Becoming Real with Dr. Lori

Lori Stevic Rust, PhD
  • 5.0 (15)
  • Mental Health

Becoming Real with Dr. Lori offers real conversations in a world full of noise. Fake is everywhere. Curated lives. Performative confidence. Quick answers that promise easy fixes but rarely lead to real change. And after a while, all that pretending disconnects us — from each other and from ourselves. This is a podcast for anyone hungry for something more honest, and especially for women who are tired of carrying so much and having so little space to say what is real. I’m Dr. Lori Stevic-Rust, a board-certified clinical health psychologist, author, and speaker, and here we explore mental health, physical health, caregiving, grief, women’s health, brain health, stress, relationships, the hard conversations we avoid, and the courage it takes to live more honestly. Drawing on more than forty years in the therapy room, I share what I’ve learned from listening closely to real human stories. Some episodes are solo reflections. Others feature expert guests. All of them are rooted in one core belief: real healing begins with real conversation. Over the years, many patients have said to me, “Sometimes I hear your voice in my head when I’m trying to sort something out.” So maybe that’s what this podcast actually is. A little therapeutic guidance and healing in your ear. Pull up a chair.

Episodes

  1. 21h ago

    Why Women Can't Accept a Compliment — The Psychology of Self-Worth, Confidence & Learning to Receive

    Someone tells you that you look beautiful today. What do you do? If you're like most women, you immediately tell them about the sale rack, the dry shampoo, and the bad lighting. Studies show that only 22% of compliments between women are actually accepted — and women accept compliments from men nearly twice as often. And research finds that women who do accept compliments are actually rated more negatively by others for doing so. So we're not imagining the pressure to shrink — it's real, it's cultural, and it runs deep. In this episode, I'm getting into why deflecting a compliment is never really about the compliment. It's about what we believe we deserve, what we've been taught about taking up space, and why the woman who can't receive a kind word is often the same woman who struggles to ask for a raise, claim her seat at the table, or let herself be truly seen. Humility is not the same thing as shrinking. And thank you is not the same thing as arrogance. It's time we learned the difference. SHOWNOTES: https://drloristevic.com/why-women-cant-accept-a-compliment/

    20 min

  2. Jun 7

    Prostate Cancer Explained: What Every Man Needs to Know

    The advice on prostate cancer screening has swung back and forth for years. Test, don't test, wait, ask your doctor. And all that contradiction leaves a lot of men doing the one thing they shouldn't. Nothing. Even former President Biden, with all the medical scrutiny in the world, was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, in part because the guidelines say men over 70 don't need routine screening. I watched the same thing nearly happen with my husband, Jay. His numbers had been normal three years earlier, so his doctor hesitated. Jay pushed for the test anyway, and by the time we found it, the cancer had already spread. He'd had no symptoms at all. That push saved his life. So I sat down with Tyler Weisent, the oncology nurse practitioner who was one of our lifelines through Jay's treatment, to ask the questions every man and every family deserves to have answered. When to test, how to know if a cancer is dangerous, and how to advocate for yourself when the guidelines fall short. If you've been putting it off because no one has given you a straight answer, this is the conversation to listen to. This is the final episode in a three-part series for Men's Health Month, following "There Is No Small Talk in a Cancer Waiting Room" and "Prostate Cancer: One Man's Honest Story." Show Notes; https://drloristevic.com/prostate-cancer-explained-what-every-man-needs-to-know/

    37 min

  3. Jun 7

    Prostate Cancer: One Man's Honest Story

    He had no symptoms. He was healthy, in good shape, and the only reason anyone tested him at all was a routine physical he needed to renew a racing license. This week my husband Jay sits down with me to talk about prostate cancer from the patient's side. Not the clinical version, not the tidy version, but what it actually felt like to hear the word cancer when nothing in his body had warned him it was coming. We talk about the diagnosis that hit us from the blind side, the before and the after that every family knows when something like this arrives. And Jay does something many men are uncomfortable doing. He talks openly about the parts men keep to themselves, the parts that make so many men avoid the doctor in the first place. There is a reason men don't live as long as women do, and a lot of it comes down to what we are taught to ignore, to blow off, to handle alone. Jay was raised on that same script. This is him setting it down. If there is a man in your life who tells you he's fine, this is the one to send him. This is the second in a three-part series for Men's Health Month. It follows "There Is No Small Talk in a Cancer Waiting Room," and leads into a conversation a clinical expert to answer our questions from screening to treatment. Show Notes: https://drloristevic.com/prostate-cancer-one-mans-honest-story/

    21 min

  4. Jun 6

    There is No Small Talk in a Cancer Waiting Room

    There is no small talk in a cancer waiting room. I learned that sitting in one for thirty-three days in a row, waiting through my husband's radiation treatments for prostate cancer. I went in thinking I knew something about fear. I came out understanding something else entirely, and it had almost nothing to do with cancer. It had to do with us. With what we are capable of with each other, and how rarely we let ourselves get there. Something happens in that room that does not happen almost anywhere else. I watched it every morning for thirty-three days, and I have not been able to unknow what I saw. In this episode, I take you inside that room, and I close with a few small things you can try this week, because I don't want this to be a lovely story you heard once and forgot by the time you got back to your car. If you have ever sat in one of those rooms, you already know. If you haven't yet, I hope this gives you something to carry with you before you do. This is the first in a three-part series for Men's Health Month. Coming next: my husband Jay's honest account of prostate cancer from the inside, and a final episode with a clinical expert to answer questions about prostate cancer--what we need to know from screening to treatment. Show notes-https://drloristevic.com/there-is-no-small-talk-in-a-cancer-waiting-room/

    22 min

  5. May 30

    The Voices in Your Head: Whose Are They Really?

    You have voices in your head that talk to you all day long. But here's what most of us never stop to ask: whose voice is it, really? In this episode, Dr. Lori Stevic-Rust — clinical health psychologist with over 40 years of experience — unpacks the truth about the voices in our heads. They aren't one nagging "inner critic." They're a whole crowd: the cruel ones we inherited and never stopped paying for, the hard-but-loving voices that turned out to be gifts, the supportive ones we can barely hear under all the noise, and the ones we built ourselves, long ago, just to stay safe. Dr. Lori shares the voices that have narrated her own life — from a seventh-grade bully to a grandmother who turned a negative messsage into a life force when she told her, maybe talking is your gift, just use it for good. She explores where our inner voices actually come from, why the cruel ones always seem louder than the kind ones, and how to finally tell them apart. You may not be avble to fully get rid of the voices in your head. But you can question them, turn toward the ones that loved you well, and stop letting old messages decide how you live now. This is an episode about self-talk, self-trust, and the quiet work of becoming real. Listen, and then ask yourself: who's still living in your head? Curious whose voice is really running the show? My free guide walks you through three questions: https://drloristevic.com/real-freebie Be brave enough to be real.

    30 min

  6. May 23

    Alzheimer’s Caregiving: Ambiguous Loss and the Slow Grief of Dementia

    In this episode of Becoming Real with Dr. Lori, Dr. Lori talks with Dr. Melodie Yates about the emotional reality of Alzheimer’s caregiving and the slow grief of dementia. After spending 16 years caring for her husband through Alzheimer’s disease, Melodie brings an honest, deeply human voice to a journey that is often loving, lonely, exhausting, and sacred all at once. Together, Dr. Lori and Melodie talk about ambiguous loss, the grief of losing someone while they are still physically here, the instinct to protect a loved one’s dignity, the loneliness caregivers often carry, and why no one should walk this path alone. They also discuss caregiver burnout, family conversations, support groups, personality changes, and the painful recalibrating caregivers do again and again as dementia progresses. This episode is for Alzheimer’s caregivers, dementia caregivers, family members, and anyone who needs to hear that caregiving is both an honor and a heartbreak — and that support is not optional. It is how we survive the journey. Guest: Dr. Melodie Yates, author of Love Is an Action Verb: A Caregiver’s Journey If you're caring for someone with dementia, this free audio guide is for you: https://drloristevic.com/caregiver-circle-freebie-2/ Join the Caregiver Circle™Are you a caregiver for somebody you love, particularly someone with dementia, and you feel overwhelmed and isolated? Consider joining our online, live supportive community. We are here to share the journey with you. https://drloristevic.com/caregiver-circle/

    46 min

  7. May 18

    The People Saving You Without You Knowing It: How Emotional Support Fuels Healing and Growth

    What if the people holding your life together don't even know they're doing it? In this episode of Becoming Real with Dr. Lori, psychologist Dr. Lori Stevic-Rust explores the quiet, often invisible support system that carries us through our hardest moments — and why naming it is one of the most powerful things you can do for your own healing and growth. These aren't your official caregivers. They're the friend who called on the day you couldn't explain. The person who showed up without being asked. The one who witnessed your fear, your exhaustion, your hope — and stayed anyway. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, her own family's cancer journey, and the research on post-traumatic growth and gratitude, Dr. Lori unpacks why emotional support — real, present, unglamorous support — is often the difference between wounds that harden and wounds that heal. You'll walk away thinking about who has quietly saved you. And why telling them matters more than you know. In this episode: Why being truly seen by others is central to healing and resilienceThe science of gratitude and post-traumatic growthWhat it means to be both caregiver and someone who desperately needs careWhy your support system may be your greatest untapped source of strength If this episode moved you, share it with someone who has quietly shown up for you. They deserve to know it. Join The REAL Conversation — my free monthly live gathering for women who want honest talk about life, identity, and what it means to live more truthfully. https://drloristevic.com/real-womens-collective/

    15 min

  8. May 11

    A Belief That Chose You: Propaganda, Cognitive Dissonance, and Thinking for Yourself

    How can they possibly think like that? If you've asked that question lately — about a family member, a friend, someone you used to feel close to — this episode is for you. The truth is, we don't come to our beliefs the way we like to think we do. We don't gather the facts, weigh the evidence, and arrive at a thoughtful conclusion. Most of the time, we feel our way into a belief first, and then we explain it to ourselves. And once we understand that, a lot of what feels so confusing right now — about ourselves and about each other — starts to make more sense. This episode is about how propaganda works, what cognitive dissonance actually feels like from the inside, and why fear makes us reach for certainty before we reach for truth. But more than that, it's about the question underneath all of it: is what you believe actually yours? In this episode: Why our brain feels before it thinks — and what that costs usHow propaganda works without us realizing it's happeningWhat cognitive dissonance feels like from the insideHow to slow down enough to let your thinking brain catch up Full show notes and links here: https://drloristevic.com/propaganda

