The Verywell Mind Podcast

Jared Watson (aka Dirty J) is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the band Dirty Heads — a band from Huntington Beach, California, known for its mix of reggae, hip-hop, and rock.  As the band rose to fame, so did Jared's use of alcohol and pills. But he paved his own way to sobriety, and now he's sharing how he discovered the formula for keeping his mind and body in optimal condition.  Some of the...

Maybe you find yourself doubting whether you are actually good enough for someone you’re dating. Or maybe you second guess whether you’re able to fulfill your role at work. Self-doubt can creep in at any time about all sorts of things. And most of us aren’t sure how to deal with those nagging thoughts. Sometimes we run those thoughts by a friend or family member in hopes they’ll give us some reass...

Heather Monahan is a business expert and the founder of Boss in Heels.  Her first book, Confidence Creator, was a best-seller. She’s also the host of the popular podcast Creating Confidence. Her newest book, Overcome Your Villains, outlines strategies for overcoming adversity. In it, she reveals how getting fired from her job in corporate America led her to become a successful entrepreneur.  Some...

As your emotions go up, your ability to think clearly goes down. That’s why you might say or do things you later regret when you feel angry. And it’s also why you might reach for an unhealthy coping skill to get immediate relief when your anxiety skyrockets. Uncomfortable emotions like anxiety, embarrassment, sadness, and anger can be tough to tolerate. And if we’re not careful, these emotions can...

Amishi Jha, Ph. D., is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami, and she’s written a new book called Peak Mind. In it, she shares how we can improve our attention spans and become better focused in just 12 minutes a day. Some of the things you'll hear her discuss are why it seems like our attention spans have gotten worse, the strategies that will help you get more focused, and how imp...

Your emotions affect how you think and how you behave. Yet, most of us spend very little time thinking about how we’re feeling. And we often don’t even recognize how our emotional state impacts our performance. The good news is, we have some control over how we feel. That means we have the power to put ourselves in an emotional state that can work toward our advantage at any given moment.  We also...

Bryan Abrams is a Multi-Platinum Award-winning singer who is best known for his role in the R&B group Color Me Badd. The group rose to the top of the charts in the 90s with songs like, “I Wanna Sex You Up,” "I Adore Mi Amor," and “All 4 Love.”  As the group rose to fame and sold millions of records, Bryan dealt with some serious private battles—including depression, an eating disorder, and drinkin...

Could repeating a phrase to yourself over and over again actually improve your mental health? As simple as it sounds, there’s a good chance that developing a personal mantra can make a positive difference in your life. A simple mantra could help you stay on track with your goals, drown out negative thoughts, help you resist temptations, or even help you perform better. Most people confuse a mantra...

Iskra Lawrence is a British model who has been included in campaigns for major brands without her photos being retouched (something that is quite rare in the modeling industry). She was included in BBC’s 100 Women, and she is a brand ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association. She’s also a frequent guest author to many publications including SELF Magazine and TIME. Some of the things...

Shame is a painful feeling we all experience at one time or another. It often involves a deep-rooted fear that someone is going to find out about a mistake we made or a character flaw we have. When we feel shame, we want to hide from everyone. And it can lead to isolation and suffering. It’s a frequent topic of conversation in therapy. Sometimes shame stems from past trauma. At other times, it is...

Kyle Guy is an NBA player who has battled anxiety both on and off the court. He's learned a lot about anxiety in the past few years, and now he's sharing how he is managing his symptoms. Some of the things he shares are the coping strategies that work when he feels anxious, how he stays focused on the things he can control, and the treatment he has found to be most helpful. Learn more about your a...

We all make mistakes. Some mistakes are thinking errors—like assuming the reason your friend didn’t respond to a text message is that they’re mad at you. Other mistakes are emotional—like allowing yourself to stay stuck in a really angry mood. But most of the mistakes we talk about are behavioral—like saying hurtful things or drinking too much. No matter which type of mistake you make, each misste...

