What Healthy Couples DONT Do with Dr. Amy Morin

Published: Dec. 4, 2023, 11 a.m.

Just as we can exercise our arms or legs to build physical strength, we can exercise our brains like we do any other muscle. Therapist Amy Morin joins Forrest to help us learn how to regulate our thoughts, manage our emotions, and become more psychologically flexible. These key skills are particularly important for building a healthy relationship. Forrest and Amy explore how couples can work together to identify their issues, deal with effort imbalances, and avoid common mistakes (like having, get this, not enough conflict).\xa0\nAbout our Guest: Amy Morin is a licensed clinical social worker, bestselling author, and the host of the Mentally Stronger podcast.Her most recent book is 13 Things Mentally Strong Couples Don't Do, out on December 26th.\nYou can watch this episode on YouTube.\nKey Topics:\n0:00: Introduction\n1:35: Amy\u2019s personal background, and how she got to the idea of mental strengths\n7:30: Self-compassion vs. self-pity\n11:05: Not giving away your power\n14:50: Diagnosing root problems in relationships\n18:25: When one frustration brings up all your other frustrations\n22:25: The inevitability of conflict, and the vulnerability in expressing remorse\n27:35: Setting the ground rules for a therapeutic conversation\n31:05: When it feels like your partner isn\u2019t invested in making changes\n34:50: Learning to deconstruct reactive thoughts and misguided perceptions\n38:30: Taking your thoughts with a grain of salt, and asking \u2018what else might be true?\u2019\n41:20: Scorekeeping vs. negotiating, and finding ways to meet our own needs\n45:40: Giving our partner what we actually want for ourselves\n49:00: Balancing desires for closeness and distance\n51:15: Not being a martyr or \u2018controlling through giving\u2019\n55:30: Boundaries between partners, and how our backgrounds influence our preferences\n1:00:35: Developing psychological flexibility\n1:03:40: Recap\nSupport the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.\nSponsors:\nStart speaking a new language in just 3 weeks with Babbel! Get 55% off at Babbel.com/BEING.\nZocdoc helps you find expert doctors and medical professionals that specialize in the care you need, and deliver the type of experience you want. Head to zocdoc.com/being and download the Zocdoc app for FREE.\nJoin over a million people using BetterHelp, the world\u2019s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!\nWant to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.\nConnect with the show:\n\nSubscribe on iTunes\n\nFollow Forrest on YouTube\n\nFollow us on Instagram\n\nFollow Forrest on Instagram\n\nFollow Rick on Facebook\n\nFollow Forrest on Facebook\n\nVisit Forrest's website