The Power of a Made-up Ritual

Life has a way of upending even our best-laid plans. Breakups, job losses, scary health diagnoses — these unexpected changes can leave us feeling stuck and uncertain about what comes next.Dr. Laurie speaks with her dear friend and former student, Dr. Maya Shankar, author of The O ...  Show more

A lot of us spend our energy on things that aren’t worth it: projects, relationships, or goals that may feel important in the moment but ultimately leave us frustrated and drained. Dr. Diana Hill, clinical psychologist and author of Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on ...  Show more

Our lives are populated by rituals. Baptisms. Funerals. Graduations. Singing happy birthday, chanting cheers at a sports event, saying grace before dinner. When we perform rituals, there's no causal link between the behavior and the hoped for effect; for example, there's no ca ...

When we have children, we are presented with the unique opportunity to give them everything we needed when we were growing up. It’s an opportunity to reparent ourselves; to heal our own inner child. In today’s episode, this notion has become so apparent in Rachel’s life as she te ...  Show more

Would you whisper sweet nothings to your sweeheart through a six-foot tube with your Puritan grandmother in the room? Would you force feed your children to make them more attractive for a potential groom? It's often said the course of true love never did run smooth -- and it s ...

This self-described "Midwestern mom" found a way to heal the trauma of a violent marriage entirely on her own. She created a ritual, which her doctor now recognizes and recommends as a tool for recovery from abuse. Season 2 of Sincerely, X is available exclusively on the Luminary ...  Show more