PODCAST · health
Talking Your Way to Change
by Xan Banker , Psy.D., L.P
Providing educational information about mental health and psychological strategies that can improve your mood, relationships, and community.
Episodes
-
#93 Am I Working on the Right Thing? When Communication Problems Are About More Than Communication
Communication Problems—or Something Deeper? Is a relationship problem really a communication problem? In this solo episode, psychologist Xan Banker, Psy.D., L.P., explores why conflict often involves more than finding the right words. Defensiveness, shame, emotional regulation, attachment...
-
#91 How to Choose One Small Practice That Actually Changes Your Life
Choosing What to Work On in Therapy: Character Strengths, Resilience, and Well-Being This solo episode helps you sort through what to focus on in therapy or personal growth by introducing three practical frameworks: character strengths, resilience, and well-being. Xan explains how each one can...
-
#90 Why One Mistake Can Become Your Identity
When a Setback Becomes an Identity: The Feared Self, Beliefs, and the Stories We CarryThis episode looks at why insight alone often does not change behavior, even when someone knows exactly what they “should” do. Dr. Banker explains how setbacks can get folded into identity, how schemas shape the...
-
#89 The Stories You Tell Yourself Are Not Facts
This solo guided reflection invites listeners to step back from rigid self-definitions and consider who they are becoming. You are not stuck with the story you’ve been telling yourself. This short guided reflection helps you loosen old labels, question the beliefs that have been running your…
more -
#88 Motivation and the Self: Who We Think We Are Shapes What We Do
This is the 4th Episode in a Self Series: Motivation and the Self: How Who I Am Influences What I DoEpisode #1: Answering the Question Who am I? What is Your Self-Concept Episode #2: The Self-Concept is Dynamic Episode #3: The Secret to Psychological Freedom: Strengthening the Part of You That...
-
#87 The Secret to Psychological Freedom: Strengthening the Part of You That Knows
In this episode of Talking Your Way to Change, Dr. Xan Banker dives deep into the fascinating nature of self-awareness, emphasizing how our ability to observe and reflect on ourselves is uniquely human and vital for growth and resilience. If you've ever wondered how we develop a sense of self, or...
-
#86 The Self Doesn't Just Describe Who You Are—It Shapes How You Experience the World
This episode explores how the self is more than static qualities; it is an active, ever-changing psychological system. By unraveling the layers of self-concept, self-processes, and the different versions of ourselves, we gain tools for healthier self-management and deeper self-awareness—crucial…
more -
#85 Who Are You? Exploring the Layers of Self-Identity
This episode explores the concept of self-identity, how it shapes our lives, and how understanding our self-concept can lead to greater resilience and self-awareness. Dr. Xan Banker guides listeners through reflective exercises and psychological insights to deepen self-understanding. It is the...
-
#84 Why You Struggle to Set Boundaries (Even When You Know Exactly What to Say)
Summary This episode explores the complex nature of boundaries from a psychodynamic and mentalizing perspective, emphasizing internal processes, common mistakes, and practical insights for setting healthy boundaries. Keywords boundaries, mentalization, psychodynamic, self-protection…
more -
#83 Social Anxiety: A Smaller World and a Crowded Mind
In this episode, Dr. Banker breaks down social anxiety beyond stereotypes—exploring what it truly looks like, how it forms, and what healing entails. Whether you struggle with it or want to understand someone who does, you'll come away with clarity about this often-misunderstood condition and...
-
#82 “Where Did My Anxiety Come From… and Does It Even Matter?”
This episode explores the nuanced understanding of anxiety, emphasizing the importance of identifying its root causes—biological, psychological, environmental, relational, and learned patterns—to enhance healing and reduce shame. Listen to hear why your anxiety isn’t just personal failure — it’s...
-
#81 Why Vacations Sometimes Feel Uncomfortable: The Hidden Psychology
This episode explores why vacations sometimes feel psychologically uncomfortable, especially for high-functioning individuals. It delves into the physiological and identity-related aspects of recovery, offering insights into managing stress, detachment, and mastery for better mental...
-
#80 Understanding Burnout: Beyond Fatigue to Nervous System Signatures and Giving Yourself Permission to Make Changes
This episode explores the complex nature of burnout, emphasizing its psychological and systemic roots, nervous system signatures, and practical recovery strategies. Hosted by Dr. Xan Banker, a licensed psychologist, it offers insights into understanding and healing burnout beyond conventional...
-
#79 Understanding Burnout: Navigating the Therapist-Client Dynamic
In this episode, Dr. Banker provides examples of the dynamics of burnout and illustrates hypothetical psychotherapy exchanged that illustrate the client, overwhelmed and emotionally drained, etc. This candid admission captures the essence of burnout, where even the simplest tasks become…
more -
#78 Mental Health Coping Strategy: Dissociation and What it Really Means
In this conversation, Dr. Banker explores the complex nature of disassociation, its relationship with trauma, and the role of the nervous system in emotional regulation. She emphasizes that disassociation is not a pathology but a protective mechanism that individuals develop in response to...
