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Hello, I am a marital therapist, communications trainer and author. I have thirty-five years helping couples and individuals make better relationships. I have written twenty-plus self-help books which include the international best-sellers ‘I love you but I’m not in love with you’ and ‘How can I ever trust you again?’ My books have been translated into twenty languages. I trained with RELATE the UK’s largest counselling charity. Perhaps it has been turning sixty but I have become interested in spiritual as well as psychological questions. Who am I? What are my values – as opposed to my parents, my teachers and the wider society? What makes my life meaningful? What do I believe about life, the universe and everything? Although my clients might come to me because of destructive arguments, falling out of love and infidelity, they are also interested in having more meaningful relationships and a more meaningful life. So what is the meaningful life? Why do we so easily lose our way and get lost in depression, anxiety, doubt, addictions and obsessions: the swamplands of the soul? One thing I know for sure is that there is not one answer. Each of us has to find out for ourselves what makes our life meaningful. But we can learn from each other, share our experiences of how to navigate the journey, how to endure and learn from the swamp, and finally how to find solid ground. I have decided to use my original training in radio and journalism to interview witnesses for what makes life meaningful. Each week, I invite someone who is a therapist, academic, self-help coach or who has an enlightening personal story to share their knowledge or experiences. I hope our discussions will help you discover what makes your life meaningful and find more purpose and contentment.
Episodes
4 days ago
4 days ago
Matthew Fray is the author of the viral article “My Wife Divorced Me Because I Left the Dishes By the Sink”. His divorce left him emotionally crushed: struggling not to cry all the time, and finding it hard even to breathe.
In this reissued classic episode, Andrew and Matthew talk about the lessons of Matthew’s failed marriage, and about how Matthew is using his own experiences in his coaching work with men experiencing relationship difficulties.
According to Matthew, “the things that destroy our relationships work like cancer…by the time we detect the problem, it’s already too late”. His work is based around helping men to see the problems earlier, and to build the emotional toolkit so many of them are missing.
Matthew Fray works as a relationship coach and writer. He blogs at On the Rocks, and his latest book is This is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- Three Things Matthew Fray knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Read Matthew Fray’s book This Is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships
Read Matthew’s writing on relationships at his blog, On the Rocks.
Follow Matthew on Twitter @MBTTTR and on Facebook @matthewfrayMBTTTR
Read Andrew’s book Can We Start Again Please? Twenty Questions to Fall Back in Love
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Nov 11, 2024
Monday Nov 11, 2024
Whether you’re a talented artist or a complete butterfingers, art and creativity can be a gateway to healing. This week Jungian analyst and professional artist Mark Dean joins Andrew to discuss the connection between art and psychological growth.
Mark and Andrew discuss:
- The power of exploring imagery, symbols and fairy tales.
- How art can help us transcend the rational and make contact with our soul.
- Why the creative field in which you’re least talented can sometimes prove the most psychologically fruitful.
Mark Dean is a Jungian Psychoanalyst living and working in Pennsylvania. Mark formerly worked as an artist, an art therapist, and arts educator before turning his attention primarily to the practice of analysis. He currently is a senior supervising analyst with the C.G Jung Institute in Philadelphia and the Pittsburgh Society for Jungian Analysts. He currently is the Seminar Coordinator for the Philadelphia Association of Jungian Analysts. Mark is also a member of the Interregional Society of Jungian Analysts and the International Association of Analytical Psychologists.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- What is a complex? How do I deal with mine?
- Three Things Mark Dean knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Visit Mark Dean’s website
Take a look at the courses Mark Dean offers for Jung Platform.
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
“Midlife is when those dreams we had when we were young but put aside to earn a living or raise a family can finally be revisited; it’s never too late to be what you wanted to be”.
This is the philosophy of Noon, a community for women in midlife created by Eleanor Mills. Eleanor experienced her own reckoning with midlife after leaving her job with the Sunday Times, confronting an empty nest and dealing with Covid. She embarked on a journey to explore new ways of living and find her “next act”.
In this classic episode, Eleanor and Andrew discuss shifting your perspective on midlife and seeing it as a space without a map. Unlike your twenties, thirties and even forties, there are few expectations around family and career, meaning you can chart your own way and be what you’ve always wanted to be.
If you’re feeling lost or alone after decades of putting other people first, or are exhausted dealing with midlife stresses like divorce, bereavement, redundancy, difficult teens, elderly parents or health problems, then this is the episode for you.
