Podcasts

Episode 47: Spiritual Bypassing vs. Embodied Faith & How Not to Harm Those Who Are Hurting, Including Yourself

By Alison Cook | March 30, 2023

This week on the podcast, we’re kicking off a mini 2-episode series on loving our bodies as a spiritual practice. Today, I dig into the problem of over-spiritualizing and how that does harm to ourselves and to others. Here’s what we cover: 1. What is spiritual bypassing? 2. Does every problem have a spiritual solution?...

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Episode 46: People Pleasing as Survival, How Jesus Regulated Emotions & the Problem With Toxic Positivity and Spiritual Bypassing with Aundi Kolber

By Alison Cook | March 23, 2023

Phew! Buckle up. Part 2 of my conversation with Aundi Kolber is out today, and it is absolute ! We set aside the script and got real about our own experiences, including. . . 1. How people pleasing becomes a survival response 2. The shame we feel when we start to change 3. Alison’s unexpected...

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Episode 45: Strong like Water—Finding the Freedom, Safety, & Compassion to Move through Hard Things & Experience True Flourishing with Aundi Kolber

By Alison Cook | March 16, 2023

What an honor to have my friend and fellow therapist, Aundi Kolber on the podcast today for Part 1 of our two-part conversation on her brand new book, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things–and Experience True Flourishing Aundi and I connected through social media, and she has...

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Episode 44: Why Anger is a Surprising Friend, What Happens When You Avoid It, and How to Create Space for Healthy Expression of Anger in Your Family

By Alison Cook | March 9, 2023

Today’s episode is all about how to befriend anger. It’s an emotion that can do great harm and one that also has great benefits. Whether you thrive on anger or try your best to bury it, one thing’s for sure-we all have to reckon with it. When you learn to work with your anger, it...

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Episode 43: How to Tame Your Inner Critic, Why All Parts are Welcome, and How to Resolve Conflict in Your Relationships

By Alison Cook | March 2, 2023

Today, I am joined by my friend and co-author of Boundaries for Your Soul, Kimberly Miller, to discuss the almighty inner critic, how to get space from it, and how to bring this work into your relationships. Kim describes how she first encountered Internal Family Systems (IFS) and how combining it with Christian faith and...

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Episode 42: How to Honor Sadness, Set Boundaries with Loneliness, and What to Do When You Don’t Have Time for this Work

By Alison Cook | February 23, 2023

You need your pain. Grief makes you real, and disappointment can inspire creativity, change, and growth. Sadness brings texture to the joys we experience. And yet, it’s also not wise to let sadness take us over. In today’s episode, we discuss how to set healthy boundaries with emotions like sadness and loneliness. Here’s what we...

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Episode 41: Boundaries With Fear And Anxiety—How to Calm the Chaos Within and the Joy of Internal Boundaries

By Alison Cook | February 16, 2023

So many of us live at war with ourselves. We hate our anxiety or battle with fear. We beat ourselves up or try to get rid of these parts of us. But this approach only makes things worse. One of the most surprising ways to calm your anxiety is to stop waging war against it....

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Episode 40: 5 Steps to Healing Painful Emotions & Why Parts of Us Get Stuck in the Past

By Alison Cook | February 9, 2023

Do you ever feel like a part of your soul is trapped in the past, holding you back from fully embracing the present and moving forward? Pain, fear, worry, or even bitterness can weigh heavy on our hearts and minds. This is a common experience for all of us at times. In today’s episode, I...

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Episode 39: Boundaries for Your Soul—How to Navigate Your Overwhelming Thoughts & Feelings

By Alison Cook | February 2, 2023

We all need a map to our soul. A way to understand the emotions, the wounds, the areas that feel broken. That’s what I love about the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy-it provides a map that everybody can incorporate into their daily spiritual practice. It’s your guide to navigating overwhelming thoughts and feelings....

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Episode 38: Taking a Risk on God—How to Stay Standing with Alli Patterson

By Alison Cook | January 26, 2023

Today on the podcast, I’m talking with my friend and teaching pastor at Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, Alli Patterson, about her new book, How to Stay Standing. In this powerful episode, Alli shares her own story of hitting rock bottom when the scaffolding of her life collapsed, and how she rebuilt the foundation from the...

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Episode 37: The Problem With Toxic Thinking & How to Name, Tame, and Transform the Messages You Tell Yourself

By Alison Cook | January 19, 2023

Today on The Best of You Podcast, we’re talking about detoxing from the false beliefs that keep us stuck in unhealthy patterns of relating to other people. These hidden messages are sneaky. They might sound true in the moment, but they keep us from the healthy two-way relationships we need. I also answer your questions,...

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Episode 36: An Update on My Social Media Detox & How to Create Boundaries With Toxic Distractions, Numbing, & Unhealthy Coping Tactics

By Alison Cook | January 12, 2023

Today’s episode is a real-time update on my own social media detox and how what started as a pause revealed a deeper need. I also lay out a practical framework for you to use in sorting out the distractions, numbing, or unhealthy coping tactics in your life and how to replace them with the life-giving,...

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While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this website and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this website are for informational purposes only.

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