What we hide behind a first impression reveals more than what we show. Armand DiMele and co-hosts Ben Starr and Giullian Gioiello unpack why people announce what they are not (threatening, needy, angry, afraid) and how every social mask points back to the insecurity underneath it.
Are the coping styles we develop in childhood defenses or simply who we are? Armand DiMele and Lisa Arnone, LCSW explore whether an authentic self actually exists beneath our social masks, or whether stripping away our defenses leaves nothing behind. Callers and the Enneagram illuminate the argument.
Most people perform a version of themselves that isn’t really them. Armand DiMele invites callers to confess what they pretend to be (successful, sexy, polished, smart) and finds that dropping the pose is the fastest route to your actual self. The episode also reframes resistance as a natural, even useful force rather than an obstacle to overcome.
Most people enter therapy not to change but to get better at what they already do. Armand DiMele introduces the concept of “criminal intention,” the hidden, often dark strategies we developed as children to survive, and shows how recognizing them in love, friendship, and work is the real engine of personal change.