Eleanor Mills is a British journalist who has worked for titles including The Sunday Times and The Times. She was the editorial director of The Sunday Times and editor of its magazine until March 2020. Eleanor is also the founder of https://www.noon.org.uk and inherspace.co.uk
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- Three Things Eleanor Mills knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Visit the Noon website and community created by Eleanor Mills.
Follow Eleanor on Twitter @EleanorMills, on Instagram @eleanorkjmills and on LinkedIn
Find out more about Claire Du Bois and her Tree Sisters organisation.
Take a look at Jarvis Smith’s business My Green Pod.
Read Raynor Winn’s book The Salt Path
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Oct 28, 2024
Monday Oct 28, 2024
If you and your partner feel more like roommates than lovers, this week’s episode is for you. Author, physician and spiritual teacher Dr Robert Carabelli shares with Andrew his top five strategies for keeping passion alive in a long-term relationship.
According to Robert, sex is a gift from the divine, and you and your partner can reach “incredible heights”, no matter your age or level of work-related exhaustion. Andrew and Robert discuss how men can better understand what women want in the bedroom, assessing each other’s “energetic systems”, and why your sex life needs to change and grow as you age.
Dr Robert Carabellli is a physician who lives in New Jersey in the US. He is also the author of Sexual Energy, Spiritual Power.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- How to Be Better At Talking About Sex With Your Partner.
- Three Things Dr Robert Carabelli knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew's free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Read Dr Robert Carabelli’s book, Sexual Energy, Spiritual Power
Visit Dr Robert Carabelli’s website
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Oct 21, 2024
Monday Oct 21, 2024
How do we live knowing that we will die? How can we face death, and how should we prepare for it? Dr Kathryn Mannix has spent her professional life working in palliative care, and the teams she has worked on have been involved in 10-15 thousand deaths.
In this classic episode, Kathryn shares her insights into what it’s like to die and how we can love and support someone approaching the end of their life. If you struggle with thoughts of death - be it from a generalised fear, a terminal diagnosis, or the loss of loved ones - Kathryn’s calm and honest approach will help.
As well as working as a consultant in palliative care medicine, Kathryn is the author of With the End in Mind: How to Live and Die Well, a collection of powerful human stories of life and death. The book draws on a lifetime of clinical experience to offer advice on facing death and living life in its shadow.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- Three Things Kathryn Mannix knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow UpG
Andrew is appearing at the Unlocking Love Summit, where he will be working with a couple recovering from infidelity. Register for the free summit here.
Get Andrew's free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew's new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Read Kathryn’s book With the End in Mind: How to Live and Die Well
Follow Kathryn on Twitter
Find Oliver Sacks’ book Gratitude written at the end of his life.
Read Andrew’s book on grieving the loss of his partner My Mourning Year
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Oct 14, 2024
Monday Oct 14, 2024
Is there an uncomfortable gap between your life goals and the way you are actually living? Do you tell yourself what you want is financial security, but then rack up big online shopping debts? Or perhaps a solid, connected relationship is your goal, but instead you're prioritising work and ignoring your partner’s needs.
This week, counselor and author Thais Gibson joins me to talk about SELF-SABOTAGE. According to Thais, self-sabotage arises from your subconscious, which wants something very different than your conscious mind is telling you. To move forward, you’ll need to uncover and challenge the patterns that are keeping you stuck.
Thais Gibson is a counsellor, best-selling author and co-founder of The Personal Development School. She has a Ph.D. and over 13 certifications in modalities ranging from CBT, NLP, somatic experiencing, internal family systems, to shadow work and hypnosis. Thais had nearly a decade of experience running a successful private practice and founded The Personal Development School, an online learning platform, to provide a more accessible, authentic way for clients to transform their lives. Thais is the bestselling author of Learning Love, and she and her husband split their time between Austin, Texas, and Toronto, Canada.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- The Four Attachment Styles
- Three Things Thais Gibson knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew's free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew's new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Learn more about Thais Gibson’s work:
- Website: The Personal Development School
- Instagram: @thepersonaldevelopmentschool
- YouTube: The Personal Development School
- The Personal Development School Attachment Style Quiz: Take the quiz to find out your attachment style
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Oct 07, 2024
Monday Oct 07, 2024
How do we find meaning in a difficult childhood and a troubled mother-daughter relationship? In this classic episode, Nigerian-American writer, mindfulness practitioner and educator Itoro Bassey speaks with Andrew about how to mother the wounded child inside.
Itoro now lives in Nigeria (after being born and raised in the USA) and is the founder of the digital course, From Surviving to Thriving: Becoming Your Own Inner Author. This course uses writing and energy work to bring students into the present moment.
