The Shift Show

“Is My Boss Serving Kool Aid?” Sarah Lerner of And Together Discusses the Cost of Toxic Workplaces -- and Maps the Way Forward Toxic workplaces cost big. If you’re cowering in your cubicle or dodging bullies, you aren’t bringing your “A”-game to the office. You’re probably waist-deep in a job search. If that’s you, you’re not alone: According to a 2020 study, 20% of all U.S. employees reported fle...

Parents are human, it’s okay to make mistakes! Shifters Zac and Sarah talk about the highs and lows of parenting during the peak of COVID.

In case you’re just joining the party, Shift Psychs, Zac Erickson and Sarah [...], sit down with Shift CEO and founder, Andrea McTague, for a chat on who we are and why we’re talking to you about all this stuff. Born out of Andrea’s love-hate relationship with traditional psychology (love the foundation, hate the delivery), Shift kicks the status quo to the curb.  Here's the traditional equat...

This is a really important issue that we’re passionate about. First responders of all kinds, including firefighters, paramedics and police officers, deal with trauma every day. The long term (and short term) impacts of experiencing traumas are by no means light. We wanted to bring light to this issue by providing some education around the types of traumas that first responders experience, how it i...

Sometimes life confronts us with tragic events, things out of our control, which bring on a myriad of emotions and impact our beliefs about ourselves and the world.  One of these heartbreaking arenas is infant loss and pregnancy loss.   Once shrouded in quiet suffering and stigma, we are thankful that more and more open conversations about these not-so-uncommon events are occurring.  Still, hesita...

Do you find it difficult to create and maintain friendships as an adult? Well, you’re not the only one. Only a small number of Canadians would say they are ‘satisfied’ with their social lives. Why is this? What are the barriers to making friends in adulthood and what are some ways to get past these barriers? Zac and Shift clinician Sam Greenwood explore all of these questions. They’ll also look at...

What is community? What on earth is a 'block connector' and what does it mean to 'be elfed'? Andrea and Zac sit down with our guests this week: Carla Stolte and Jay Summach of the Westmount Community in Edmonton to get into all of this and more. As members of the Westmount Community League, Jay and Carla share their experience of living in a tight-knit community in a disconnect...

Recorded during the wake of the pandemic, Andrea and Zac have a timely discussion about the widespread issue of loneliness and the importance of social connection.  Where does our drive for social interaction and connectivity come from? What hinders social connectivity and what fosters it? How can we improve our relationships and feel closer to the people in our lives?  All this and more on this e...

Shift psychologist Sarah O'Brien sits down with Michelle Okere, the CEO of Compassion House Foundation , to try and understand the emotional journey that many individuals experience during their cancer treatment and recovery.  Michelle and Sarah discuss some of the common, and even surprising, emotions that cancer survivors experience, from guilt to relief. They also take a look at some tips...

Zac shares his experience of dealing with Attention Deficit Disorder. He discusses being able to understand some of the symptoms that his ADD created in childhood, like not being able to sustain mental effort in early assignments in school. When something was not stimulating enough to hold his attention in childhood he often encountered shame-based accusations of being lazy, stupid or destructive....

Sometimes people think they need couples counselling, when they actually need some intense individual therapy. Zac Erickson and Dr. Lindsay Sewall help tease these apart so you can recognize when limiting beliefs are at the core of relationship issues. Limiting beliefs can look like perfectionism, sensitivity to rejection, or an unwillingness to consider someone else’s perspective . We go over sev...

Shifter and full-time mom Sarah O'Brien shares her experience with pregnancy, birth and everything in between. What are some of the secret struggles women go through during pregnancy? What are postpartum depression and anxiety really like and how common are they? How do men and women experience pregnancy and birth differently? Is there a right way to give birth? How about a right way to care...

Join Zac and Natasha as they discuss some of the feelings of disgust and shame which often arise in regards to conversations about sex. These ideas are embedded in historical issues of control, whether it be religion or family inheritance.  They explore the age old question of, “What makes for a good healthy sexuality?”  There are a lot of things which we see as being tied to a healthy sexual rela...

Welcome to the Shift Show, where we use psychological insight to unravel the craziness of life for you. From childhood traumas to why you’re attracted to narcissists. From overthinking your social interactions to why you’re struggling to grow your business. It’s all here, and we’ve left the psychobabble out. This especially delicious podcast experience is brought to you by our friends at Shift Psy...

Zac and Andrea discuss money; specifically, how to spend in a way that allows you to have a fulfilling life. Referencing a study from Purdue University, Zac and Andrea analyze how people spend money and look into the factors that cause bad spending habits. Andrea shares her experiences with money and offers insight to the age old question: Can money buy happiness? Purdue University study: https://...

When we’re young, we have to figure things out and navigate our realities very quickly. During periods of high stimulation we place demand on our emotional systems to determine threats or unbalance in our environments. We are wired to trust our parents and depend on them to protect us. If they aren’t placing adequate protections in place for us then we assume that it must be our fault. This will a...

How are family dynamics changing over time? What needs to be done to create a nurturing and stable family? Zac and Andrea take an in-depth look into the family dynamic. Specifically, what each partner needs to do in order to satisfy the needs of the family members and what communication between one another should look like. Episode website: https://shiftpsych.com/shift-show/changing-family-dynamic...