    24 min

  9. May 11

    The Day I Became Real: Imposter Syndrome and Authentic Living

    I became real in August of 1988. On my first day as a clinical intern at Henry Ford Hospital, I walked into Room Three and met a young man named Nelson — and nothing I had been trained to do prepared me for what happened next. This episode is the story underneath this entire podcast. It's about imposter syndrome, yes. But more than that, it's about the moment we face a choice: put the mask back on, or walk back in as ourselves. Nelson taught me that people don't need a perfect version of you. They need a real one. In this episode: What the Velveteen Rabbit taught me about becoming realMy first day as a clinical intern and the room I wasn't ready forNelson — and what he said when I stood to leaveThe question underneath all of it: who are you when you stop performing? FULL SHOW NOTESRead the full blog-style show notes, links, and reflections from this episode here: https://drloristevic.com/imposter-syndrome/ Join The REAL ConversationWant to go deeper than the podcast? The REAL Conversation is my free monthly live gathering for women who want thoughtful, honest conversations about life, identity, relationships, caregiving, confidence, and what it means to live more truthfully. https://drloristevic.com/real-womens-collective/ Join the Caregiver Circle™Are you a caregiver for somebody you love, particularly someone with dementia, and you feel overwhelmed and isolated? Consider joining our online, live supportive community. We are here to share the journey with you. https://drloristevic.com/caregiver-circle/

    17 min

  10. May 11

    Why Becoming Real Exists: Real Conversations in a World Full of Noise

    About this episode What does it mean to become real in a world that keeps rewarding performance?In this first solo episode of Becoming Real with Dr. Lori, I talk about why this podcast exists, what it means to become real in a noisy world, and why honest conversation still matters.In this episode: Why this podcast was born out of restlessnessHow grief and joy can live side by sideWhy division affects us emotionallyWhy slowing down and telling the truth mattersHow real conversation helps us find our way back to ourselves Chapters: 00:00 — The Birth of a Podcast Idea 03:14 — Navigating Personal Turmoil 06:12 — The Impact of Division and Disconnection 09:01 — The Need for Honest Conversations 11:49 — Embracing Restlessness and Seeking Clarity 12:18 — Engagement and Community Building Enjoying the show? Plese consider leaving a rating on Spotify or a review on Apple Podcasts — it helps other women find us. Full Show NotesRead the full blog-style show notes, links, and reflections from this episode here: https://drloristevic.com/real-conversations/ Want to go deeper than the podcast? Join The REAL ConversationWant to go deeper than the podcast? The REAL Conversation is my free monthly live gathering for women who want thoughtful, honest conversations about life, identity, relationships, caregiving, confidence, and what it means to live more truthfully. https://drloristevic.com/real-womens-collective/ Join The Caregiver Circle™Are you a caregiver for somebody you love, particularly someone with dementia, and you feel overwhelmed and isolated? Consider joining our Online, live supportive community. We are here to share the journey with you. https://drloristevic.com/caregiver-circle-membership/

    13 min

  11. May 5

    Trailer

    This is not another podcast full of quick tips and polished advice. This is an invitation to something more honest than that. Something happens when we stop pretending — when we put down the performance and start paying attention to what we actually know, feel, and need. Things begin to change. Dr. Lori Stevic-Rust is a clinical health psychologist with over 40 years in the therapy room, and she's here for the hard parts of being human that we don't say out loud — and the courage it takes to live honestly in a complicated world. If you're tired of faking it, pull up a chair. New episodes dropping May 12th.

    3 min

Trailer

5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Becoming Real with Dr. Lori offers real conversations in a world full of noise. Fake is everywhere. Curated lives. Performative confidence. Quick answers that promise easy fixes but rarely lead to real change. And after a while, all that pretending disconnects us — from each other and from ourselves. This is a podcast for anyone hungry for something more honest, and especially for women who are tired of carrying so much and having so little space to say what is real. I’m Dr. Lori Stevic-Rust, a board-certified clinical health psychologist, author, and speaker, and here we explore mental health, physical health, caregiving, grief, women’s health, brain health, stress, relationships, the hard conversations we avoid, and the courage it takes to live more honestly. Drawing on more than forty years in the therapy room, I share what I’ve learned from listening closely to real human stories. Some episodes are solo reflections. Others feature expert guests. All of them are rooted in one core belief: real healing begins with real conversation. Over the years, many patients have said to me, “Sometimes I hear your voice in my head when I’m trying to sort something out.” So maybe that’s what this podcast actually is. A little therapeutic guidance and healing in your ear. Pull up a chair.

Information

  • Creator
    Lori Stevic Rust, PhD
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Lori Stevic Rust, PhD
  • Show Website
    Becoming Real with Dr. Lori

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