The Badass Counseling Show

In this intense counseling session, Sean says, "I don't know who I am." His  parents abandoned him as a child, leaving him feeling worthless and unwanted. And now, his father is back needing a loan to pay his property tax. Sean helps him out -- only to find himself locked out of the house. Still looking for love, acceptance, and an apology from his father, Sean learns from Sven to l...

It's Sven unleashed again, tackling his followers' online questions right as they come at him. Lots of insight about feelings, and how they influence all our actions. Feelings about cheating and its aftermath, feelings of being addicted to depression, feelings about finding it hard to stay away from a narcissist in a past relationship...it's all here, and more. Spring into Lightning...

Sven helps two women in very different circumstances find their authentic voices. Jess is unhappy and stuck, and feels like "a small human." Sven connects this feeling to her childhood, living in constant fear of an explosive father. Faith feels she can't help her 23-year-old son in a classic "failure to launch" situation. A drill sergeant step father figures in, as Sven p...

Sven takes to three different social media platforms to record this episode featuring the usual array of unpredictable and provocative questions. For example: How do I trust my intuition after I spent 28 years with a narcissist and didn't know it? Hear great insight and advice on topics like getting your children, or your spouse, or your toxic family to open up when they don't want to. W...

If you live your life doing only what others want you to do, what could possibly go wrong?! Sven counsels Beth, who says she's "...such a mess and I feel like a worthless human." With all her needed parental attention lost to her sister, Beth has filled the void with an abusive failed marriage, and cheating into a relationship that she says has destroyed her inside. Sven provides a...

Sven puts everything he's got into answering his online followers' questions in another fast-paced recorded session. Feel the need to heal your parenting? Heal thoughts about your past? Heal your relationship with a sibling (or not)? Or maybe you're in a 3-person relationship; you're part of this show too. Buckle up and join us for Sven's no-nonsense insight and advice rig...

http://988lifeline.org   for a 24/7 free and confidential suicide and crisis lifeline. http://thehotline.org   for The National Domestic Violence Hotline. The threat of suicide links Sven's two guests in this dramatic episode. Kim feels she has lost just about everything--including the child she raised--and finds that others are dismissive of her cries for help. Lisa's brother has bullie...

Read the energy! The indication of who you are is what energizes you. That's the kind of advice you'll hear in this edition of Sven's lightning rounds, a recorded session in which he fields online questions from his followers. Expect unpredictable questions and Sven's predictably insightful and passionate answers. Extreme giver? Extreme taker? Your partner doesn't listen?...

Arguably the most gripping of Sven's podcasts. To the same session, he welcomes two strangers: a self-proclaimed narcissist and the victim of a brutal life at the hands of one. In harrowing detail hear how their earliest experiences led them to untold misery, then greater understanding. Sven works hard with both guests - Dustin, a narcissist who was shocked into self-realization and is now de...

Sven again takes on his online followers' questions in this Lightning Round. Wondering what good parenting looks like? Feeling competition with your ex to find new love? What does it mean to follow your energy? Dealing with the silent treatment? Not sure if you should get a cat? You've come to the right place for all this, and much more. Come on in! Explicit content. Send us Fan Mail

Note: Trigger warning.  Meet Rebecca, who has spent most of her life running from a "...dark black void," the result of an almost unbelievably harrowing childhood and parents who were abusive in the extreme. Sexually assaulted at age 10, mom blames her, drops the charges, and then beats her, and that's only one small part of her story. Regaining a successful life in her 40s, Rebecca...

Sven kicks off Season 3 with a Lightning Round all about releasing the pain . Responding to more than a dozen questions about everything from loss of trust to loss of a child, Sven brings the calm with insightful advice and understanding. Feeling the need to feel lighter? Join us for Lightning Round XXVI! Explicit content. Send us Fan Mail

Sven counsels a young woman from South Africa who can't seem to break out of a pattern of bad relationships. After allowing that she bases her decisions primarily on the opinions of her mother and others, Sven helps her see a better path forward. It's the fundamental life question, he says, of living a life of fear vs. living a life of trust.  Sometimes feel that you're living a lif...

