PODCAST · health
The SelfWork Podcast
by Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
I'm Dr. Margaret, a psychologist for over 30 years, TEDx speaker, and the author of Perfectly Hidden Depression. I created The SelfWork Podcast in 2016 to explain mental health treatment and to give you the chance to consider therapy without thinking it's weird or that it somehow suggests you can't fix your own problems. My team is very honored that nine years later, SelfWork has earned nearly 5 million downloads! Each episode features the popular listener question as well as interviews with outstanding guests, authors, and experts, adding to the wide diversity of topics listeners so appreciate. Regularly rated as one of the top mental health/depression podcasts out there (ranked as a top .5% internationally) I keep it short, casual, and focused on "what you can do about it." I'd love to hear from you. Please join me.
Episodes
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520 SelfWork: The Exhilarating Messiness of Grief
Today’s episode of SelfWork was suggested by the last episode of Ted Lasso, in which Rebecca talked about grief and the messy feelings it can bring with it. Rebecca tells Ted, "We laugh, we hurt, we fall, we get back up. We're a mess. And that is… fantastic. Because being messy just means being...
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519 SelfWork: Daring to Face the Fear of Public Speaking (And Other Anxieties)
Dr. Margaret and her TEDx speech coach, Brian Miller, talk about challenging the fear of public speaking and the importance of human connection. "Go out and make a dent in the universe." These are the words I heard from Brian Miller, three years ago, weeks before I was to give my TEDxBocaRaton…
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518 SelfWork: How To Use Your Innate Intuition to Heal and Grow
Today we're talking with two experts on tuning into your own intuition. Sarah Gregg is a psychologist and a published author with over 90,000 copies of her books sold. And Jill Ritchie is a highly sought after intuitive coach who's worked with Olympians, celebrities, and high achieving...
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517 SelfWork: Challenging Your Fear and The Underlying Assumptions That Keep It Alive
There’s a word for intense fear of change. Metathesiophobia. That’s when your fear of change is so strong and affects your life so intensely that you’ve developed an actual phobia around change. If that has become the case, then you’d avoid any change in your life as much as possible and stay in…
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516 SelfWork: Panicked About Panic: 5 Surefire Ways to Calm Your Nervous System
Having a panic disorder is bad enough. You may be able to anticipate it happening; for example, if you tend to panic when you see a spider or a snake. But other times, panic attacks – the sudden onset of intense symptoms of anxiety, such as trouble breathing, your heart racing, feelings of…
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515 SelfWork: Enhance Your Skills: Listening Someone Into Existence with Doug Noll
Today we'll focus on how to listen to someone so that they feel truly understood and seen. And it may not be a kind of listening that you know about. It's a method called "affect labeling" - meaning labeling the emotions of the person you're listening to. And our expert today is Doug Noll, who...
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514 SelfWork: Three Essential Questions to Identify Your Role Model
Today I'm focusing on three role models in my own life and the questions you can ask to help you identify your own. Who are they? Dolly Parton. Maya Angelou. And a woman named "Snooky." How does someone become a role model for you? Someone in your life may know that you look up to them, that you...
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513 SelfWork: Inside A Psych Ward: A New Book by JaKob Williams, Chock Full of Nuts
You may never have been on the inside of a psych ward. In his new book, JaKob Williams takes you there. Or at least, he takes you to his version of a residential psych ward. He's an interesting guy. Brilliant. Sarcastic. Successful. Driven. Creative. Funny. And he has bipolar disorder, which...
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512 SelfWork: CBT for Insomnia and Its 100% Effective Cure: Dr. Nick Wignall
Dr. Nick Wignall continues as Dr. Margaret's guest this week, as we switch from focusing on emotional fitness to the 100% effective CBT tool for curing insomnia, called sleep compression. It's hard to believe that in ten years of doing SelfWork, I don't remember an episode where we were focusing…
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511 SelfWork: Emotional Fitness and Being The Hero Of Your Own Life: Dr. Nick Wignall
Dr. Nick Wignall speaks about the vital importance of emotional fitness and becoming the hero of your life. This whole concept is intriguing and suggests that finding and maintaining your own sense of agency - of having some sense of and belief in your ability to have an impact on your life....
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510 SelfWork: Ted Lasso, The Pandemic and The Power of Secrets
This week – in fact to be punctual about it – on August 5th, 2026 – the first episode of the new Ted Lasso season will be released. Today, we're going to focus on the meaning of so many of Ted Lasso characters having secrets that they're keeping.... and the freedom they discover in the telling of...
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509 SelfWork: EMDR Therapy: How It Can Help Fill Emptiness and Release Grief with Dr. Laurel Parnell
EMDR Therapy is known for its treatment of trauma. Dr. Laurel Parnell teaches and demonstrates how it can be healing for emptiness and grief - when relationships were never loving and for when they're gone. Order The Perfectly Hidden Depression Workbook - A stand-alone workbook exploring the ten...
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508 SelfWork: The Eye-Opening Grief of Disillusionment and Heartbreak
Disillusionment is defined in psychology as a "belief collapse." And the grief that that implosion can cause can be very hard to work through. Today's focus will be on how to do just that - get through disillusionment. What is disillusionment? Disillusionment happens when something you desire or...
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507 SelfWork: How to Effectively Talk To A Perfectionist
The subject for today is how to talk with a perfectionist about your concern for them. Or if you’re the perfectionist, how to allow someone into your world enough for you to hear that concern. I'll offer five definite approaches that work and you'll learn about the feedback loop that makes...
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506 SelfWork: Therapy Harm: Straight Talk with Dr. Patricia Dixon
Therapy harm is the topic this week, as Dr. Margaret welcomes her guest Dr. Patricia Dixon to SelfWork. What is therapy harm? We talk more openly than ever about the benefits of therapy, but less about the ways therapy can unintentionally cause harm. And harm does happen far too often with...
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505 SelfWork: What's The Most Recent News For Depression Sufferers in 2026?
What's the most recent news for depression sufferers in 2026? That's the question Dr. Margaret researched today. Some new treatments are available now; some are still trying to get FDA approval. But there's a lot of promise out there, especially for what's termed treatment-resistant depression....
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504 SelfWork: Your Questions and Answers: Is Anorexia Back "In", Borderline Moms, and Mother/Son Enmeshment
Dr. Margaret will focus today on questions and answers that listeners have sent her by either voicemail or email. First topic for today: Is anorexia back "in" as beautiful? Second: Why could you be allowing your mom (with borderline traits) to occupy such emotional space in your life? And third…
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503 SelfWork: Important Insights Into How to Interpret the Enneagram with Courtney Smith
Discover how to interpret the Enneagram in this episode of SelfWork! It's a personality test that's been around for decades. How is it different from other personality scales and what has made it so popular for so many years? Our expert speaker is Courtney Smith, who's a coach, group facilitator,...
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502 SelfWork: The Medical and Mental Trauma of Chronic Invisible Illness with Amy Kurtz
In this SelfWork episode, Dr. Margaret interviews an expert on medical and mental trauma of chronic illness - Amy Kurtz. 194 million Americans–more than 76 percent of the population–are living with chronic illness. Many eventually stabilize, but what happens when the body heals and you still…
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Introducing How To!: “How To Take Psychedelics for Your Mental Health with Dr. Will Van Derveer”
This week we’re sharing a special episode from our friends at How To!, the 2026 Ambie Award-nominated “Best Personal Growth Podcast” that’s back with a new host and new topics to fuel your curiosity. Each week on How To!, award-winning journalist Mike Pesca tackles a listener’s question – on…
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501 SelfWork: Cultural Humility: What It Takes To Walk in Someone Else's Shoes
Dr. Margaret focuses today on the vital importance of what’s termed “cultural humility” as she responds to a listener voicemail, pointing out that as she’s a white person, her advice comes from a place of privilege in the US. Do you have to have walked in someone else’s shoes, carried the same…
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500 SelfWork: Paul Gilmartin On Healing from Maternal Sexual Abuse
It’s a little hard to describe Paul Gilmartin. He's worked as a stand-up comic. He makes furniture. And he's a maternal abuse survivor. To add to that, he was one of the first hosts of the TBS show Dinner and A Movie. In fact, he hosted that show for years – and people still recognize him when…
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499 SelfWork: Emotional Martyrdom: It's Different Than Self-Sacrifice
Emotional martyrdom. What is it? And where does it come from? That's today's SelfWork episode. Recently, I got a comment on the questionnaire blogpost on perfectly hidden depression - from a woman whose every word convinced me that there are too many people in the world who believe it's their job...
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498 SelfWork: Plastic Surgery: Understanding Its Psychological Side with Dr. Rady Rahban
Today we're focusing on the psychological side of plastic surgery. This interview with renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Rady Rahban answers all your questions about the psychological side of choosing both reconstructive and plastic surgery. Understanding the motivations and emotional impacts of such...
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497 SelfWork: What's The Current Controversy Over What "Licensed Mental Health Professional" Means
Today we’ll focus on what it means to be a licensed mental health professional. How are coaches and influencers different from licensed mental health professionals? And how has the rise of therapists themselves online affected the social media culture, while unlicensed influencers are offering...
