Show Notes
In this mini replay episode, therapist and bestselling author Whitney Goodman joins Alice for an unflinchingly honest conversation about toxic positivity — what it is, how it shows up, and why so many of us default to forced optimism instead of honest connection. Whitney Goodman, known online as @sitwithwit and the author behind the viral toxic positivity book, breaks down toxic positivity explained in a way that finally feels human. She talks about how social media has turned everyday life into a public performance, why people feel pressure to appear happy even when they’re not, and how positivity becomes harmful when it’s used to deny the full emotional experience. Alice and Whitney walk through the central question: what is toxic positivity, really? Whitney explains why phrases like “just stay positive,” “everything happens for a reason,” or “you’ll learn from this one day” often make people feel worse, not better. They discuss how these responses are usually rooted in fear — fear of uncertainty, fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of sitting with someone else’s pain. The conversation also explores the nuanced difference between toxic positivity vs optimism — and why healthy positivity leaves space for grief, frustration, and disappointment instead of covering them with a motivational bow. Drawing from stories in Whitney’s book, Alice and Whitney discuss how early childhood messages around “not being sensitive,” “not crying,” or “being strong” can lead adults to suppress emotions, over-function, or rely on cheerfulness as a shield. Whitney explains how toxicity and positivity often intertwine when people are taught that expressing negative feelings is dangerous or shameful. You’ll hear Whitney break down the science of emotional suppression — how unprocessed feelings often show up in physical symptoms like sleep issues, irritability, or trouble concentrating. She also shares why some people fear joy, why others numb sadness, and why emotional awareness is a skill, not a personality trait. They also explore the subtle ways people use work, productivity, travel, or “keeping busy” as a socially rewarded form of avoidance, and how to check in with yourself to know if you’re genuinely thriving or simply distracting yourself. This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt guilty for struggling, pressured to be grateful in the middle of something hard, or frustrated by the “good vibes only” culture online. If you’ve ever wondered why forced optimism feels empty — or why suppressing your feelings only makes them louder — this toxic positivity podcast episode will feel grounding, compassionate, and clarifying.
Resources & Links: Visit Whitney’s community Calling Home: callinghome.co Find Whitney on Instagram: @sitwithwit Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sitwithwhit
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@whitneygoodmanlmft
Chapters:
00:00 The Pressure to Look Happy 02:00 Why We Rarely Share the Hard Parts Online 05:45 The Problem with “Everything Happens for a Reason” 08:40 Why Meaning-Making Only Works When It Comes From Within 11:00 Positivity as a Defense Mechanism 13:30 When Optimism Becomes Denial 16:00 The Hidden Cost of Suppressing Emotions 18:40 Using Work or Productivity to Avoid Hard Feelings 21:00 Why Some People Fear Joy 23:30 Our Fear of Uncertainty 26:00 What We Can and Can’t Control 28:00 How to Support Others Without Dismissing Their Pain 30:00 Whitney’s Work, Book, and Where to Find Her
More from My Rejection Story
What if coping with rejection is less about surviving the loss and more about surviving what you decide the loss says about you?
This episode discusses genocide, war, racism, death threats. Listener discretion advised. What if the rejection that cuts deepest isn't a stranger's hatred — but the silence of the people who swore they loved you? Alice is joined by Lena Derhally — licensed trauma-informed psychotherapist, bestselling Palestinian American author, and a white-passing Christian Palestinian who ended friendships of forty years when the people closest to her went silent about Gaza. Lena grew up the daughter of a Bethlehem-born father and a small-town Indiana mother, with a message about her Palestinian identity: be careful who you tell. What makes her story impactful is her refusal to hide. Lena's reframe: the sharpest rejection she's known came not from enemies but from friends of forty years who went silent when it mattered — what she calls "the great betrayal." She traces the messaging that first taught her to disappear (a father whose name changed from Odeh to Eddie in high school), and the day her son asked her to take the signs out of the yard. Her answer to all of it: "Integrity is bearing witness." Whether you've hidden a part of yourself to fit in or watched people you trust go quiet when it counted, this is a raw reframe of what solidarity looks like. In this episode: "The great betrayal" — why Lena ended friendships of four decades over silence
What if the person you can't stop craving after a breakup isn't a lost love — but a drug you're still detoxing from? Alice is joined by Dr. Cortney Warren — board-certified clinical psychologist, TEDx speaker, and the researcher who studies self-deception, love addiction and coined the term "exaholism." Alice opens with her own pandemic situationship: the man she'd never met in person yet couldn't stop texting at 5 a.m. But her real gift is the reframe underneath — falling in love is an addiction, and a bad breakup is withdrawal. Cortney's core idea: your ex isn't a person you lost, they're a stimulus your brain is still craving — "the non-relationship relationship." She explains why romantic love evolved to be addictive, why intermittent reinforcement (breadcrumbing, love-bombing, the on-again-off-again) hooks us harder than consistency, and what it takes to stop using your drug of choice. If you've ever wondered about the truth about situationships, or found yourself stuck on emotionally unavailable men/women, this is the neuroscience behind why. The turn comes when she argues the goal of a brutal breakup isn't to get over someone — it's to see both your ex and yourself in "stark reality," until the relationship becomes "just a version." Forgiveness, she says, isn't letting them off the hook; it's the ultimate act of self-love, including forgiving yourself for the values you compromised. Whether you're deep in a no-contact detox or you just want to build emotionally healthy relationships, this compassionate reframe explains the purpose of heartbreak and is essential listening for anyone thinking about relationships in the 21st century. In this episode they explore: Why falling in love is biologically engineered to be addictive
