Hosts: Armand DiMele

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How We React to Catastrophe March 16, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Amhara, Anthony, Daphne Rose Kingma, Dr. Ronald Fieve, Linda Vanella, Monroe, Pat Moffitt, Vincent
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Emotions & Inner Life

Different personalities respond to mass catastrophe in recognizably different ways: some blame, some freeze, some go numb, some take action. Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, use the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami as a lens for examining these patterns, drawing on Japanese cultural values of harmony and collective responsibility along with calls from listeners.

Smart But Feeling Dumb with Dr. Harold Levinson March 2, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Harold Levinson
Category: Identity & The Self, The Mind & Neuroscience

Most people with dyslexia, ADD, and related phobias feel stupid despite high intelligence. Dr. Harold Levinson argues the root cause is inner ear dysfunction, not brain damage, and that treating the cerebellum can lift reading difficulties, phobias, and chronic disorganization at once.

The Alter Self in Addiction and Compulsion March 1, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Addiction & Compulsion, Identity & The Self

What if every addiction or compulsion is run by a hidden alter self, not the person you know yourself to be? Armand DiMele draws on his decades treating dissociative identity disorder to argue that alter personalities, from the false front to the persecutor, operate in all of us, driving behaviors our primary self disowns.

How People Really See You March 1, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Communication & Conflict, Identity & The Self

Most of us carry a story about how others see us, and that story is often wrong. Armand DiMele examines the gap between self-image and social reality, touching on trustworthiness, sarcasm as a defense, online dating personas, schadenfreude, and what it would take to simply be yourself.

Love Is an Emerging Process February 14, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Love & Romantic Relationships

Love is not a state of grace you grab hold of but an aching, ongoing process rooted in childhood imitation and covered by self-protective fraud. Armand DiMele argues that couples who survive deception often reach a deeper nakedness than those who never tested their bond at all.

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset with Dr. Carol Dweck February 1, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Carol Dweck
Category: Identity & The Self, Personal Growth & Change

Fixed mindset people treat setbacks as proof of permanent flaws; growth mindset people treat them as data. Dr. Carol Dweck, Professor and Author of “Mindset,” joins Armand DiMele to explore how these two orientations shape ambition, love, parenting, and even how we age.

Freedom from Definitions of Love January 27, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Love & Romantic Relationships

No therapist can hand you the right formula for love, and Armand argues that freedom from definitions is the real gift. Neurotic love, dishonest love, unconventional love can all work. What matters is noticing your own sensations, from longing to satisfaction, and trusting what fits you.

When Infections Change Your Mind January 19, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

The brain was supposed to be sealed off from the immune system, but new research suggests otherwise. Armand DiMele surveys evidence that bacterial infections, antibodies, and T cells can trigger OCD, depression, memory loss, and personality shifts, and that treating the infection sometimes cures the psychiatric symptom.

The Need for Affection January 18, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Love & Romantic Relationships

Touch is not a luxury but a biological and emotional need, and its absence quietly drives depression, disconnection, and longing. Armand DiMele surveys how affection works across cultures, life stages, and temperaments, from the bonding chemistry of parent and child to what elderly people lose when their partners die.

Feeling Good Is a Chemical State January 13, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Elemy, Lauren Sykes, Richard Christensen
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Feeling good is not a vague mental state but a precise chemical one, and Armand DiMele breaks down how everything from exercise to eating to orgasm is really the body engineering its own neurochemistry. The episode also reframes feeling good as often just the absence of pain.