-
#49 Understanding Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: Learn How to Manage Destructive Emotions and Self-Sabotaging Behaviors
This episode is an interview with Dr. Groninga, who talks about the evidence based treatment Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, which was developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Marsha M Lineham. DBT helps clients who have intense emotions that often lead to self-harm or sabotaging behavior and...
-
#77 Freeze When the Nervous System Slams on the Brakes
In this episode of 'Talking Your Way to Change', Dr. Xan Banker delves into the complexities of the nervous system's response to threat, focusing on the freeze state. She explains how past experiences can prime the nervous system, leading to heightened responses to present stressors. The…
more -
# 76 The Art of Self Care: Finding Purpose in Everyday Life
This conversation explores the significance of having a purpose in life, the importance of grounding and soothing practices for emotional regulation, and the concept of savoring as a means to enhance well-being. The speaker discusses various self-care strategies that support mental health and...
-
#75 Guided Meditation: Unlocking Your Inner Stability: A Journey Through Root Chakra Healing
In this guided meditation session, listeners are led through a grounding exercise focused on the root chakra. The session begins with instructions on finding a comfortable position and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a straight spine to facilitate energy flow. As participants engage in...
-
#73 Unlocking Emotional Wellness: How the Chakra System Enhances Psychotherapy
In this episode, Dr. Zan Banker explores the chakra system as a framework for enhancing psychotherapy. She discusses how the chakra system can help understand emotional themes, developmental tasks, and relational patterns. The conversation emphasizes the importance of attentional energy and…
more -
#72 What is Survivor Guilt: The War Within
In this episode I talk about survivor guilt, which is a particular kind of guilt that develops in people who have survived a life-threatening situation when others have not survived. Or It can be guilt about what they did or did not do during the traumatic event and how this might have…
more -
# 71 Should I Give Up My Guilt or Bare It?
Understanding the type of guilt you are experiencing can inform you of whether or not to bare the guilt and move through the mourning process. If your guilt is not justified it can be helpful to identify this as neurotic guilt and realize it's self-serving nature and the unlikelihood of it…
more -
#70 Clear Clutter with the One Minute Rule and Nix the Multi-tasking
If a task takes you 60 seconds or less do it the moment and work your way to less clutter. Gopher, D., Armony, L. & Greenspan, Y. (2000). Switching tasks and attention policies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 129, 308-229. Mayr, U. & Kliegl, R. (2000). Task-set switching and…
more -
Example of Complexity Trauma from song "I Hate Christmas (by CHXRL)."."
Discussing how lyrics match up with complex trauma disorder.
-
# 69 Death by a Thousand Cuts: Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
This episode is an expansion of a previous episode How to Choose a Therapist. In this episode, I discuss the 4th Wave of Psychotherapy Neuroscience and Trauma Informed Psychotherapy. I include definitions of trauma and examples of trauma informed therapy modalities. Highlighted in this episode is...
-
#68 Daily Positive Affirmations and the Psychology of Why They Work
Affirming yourself can be done in many ways, using positive affirmation whether in writing, speaking, or listening to them from a recording allows you an opportunity to replace those negative thoughts. The psychology theory underpinning how affirmations work is called self-affirmation theory....
-
#40 The One-Minute Rule & The Five-Minute Rule
My message today is to use your little bits of leftover time. Those minutes between tasks that we tend to throw away. Gretchen Rubin in the Happiness Project identified the one-minute rule to create order in your life and the 5-minute rule is from CBT used for issues of procrastination.
-
Meditation for letting go of anxiety.
Scripted meditation draft.
-
#67 Breaking Down Resentment to Promote Wellness
Resentment is not a core emotion, it is a complex emotion that often indicates an unmet need. Plutchik, R. The Emotions. New York: Random House. Brene Brown 2021. New York: Random House. Atlas of the heart : mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience. Plutchik proposed a...
-
#66 Meditation for Letting Go of Resentment and Identifying Unmet Needs
This exercise is Part 2 of the series on resentment. It is not about forgiving.
-
#65 Visualization for Overcoming Fear
This guided meditation takes you on a journey to inner most core self. The observing self. When you are connected to this part of yourself you can begin to influence your body. Our observing self is the part of our self that can register what our instinctual self wants to do AND choose to…
more -
#64 Visualization for Surgery
This guided meditation takes you on a journey to inner most core self. The observing self. When you are connected to this part of yourself you can begin to influence your body. Our observing self is the part of our self that can register what our instinctual self wants to do AND choose to…
more -
#63 Self-Sabotage-Psychological Resistance in Psychotherapy
Psychological resistance is often unconscious and blocks our ability to change. It can be baffling, frustrating, and threatens the healing process. However, when used in a therapeutic manner it often leads to new growth and healing. However, it is a common natural part of being human. People who...
-
#62 The Stories We Tell Ourselves Follow the State of Our Nervous System
The story you tell others and yourself about your experiences in life begin with your ANS. It is helpful to practice how you shape your story. Take a minor irritation that you experienced and try telling it from the Safe and Connected State, the Fight or Flight state, and or Dorsal Vagal. You are...
-
#61 PolyVagal Theory in Everyday Life & Strategies that Strengthen our ANS
In this episode I give examples of everyday life events and trauma can trigger the process of neuroception and ANS response. I give some ideas for strategies of how to move from sympathetic into ventral and how to move up the ladder from dorsal state.
-
#60 What is PolyVagal Theory and Why You Should Know? (Dedicated to the people of Ukraine)
Learning about your ANS could change your life.
-
Guided Imagery of Protection and Support
Using Belleruth Naparstek's guided imagery script an exercise for self protection, support, and love....
-
The Body Scan Exercise-A Mindfulness Based Exercise
The body scan can help you remain more connected to yourself and others.
-
Shortened Container Exercise
just shortened it
-
#56 Stories, Myths, and Fairytales: How they can Heal
This episode relates how Joseph Campbell's Hero Journey nd how Dr. Clarissa Estes Women Who Run with Wolves La Loba-The Wolf Woman relates to the self-healing process in therapy. Stories and myths are can give us hope, interpretation, understanding, and wisdom all psychological capacities that…
more -
Guided Visualization Exercise with Music
Guided imagery exercise of creating a safe place to visit with music.
-
Using Guided Imagery Visualization to Create Safe Place in Your Mind
This episode is an introduction to visualization exercises of a safe place as well as a guided demonstration of using one.
-
#54 One Approach to Understanding American Vaccine Refusal: Jungian Archetypes and Our Collective Unconscious
Using psychological concepts and a theoretical form of psychotherapy-(Jungian Therapy) offer an opinion or hypotheses about how we might be influenced by our collective unconscious to make our decisions.
-
#54: Guided Imagery of a Container
Guided imagery is an easy to use multi-sensory relaxation-based practice that utilizes guided affirmations and soothing music to evoke images in the mind that are experienced by the body.
-
#53: Guided Imagery for Stress Reduction & Trauma
https://www.healthjourneys.com/ Strauss, J. L., Calhoun, P. S., & Marx, C. E. (2009). Guided imagery as a therapeutic tool in post-traumatic stress disorder. In P. J. Shiromani, T. M. Keane, & J. E. LeDoux (Eds.), Post-traumatic stress disorder: Basic science and clinical practice (pp. 363–373)....
-
#51: 3 Paths to Consider in Conflict
This episode discusses how we can respond to our partner's reactivity. Is this conflict a story about the other person, yourself, or your communication patterns in the relationship. David Burns The Five Secrets of Effective Communication: the Disarming Technique Terry Real: the Adaptive Child and...
-
#50 Radical Acceptance
Radical Acceptance is about accepting life on life's terms. Radical Acceptance is a practice that has it's roots in Buddhism but most propagated by Marsha Linehan's Dialectical Behavioral Therapy in the world of psychotherapy.
-
#48 Alcohol Addiction: Taking a Deeper Look at Your Alcohol use
My special guest is Dr. Chris Anderson, owner of Innovative Psychological Consultants, an out-patient mental health clinic providing psychological assessment and testing, psychotherapy, and psychiatry in Maple Grove and serving the surrounding areas. Dr. Anderson has been in practice for 25…
more -
#46 Guided Meditation for targeting longings and cravings
This episode defines cravings and discusses treatment approaches. The American Psychological Association defines a craving as an unrelenting desire, urge, or yearning. It is often a criterion for the diagnosis of drug addiction or alcoholism. It includes a recording that was originally created by...
-
#47 AA Alcoholics Anonymous Step One of the 12-Step Program
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Kelly+JF&cauthor_id=32159228 AA’s 12-Step approach follows a set of guidelines designed as “steps” toward recovery, and members can revisit these steps at any time. The 12 Steps are:9 We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Talking Your Way to Change have?
Talking Your Way to Change currently has 75 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Talking Your Way to Change about?
Providing educational information about mental health and psychological strategies that can improve your mood, relationships, and community.
How often does Talking Your Way to Change release new episodes?
Talking Your Way to Change has 75 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Talking Your Way to Change?
You can listen to Talking Your Way to Change on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Talking Your Way to Change?
Talking Your Way to Change is created and hosted by Xan Banker , Psy.D., L.P.
URL copied to clipboard!