Aging Playfully: How to Make Peace With Uncomfortable Experiences w/ Dr. Susan Campbell

If there's anything our culture likes to collectively ignore, resist and hide, it's aging. And yet, aging happens to every single one of us - whether it's aging parents, aging partners or aging selves, we all have an experience with it.  With age comes the opportunity for nourishment and deeper learning, but aging also comes with some unpleasant emotions and experiences.  Cognitive and physical decline and even loss are all parts of the process of getting older. How do we learn to treat these things as a learning adventure? How do we deal with loved ones becoming shadows of their former selves?  Instead of resisting the things that come with aging, embracing them makes life richer. The skill of learning to be with unpleasant experiences and emotions is one we can learn at any point in our lives, and it certainly comes in handy when we're getting older.  How do we build this skill? What are the gifts of aging? In this episode, we're joined by couples therapist, relationship coach, author, speaker, college professor, trainer, and founding teacher of the Getting Real work, Dr. Susan Campbell. She shares how we can be more prepared for unwanted changes and why that can be an enriching experience.    Things You'll Learn In This Episode  -Use everything that happens for learning When it comes to aging, most people want to resist or ignore what happens. Why do we need to allow what is to be there? -The loop of awareness Unpleasant interactions don't just throw you out of connection with your loved one, they also affect your connection with yourself. How do you find yourself again? -Embrace, don't erase How do we approach the aging population? How do we avoid making assumptions about their reality? Guest Bio Dr. Susan Campbell is a couples therapist, relationship coach, author, speaker, workshop leader, trainer, college professor, certified Radical Honesty trainer, and founding teacher of the Getting Real work. The Getting Real work is a body of communication and awareness practices that foster personal healing and social evolution. She has written eleven books on relationships, including several best-sellers. A faculty member at the San Francisco Gestalt Institute and an Adjunct Faculty at Saybrook Graduate School, Susan trains coaches and therapists throughout the U.S and Europe to integrate the tools in this book into their professional practices. In her own practice, she works with singles, couples, co-workers, and work teams helping them communicate respectfully and responsibly when conflicts arise. Dr. Susan's latest book, "From Triggered to Tranquil" provides tools for navigating emotional reactivity in all types of interpersonal relationships, organized around five steps to "trigger mastery."  Visit https://susancampbell.com/ to learn more and get the new book here.    About Your Hosts Katie Hendricks, Ph.D., BC-DMT, is a pioneer in body intelligence and conscious loving with over 40 years of experience. Known internationally as a presenter and seminar leader, she focuses on authenticity, responsibility, and appreciation in conscious living. She co-authored 12 books, including best-sellers Conscious Loving and Conscious Loving Ever After and she has appeared on over 500 radio and TV programs. Sophie Chiche is a seasoned coach and consultant who has worked with thousands of individuals and teams globally. With a focus on helping people live fully expressed lives, she guides clients and facilitates group sessions to remove obstacles and design meaningful lives. Sophie has developed unique methods, mindset shifts, and healing modalities to create lasting change. Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm so the show reaches more people!