You likely know Nikki Sixx from the legendary rock band Mötley Crüe. He's the bassist and the primary songwriter. He’s also a member of the successful band Sixx:A.M. It's no secret that Nikki experienced years of addiction. But now he's sober, and he's talking about the adversity he faced as a child. In his new book, The First 21, he chronicles how he ultimately overcame his rough past.  Some of t...

When you repeat a mistake, you might be tempted to draw inaccurate conclusions about yourself. You might think you lack willpower, or you might start to believe you’re incapable of change. Ultimately, your mistakes may cause you to stop trying to reach your goals. But sometimes a few simple changes to the way you respond to a mistake make a huge difference.  Whether you keep eating more than you i...

Kati Morton is a licensed marriage and family therapist who runs a private practice in Santa Monica, California. She’s well known for her YouTube channel which has attracted more than 1 million subscribers who tune in to hear her mental health tips.  In this episode, we talk about her new book, Traumatized: Identify, Understand, and Cope with PTSD and Emotional Stress. Some of the things she share...

When we’re faced with tough situations or unfair circumstances, our tendency is to fight against them. We think about all the reasons those things shouldn’t be happening, rather than accept them for what they are. Unfortunately, refusing to accept a situation creates a lot of unnecessary suffering. This is something I often see as a therapist.  This is where radical acceptance comes into play. Res...

Helen Russell is a journalist, author, and happiness researcher. She's written several books on happiness and why some people are happier than others.  Her latest book, however, is called How to Be Sad. Through her research, she discovered that allowing ourselves to be sad could be the key to becoming happier. Some of the things she talks about in this episode are the benefits of happiness, the st...

JoJo is a GRAMMY Award-Winning singer, songwriter, and actress. She chose to start talking about her mental health publicly a few years back. She revealed she has battled depression, and she shared that she attends therapy and takes antidepressants.  While many people talk about their struggles with mental health once they feel better, JoJo makes it clear that managing her mental health is an ongo...

You’ve likely seen Matthew McConaughey in one of his movies, like Dazed and Confused, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, or A Time to Kill. He has a long list of accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. He’s also the author of a hugely successful book called Greenlights. The book is a memoir that includes many of his old journal posts from years back. But...

There are many undisputed benefits of being a positive, optimistic person. And if you aren’t naturally a positive person, you can learn to become one.  Part of being a positive person might involve looking for the silver lining even in hardship. Perhaps you can even recognize times in your life when you were able to see how something good came out of something really bad. Like maybe a breakup allo...

Katy Milkman is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the host of Charles Schwab’s popular behavioral economics podcast Choiceology.  She is the co-founder and co-director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, a research center whose mission is to advance the science of lasting behavioral change. Her new book, How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where...

Many people view vulnerability as a sign of weakness. After all, when you’re vulnerable you put yourself in a position where you could be hurt. So in an effort to prevent others from hurting you, you put up protective armor to stay safe. And while that protective armor may spare you from some emotional injuries, it will also prevent you from enjoying a lot of good things in life.  Our protective a...

Ally Love is the in-arena host of the Brooklyn Nets, and she’s a Peloton instructor. She’s also the founder and CEO of Love Squad, a fitness and lifestyle website that empowers women. Ally’s successful career path has taught her that it’s important to value progress over perfection. She acknowledges that she’s often put too much pressure on herself to be perfect and to be liked by other people. Bu...

On the surface, it seems like hearing nice things about yourself would help you feel good. After all, don’t you want to know if your colleague thinks you’re brilliant or the person you’re dating thinks you’re attractive?  If hearing a compliment actually makes you feel uncomfortable, though, you’re not alone. Most people actually cringe when they hear a compliment about themselves. In an attempt t...

It’s scary at first to acknowledge that you can’t control something. You can’t force your parents to stop drinking. And you can’t force your partner to love you. You can’t make your kids get good grades.  You can, however, control how you respond to those things. You can influence people with praise and boundaries and by making your expectations clear. And you can work on managing your emotional r...