Itoro has published on culture, identity, and healing for over ten years and now offers intuitive counseling sessions for those in need of support.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- Three Things Itoro Bassey knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Follow Itoro Bassey on Instagram or contact her at itoro.paula@gmail.com
Read some of Itoro’s writing on culture, family and identity:
How to let go of your family's expectations.
How I’m Mothering the Wounded Kid Inside Who Just Wanted Love
Read about Questions for Ada by Ijeoma Umebinyuo.
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Sep 30, 2024
Monday Sep 30, 2024
Many of us feel like we don’t quite “get” mindfulness. Even more have struggled to create a successful meditation practice. Andrew Holecek, author of I’m Mindful, Now What?, joins us this week to broaden and deepen our understanding of mindfulness, and show us how to integrate it into our daily lives.
Our host Andrew talks with our guest Andrew about:
- Why everyone can meditate, and how to start right now.
- The importance of connecting with your physical body.
- The benefits and limitations of mindfulness
- Coping with emotions like anger, jealousy and fear using meditation and mindfulness.
Andrew Holecek is a renowned author and humanitarian who teaches internationally on spirituality, meditation, lucid dreaming, and the art of dying. He has studied sleep yoga, bardo yoga, and other traditional practices with living masters in India and Nepal. Andrew’s books include Dreams of Light, Dream Yoga, and Reverse Meditation. His work has appeared in Psychology Today, Parabola, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Utne Reader, Buddhadharma, Light of Consciousness, and many other periodicals. He hosts the popular Edge of Mind podcast and is the founder of the Night Club community, a support platform for nocturnal meditations.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- Nocturnal Meditations
- Three Things Andrew Holecek knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew G. Marshall’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Read Andrew Holecek’s new book, I’m Mindful, Now What?
Follow Andrew Holecek on Instagram and Facebook @andrewholecekauthor
Visit Andrew Holecek’s website https://www.andrewholecek.com
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
In this classic episode, Andrew speaks with coach and teacher Dena Justice about the work she does with women experiencing burnout in their careers and relationships.
Despite loving her career, Dena hit a point where she felt empty - she was a classic case of a high performer and leader hitting burnout. That led her to choose a powerful pivot out of conventional employment and into her own business.
At the same time, Dena also consciously decided to up-level ALL of her relationships, including spending 3 years intentionally single so she could identify and change the patterns she was repeating that were contributing to relationship dissatisfaction.
Combining all of her experience, Dena now helps other women who are high performers hitting burnout and are scared to admit they’ve hit a plateau or a wall. She helps them get out of their own way and move to the next level to increase their impact so they feel fulfilled and inspired again, as well as helping them create the relationships they want in their lives.
Dena Justice is a coach, mentor and teacher. She is the creator of The Ecstatic Collective. Dena’s lifelong interest in mentoring and coaching began at age seven, when she took her first social-emotional training program. At 15, she taught her first personal development course. She has undertaken years of training in conflict management and mediation, leadership, communication, facilitation, and has two Master’s degrees.
Subscriber Content This Week
If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:
- Three Things Dena Justice knows to be true.
- AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Take a look at the courses Dena Justice offers in NLP and anxiety management, on her website
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall
Monday Sep 16, 2024
Monday Sep 16, 2024
Can the ancient teachings of Zen Buddhism help us engage with the challenges work, family and relationships throw our way? Teacher, author and Zen Buddhist priest Peter Coyote believes that they can: his new book, Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is, argues that Zen can be both a creative problem-solving mechanism and a moral guide; ideal for the stresses and problems we face day-to-day.
Andrew and Peter discuss:
- How Peter found Buddhism and became a Zen Buddhist priest.
- Why Buddhism ISN’T about turning away from the world.
- Why we need more than just “self-help”.
- How Zen Buddhism helps us engage with the suffering we see in the world.
- The importance of meditation.
- The usefulness of Buddhist teachings like The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
Peter Coyote is an award-winning actor, narrator, and Zen teacher. He is recognized for his acting in 160 films including E.T., Outrageous Fortune, Bitter Moon and Cross Creek, and his narration work in over 140 documentaries. He narrated the PBS series The Pacific Century, winning an Emmy Award, as well as fourteen Ken Burns documentaries, including The Roosevelts, for which he won a second Emmy. In 2011 he was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest and in 2015 received “transmission” from his teacher, making him an independent Zen teacher who has ordained his own priests. His latest book is Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is, and he is also the author of several volumes of poetry.
Follow Up
Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
Read Peter Coyote’s book Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is
Visit Peter Coyote’s website
Follow Peter Coyote on Facebook @AuthenticPeterCoyote
Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall