Creative Mind Audio

Douglas Eby
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Excerpts of interviews with artists, psychologists and others on creativity research, emotional health, high sensitivity, giftedness. Note: PAID episodes have free previews. thecreativemind.substack.com

  1. 4D AGO

    How to support stress relief: use links between thoughts, behavior, feelings

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecreativemind.substack.com What is CBT? The Psych Central mental health site notes “Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) “is a type of evidence-based psychotherapy used to help treat a wide range of physical and mental health conditions including: depression, anxiety and chronic pain.” Dr. Caroline Norman, PhD writes about how much anxiety and stress can impact our mental and physical health, and the quality of our life, and provides suggestions based on CBT. Here are some excerpts from her related article Five CBT Stress-Busting Tips For Spring. Symptoms Of Chronic Stress There are a number of symptoms that we can look out for to identify chronic stress. Physical symptoms can include headaches, difficulties in sleeping, muscle and joint pain, and a weakened immune system leading us to catch viruses such as colds or flu. Emotional symptoms are often irritability, lack of focus and concentration, withdrawal from friends and family, anxiety, or low mood. Behaviours related to stress can include excessive alcohol intake, smoking, gambling, shopping more than usual, and dietary changes such as over or under-eating. If you do notice any of these signs or symptoms of stress then it can help to seek professional support from your doctor, alongside using the self-help techniques explored below. Five CBT Stress-Busting Tips For Spring CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) works by helping us to understand the links between our thoughts, behaviours and feelings. For example, if we think of a meeting with our boss as overwhelming then we’re likely to feel stressed about it and engage in unhelpful behaviours such as not sleeping the night before. However, if we see the meeting as a challenge, we can rise to rather than as overwhelming then we may feel more relaxed, sleep better and perform better. The situation is the same, but our thoughts about it are different and have different outcomes for us. Here are some CBT tips to help you to spring-clean your mind this season and to support you to manage stress differently:

    1 min

  2. JAN 7

    How Dopamine affects the brain can be a key to improving our lives

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecreativemind.substack.com “We live in a world that’s designed to hijack your dopamine. We’re scrolling, sending another text, looking at videos. “Understanding what is happening in the brain is the key to changing our lives. “Dopamine itself is a signal. It’s a neurotransmitter that’s essential for the experience of pleasure, reward, and motivation.” Dr. Anna Lembke, Chief of Addiction Medicine at Stanford. In this creative mind audio, Dr. Lembke explains how much this neurotransmitter affects our motivations and attention and quality of experience, including happiness. The first short segment is from the video trailer for her Masterclass, followed by a clip from a Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, then a short clip from a sample video from her class. Her Masterclass program: Dopamine: Take Your Brain Back. ~~~~~~~ Her book: Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. ~~~~ From article by Dr. Cathleen King: How Long Does it Take to Rewire the Brain After Addiction? “Addiction messes with the way your brain’s reward system works, especially when it comes to dopamine. This chemical is responsible for making you feel happy and accomplished. “Normally, things like spending time with friends, exercising, or doing hobbies release dopamine and make you feel good.” [See a related article of hers below.] Dr. Cathleen King, DPT is “an expert on chronic illness, chronic trauma, relationship/attachment repair, and inner child healing.” ~~~~~ Trauma recovery physician Aimie Apigian, MD, says in her The Biology of Trauma podcast: “You’ve tried to quit multiple times with genuine commitment and motivation... Is our biology predisposing us to addictive tendencies in measurable ways? Yes, it is. And understanding this gives us leverage points for effective treatment.” [See more below.] More resources below.

    3 min

  3. 12/18/2025

    How to understand toxic relationships, and gain healthy ones

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecreativemind.substack.com Therapist Jessica Baum writes, “You might not use the word safety when talking about your relationships. But you do know the feeling of walking on eggshells, shrinking yourself to avoid conflict, or bracing for the moment they pull away or you explode. “Safety is the presence of steadiness, not just lack of chaos, where you can exhale and be your full self, knowing you’ll still be loved.” This episode starts with therapist Jessica Baum from a short podcast interview reel, followed by an excerpt from a video interview on the Real Love Ready YouTube channel. The final section of this Creative Mind Audio is an excerpt from the video introduction to her online course 7 Stages of Detoxing from Toxic Relationships. Jessica Baum LMHC is a “celebrated author of Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love and a licensed expert therapist with over 15 years of professional experience helping individuals heal from trauma bonds, unhealthy relationship dynamics, narcissism, gaslighting, and other relationship challenges.” One of her books: Safe: An Attachment-Informed Guide to Building More Secure Relationships. ~~~~~~~~ Continued with videos, and links to resources.

    3 min
  4. Artists and Creators May Often Feel Insecure. How to Gain Confidence

    12/01/2025

    Artists and Creators May Often Feel Insecure. How to Gain Confidence

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecreativemind.substack.com Do feelings of insecurity and self-doubt impact our creativity? Of course. In this audio and the related article, artists and psychologists express perspectives on our common feelings of insecurity and self-doubt – and how to improve our confidence. Actor Annette Bening thinks we benefit from some insecurity. In a video interview, actor Jessica Chastain commented: “I had a lot of insecurities and like confidence issues when I was younger.” Like a number of artists, Chastain has talked about being a highly sensitive person. Psychotherapist and sensitivity coach Julie Bjelland and her colleague talk about this topic in one of her podcasts titled "Confidence, Where it Comes From and How to Get it." Psychotherapist Mihaela Ivan Holtz writes about how you have to ‘show up’ when you "step onto the stage or when you are about to present your creative ideas to other people." She also notes “If you are a highly creative person – someone with a big drive or determination to achieve your life goals or dreams – an injured self-esteem will show up in your journey over and over again…It will interfere with your ability to invest yourself in creating your life." See article with videos, links to resources and more: How Creative People Feel Insecure, and How to Gain Confidence. Learn about articles, books, podcasts, free and paid courses, a private community and more to help Highly Sensitive People thrive by Julie Bjelland, LMFT at her site Sensitive Empowerment. ... Support the showView selected episodes and articles with more resources: The Creative Mind Audio Podcast page on the main site.

