Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson - Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Forrest Hanson

Latest Episodes:

How to Make 2026 a Year You’ll Love Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

Dr. Rick and Forrest explore how we can put our key values into action in 2026. They discuss how we can identify authentic values, and then translate them into goals and daily behaviors while reducing our focus on outcomes we don’t control. Forrest focuses on insights from Self-Determination Theory, and Dr. Rick shares how to create a warmer inner climate, and they talk about the overall importance of self-belief. The episode includes a number of practical tools related to environment design, scheduling, social accountability, and how to overcome obstacles.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:00: What values are you focusing on this year?

8:50: Turning your values into plans

16:00: Motivation is “context dependent”

22:10: Claiming autonomy in an imperfect world

34:20: Turning ideas into specific behaviors

41:15: Updating self-concept

51:00: How to deal with normal obstacles

1:00:34: Recap

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Who You’ll Be This Year: Values, Goals, and a Different Kind of Resolution Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

In this New Year’s episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest make the case that most resolutions fail because they focus on the wrong things: outcomes and behaviors rather than key values. They explore how we can identify our important values, embrace caring about them, and start to let them change our behavior. Forrest talks about how we can differentiate authentic values from “conditions of worth,” and Dr. Rick shares a number of ways to get more in touch with what matters to you. Topics include translating “shoulds” into values, experiencing more autonomy and agency, creating personal narratives, and finding your “stance toward the year.”

Key Topics:

0:00: Intro: values, self-concept, and levels of action

7:22: Living from states of having, doing, and being

13:09: Stances toward life based in threat versus opportunity; what are you paying attention to?

20:18: Examining “shoulds” to find and define your authentic values

33:30: Emulating the people you admire and respect most

41:55: Strategies to identify your root values

54:05: Recap

Rick's Goals Course: If you want to get more out of the year ahead check out Rick’s online course on resolutions that last. Learn more at RickHanson.com/goals, and use coupon code BeingWell25 to receive a 25% discount.

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

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Against Nonchalance: How to Embrace Caring in 2026 Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

Not caring - or nonchalance - is having a cultural moment. Nihilism is in, trying too hard is cringe, and the best way to cope with an often disappointing world is by not getting that invested. There’s just one problem: it’s hard to live a meaningful life without caring. In this episode, Forrest and Dr. Rick close 2025 by making the case for healthy caring: choosing objects of care wisely, prioritizing process over outcome, and cultivating equanimity without slipping into apathy. They do this by exploring four common obstacles that keep people from caring, sharing practical ways to work with each of them.

Key Topics:

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Resentment, Situationships, and Highly Sensitive People: December Mailbag Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Rick and Forrest open up the mailbag to answer listener questions about resentment, highly sensitive people, situationships, and expanding the window of tolerance. In the first three questions, they explore how resentment shows up across different relationships, including with coworkers, family members, and romantic partners. They discuss when to speak up, when to let go, and the underrated options in between. They then talk about agency, self awareness, and the expectations of others through two questions about highly sensitive people and building tolerance for discomfort. They close with a surprise bonus question for Forrest from Dr. Rick.

Key Topics:

3:51: Question 1: When should I address resentment with coworkers?

15:46: Question 2: How to deal with resentful family members?

24:26: Question 3: Is my jealousy and resentment post-situationship valid?

34:23: Question 4: What are appropriate requests as a Highly Sensitive Person?

50:30: Question 5: How can I build the capacity to embrace discomfort?

56:14: BONUS BIRTHDAY QUESTION from Dr. Rick

1:00:00: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.
Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/beingwell.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Therapy Wars: Science, Self-Help, and that IFS Article Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Rick and Forrest explore one of the major topics in psychology today: the tension between "mainstream" and "alternative" approaches, and how to understand evidence-based care. Using the recent IFS controversy as a backdrop, they discuss what it means for an approach to be evidence-based, the real-world dangers of inflated claims, and therapy’s complex relationship with the medical model. They get into the weeds on study design, effect sizes, insurance, why different approaches may or may not have a large body of evidence, and how to think about the research on “common factors” in therapy. Dr. Rick and Forrest offer a simple framework for making good decisions amidst all of this complexity.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction: the IFS article

7:27: Psychotherapy as medicine vs. personal growth practices

15:31: “Don’t know” mind versus “durrr who knows?” mind

19:50: What counts as evidence?

29:58: What does it mean for a therapy to be evidence-based?

42:38: How do we know therapy works?

53:45: Getting on your own team

59:07: Complexities with the medical model

1:10:24: How insurance and the healthcare system complicate the picture

1:18:27: Dr. Rick’s top two takeaways

1:29:05: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Borderline Personality: DBT and Working with Self-Hatred with Dr. Blaise Aguirre Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

Forrest is joined by psychiatrist Dr. Blaise Aguirre to discuss Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). They explore how extreme emotional sensitivity can lead to despair, self-hatred, suicidality, and an intense fear of abandonment, and how DBT can teach the skills needed to regulate those feelings. They discuss the nature of self-hatred, how to change the stories you’ve told about yourself, and how their insight and empathy can make people with BPD some of his favorite clients to work with.

