LOVELINK

Psychiatrist Mark Epstein, blending Buddhism and therapy, discusses ego's role in relationships, distractions fueling anxieties, and ways to change our relationship with our egos. He explores love's impact on ego, attachment issues, and mindfulness in fostering healthy connections.

World renowned love guru and couples psychotherapist, Esther Perel, poignantly describes the realities of romance, including infidelity and complacency in relationships. Why do we cheat even when we're in happy relationships? Can relationships be repaired after an affair? How do we maintain romantic excitement in the face of familiarity? Esther shares with us thoughtful and seductive solutions to tackle these eternal dilemmas.

Simone's cousin Rachel and her girlfriend Ada visit LOVELINK to talk about how their relationship evolved following Ada’s gender transition. With great humor and wisdom, Rachel and Ada open up about what they’ve learned about themselves and each other through Ada’s transition, including changes in the way they connect emotionally and sexually. Regardless of how you identify, there’s a lot to be learned about love and the healing power of personal liberation from this inspiring couple.

Dr. Bill Doherty, professor and director of the Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project at the University of Minnesota, gives us some solid Midwestern relationship advice. He’s worked with thousands of couples and been married 40 + years, so he knows a thing or two about what it takes to sustain long-term commitment. In this interview, he shares how he helps couples working through the often wrenching decision about whether to end a relationship. Dr. Doherty also walks us through his list of red flags to look for when dating and what people should probably stop stressing about. If you’re single or thinking about taking your relationship to the next level of commitment, this is a must listen episode!

Terry Real, psychotherapist and founder of Relational Life Therapy, specializes in working with men, particularly narcissistic, or what he calls “grandiose” men. In this deeply informative and timely interview, Terry talks to us about the different forms of narcissism, how narcissism develops, and the ways it emerges in relationships. In an era with Donald Trump as our leader, male narcissism rears its toxic head societally as well as within relationships, resulting in painful psychic and emotional consequences. We find out how narcissism expresses itself emotionally and sexually and ways that we can begin to deconstruct patriarchy by helping men to be more relational.

We went into the mind and psychotherapy session of Dr. Jacob Ham, a clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of trauma. He is the director of the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience and assistant clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. In our interview, he described how pain from the past affects our current relationships and ways that he helps hurt people heal interpersonal wounds and build trust and love again. To help us understand, he shared with us a recording from a real couples session that is a moving demonstration of his work and the power of couples therapy to build back healthy connection. Follow the couple's therapeutic journey and learn more about loving through hurt on Dr. Ham's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdpMZfwdxyqpvoC74eaF-2A

Nell is a 34-year-old designer who has extensive experience exploring online dating. Through her dating adventures, experience of numerous dating apps, and understanding texting rapport, she has guided many friends through navigating the often daunting cyber world of love. In this interview, Nell candidly opens up about the realities of online dating. Nell shares what she has learned about tolerating anxieties that get stirred up and offers practical advice for women seeking love online.

Dr. Alexandra Solomon is a clinical psychologist at The Family Institute and professor at Northwestern university where she teaches the famous undergraduate course “Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101.” She is the author of the book Loving Bravely: Twenty Lessons of Self-Discovery to Help You Get the Love You Want. As the title suggests, Dr. Solomon explained to us in this illuminating interview how to expand your relational self-awareness so you can make healthy and conscious choices around love. She delves into the key aspects of romantic relationships including attraction, long term relational success, conflict, sex, and how to balance the choices between yourself and your partner. While this interview is particularly helpful for young adults, anyone can learn from her pearls of wisdom!

Carina Ho is a survivor of a tragic car accident that killed her mother, caused her stepfather to suffer from a traumatic brain injury, and left her paralyzed from the chest down. Three years later, and wheelchair bound, our guest is a full time modern dancer at Axis Dance Company, has released her EP album Onikho, and is the most recent recipient of the Fullbright Scholarship. Several months before the accident, our guest began dating a young man whom she had met at work. Through the transition from pre accident to post accident, able bodied to disabled, our guest and her boyfriend have remained together. In our interview, Carina speaks candidly about her experience of love and sex after becoming paralyzed and how she is rediscovering her mojo.

Helen Fisher, PhD, is a biological anthropologist and the chief scientific advisor to Match.com. In this illuminating interview, Dr. Fisher explains to us what happens to our brain on love or after rejection, the biological underpinnings of how we pick our partners, and takes an anthropological perspective on the ways in which online dating has formed our way of experiencing relationships. Dr. Fisher got us thinking, "Maybe love isn't such a mystery after all."