Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin

325 — Harvard Psychiatrist: The #1 Mistake People Make When They Try to Work on Themselves with Dr. Paul Conti

Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin

Show Notes

Think about the last time you tried to work on yourself. Chances are you started with a list of everything that's wrong with you — what you don't like, what you should be doing, and what you want to "fix."

But what if thinking about yourself as "broken" is the thing that's keeping you stuck? My guest today is Dr. Paul Conti, a Harvard- and Stanford-trained psychiatrist who runs the group practice Pacific Premier Group. He started out in the business world, but after losing his brother to suicide, he turned to mental health full-time. He's the author of Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic and his new book, What's Going Right.

Some of the things we discuss are:

Why leading with "what's wrong with me" might make you avoid looking at your mental health altogether

How losing his brother to suicide changed how Dr. Conti sees high-functioning people who are silently struggling

The three drives that shape your mental health — and the one that determines whether you actually feel happy with your life

Why high-functioning, hard-working people often have a low generative drive without realizing it

Why doing more isn't always the answer — and when doing less is a better choice

The two completely opposite stories you can tell about your own life (and why you get to choose which one is true)

The question to ask yourself every morning that shifts you out of dread

Related Episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠236 — 10 Myths About Mental Health That Are Holding You Back⁠

308 — Pause. Pick. Play. The Formula for Getting Through Any Hard Moment

Links & Resources

⁠What's Going Right

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