Thinking About Thinking with Dr. Kerry Horrell

Send us Fan MailFeeling overwhelmed, reactive, or stuck in cycles that don’t make sense? We sit down with Dr. Kerry Horrell, staff psychologist  of the Compass Program for Young Adults at the The Menninger Clinic to map a clearer path: learn how to “mentalize” in everyday life, reduce shame, and rebuild trust in your own mind. Carrie breaks down the neuroscience of big emotions—why your survival brain can hijack thinking—and shows how simple practices during calmer moments help you keep access to choice when it counts.We dig into the difference between logic and experience. If a fear response was learned in your body, new experiences reshape it. Kerry explains how exposure, done safely and gradually, provides the fresh data your nervous system needs to update its predictions. Along the way, we explore why many therapies work for the same reason: the human bond. Research on common factors shows alliance, empathy, and collaboration drive most of the change, while techniques amplify what trust has already made possible.The conversation widens into meaning and spirituality, not as doctrine but as direction. When life becomes a checklist of symptom control, hope shrinks. Asking Why stay? What do I live for? reconnects us to what’s sacred—love, belonging, creativity, nature—and gives pain a purpose to lean against. We discuss practicing self-compassion, and thinking about thinking can turn reactivity into reflection and isolation into connection. By the end, you’ll have a grounded way to understand your mind, tools to calm your body, and questions that help you build a life that feels like your own.If this resonates, follow the show, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help others find these conversations. Your reflections and questions keep this community growing.