SuperPsyched with Dr. Adam Dorsay

Imagine being a 12-year-old girl. You are going through the awkward adolescence of any of your peers. But there’s a difference: you’re 6-feet tall. You stand out. And, although you are a person with many great qualities, it’s only your height that people focus on. But soon you discover rowing. You love the sport. Better still, your height is an asset, a tool that assists you in excelling. This is...

These days, artificial intelligence is a hot topic on the news, social media, our workplaces, and our conversations. Yet AI has a long history. One of its pioneers, Dr. Terry Winograd, has been engaging it for well over 50 years. After finishing his doctorate at MIT, Terry was hired by Stanford University to teach computer science. He’s now professor emeritus at Stanford where he spent the bulk of...

Love is a funny word. To be sure, it’s a word that has been used a lot on this podcast particularly as it relates to our love of people. These people could be a romantic partner, a family member, a friend, or another meaningful interpersonal relation. But what about our love of things ? We might love our houses, our phones, certain types of food, a brand, or a kajillion other things, both tangible...

Anti-Jewish sentiment might be the world’s longest hatred. Historical documents suggest Jews have experienced this hatred for over 2,000 years, well before the Common Era even began. It would continue through various eras, including the Roman Era, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust.  And it continues today. Hate crimes against Jews have gone up by 400% in the US compared to last year.  So many que...

Sometimes when we hear about the climate crisis, we can feel a sense of hopelessness. As a result, our anxieties can spike and there’s even a term for it: Eco-Anxiety . One thing I have learned about anxiety—eco-anxiety or other forms of it—is that the more we avoid the thing that makes us anxious, the more the anxiety increases. If you’re asking, “What can I do about the environment and my own ec...

Vaping. It seems to be everywhere these days. Sure, adults engage in vaping but, sadly, so do adolescents and even children at very high numbers. There have been all kinds of myths as they relate to vaping and, as always, it is crucial to listen to the experts who know the science. One such person is Dr. Adam Leventhal ( https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/adam-matthew-leventhal/ ). Adam is a prof...

If you have ever been in a relationship, there's about a 100% chance that you and your partner had certain differences. One of those differences just may have been how you handled money. Within that difference, it is likely that one of you was bit spendy and the other was, shall we say, thriftier. This would be all fine and dandy, except often it’s not. Money can be one of the biggest sources...

One of the most common topics discussed in my office is social anxiety. Really great people say that there’s nothing more painful than going to a party where they know few people or, worse still, no one. How about giving a toast at a wedding? Or, trying to engage in small talk that might lead to bigger talk? Or, how to handle awkward social interactions? If there’s one person on the planet who kno...

I’m a big fan of the English language and, although I make a lot of errors with grammar, I’m always trying to learn the rules. Yet, as you’ll hear on this episode, a word or phrase might be grammatically incorrect but linguistically correct. And, I cringe as I write this, that includes my most dreaded of non-word words: irregardless . Ouch. At least my spellcheck caught that so-called word with a...

There are paradoxes around aging. On the one hand, we are living longer than ever. On the other hand, we live in a youth-worshiping culture. So, while we’re living longer, aging gets a bad rap. Expressions like “I’m dating myself” are commonplace. Sadly, they are also self-shaming and toxic. What if I told you that with aging can come spectacular and countless benefits? These can include various f...

Any regular listener of this show probably knows I care deeply about mentorship. So when SuperPsyched guest and success expert Dr. Ruth Gotian told me she was co-authoring a book on mentorship with Andy Lopata (https://lopata.co.uk/), I jumped at the chance to interview him. The two of them have written The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring: A Complete Guide to Effective Mentoring. As you’ll hear...

The US Constitution became effective 235 years ago. It is a document that was way ahead of its time. Yet, while the document is the same as it was, much of our world has changed since then. We can talk about what it says and debate aspects about it. But what would it be like to live daily life according to what the document says? AJ Jacobs ( https://ajjacobs.com/ ) is a New York Times bestselling...