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496 SelfWork: Restorative Justice: Marlee Liss on Rape and Her Path to Healing
(Note: We are focusing on sexual assault in this episode of SelfWork. If you have a history of sexual assault, please listen with care.) Today we're going to introduce you to the concept of restorative justice. Our guest today is Marlee Liss. You may not have heard of her, unless you closely…
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495 SelfWork: Grit: What It Takes to Fight Chronic Mental Illness
Grit. What is it? How do you develop it? And how is it important for battling mental illness? And what role does it play in both outer success and inner victory? These are the questions we're going to answer today on SelfWork. Here's leading author Angela Duckworth 's definition of grit…
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494 SelfWork: Masterclass: Befriending Your Inner Critic with Dr. Tara Cousineau
In this episode, Dr. Margaret talks with Dr. Tara Cousineau about perfectionism and "befriending your inner critic." My guest today, Dr. Tara Cousineau, is an expert on perfectionism's treatment. She's a clinical psychologist, as well as a yogi and mom. And she's a staff psychologist at Harvard's...
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493 SelfWork: Self-Love Empowers You and Leads to Self-Agency
Today we're focusing on finding emotional stability and calm through self-love. Not narcissism – not grandiosity or some kind of over-the-top shouting to the world how great you are. But what exactly self-love is and what it can lead to is our focus. That's self-agency - the ability to act and to...
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492 SelfWork: Revisiting Perfectly Hidden Depression
In this episode, Dr. Margaret gives her best advice about enmeshment, Anne Burrell’s suicide, and perfectly hidden depression to those that have reached out to her in the past few months. This episode is kind of a grab bag; one comment from a woman who loved Anne Burrell (as a response to a piece…
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491 SelfWork: Friendships: How To Create and Keep Solid Connections
Friendships are vital for your sense of well-being. When you know that you have people that you can count on to be there for you when you need them, who you feel solidly connected to. that knowledge can offer a kind of grounding that's unshakeable. Dr. Margaret invites Marisa Franco to SelfWork…
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490 SelfWork: How To Choose A Great Career and When To Change It
Choosing a career is one thing. However, knowing if it's the right choice for you or if you need to consider other alternatives? That can be more difficult. In this enlightening episode, Dr. Margaret speaks with Ashley Stahl, the author of the best-selling book, You Turn: Get Unstuck, Discover…
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489 SelfWork: When Suicide Is A Brutal Shock
Note: In this episode, Dr. Margaret talks with Penny Gray, who lost her husband to suicide. Please read/listen carefully. Here are international numbers of suicide hotlines. Suicide is hard for all, and horrific for others. Why? Because someone they loved died by suicide, and they were absolutely...
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488 SelfWork: Bipolar Disorder: Terri Cheney Tells The Raw Truth
Bipolar disorder can be very difficult to diagnose. But that pales in comparison to what it can be like to live with and manage. This week, Dr. Margaret Rutherford is republishing her interview with Terri Cheney who writes about her own battle with bipolar disorder. Sometimes she's won that…
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487 SelfWork: Hope For Autism: A Conversation with Dr. Theresa Lyons
Autism is a diagnosis that's feared by parents whose beloved child's development seems off. Dr. Theresa Lyons, a scientist and autism parent and expert, has lived this life. She and Dr. Margaret discuss what it was like, how she coped, and the professional and personal advice she has to offer.…
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486 SelfWork: The Paralyzing Consequences of Self-Blame
Self-blame - when it happens way too much - can be paralyzing. Five paralyzing consequences of self-blame... You were blamed as a child so it's become part of your own punishing self-critic which can lead to self-sabotage. You were manipulated or are being abused and you take the blame to "keep…
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485 SelfWork: How to Get Bad People Out of Your Life
The Bad People Bible is a definitive guide to removing toxic people from your life. Written by celebrity and renowned clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Peter J. Favaro, “Bad People Bible” combines real-life stories, psychological insights, and actionable strategies to help people recognize...
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484 SelfWork: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: One Man's Transformational Journey
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is being actively researched by mental health researchers for its efficacy. And where it's legal, it's reported to be highly effective in treating depression and suicide prevention. Suicide rates within our veteran and first responder communities are incredibly high,...
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483 SelfWork: Flashbacks and Nightmares: Healing Fear and Finding Peace
Flashbacks and nightmares are primary symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as well as CPTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) – and they’re extremely frightening to have. Nightmares and flashbacks occur in different states of consciousness. Flashbacks happen when you’re awake...
