin dive into an exploration (and friendly rivalry) of East coast versus West coast cultures. This discussion creates a space to identify rules, attitudes, and judgments that arise amidst their differences, while also serving as an example of how different experiences help us to grow...