Episode 1: What Are We Doing?
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Welcome to Shrinking America…this time, for real. This episode, recorded in January before any of our other content, dives into a conversation about what got us going on a podcast, who we are as individuals, friends, psychiatrists and as Americans, and demonstrates a bit of how conversation flows so often in long-term therapy. The distillation? Kyle captures it with “seeking to understand what is happening in our country in this moment through a biopsychosocial and dare I say philosophical lens.”
Deeper Learning Points
* 🧰 Defenses: Intellectualization [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559106/]: “Anna Freud defined these defense mechanisms as ‘unconscious resources used by the ego’ to decrease internal stress.” Basically, they’re things our brain does fairly automatically to help us cope with life.
* The speed of modern life [https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/evolution-in-daily-life/202202/is-there-a-natural-pace-of-living-for-human-beings] and how this is all probably too much
* 🧰 Erikson Stages [https://www.simplypsychology.org/erik-erikson.html] are a useful construct for understanding different phases of life and what we seek to accomplish, in the world and internally, in each era
* The Savior Complex [https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-power-of-parallels/202501/understanding-the-savior-complex] is what it sounds like…a tendency, to varying degrees, to help or try to save others, sometimes too much, often because you get something from it too
* Vulnerability
* The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown [https://riverside.com/editor/8b19580f-7cb8-45fb-aad1-b236517d392a/amazon.com]
* Creativity: The process of creating and of appreciating the creations of others are both deeply human and deeply therapeutic. We didn’t discuss it beforehand, but ending our episode with a poem felt like a spontaneous moment of feeling into the power of art to define the human experience.
* Ranier Maria Rilke, “Live the questions now” [https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/06/01/rilke-on-questions/]
* “Big 5” [https://bigfive-test.com/#google_vignette] : We talked about the Introvert/Extrovert divide that makes up part of the "five-factor model" of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. If you don't know where you fall on these scales, taking an online test can be a fun way to get to know yourself a bit better.
* Quiet by Susan Cain [https://susancain.net/book/quiet/]
* Brian Little and personality [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/robert-sawyer-kateri-akiwenzie-damm-summer-mystery-picks-1.3634162/brian-little-on-introverts-and-extroverts-1.3634170]
* Culture and Introversion: Country by country, even state by state [https://worldpopulationreview.com/newsletter/intro-or-extroverted-how-nations-stack-up], this differs
* The Enneagram [https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions/] is another one of many tools for personality exploration (just like the “Big 5”). These tools certainly aren’t the only way to understand ourselves (if you prefer astrology, that’s alright too); but they can provide a useful jumping off point for introspection.
* Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow" [https://riverside.com/editor/8b19580f-7cb8-45fb-aad1-b236517d392a/amazon.com]
* 🧰 Rupture and repair is a core theme in human development and long-term therapy; this quote [https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(24)00122-9/abstract] captures the concept nicely: “Rupture and repair are key ingredients to connection. When ruptures in relationships occur, which they will, it is important to revisit the situation to work on restoring safety, regulation, attunement, and understanding. Through engaging in this process and providing consistent secure base and safe haven supports, conflicts have the opportunity to heal.”
