The Best of You

Latest Episodes:

Episode 56: Am I Really Supposed to Die to Myself? Misconstrued Messages and How to Disentangle From Them Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

We’re hitting hard today on this question “Am I really supposed to die to myself?” So many have been encouraged to misapply the message of self-denial in ways that are not healthy. So what does the Bible really say about it?

Here’s what we cover:

1. What "deny yourself" really means

2. 3 different types of people

3. A surprising invitation

4. A practical exercise to apply to your own life

5. Your Questions: Healed vs. Saved

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

Other episodes in this series:

Episode 54: Can I Pray My Anxiety Away? A Surprising Approach to the Anxiety Pandemic & How to Walk Yourself & Your Kids Through It

Episode 55: Am I Supposed to Distrust Myself? Why Trusting Yourself is Necessary to Establishing Healthy Relationships With Other People

Youtube Series:

What Does the Bible Really Say

Boundaries for Your Soul

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Music by Andy Luiten

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While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.

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Episode 55: Am I Supposed to Distrust Myself? Why Trusting Yourself is Necessary to Establishing Healthy Relationships With Other People May 25, 2023

Show notes

This week we're talking all about self-trust—how we develop it, and why it's so crucial to the health of our relationships with other people. We also talk about how trusting God is a process that develops in the context of healthy relationships.

Here's what we cover:

1. The surprising foundation for trust

2. The role of attachment

3. 3 relationships that contribute to trust

4. What to do if you are too trusting of others

5. A first step toward building self-trust

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode ⁠here⁠.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ ⁠Leave them here.⁠

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email ⁠here.

Related Episodes:

Episode 54: Can I Pray My Anxiety Away? A Surprising Approach to the Anxiety Pandemic & How to Walk Yourself & Your Kids Through It

Episode 23: Am I wounded or am I sinful?

Episode 51: The 12 Common Thinking Traps, Mind Reading, Mental Filters, and How To Stop Taking Things Personally

Thanks to our sponsors:

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Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Episode 54: Can I Pray My Anxiety Away? A Surprising Approach to the Anxiety Pandemic & How to Walk Yourself & Your Kids Through It May 25, 2023

Show notes

Today’s conversation is pure fire! We're talking all things anxiety with Curtis Chang, author of a brand new book, The Anxiety Opportunity. This is such a fresh take on anxiety, unlike anything you’ve heard at church or in the secular culture. We also touch on the problem of how most of us have been taught to view heaven, and how recasting that vision has everything to do with anxiety.

If you’ve struggled with anxiety or if you have kids who struggle with anxiety, please do not miss this episode. Here’s what we cover:

1. The problem with the “prayer” or “pill” approach to anxiety

2. The anxiety pandemic

3. The most important thing we can do to help our anxious kids

4. Did Jesus experience anxiety?

5. Curtis’s experience with crippling anxiety

6. The surprising discovery he made in therapy

7. Why heaven is not what you think it is & how that changes everything

Pick up your copy of The Anxiety Opportunity here.

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

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Get 35% off your first order of Sundays. Go to SundaysForDogs.com/BESTOFYOU or use code BESTOFYOU at checkout.

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Episode 53: StrengthsFinder—How to Claim Your Strengths, Lean On Others & Thrive at Home and Work May 11, 2023

Show notes

We are talking all about finding our strengths today with my friend, Laura Cootsona, an accomplished coach, consultant, and non-profit executive. She walks us through StrengthsFinder, a tool that helps you identify and lean into your strengths and uncover the strengths of others.

Research shows that leaning into your strengths at work and in life is absolutely life-changing. Here’s what we cover:

1. How to identify strengths to unleash your potential

2. The link between strengths and enjoying your work

3. Understanding the downside of your strong points

4. How to team up with other strengths

5. How to build a strength-based family

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

Other episodes in this series:

Episode 49: Personality, the Big Five Traits, and Why Are We So Obsessed With Personality Types?

Episode 50: 9 Types of Intelligence, the Trap of Comparison, and How to Connect More Authentically with God

Episode 51: The 12 Common Thinking Traps, Mind Reading, Mental Filters, and How To Stop Taking Things Personally

Episode 52: The Enneagram—9 Ways to Uncover the Best (and Worst) of Who You Are, Get Honest With Yourself, & Improve Your Relationships

Thanks to our sponsors:

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BESTOFYOU and get on your way to being your best self.

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

Visit hiyahealth.com/BESTOFYOU and get your kids the full-body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults.

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Episode 52: The Enneagram—9 Ways to Uncover the Best (and Worst) of Who You Are, Get Honest With Yourself, & Improve Your Relationships May 04, 2023

Show notes

What a rich conversation with Enneacast hosts Jesse Eubanks and Lindsey Lewis about the 9 types of the Enneagram! We talk everything from mistyping women to Jesus, Kevin Hart, and the Apostle Paul.

This is a great episode to share with your family, small group, and friends—it's an opportunity for honest conversations about your areas of brilliance. . .and the blind spots we all have.

Here’s what we cover:

1. The 9 different types

2. Your Enneagram number as one part of who you are

3. The Enneagram and narcissism

4. Why celebration is a discipline we all need to practice

5. How to love types that trigger us

6. The difference between comfort and shalom

7. What type was Jesus? Paul? Peter? Tom Brady?

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

Related Episodes:

Episode 49: Personality, the Big Five Traits, and Why Are We So Obsessed With Personality Types?

Episode 50: 9 Types of Intelligence, the Trap of Comparison, and How to Connect More Authentically with God

Episode 51: The 12 Common Thinking Traps, Mind Reading, Mental Filters, and How To Stop Taking Things Personally

Boundaries for Your Soul Series

Thanks to our sponsors:

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

Please visit christianapp.org/mentalhealthtsf to donate today!