It's Sven's 25th Lightning Round, answering his followers' online questions right as they come at him. Listen for detailed insight on dealing with extreme takers (and being an extreme giver), tips on effective journaling, relationship red flags, a poignant question concerning an age difference, and more. It's OK to obsess about a podcast like this one! So join us for Lightning...

Sven works with two women with very different issues, and some striking details. Kimberly found out she was living with a cheater in ways you have to hear to believe. Oh, and he wants to bring home the sister of one of his ex-girlfriends because "she's a cool girl" -- with a provocative profession. Kimberly needs Sven's help to make a move.  Angie suffers from chronic injuries...

More of Sven's unrehearsed responses to online followers' questions right as they come in. Listen for tons of insight on journaling, relationships gone bad, reliving trauma, choosing a therapist, and much more. Come on in for Lightning Round XXIV! Explicit content. Send us Fan Mail

In this counseling episode, Sven works with two different clients whose lives are dramatically influenced by their children. Devin faces an inevitable divorce but doesn't want her teenage son to blame her for it. Richie lost a son in a drunk driving accident and fears losing his other son, perhaps literally, dealing with a divorce and many other recent deaths in the family. Sven helps Devin u...

Taped the day before Valentine's Day, love is in the air (and often gone with the wind) during this Lightning Round. Sven's suggested topic is breakups, and several poignant questions quickly follow. The Badass direct approach is in high gear, so please join us for Lightning Round XXIII! Explicit content. Send us Fan Mail

In this dramatic counseling session, Sven works with two individuals who have suffered with emotional and physical abuse in the extreme. Garrison feels torn and lost, caught between cruel old messages and his desire for an authentic life. Jennifer survived an incredibly painful childhood filled with betrayal and abandonment, knows what she needs to do to break free, but feels sickened by the thoug...

Sven ventures outside into the cold to answer his followers' online questions. Listen for advice on grieving after a breakup, what to do when your parents pressure you to get married, guiding an unemployed child who asks for money, and more. Sven also gives his views on the transformative power of music. Bundle up, take the chill off,  and join us for Lightning Round XXII! Explicit content. S...

Sven counsels a client with a particularly tragic story. Struggling with the will to exist, she recalls a childhood with alcoholic, abusive parents. And...her brother was worse. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse all impact her incredible story. Why has she now reached the darkest depression of her life? Sven helps her to understand, and find the tools she needs to recapture her authentic, opti...

Finding it hard to deal with lost love? Wondering what Sven means when he says "Flush"? Feel like you're living for everyone but yourself? Wondering how best to repair your relationship with your kids? Sven tackles these questions and much more, with keen insight and no-nonsense advice, in his latest Lightning Round. Explicit content. Send us Fan Mail

Generational trauma in the extreme! Buckle up for Sven's group therapy session with two women whose struggles with their mothers are almost beyond belief. Lenna suffered a terrible accident at age 4 and has felt depressed and suicidal for most of her life. Dionne has discovered that her entire family story was a lie. Yes, mother plays the central role in both cases. Listen for stories of reve...

Trouble setting boundaries? Missing red flags in your relationship? Wondering if you should talk to your partner about your therapy session? Need help letting go of a grudge? Wondering if jealousy is a wrong thing to feel? Join Sven for his 20th Lightning Round as he fields these questions and more from his online followers. Explicit content. Send us Fan Mail

If your spouse gets mad and storms out because you don't want to have sex when they have COVID and you don't, is it time to leave? How hard is it to leave when you know you should? For many of us, it's one of the hardest things we've ever done. And so it is with Sven's two guests in this week's counseling episode. Lindsey has been tolerating spousal abuse for years, e...