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the most popular thought leaders in modern psychology. That person is none other than Dr. Frank Anderson ( https://frankandersonmd.com/ ). Frank is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who has turned his attention to treatment of trauma, particularly with a powerful method called Internal Family Systems (IFS). Frank has worked alongside the crea...

Between the early 1950s and the early 2000s, over 150,000 Korean children were adopted to the United States. In fact, the guest on my episode cites a figure of approximately 10% of all Korean Americans were adopted. As it turns out, there are many misconceptions about adoption in general and, certainly about Korean adoption (also known as transracial adoption). What are the myths? What are the rea...

For this episode, I’m delighted to welcome back—a friend of the podcast, Dr. Emma Seppala ( https://www.emmaseppala.com/ ). Emma is a professor at Yale School of Management and we’re talking about her new book, Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos.  Indeed, we are sovereign individuals and, quite often, we need to be reminded of that f...

Perfectionism. It can have its upsides and can catapult us to new heights. But it can also be stifling, cause pain to the perfectionist, and can cause pain to everyone around the perfectionist. Many people who are perfectionists may not even realize it. What is perfectionism, and why does it exist? What are the upsides and downsides? What effects can it have on an organization at work? And what ef...

Do you remember your 20s? Perhaps you are in your 20s! Regardless, for most of us, our 20s featured a different series of challenges than our teen years did. For many of us, we were just getting started with serious work, just getting started with serious relationships, and, oh, I don’t know, trying to figure out the rest of our lives. Many of us traveled hoping to figure out who we were. Many of...

The current estimation that a marriage in the US will end in divorce is somewhere between 43 to 45%. Divorce is also regularly cited as the second highest life stressor for Americans, just below the death of a spouse. Given the high incidence of divorce paired with the degree of stress it can incur, it’s a good idea to know more about it. One of the top psychology experts in the field of divorce a...

Cancer. The “C” word. The disease that is so feared, people often whisper it in sentences. Yet, according to recent statistics, nearly 40% of us will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in our lifetimes. With numbers this high, it behooves us to know more about this feared disease. I was recently captivated by an article written by a colleague, describing her own experience with cancer and I ask...

Imagine two students in college: one is a gay male, and the other is a straight super jock. The gay male is quiet and introverted, and the straight guy is extraverted to the point of being loud and into the old joke of throwing something at a person and shouting, “think fast!” Can you imagine these two guys being friends? How about dear friends for 40 years? Let's make it a little more interes...

Back in the 90’s when email was still new, one of the first viral emails I received was a commencement address to a group of high school students. The person who delivered that address was Guy Kawasaki. Guy is very well known and, for those of you who don't know him, you are about to hear from a man who has done a lot with his life so far. He worked closely with Steve Jobs as one of the Apple...

Anyone who is a parent knows that parenting can be really hard. But, fear not, help is here! This episode unpacks a great parenting style that encourages children to be autonomous, able to relate to people well, and instills confidence by allowing the child to feel a strong, realistic sense of competence. This type of parenting is brilliant. When I read the guest’s book, I had that nagging thought...

If you’re a listener of this podcast, you probably have figured out that I am a huge fan of improv. In fact, this is my third improv-related episode! Each has been unique and has brought its own gifts—and, as you’ll soon hear, this one delivers big. Author and Stanford Emerita in Theater and Performance Studies, Patricia Ryan Madson wrote a book I loved book so much I listened to it twice! It’s ca...

Many of us have behaviors we'd LOVE to change. But many of those stubborn behaviors are hard to alter. And if we want our behavior to change, we probably won't do it just because someone else tells us to. When that's the case, the person whose voice matters most is our own. That is why I'm so happy I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Michelle Drapkin (https://cbtcenterofcentraln...

Imagine you are an athlete at the Olympics. You have trained for years and years. You have dreamed of this moment. Your entire country is watching you, cheering for you, even praying that you will win. There is a lot of pressure and so much riding on your performance. But you have trained for thousands of hours and everything rests on this moment. There is noise and energy coming from the audience...