The Power of a Made-up Ritual

In this classic episode, Dr. Laurie speaks with two of the world’s most influential relationship scientists, Drs. John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman. In their renowned “Love Lab,” the married researchers have studied thousands of couples, identifying the subtle interaction p ...  Show more

Modern dating can feel like a marketplace. We’re told we all have a “mate value,” that some people are 9s and 10s, and that the laws of evolution determine who gets chosen — and who gets rejected. But what if we’ve misunderstood what evolutionary science actually says about love? ...  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