    4 min

  5. 11/30/2025

    Stress in Early Life Leads to Adult Trauma and Nervous System Dysregulation

    “From a young age, many of us learned to brace for life instead of relax into it. “This constant vigilance trains the nervous system to stay in survival mode: blocking rest, repair, and true healing.” Dr Cathleen King teaches neuroscience principles related to trauma and health recovery. This audio is from one of her videos. She notes in the description, “In this video, we’ll explore how early life experiences shape chronic stress patterns, why the nervous system learns to protect instead of restore, and how you can begin retraining your body to feel safe enough to heal... from autoimmune conditions, trauma, or persistent health issues.” Excerpt from her video: ~~~ » Visit her Primal Trust site to “Learn to consciously self-regulate your biology and heal.” Includes free ebook: “How Healing Happens”, plus membership community with live classes, plus article, newsletter and more. ~~~ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecreativemind.substack.com/subscribe

    9 min

  6. 10/20/2025

    What is our Shadow? From a talk by Jungian psychologist James Hollis

    Dr. Hollis, a Jungian analyst, is author of multiple classes on the Jung Platform site. This is a brief audio excerpt from his free video talk Introduction to Jungian Shadow Work. The registration page summarizes: “In this introduction you will learn more about Carl Jung’s concept of the Shadow and how it is relevant in your daily lives. “The talk offers guidance and tools to become more conscious of Shadow aspects within ourselves, groups and other individuals. “Becoming conscious of the shadow is the first step in the process of individuation, the process of psychological growth according to Jung.” » Register free to view the full video talk: Introduction to Jungian Shadow Work. ~~~ » Also see the Jungian Psychology Resources page - Videos, articles and programs about depth psychology teachings of Jung, to enhance our personal growth and creativity. … This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecreativemind.substack.com/subscribe

    5 min

  7. 09/29/2025

    Anxiety is hard enough to deal with. It's more challenging when we blame ourselves.

    “It makes us feel very alone, isolated, different, less than.” Jeffrey Rutstein continues, “That’s one of the things that also makes anxiety so hard to bear. So many of us not only struggle with anxiety, but we blame ourselves for being anxious: ‘I know better, I shouldn’t be anxious here. ‘I teach my patients how to relax, I shouldn’t be anxious. ‘I’m a meditator. I shouldn’t be anxious.’ He notes, “And lots of people get feedback from other people: ‘You’re too anxious. You worry too much. You’re too sensitive. You think too much.’ Which, by the way, doesn’t help anyone and you can’t stop doing this.” Dr. Jeffrey Rutstein, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and expert in the treatment of trauma. This audio is from a Sounds True video excerpt from his Navigating Anxiety program. He comments about his program: “In this workshop, we’re going to show you ways you can intervene with your anxiety and also free yourself from viewing your anxiety, fear, and worry as your fault.” Navigating Anxiety program - Insights and Practices to Heal Your Nervous System and Restore Emotional Well-Being. ~~~ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecreativemind.substack.com/subscribe

    7 min

  8. 09/09/2025

    Releasing Emotional Blocks - from an interview with Amy B. Scher

    "When we are storing these emotions in our body and they become stuck, they are preventing us from having the clear, clean, energetic flow through our muscles, glands and organs that we should. "I believe that that is essential for physical health. And I also believe that when we hold emotional blocks, it blocks the energy of our spirit. “It blocks who we are from expressing that out into the world." Amy B. Scher is "an energy therapist who helps people break through blocks...the author of the How to Heal Yourself series and other books, and endorsed by notable authors such as Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray Love; Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, Harvard Medical School; and more." (From a Sounds True profile.) ▶️ Amy Scher Course: Stop Feeling Like Sh*t - From Depression to Creative Expression: Lifting Depression for Writers and Creatives. ~~~ This audio is a brief excerpt from “Releasing Emotional Blockages” - an episode of the Insights at the Edge podcast by Sounds True, hosted by Tami Simon. From the longer Sounds True interview: Tami Simon: And then you mentioned the second step when we’re done with that is to install positive emotions. Talk me through that because once again, this is where my critical mind kicked in. It’s like, do I really want, it’s one thing, yes, I want to release things, but do I really want to install things really? Amy Scher: So you do want to install things if they’re positive. And there’s a reason I work a lot with clients with depression and anxiety, and I can’t tell you how many times they start to feel better, meaning less anxiety, less depression, and then they tell me they feel like there’s something missing. Something’s missing, it feels like something could be wrong. It feels like I feel a little empty or I feel a little ungrounded. And it’s because when we release something that we’ve been holding for so long, we can feel a little imbalanced. And installing positive emotions are my way of helping bring something good into the body to almost complete the healing process. The other reason is because all emotions have an energetic vibration. And I feel like in the same way, it lifts us up to be around positive people or friends that help us laugh or have fun. … To hear full episode and others, see the page of Amy B. Scher books and programs, and click "Podcast" at bottom. Book promo with voice of Amy Scher: ~~~ Related: ~~~~~~~ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecreativemind.substack.com/subscribe

    11 min
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About

Excerpts of interviews with artists, psychologists and others on creativity research, emotional health, high sensitivity, giftedness. Note: PAID episodes have free previews. thecreativemind.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Douglas Eby
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    134
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Douglas Eby
  • Show Website
    Creative Mind Audio