114 episodes
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel Esther’s Office Hours
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- Society & Culture
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4.7 • 13.4K Ratings
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Every Monday morning step into the office of iconic psychotherapist Esther Perel and listen in as real people in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and profound details of their stories. From breakups and open relationships to workplace conflicts and fractures in the family, it’s a place to hear our own stories reflected in the lives of others. So…where should we begin? Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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There's You, There's Me, There's US
This is a classic session, from the first season of Where Should We Begin? A middle-aged couple, together for seventeen years, best friends and partners who, despite their loving and positive relationship, go months without connecting sexually. He transitioned 10 years ago, and they’re both experiencing the physical changes of aging. Esther guides them through body exercises, in an effort to help them find sexual spaces amidst the crush of everyday life.
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Esther Calling - Love is a Trap Follow Up
It's been a few weeks since Esther first spoke to this young man who kept getting to a certain point in relationships before he would start fantasizing about his ex-boyfriends or other future partners. Esther talks through some of the things that stuck with her after the session ended and he lets us know where everything landed after they hung up.
For the first time on the U.S. stage, Esther invites you to an evening unlike any other. Join her as she shines a light on the cultural shifts transforming relationships and helps us rethink how we connect, how we desire – and even how we love. To find a city near you, go to https://www.estherperel.com/tour2024
Want to learn more? Receive monthly insights, musings, and recommendations to improve your relational intelligence via email from Esther: https://www.estherperel.com/newsletter""" -
Esther Calling - Love is a Trap
He gets to a certain point in relationships before he starts fantasizing about his ex-boyfriends or other future partners. Esther talks him through what he might be holding onto from his childhood that makes his otherwise healthy relationships feel stifling.
Esther Callings are a one-time, 45-60 minute interventional phone call with Esther. They are edited for time, clarity, and anonymity. If you have a question you would like to talk through with Esther, send a voice memo to producer@estherperel.com.
For the first time on the U.S. stage, Esther invites you to an evening unlike any other. Join her as she shines a light on the cultural shifts transforming relationships and helps us rethink how we connect, how we desire – and even how we love. To find a city near you, go to https://www.estherperel.com/tour2024
Want to learn more? Receive monthly insights, musings, and recommendations to improve your relational intelligence via email from Esther: https://www.estherperel.com/newsletter
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I Think I Married the Wrong Person Follow-Up
Last fall, Esther helped a couple working to dissolve the patterns they each developed to protect themselves. It's been a few months and they've sent Esther an update on how things are going.
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I Think I Married the Wrong Person
She gets angry when she feels devalued and put down. He intellectualizes and rationalizes instead of sympathizing. Esther helps them to see each other and work towards dissolving the patterns they developed to protect themselves.
For the first time on the U.S. stage, Esther invites you to an evening unlike any other. Join her as she shines a light on the cultural shifts transforming relationships and helps us rethink how we connect, how we desire – and even how we love. To find a city near you, go to https://www.estherperel.com/tour2024
Want to learn more? Receive monthly insights, musings, and recommendations to improve your relational intelligence via email from Esther: https://www.estherperel.com/newsletter
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Esther Calling - My Exes Exes Keep Ruining My Relationships
A woman whose ex-boyfriend cheated on her with his ex girlfriend ends a perfectly good relationship because she can't trust how close her current partner is with his own ex. She wonders if two people can meet each other's needs without having to sacrifice a part of themselves and if she can ever move past her fears and let love into her life.
Esther Callings are a one time, 45-60 minute interventional phone call with Esther. They are edited for time, clarity, and anonymity. If you have a question you would like to talk through with Esther, send a voice memo to producer@estherperel.com.
For the first time on the U.S. stage, Esther invites you to an evening unlike any other. Join her as she shines a light on the cultural shifts transforming relationships and helps us rethink how we connect, how we desire – and even how we love. To find a city near you, go to https://www.estherperel.com/tour2024
Want to learn more? Receive monthly insights, musings, and recommendations to improve your relational intelligence via email from Esther: https://www.estherperel.com/newsletter
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Customer Reviews
I think I married the wrong person
Oh boy, I hope he can take in what is being said. He sounds like he isn't getting it. She seems observant and intelligent. He wants to always be right. If it's a fact, it should be said, whether it hurts or not. Not a good skill for a relationship.
I think I married the wrong person
No one is letting this man speak. Both Ester and the wife continue to interrupt him, despite him being scolded when he “responds too quickly.” Ester is inferring things about their relationship after just minutes of interacting with them, which seems to suit the wife’s narrative but clearly not the husband’s, but he never has a chance to clarify his narrative because they won’t let him speak. Arg.
The woman screams in front of their child, which is unacceptable to the husband, and rightly so. The wife desperately needs to work through her trauma so she’s not so angry all the time. Ester telling the husband to just let her yell but to be kind to her while she’s yelling (because that will apparently break her pattern of yelling) is absurd. Maybe that can come in time but this woman needs more immediate help and skills in controlling her anger and should be told so.
I find that Ester is totally enabling this women’s behavior, and that both Ester and the wife are ganging up on the husband without ever giving him a chance to finish a single sentence. It’s infuriating. I get that he’s an intellectualizer and needs to work on that, but feel bad for him.
I’ve learned so much
I have a long history of therapy and coaching, yet I always learn something from Esther. She has an uncanny ability to dive right into the heart of a person’s issues - to see it more clearly than they had been able to see it - and to reframe it and give nonjudgmental guidance.