Go to fuller.edu/bestofyou to learn more about Fuller’s MS in Marriage and Family Therapy program.

Get 35% off your first order of Sundays. Go to SundaysForDogs.com/BESTOFYOU or use code BESTOFYOU at checkout.

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Episode 51: The 12 Common Thinking Traps, Mind Reading, Mental Filters, and How To Stop Taking Things Personally Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

Do you catastrophize? struggle with taking a compliment? Are you a mind reader? A minimizer? Or do you tend to take things personally? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you do not want to miss today's episode.

We're discussing 12 common thinking traps, what psychologists call cognitive distortions. These are ways of thinking that trip up every single one of us. The messages you tell yourself have a direct impact on the health of your relationships, so this is a great one to share with your family or friends.

Here's what we cover:

1. 12 common thinking traps

2. How to avoid toxic shame spirals

3. The problem with mind reading

4. How to stop taking things personally

5. The trap of emotional reasoning

6. Why we all need to learn how to take a compliment

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

Order Aundi Kolber's new book, Strong Like Water today!

Check out Nuts.com/bestofyou. You’ll receive a free gift and free shipping when you spend $29 or more!

Visit hiyahealth.com/BESTOFYOU and get your kids the full-body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults.

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Episode 50: 9 Types of Intelligence, the Trap of Comparison, and 9 Ways to Connect with God Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

This week we're digging into intelligence. And believe me, it's not what you were taught! If you've struggled with comparing yourself to others, feeling inadequate, or unsure of your unique gifts (and that's pretty much all of us), you don't want to miss this episode!

Here's what we cover:

1. What is intelligence?

2. Why it's different than what you were taught

3. 9 different types of intelligence

4. 2 toxic consequences of comparing ourselves to others

5. 9 ways to connect with God

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

Get 35% off your first order of Sundays. Go to SundaysForDogs.com/BESTOFYOU or use code BESTOFYOU at checkout.

Order Aundi Kolber's new book, Strong Like Water today!

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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

Episode 49: Personality, the Big Five Traits, and Why Are We So Obsessed With Personality Types? Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

This week marks the launch of our brand new series, My Favorite Psychology Tools, and we're kicking things off with a deep dive into the fascinating world of personality types. With so many fads and trends out there, it can be hard to know what's actually backed by research. That's why we're here to separate fact from fiction and give you the inside scoop on what personality really is and what the latest research tells us about it.

Here's what we cover:

1. What is personality and why we're so fascinated with it

2. The benefits and pitfalls in personality tests

3. The 5 most researched personality traits

4. The mysterious H Factor and why it's so important

5. How personality traits show up in the Bible

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Do you have questions for Dr. Alison?⁠ Leave them here.

Want to receive free bonus content? ⁠⁠Sign up for my free weekly email here.

See also Episode 1: What Is Narcissism Really?

Thanks to our sponsors:

Go to ⁠⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ ⁠today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

Order Aundi Kolber's new book, ⁠Strong Like Water⁠ today!

Visit hiyahealth.com/BESTOFYOU and get your kids the full-body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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

Episode 48: Loving Your Body as a Spiritual Practice, Why the Flesh Isn't the Body, and 3 Heresies We Kind of Believe Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Gosh, it can be hard to live in a body, let alone learn to love it. We have so many demands that compete for our attention, not to mention all the mixed up messages we get as women—how in the world are we supposed to honor these bodies God has given us?

In today's episode, we're honoring these long-suffering bodies of ours. Here's what we cover:

1. Why so many of us bypass the body

2. 4 insights from psychology about the body

3. 3 ancient heresies that sneak into our modern thinking

4. The difference between what the Bible calls "flesh" and "body"

5. How to honor your body as part of spiritual practice

6. Why I am learning to dance again (but definitely not in public)

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

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Related episodes:

Episode 11: How to Start Loving Your Body with Christy Joy

Episode 19: My Stroke, A Process of Healing, and How I Began to Write The Best of You

Episode 36: An Update on My Social Media Detox & How to Create Boundaries With Toxic Distractions, Numbing, & Unhealthy Coping Tactics

Episode 45: Strong like Water—Finding the Freedom, Safety, & Compassion to Move through Hard Things & Experience True Flourishing with Aundi Kolber

Episode 46: People Pleasing as Survival, How Jesus Regulated Emotions & the Problem With Toxic Positivity and Spiritual Bypassing with Aundi Kolber

Get 46% off Boundaries for Your Soul & The Best of You.

Thanks to our sponsors:

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ BESTOFYOU and get on your way to being your best self.

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.

Order Aundi Kolber's new book, Strong Like Water today!

Music by Andy Luiten

Sound editing by Kelly Kramarik

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Episode 47: Spiritual Bypassing vs. Embodied Faith & How Not to Harm Those Who Are Hurting, Including Yourself Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

This week on the podcast, we're kicking off a mini 2-episode series on loving our bodies as a spiritual practice. Today, I dig into the problem of over-spiritualizing and how that does harm to ourselves and to others. Here's what we cover:

1. What is spiritual bypassing?

2. Does every problem have a spiritual solution?

3. How we spiritually bypass ourselves

4. How not to be a "friend of Job"

5. The antidote to spiritual bypassing

6. An example of spiritual bypassing from the Bible

Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here.

Related episodes:

Episode 46: People Pleasing as Survival, How Jesus Regulated Emotions & the Problem With Toxic Positivity and Spiritual Bypassing with Aundi Kolber

Want to receive free bonus content? Sign up for my free weekly email

Thanks to our sponsors:

Go to ⁠www.organifi.com/bestofyou⁠ today and use code BESTOFYOU for 20% off your order today.