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482 SelfWork: The Messiness of Marriage
Messy marriages are all over the place – and living through them and maybe grieving them can at times be extremely complicated. In today’s SelfWork episode, whether you’re grieving the death of someone with whom you had a complex and even hurtful relationship or whether that relationship still...
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481 SelfWork: What's Anticipatory Grieving and How Does It Help?
Today we're exploring what's termed "anticipatory grieving." When you know something is going to happen that will bring its own kind of grief… whether it’s a loved one being diagnosed with a terminal illness, an unwanted divorce being filed, learning that a child will struggle with a learning...
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480 SelfWork: Why Am I So Self-Critical?
Self-criticism can take on a life of its own. And become so constant that you have to fight it on a daily or even hourly basis. So today we’re going to focus on what may be keeping your self-criticism alive and well in ways that you don't realize. There are two steps we’ll cover. The first is...
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479 SelfWork: Are You Being Judgmental? Two Mental Mistakes That Take You There
Are you being judgmental? Many of us would quickly say "no" to that question. But how many people do you know one thing about – and one thing only – and you categorize them as “bad” or “good”, "weak" or "strong," "smart" or "not the brightest bulb." It doesn’t take long for us to form an opinion....
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478 SelfWork: The Mind Games of Sociopathy
How do you know if someone with sociopathic traits is playing with your mind? Today on SelfWork we’re going to talk about just that. The term cognitive dissonance has been around for quite a long time. What it’s describing is when you do something or say something that you believe to be wrong or...
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477 SelfWork: Disappointments, Expectations, and Blind Spots
Disappointment. It’s a feeling in between hurt and shock. Why? Because you expect one thing – and you receive another. It doesn’t quite shock you - maybe it wasn’t totally unexpected. And it doesn’t crush you – it’s not exactly traumatic. But expectation and disappointment are totally…
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476 SelfWork: Is There A Right Way to Grieve?
Grief is never easy. And it can be made harder by the many things that happen with grief that you’re not prepared for – or believe ‘should’ be happening or ‘shouldn’t’. Dr. Elizabeth Kübler Ross made the observation about terminally ill people that they seemed to go through five stages of grief:...
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475 SelfWork: Nine Ways to Challenge Low Self-Esteem
“Low self-esteem” is one of the symptoms or reflections of classic depression. Of course, it goes along with other symptoms or signs - a negative self-image, feelings of helplessness and/or hopelessness, not enjoying much of anything – which is called anhedonia. But how do you increase…
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474 SelfWork: Healing Through Intuition: A Conversation with Author Laura Day
Have you ever thought that intuition could be used for healing crisis? Laura Day, the New York Times bestselling author is back with a long-awaited, life-altering book to help you learn how to do just that. In her past breakthrough book Practical Intuition, she explained how anyone can train...
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473 SelfWork: Blame, Perfectly Hidden Depression, and Bipolar Disorder
Today we have a grab bag of questions and comments, with the topics being blame, perfectly hidden depression, and bipolar disorder. The first is from a mom who lived through her daughter and yet also didn’t offer safety or a sense of security – even with the basic things. This listener is now…
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472 SelfWork: What To Do After You've Lost Your Shit
Anger has a place. It’s an important emotion to feel and know how to handle. It lets you know a boundary and maybe a very important boundary, value, or expectation has been ignored or crossed or threatened in a very real way. But it’s a skill then to think through what you’re going to do with…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
I'm Dr. Margaret, a psychologist for over 30 years, TEDx speaker, and the author of Perfectly Hidden Depression. I created The SelfWork Podcast in 2016 to explain mental health treatment and to give you the chance to consider therapy without thinking it's weird or that it somehow suggests you can't fix your own problems. My team is very honored that nine years later, SelfWork has earned nearly 5 million downloads! Each episode features the popular listener question as well as interviews with outstanding guests, authors, and experts, adding to the wide diversity of topics listeners so appreciate. Regularly rated as one of the top mental health/depression podcasts out there (ranked as a top .5% internationally) I keep it short, casual, and focused on "what you can do about it." I'd love to hear from you. Please join me.
HOSTED BY
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The SelfWork Podcast have?
The SelfWork Podcast currently has 570 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The SelfWork Podcast about?
I'm Dr. Margaret, a psychologist for over 30 years, TEDx speaker, and the author of Perfectly Hidden Depression. I created The SelfWork Podcast in 2016 to explain mental health treatment and to give you the chance to consider therapy without thinking it's weird or that it somehow suggests you can't...
How often does The SelfWork Podcast release new episodes?
The SelfWork Podcast releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 570 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to The SelfWork Podcast?
You can listen to The SelfWork Podcast 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 The SelfWork Podcast?
The SelfWork Podcast is created and hosted by Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD.
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