Keyword: resilience

Nature Versus Nurture in Parenting September 7, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra

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 People Survive Catastrophe January 14, 2010

What happens in the mind and body when people face catastrophic loss? Using the 2010 Haiti earthquake as a focal point, Armand DiMele examines the psychological and biological mechanisms that carry people through the unthinkable, from dissociation and stress chemistry to religious ritual and the drive to live for others.

How Was Your Year December 31, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Akilah, Alex, Debbie, Joanne, Juana, Lauren Sykes, Lynn, Tony Thomas

Armand DiMele opens the phones and asks listeners to rate their year on a scale of zero to ten and name three things that shaped it. Callers share stories of job hope, health crises, death, financial collapse, and hard-won perspective, turning the show into a candid collective inventory of 2009.

Surviving Crisis and Finding Strength with Mark Matusik June 25, 2008

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Mark Matusik

What do you discover about yourself when crisis strips everything away? Author Mark Matusik discusses his book drawing on interviews with Joan Didion, Ram Dass, and others who survived profound loss, illness, and trauma. The recurring insight: real strength only emerges when the fictional version collapses.

A Nation of Wimps with Hara Estroff Marano June 11, 2008

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Hara Estroff Marano

Overprotective parenting is producing psychologically fragile young adults, argues Hara Estroff Marano, Author and Psychology Today Editor. Armand DiMele and Marano dig into college mental health data, the neuroscience of play, the danger of misplaced praise, and why letting kids fail early is the kindest thing a parent can do.

The Psychology of Financial Fear April 15, 2008

Host: Armand DiMele

Fear of financial ruin runs deeper than money, Armand DiMele argues, touching the soul itself. Callers share job loss, mounting debt, and creeping shame, while Armand connects compulsive buying disorder, depression-era mentality, and the surprising opportunity hardship can offer to relationships.

Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset with Dr. Carol Dweck April 24, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Carol Dweck

Can you change how smart or capable you are, or are you stuck with what you have? Dr. Carol Dweck, Professor and Author of the book Mindset, joins Armand to explain how fixed versus growth mindsets shape success, relationships, and resilience, and why treating setbacks as information rather than verdicts changes everything.

Resiliency and Letting Go December 26, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele

Resilience is built on four pillars: a positive attitude, stress management, intentional participation in life, and self-care. Armand uses the year-end transition to encourage listeners to release old habits, grudges, and long-carried shame, and explores how a genuine apology can be the most liberating act of all.

The Genetics of Resilience May 2, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kevin O'Donoghue

Why do some people bounce back from trauma while others stay broken? Armand DiMele traces resilience to genetics, specifically the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter gene, exploring how allele variations shape depression risk across individuals and racial groups, with callers sharing their own struggles to recover.

Breaking Free From Fixed Roles November 29, 2005

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Gladys Santopal, Sherry Oren King

When we cling to a fixed idea of who we are, something in the mind can sabotage us, as with a kicker who missed three field goals in front of his cheering family. Armand and two Gestalt therapists, Sherry Oren King and Gladys Santopal, explore how rigid self-concepts block authentic living and what awareness, inner reliance, and stopping the urge to change others can actually do.