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The SelfWork Podcast

I'm Dr. Margaret, a psychologist for over 25 years and the author of Perfectly Hidden Depression. I created The SelfWork Podcast in 2016 to explain mental health treatment, and to give you the chance to consider therapy without thinking it's weird or somehow suggests you can't "fix" your own problems. My team is so honored that five years later, SelfWork has earned nearly 3.5 million downloads! Each episode features the popular listener question. And, once a month, you’ll hear a “You Get the Gist” segment - a five minute run-down of a current topic - as well as an interview with an outstanding guest author or expert, adding to the wide diversity of topics listeners so appreciate. Regularly rated as one of the top mental health/depression podcasts out there, I keep it short and casual - and I'd love to hear from you. Please join me.
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Now displaying: May, 2022
May 27, 2022
My mom used to write T H I N K on my forehead as a child. Ugh. I hated that! ! But it was definitely her way of trying to teach me self-control, a skill that I didn't have much of as a child!

Today we’re going to focus on three skills that are considered ego skills or what compose ego strengths. First is self-regulation or how you monitor and cope with your emotions. Second is self-control - how you manage your impulses and reactions. And third is self-motivation - what does it take to give you a sense of proactivity and purpose. SelfWork is almost always about "what you can do about it" and this episode is no different. We'll define how these three skills interact and how you can build them into your own set of skills - so that they're available to you when you need them.

So in today's episode, sponsored by Athletic Greens, you'll learn that rehearsal is vital – not only to prove to yourself that you can change and grow – but to give your brain a chance to build new neurological circuitry.

The listener voicemail for today features a mom who feels completely disrespected by her now adult children. And asks if I have any advice… What would you say?

Important Links:

Click Here for the fabulous offer from Athletic Greens - now AG1 - with bonus product with your subscription!

VeryWellMind article on self-regulation

Podcast by Andrew Huberman called The Huberman Lab.

Tony Robbins article on self-motivation

Jessica Stillman article on Huberman's work

You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!

My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has been published and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it’s available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!

And there’s another way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

 

May 26, 2022

Warning: This episode could act as a trigger due to its topic. Please listen with caution.

The murders in Uvalde, Texas this week may pull for many different reactions to such senseless violence. And the unbelievable but very real fact that children were once again targeted makes it even more devasting. 

I humbly offer these suggestions to you to help you make sense and give direction to your own swirling emotions as well as the way to talk to your children about how they might be feeling.

  • Look around you and do something you have control over.
  • Talk to your children. Allow them to share and work through their feelings and guide them to focus on an act of kindness toward others.
  • Journal your own feelings but couple that expression with a plan, no matter how simple.
  • Ask for help if you need it.
  • Use your anger or anguish not as a weapon, but as motivation.
  • This is trauma. Know that you are being affected. And that the only healing direction is through the feelings that you have. 
  • And as always, take very good care. Of yourself, your loved ones, and your community.

You can hear more about mental health and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my websiteand receive one weekly newsletter including my weekly blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!

My new book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has arrived and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life.

And there’s a new way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

 

May 20, 2022

Where did you learn who Josh Peck was? Through his award-winning performance in Drake and Josh when he was a teen? Starring next to Ben Kingsley in The Wackness? Or has it been more recently in Disney+ Turner and Hooch? What I learned in this interview is that you likely didn't know who Josh was, because for years, he strenuously devoted himself to developing the Josh he wanted you to see. The comic. The really funny guy. Only through fighting severe drug addiction and finding sobriety did he begin to realize what he hadn't wanted anyone, including himself, to see.

Abandoned by his dad, Josh grew up in a very loving but somewhat vagabond partnership with his mom; he decided on the cusp of adolescence that he was going to be successful. And he was. But the pain he'd been hiding from was waiting for him - as it always is. Celebrity overdoses that ended in death - Heath Ledger and Brad Renfro - woke him up to what he was doing. As well as finding what he calls his "Apostles" - a piece of advice he got from Sir Ben Kingsley himself.

I loved talking with Josh. His book is funny, yes. But his sincerity and a very mature humility shine through. His journey is more than worth sharing. And his book, Happy People Are Annoying, is available now!

So in this episode sponsored by BetterHelp, you can get to know the real Josh Peck. As he now is. And who he intends to be in the future.

IMPORTANT OFFER FOR YOU! 

BetterHelp, the #1 online therapy provider, has a special offer for you now!

You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!

My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has been published and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it’s available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!

And there’s another way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

 

 

May 13, 2022
I first found Amanda White on Instagram, as she's the therapist behind Therapy For Women - a popular Instagram mental health group. But then I learned more about her. Her book came out early in 2022:  NOT DRINKING TONIGHT: A Guide to Creating a Sober Life You Love, where she calls herself a retired-party-girl-turned-therapist. She became sober herself in her early 20's, but speaks candidly how frightened she was to do so - that suddenly she'd be the one left out, the one that's weird or simply not "fun." She encourages others to consider how any addiction you might have, but especially alcohol addiction, may be creeping up on you. The pandemic has certainly caused many to find escape in booze - with many drinking more than 14% of their normal, and women's drinking increased by 41%.

Amanda also has many years of treating those who are trying to decrease or stop their drinking completely, having founded The Therapy For Women Center in Philadelphia. Her work has been featured in dozens of publications including The Washington PostForbesShapeWomen's Health, and more  She wants you to not only figure out the true "why," and more importantly, when and how to set boundaries around your choices - maybe even how to be the one "not drinking tonight."

Her book is NOT DRINKING TONIGHT: A Guide to Creating a Sober Life You Loveretired-party-girl-turned-therapist Amanda White does just that. I've read it and heard wonderful wisdom.

Click Here for the fabulous offer from Athletic Greens - now AG1 - with bonus product with your subscription!

You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!

My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has been published and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it’s available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!

And there’s another way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

 

May 6, 2022

This is a very personal episode of SelfWork, as I tell the story of my mother's intense struggles with anxiety - and her turning to prescription drugs to help her cope. Sadly, doctors in the 1960's brushed off women with "nerves" and handed out medications that were not only strong, but addictive. And some women, like my mother, developed a prescription drug addiction. This is the story of how the mother that I knew - that many people loved and admired - became a shadow of herself, as we all watched the woman we knew disappear.

I think she would want you to know her story. She once told me, "I wish I'd known what I was doing to myself." Maybe her story can help you or someone you love. For it still can happen, although the medical profession has realized the damage of opioid overprescription - and are hopefully analyzing anxiolytics and other addictive medications closely for abuse, over-dependence, and prescriptive issues.

BetterHelp has sponsored this episode - and I so wish that my own mother had sought therapy. Maybe that's why I became a therapist. Who knows...

Important Links:

BetterHelp, the #1 online therapy provider, has a special offer for you now!

New York Times article on racial and ethnic inequalities and abuse by the medical community

You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!

My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has been published and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it’s available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!

And there’s another way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

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