powerlessness |

Frozen in Time by Childhood Trauma August 13, 2014

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Ben Starr, Linda Vanella, Ori Amini Morrison

Category: Family & Parenting, Trauma & Healing

Childhood trauma leaves children frozen in place, and the cure often lies in the parent-child relationship, not just the child alone. Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, draws on her work with traumatized veterans and young children to explain how creative tools like xylophone play, power cards, and the hero’s journey restore a child’s sense of agency alongside the caregiver’s.

Anger Aggression and Passive Aggression September 11, 2013

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Giullian Gioiello

Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Passive aggression hides in plain sight behind sweetness and forgetfulness while recruiting others to act out its anger. Armand DiMele and co-host Giullian Gioiello trace the aggressive spectrum from assertiveness to psychopathy, explain how passive and aggressive personalities attract each other, and connect these dynamics to political betrayal and marital infidelity.

The Feeling of Powerlessness March 21, 2012

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Linda Vanella

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Power is largely an illusion, and fighting that truth is a recipe for depression, rigidity, and exhaustion. Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, trace powerlessness from its biological roots through addiction, codependency, grief, and disability, arguing that accepting what we cannot control is itself a form of strength.

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.

The Illusion of Power September 1, 2010

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Power is mostly illusion, Armand argues, and refusing to accept powerlessness is a fast road to depression, rigidity, and compulsion. Through caller conversations, he examines where the hunger for control really comes from, including how unmet childhood needs quietly drive adult behavior.

Grief and Powerlessness Over the Afghanistan Surge December 1, 2009

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Society, Culture & Current Events

Obama’s announced surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan prompts Armand to ask not what listeners think about the war, but what they feel. Callers including a Vietnam-era veteran and an Afghan-American woman share grief, disillusionment, and the numbing silence that replaces protest.

Waking Up on Election Night November 5, 2008

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Bernard Starr, Victoria Karamanchi

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Society, Culture & Current Events

The morning after Barack Obama’s 2008 election, Armand DiMele and Dr. Bernard Starr, PhD, Psychologist, unpack the jubilation in the streets and what it means when politically disengaged people suddenly wake up. Callers share tears, renewed patriotism, and one listener’s struggle as a single-issue voter who lost.

Feeling Helpless and Powerless November 8, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw

Category: Anxiety & Fear, Depression & Mood

Helplessness and powerlessness are not the same thing, and the difference matters. Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, trace how powerlessness drives anxiety, social phobia, OCD, and addiction, while helplessness underlies depression, then offer practical steps for reclaiming a sense of agency.

Authority Figures and the Father Wound with Shreya Mundal August 2, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Shreya Mundal

Category: Communication & Conflict, Identity & The Self

Why do some people clash with every boss, landlord, or police officer they encounter? Armand DiMele and Shreya Mundal, a forensic social worker and mitigation specialist at the Legal Aid Society, trace recurring authority conflicts back to early parental relationships, arguing that unresolved powerlessness keeps people locked in the same losing dynamic.

Knowing When to Leave July 6, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Most decisions to leave, whether a job, a relationship, a therapist, or a church, are driven by unexpressed anger rather than genuine incompatibility. Armand DiMele argues that learning to voice what bothers you is nearly always the alternative to walking away, and that unspoken resentment turned inward becomes depression.