About our Guest: Dr. Blaise Aguirre is the medical director of 3East at McLean Hospital, a residential DBT program for adolescents and young adults, and is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He’s also the co-author of a number of books including DBT for Dummies, and the author of I Hate Myself: Overcome Self-Loathing and Realize Why You're Wrong About You.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

4:05: Common features of BPD

15:16: Skill-building versus narrative work in therapy

22:10: What DBT looks like in practice

27:02: DBT skills: mindfulness, dialectic thinking, and opposite action

33:43: How to shift self-hatred

49:22: Stigmatization of BPD

53:25: BPD versus CPTSD

58:52: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toxic Relationships: Why We Stay and How to Leave Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Rick and Forrest explore toxic relationships, focusing on how to identify and exit them. Rick talks about how positive traits like empathy, loyalty, and a sense of duty can keep us stuck. They then discuss common relationship red flags like lovebombing, cycles of idealization and devaluation, power imbalances, and what Forrest calls “the fuzz.” Finally, they talk about how people can increase their chances of a healthy exit. Other topics include developing self-trust, trauma-bonding, shame, and avoiding the cycle of “maybe next time they’ll…”

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

3:05: Why do good people stay in bad relationships?

10:02: Relationship red flags: the dark triad, devaluation, lovebombing, and the fuzz

24:17: How this shows up in Dr. Rick’s practice

39:48: How to get out: building self-trust, increasing your options, and duty to yourself

1:12:33: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Becky on Becoming the Person (and Parent) You Needed Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Becky Kennedy joins Forrest for a conversation about building better relationships, with ourselves, our partners, and our children. They talk about Dr. Becky’s framework of “good inside,” and how we can apply it to ourselves. Dr. Becky explains how many of the struggles parents face trace back to their own childhood experiences, and suggests how we can reparent ourselves by learning emotional regulation, working with shame, and becoming sturdier. They also cover the limits of behavioral control models, deeply feeling kids, maintaining boundaries when things get hard, and building connection capital.

About our Guest: Dr. Becky is a clinical psychologist, founder of Good Inside, and author of the book by the same name. She has over 4 million social media followers, and is one of the most influential people in the world of parenting today.

Key Topics:

0:00: Intro

1:51: Self-development and individual agency in parenting

7:37: Dr. Becky’s process for addressing problematic behaviors

12:48: Parenting as an opportunity for personal growth

16:26: Becoming “sturdy”

19:13: Two jobs of a parent: boundaries and empathy

28:29: Reparenting ourselves

38:40: Shame and deeply feeling kids

44:39: Building connection capital

50:06: Resilience over happiness

57:28: Does parenting content increase parental anxiety?

1:02:30: How to grow as a parent without shame or self-blame

1:07:06: Repair in relationships

1:13:27: Gentle parenting vs sturdy parenting

1:18:33: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dealing with Guilt Trips, Boundaries, and Non-Monogamy: November Mailbag Nov 17, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Rick and Forrest open up the mailbag to answer listener questions about effective communication, healthy relationships, and contentment. They explore how defining boundaries, taking maximum reasonable responsibility, and extending an olive branch can help manage ongoing conflict without sacrificing your own needs. They then discuss the power dynamics, ethics, and practicalities of non-monogamy, emphasizing the importance of fairly balancing the rights and needs of everyone involved. Finally, they explore how to cultivate the habit of contentment, even amidst imperfect circumstances.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

3:36: Question 1: “We had an argument and now they’re being mean to me!”

14:18: Question 2: “I set a boundary, and they’re being really passive aggressive”

27:32: Question 3: “My partner wants a non-monogamous relationship. What now?”

48:14: Question 4: “I can’t find contentment anywhere, help!”

1:03:51: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to Quince.com/BEINGWELL for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to myskylight.com/BEINGWELL.

Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Be Yourself: Authenticity in Relationships with Elizabeth Ferreira Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

In this very fun episode,Forrest and Elizabeth discuss how to get on the same team in a relationship. They explore how conditions of worth, masking, and developmental trauma can get in the way of showing up authentically, and how falling into common relationship roles can reinforce this. Elizabeth talks about how healthy anger can actually be a productive force in a relationship, and how relationships change when both members start prioritizing the other’s wants and needs. Other topics include “dating yourself,” embracing the slightly weirder version of who you are, and celebrating self-exploration.

Key Topics:

1:48: Getting on the same team

3:34: “Conditions of worth,” and authenticity

16:13: Vulnerability in relationships

25:38: Wielding anger effectively

38:05: Fairness, and honoring your partner’s needs

42:49: Dating yourself

47:35: Celebrating self exploration

53:57: Changing our relationship with our parts

01:04:30: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Listen to ⁠Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health⁠ wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Level up your bedding with Quince. Go to ⁠Quince.com/BEINGWELL⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

If you are exploring whether you might be neurodivergent, check out ⁠Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson.⁠

Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Skylight Frame by going to ⁠myskylight.com/BEINGWELL⁠.

Go to ⁠Zocdoc.com/BEING⁠ to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at ⁠shopify.com/beingwell⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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