Guest: Stephanie D'Ambra

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My Mind Is Not Always My Friend with Stephen Fogle September 30, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra, Stephen Fogle
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

The mind evolved to keep us safe, but its habit of replaying the past can turn it into an enemy. Armand DiMele sits down with author Stephen Fogle and co-host Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW to examine how mislabeled memories trigger overreactions, why reason rarely wins against a fired amygdala, and how body awareness can break the cycle.

Jealousy Possessiveness and Belonging September 23, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Love & Romantic Relationships

Jealousy is almost universal in sexually active couples, yet we treat it as pathology. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, trace possessiveness from toddler toy-sharing to marriage vows, and explore how smartphones and GPS tracking are intensifying the urge to monitor partners.

The Roots of Jealousy September 21, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Love & Romantic Relationships

Jealousy poisons relationships yet has deep evolutionary roots. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW trace the emotion from its origins in mate guarding and animal behavior through its cultural history, then break down the A-B-C jealousy triangle and how self-doubt, dominance, and fear of abandonment drive it. Callers share real struggles with trust and infidelity.

The Psychopath Brain September 16, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Identity & The Self, The Mind & Neuroscience

Psychopaths are charming, fearless, and wired differently. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW break down the neuroscience behind psychopathy, examining how thinning in the paralimbic system impairs empathy, impulse control, and the ability to learn from punishment, and why that makes the bad boy so seductive.

Trauma and Depression After 9/11 September 14, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Depression & Mood, Trauma & Healing

Witnessing 9/11 left measurable changes in survivors’ brains four years later. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW discuss Cornell MRI research on hyperactive amygdala responses, how trauma becomes consolidated in memory, and emerging interventions ranging from video games to medication that may interrupt that process. The second half covers depression’s physical and cognitive toll.

Nature Versus Nurture in Parenting September 7, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Family & Parenting, Identity & The Self

Can good parenting overcome bad genes? Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, dig into the nature versus nurture debate through real cases: a mother baffled by her troubled teen, a neuroscientist who carries a psychopath’s genetic profile yet lives normally, and callers including an adoptee who found her musical gift written in her DNA.

How Technology Rewires the Brain July 22, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Family & Parenting, The Mind & Neuroscience

Every ping and notification triggers a dopamine hit, and Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW argue this makes smartphones and computers genuinely addictive. They examine how constant multitasking fragments focus, why kids now know more about technology than their parents, and how adults can close that gap by letting children teach them.

The Chemistry of Anger July 15, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Anger is not just emotional but biochemical: cortisol drops, testosterone rises, and the left brain activates when we rage. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW discuss how anger functions as the body’s shortcut out of depression, why blaming others is an addiction, and what the latest neurochemical research reveals about rage, closeness, and self.

Irritability and the Weather July 8, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Bernie Starr, Dr. Maria Grace, Karen, Patricia Miranda, Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Irritability turns out to be closer to fear than anger, and closer to tears than most people realize. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, trace how weather, hormones, serotonin, fatigue, and vitamin D deprivation all converge to push the nervous system toward that hair-trigger state, and callers weigh in with their own experiences.

The Fine Art of Catastrophizing July 1, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Angela, Christina, Reiner Heilregel, Sherry Oren King, Stephanie D'Ambra, Tony Thomas
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Depression & Mood

Catastrophizing turns small setbacks into imagined disasters, and Armand DiMele unpacks why so many people do it. Drawing on Albert Ellis, Gestalt therapy’s “and then what” technique, and co-host Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, the episode offers practical ways to interrupt the spiral before it paralyzes you.