What if the deepest rejection isn't one loud "no," but the quiet ones that pile up until you stop noticing them? Alice is joined by Tiffany Yu — CEO and founder of Diversability, three-time TEDx speaker, and author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto — who was nine years old when a car accident took her father's life and permanently paralyzed her arm. She grew up being picked last in gym class every single day, and internalized a quieter verdict underneath it: that she wouldn't get chosen in the rest of her life either. But what makes Tiffany fascinating isn't the résumé — it's the reframe underneath: that the deepest wounds don't come from one big rejection, they come from "chronic exclusion," the micro-exclusions that stack up until you seat yourself on the sidelines before anyone else can. Tiffany's reframe: exclusion is rarely loud. It's the party you weren't invited to, the captions no one added, the comment asking if your hand "can be fixed" — one remark is fleeting, but at the scale of 7 million views it starts to rewire how you feel about your own body. Her way out wasn't toughening up; it was community. She traces how co-founding a Taiwanese American club at university gave her the template that she then rebuilt as Diversability, and how one member's adaptive climbing invite became the start of a "redemption journey" that now includes the USA Paraclimbing team, a half marathon, and a surfing lesson she took the day before recording. In this episode they explore: • "Chronic exclusion creates irreversible trauma" — the line from her 2018 TEDx talk that keeps finding people, and why micro-exclusions do more damage than any single "no" • What a microaggression actually is — the subtle "I don't think of you as disabled" that quietly props up much bigger structural inequities • The gym-class wound — being picked last every day, and sitting on "the sidelines of the gym and the sidelines of life" • How a TikTok about her paralyzed arm hit 7 million views • Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, ADHD, and the research that a child can absorb 20,000 extra negative messages by age 10 • Assimilation as erasure — hiding her Taiwanese American identity, and how co-founding a culture club unlocked her courage Connect with Tiffany Yu: Website: https://www.tiffanyyu.com Book (The Anti-Ableist Manifesto): https://www.tiffanyyu.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imtiffanyyu TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@imtiffanyyu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyayu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imtiffanyyu Chapters: 00:00 "Chronic exclusion creates irreversible trauma" 00:57 The car accident at nine, and the gym class that became a core wound 03:29 What a microaggression really is 06:00 7 million views and "can it be fixed?" — comments that rewire self-image 08:25 RSD, ADHD, and 20,000 extra negative messages by age 10 09:11 Assuming friction everywhere — and being surprised when access is seamless 11:20 From the sidelines to the redemption journey — surfing, half marathons, paraclimbing 12:05 Assimilation, erasure, and the Taiwanese American club that started it all 15:00 The climbing wall, January 2016 16:48 Internalized ableism and the friction of just showing up 19:42 Searching a Facebook group for "surf" 21:10 The oxytocin of being in the room — why proximity reduces fear 22:57 Defining assimilation as erasure — not acknowledging what makes you different 25:02 Three things that made it easier 28:00 The message is bigger than me — the surgeon who added a mental-health provider 34:32 The 10-minute story vs. the one-sentence version 35:22 NATO — not attached to outcome — vulnerability vs. oversharing, and small wins 41:24 Creating your own opportunity — disability, hiring bias, and a "jungle gym" career 43:00 Getting fired, the "March 3rd anniversary," and the shame we don't talk about 47:43 Building community from nothing 51:33 Where to find Tiffany, the book, and Diversability
What if the loneliest rejection isn't losing a partner but losing a friend? Alice Draper is joined by Dr. Kimberly Horn, internationally recognized research psychologist, public health scientist who spent nearly 30 years studying addiction and health inequalities, and author of Friends Matter, For Life: Harnessing the Eight Tenets of Dynamic Friendship (endorsed by Mel Robbins). After the pandemic, Kimberly watched her own research play out in real time: people suffering less from the virus itself than from deep loneliness. But what makes her fascinating isn't the credentials, it's the reframe underneath: friendship isn't a nice-to-have, it's the most accessible tool we have against a crisis the US Surgeon General declared a public health emergency in 2023. Kimberly's reframe: rejection is data, not a verdict. Friendship loss is real grief but because we choose our friends, with no scripts, no casseroles, no paid leave, it's a lonely, invisible kind of pain society hasn't learned to hold. She and Alice unpack why social atrophy since COVID has left us more sensitive to rejection, why "accessible" doesn't mean "easy," and how self-friending becomes the antidote to the stories we tell ourselves. Whether you've quietly let a friendship fade or you're still stinging from one that ended without explanation, this is a clear-eyed reframe of what friendship is actually for. In this episode they explore: Social atrophy and rejection sensitivity — how losing our social "buffer" during COVID made rejection hurt more