Therapy Meets Soul

Have you ever told ChatGPT something you haven't even told your best friend? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena explores the psychology behind our growing reliance on artificial intelligence for emotional support, relationship advice and companionship and asking the question whether we are using it to become better at being human or making it easier to avoid the parts of being hum...

Who taught you what love was supposed to look like? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena asks you to stop focusing on the person you're in a relationship with and instead examine your relationship with the relationship itself. From romantic partners and lifelong friends to parents, siblings and children, Dr. Dena explores how family, culture, religion and social media can quietly sh...

What is it actually like being a teenage girl growing up with social media? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena welcomes her very first guest, her daughter, Olivia for an honest mother daughter conversation about social media and its impact on teenage girls. Olivia shares the struggles teenage girls are experiencing online and Dr. Dena explores how comparison, low self esteem and the p...

Welcome to Season 2 of Therapy Meets Soul and this season, Dr. Dena is zooming out. After spending Season 1 exploring individual healing, we're looking beyond “What's wrong with me?” and asking a different question: “What happened around me?” In this episode, Dr Dena explores collective trauma, intergenerational trauma and how the experiences of our families, communities and cultures can s...

What if you were never actually lost? What if you've just spent so long becoming who everyone else needed you to be that you've forgotten what it feels like to simply be you? In the Season 1 finale of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena brings everything back home. From people pleasing and perfectionism to overthinking, hyper independence and emotional suppression, Dr. Dena explores how the behaviours yo...

What if overthinking isn’t actually the problem? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena challenges the label so many of us casually give ourselves: “I’m just an overthinker” She explores what may actually be happening underneath the endless analysing and breaks down why overthinking can feel productive while actually keeping you stuck. And most importantly, she explores how to stop trying...

What if you’re not addicted to your phone but you’re addicted to the possibility of being validated by what’s on it? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena explores our growing dependence on external validation from social media likes and reassurance in relationships to needing other people to confirm that our feelings, choices and opinions are “right." In this episode, we cover: Why vali...

What if the version of you that everyone praises isn't actually you but the version you created to survive? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena dives beneath the surface of people pleasing to uncover what it really is. She explores how childhood experiences teach us to earn love through performance, why so many high achievers quietly struggle with burnout and resentment and what it tak...

Is your nervous system simply responding exactly the way it was designed to? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena challenges one of the biggest misconceptions in mental health: that every feeling of anxiety must be a disorder. While anxiety disorders are very real and deserve proper treatment, many of us are living lifestyles that keep our nervous systems in a constant state of survival...

Is buying flowers really what makes someone a good partner? Or has social media convinced us that love is measured by grand gestures instead of consistent effort? P In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul , Dr. Dena unpacks one of the biggest misconceptions about relationships: what effort actually looks like. From viral relationship videos to unrealistic expectations, Dr. Dena explains why real eff...

What if men don't struggle with vulnerability because they're emotionally unavailable but because they've been taught that vulnerability isn't safe? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul, Dr. Dena challenges one of the biggest myths in mental health and relationships: that men are somehow less emotional than women. Drawing from psychology, attachment theory, nervous system regulati...

Therapy taught you awareness, so why are you still stuck? You’ve done the therapy. You understand your childhood. You can name your triggers, attachment style and trauma responses so why do you still feel anxious, overwhelmed, emotionally reactive, disconnected or stuck in the same patterns? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul , Dr. Dena breaks down the uncomfortable truth nobody talks about eno...

If every relationship starts differently but somehow ends the same this episode is going to hit home. In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul , Dr. Dena breaks down why so many people repeat the same relationship patterns over and over again even when they consciously want something healthier. Dr. Dena explores how childhood trauma, attachment wounds, inconsistent caregiving, emotional neglect, and...

What if one of the most normalized relationship sayings is actually creating emotional disconnection, resentment, and unhealthy relationship dynamics? In this episode of Therapy Meets Soul , Dr. Dena breaks down why “happy wife, happy life” sounds harmless but often teaches men to suppress their emotions, abandon their needs and prioritize peace over honesty, while women are left feeling emotional...

Welcome to Therapy Meets Soul, the podcast where psychology meets deeper healing. I'm Dr. Dena, licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Liv Empowered Psychological Services. This is the space for people who are self aware but still feel stuck. The people who understand their patterns, know where their wounds come from, and yet still find themselves overwhelmed, triggered, disconnected, o...