The Emotional Men Podcast

Okay, I know I said I was going to take a break last time, and that's still true, but this one was recorded, so I think it needs to be shared. Enjoy!

Just a quick little update on the state of the podcast. Feel free to send thoughts, opinions, and hate-mail to emotionalmenpc@gmail.com

What does it mean to create something before it’s perfect? In this episode, Taylor talks with artist, designer, creative director, and longtime friend Jeff Barlow about creativity, imperfection, attention, and the strange beauty of making something in the moment. Jeff is known for his project Draw the Band in One Song , where he sketches live musicians during a single song. Jeff shares how urban s...

In this episode of The Emotional Men Podcast , Taylor talks with longtime friend and filmmaker/journalist Eli Katzoff about fear, trauma, storytelling, and what it means to bear witness in a war zone. Eli has spent years in Israel and the surrounding region documenting major historical events, including the aftermath of October 7th, missile attacks, bomb shelters, military zones, protests, and the...

What happens when a therapist with a large social media presence sits down for a real conversation about therapy, authenticity, and being human? In this episode, Taylor is joined by Dr. Justin Puder, PhD, psychologist and creator, to explore the intersection of social media and mental health. They talk about what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and how it shapes the way people understand themse...

What exactly do sports teach us emotionally? In this episode, Taylor and Jihad explore sports as more than competition or entertainment. From team culture and coaching to vulnerability, resilience, identity, and emotional expression, they unpack why sports can become one of the few socially accepted places where people fully experience the highs and lows of being human. They discuss: Why sports cr...

What happens when facts and feelings don’t line up? In this episode, Taylor is joined by organizational psychology professional Jihad Sakhnini for a wide-ranging conversation about how people actually make decisions. Not just logically, and not just emotionally, but somewhere in between. They explore the difference between what’s true and what’s real , why feelings can feel like facts, and how cur...

What does it actually mean to be successful, and what happens once you get there? In this episode, Taylor and Pete break down the idea of managing success , moving past surface-level definitions like money and status to explore something more complicated: choice, effort, timing, and the role of luck. They dig into why most people struggle to define what they want, how success often shows up as a p...

What does power actually do for us, and how much control does it really give us? In this episode, Taylor and Pete dig into the pursuit of power from several angles: social power, financial power, professional power, physical power, and the power that comes from knowledge and skill. They talk about how people relate to power, why so many of us chase it, and why having more influence does not necess...

Confidence gets talked about like it’s always a good thing, and that's generally true. But there's a line where confidence turns into overconfidence, and eventually into something closer to delusion. The problem is, that line isn’t always obvious. In this episode, Taylor and Pete break down what confidence actually is, where it comes from, and how it’s different from arrogance, insecurity, and bli...

Oftentimes, people think they’re reacting to the person in front of them when they're really reacting to someone that person reminds them of. They’re reacting to patterns from past relationships. In this episode, we break down transference in psychology , which is the process where past experiences shape how you respond to people in your life today. Whether it’s your partner, your boss, or even yo...

In this episode, Taylor McCarrey and Pete Kingsley explore the complicated relationship between religion and mental health through the lens of religious trauma . Religion can offer meaning, structure, and community. For many people, it forms the foundation of their moral beliefs and their understanding of the world. But when authority, shame, or fear are used in the name of faith, the same system...

In this episode, Taylor and Pete dive into the growing cultural presence of therapy language and the ways it can be misunderstood or misused. As more people become familiar with psychological terminology, the risk increases that those terms will lose precision, or become tools for avoiding responsibility, shutting down difficult conversations, or claiming authority in arguments. The conversation b...

We set out to talk about how to manage your emotions when someone else is losing theirs, and somehow ended up in a much bigger conversation. Is Stoicism emotional maturity or emotional suppression dressed up as virtue? We unpack what Stoicism actually teaches (self-control, perception, virtue, social duty) and where it can go wrong when it’s used to shame normal human reactions. We talk about trau...

Sex is easy to joke about. It’s much harder to talk about honestly. In this episode, Taylor and Pete are joined by trauma specialist Latina Griffin, LCSW, to unpack what’s really underneath sexual behavior — attachment, shame, betrayal, control, and recovery. They discuss: Whether sex is actually a “need” Why sexual betrayal cuts so deeply The difference between addiction and compulsive behavior H...

Episode Summary Humility gets confused with self-hatred all the time. A lot of people were taught that being humble means minimizing yourself, saying to yourself “I’m nothing,” “it wasn’t a big deal,” “anyone could do it.” In this episode, we argue the opposite: Humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is seeing things accurately. You can acknowledge competence, skill, success, and valu...

In part two of our “Being a Therapist” series, we get concrete about what the job actually feels like day-to-day—what’s routine, what’s heavy, and what makes it meaningful. We talk private practice vs community mental health, how therapists think about the room and safety, why curiosity matters more than being “right,” and the best/worst moments that shape you over time. What We Cover The “therapi...

In this episode, Taylor and Pete unpack what it actually means to become a therapist. From origin stories and pivotal moments to the practical realities of graduate school, licensing, and community mental health, this conversation pulls back the curtain on the mental health professions. We break down the major degree paths into clinical work (social work, counseling, and marriage & family ther...

Anxiety gets talked about constantly, but rarely accurately. In this episode, Taylor and Pete unpack the difference between feeling anxious and having a clinical anxiety disorder , why social media has flattened anxiety into a personality trait, and how real anxiety actually shows up in therapy rooms. They break down clinical criteria like the GAD-7, explore why anxiety is future-focused, and talk...

Ever feel weirdly guilty for resting, like you should be “doing something” instead? In this episode, we break down what intentional relaxation actually is (and what it isn’t). Pete frames relaxation as a pathway into mindfulness (being fully awake in your own life) while Taylor frames relaxation as recuperation: refueling the tank so you can function like a human. We talk about why people avoid re...

In this episode of Emotional Men , we’re joined by Dr. James McCarrey , a family medicine physician, to explore the often-ignored relationship between mental health and physical health , and why separating the two is a mistake. James shares what it’s actually like to practice medicine on the front lines: the emotional cost of trauma, the reality of compartmentalization in medical training, and how...

In this episode of Emotional Men , we sit down with Juvenile Court Judge Ryan Peterson to explore a question most people never think to ask: What is the relationship between justice and forgiveness, and can one exist without the other? From the courtroom to the therapy room, forgiveness is often treated as a moral obligation or an emotional shortcut. Justice, on the other hand, is frequently frame...

In this episode, Taylor and Pete dig into dogmatism: the mindset of holding opinions so strongly they’re treated as unquestionable facts. They talk about why the need to be right feels so comforting, how rigid beliefs can turn into hostility, and why “strong feelings” aren’t the same thing as truth. Along the way, they unpack the difference between values vs. opinions , explore how people can thin...

The Foot and the Shoe: Rethinking Burnout Burnout is usually framed as a personal failure: try harder, rest more, be more resilient. In this episode, Taylor and Pete argue that this framing misses half the picture. Using the metaphor of the foot and the shoe , they explore burnout as both a personal and environmental problem. Sometimes burnout comes from the foot (capacity, expectations, boundarie...

The holidays can promise connection and comfort… and still deliver stress, awkward conversations, and disappointment. In this episode, Taylor and Pete break down why holiday stress feels uniquely heavy, how “perfect holiday” expectations backfire, and what to do when you feel yourself hitting your limit. You’ll hear practical ways to recognize your stress signals, set boundaries without being hars...