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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
When women and men argue, women can often be more comfortable in expressing their feelings of hurt and anger.
Men can feel distressed by this strength of feeling, and may pull away emotionally. They may feel a very strong urge to occupy the ground of rationality and objectivity, which in turn leads their partner to push harder, desperately seeking emotional connection.
Dr Avrum Weiss is a US-based author and psychotherapist specialising in the internal lives of men. His writing and his work with couples help men and women understand each other more deeply and build a stronger connection.
In this classic reissued episode, Andrew and Avrum discuss the emotion of anger and how our childhoods can influence our adult experiences of it. They share insights from Avrum’s book Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships , and look at how men and women can better understand each other’s internal world.
If You’re Looking for More….
You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
This week supporters will hear:
- Three Things Avrum Weiss 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
Buy Dr Avrum Weiss’ book Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men’s Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships
Find Dr Avrum Weiss’ other books via his website
Follow Dr Avrum Weiss on Facebook @AvrumWeissAuthor
Read Andrew’s books on relationships and self-development
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 Feb 10, 2025
Monday Feb 10, 2025
Does something feel off about your intimate relationships? According to author and couples therapist Dené Logan, the answer to your problem may lie in the interplay of your masculine and feminine energies.
Masculine and feminine polarities are present in every person and relationship. When we’re out of touch with the energetics within ourselves and those around us, it can create an internal struggle and sense of disharmony in our partnerships.
In this episode, Andrew and Dené discuss:
- Understanding the polarities in your partnership
- Integrating masculine and feminine energies
- Moving away from a codependent, transactional view of your relationship
- Some of the historical and cultural reasons our relationships turn out the way they do.
Dené Logan is an LA-based marriage and family therapist, who takes a depth psychology approach. She is also a group facilitator, public speaker, yoga and mindfulness instructor, and the co-host of the Cheaper than Therapy podcast. Dené is also a mentee to acclaimed couples therapist Esther Perel. Her book, Sovereign Love, was published in May 2024.
If You’re Looking for More….
You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
This week supporters will hear:
- How to heal the patriarchal mother wound.
- Three Things Dené Logan 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 Dené Logan’s book, Sovereign Love
Follow Dené Logan on Instagram @dene.logan and on TikTok @denelogan
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 Feb 03, 2025
Monday Feb 03, 2025
Life brings to all of us long periods where we feel lost or confused. We don't know how to get what we want, or even what it is that we want. The struggle to articulate the thing that might really make us “come alive” can be profound, even if we enter therapy.
Charlotte Fox Weber is a psychotherapist, author and the founding head of The School of Life Psychotherapy. Her bestselling book, Tell Me What You Want, explores how to identify and navigate our deepest longings.
In this classic episode, Andrew and Charlotte discuss the idea that we have 12 fundamental desires: to love and be loved; understanding, power, attention, freedom; to create, to belong, to win, to connect, to control; and to want what we shouldn't.
Identifying how these desires play out in your life can be liberating and beautiful, even if you also realise that acting on them is impossible.
If You’re Looking for More….
You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
This week supporters will hear:
- Three Things Charlotte Fox Weber 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 Charlotte Fox Weber’s new book, Tell Me What You Want
Follow Charlotte Fox Weber on Instagram @charlottefoxweberpsychotherapy and on Facebook @charlottefoxweber
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 Jan 27, 2025
Monday Jan 27, 2025
If you’re feeling anxious, meditation and mindfulness may not be the answer. Instead, author KARLA McLAREN would advise us to sit with the feelings of anxiety and hear the useful messages they’re bringing to help us cope with a tricky situation.
In this episode, Andrew and Karla discuss:
- How anger, shame and sadness can be the bearers of crucial information.
- “Negative” emotions and the skills and energy they can provide.
- Why understanding our emotions is so hard.
- How to engage with challenging emotions, when society has taught many of us it’s better to repress them.
Karla McLaren, M.Ed. is an award-winning author, educator, workplace consultant, and social science researcher. Her work revalues even the most “negative” emotions and opens startling new pathways into self-awareness, effective communication, and healthy empathy. She is the founder and CEO of Emotion Dynamics Inc.
She is also the author of many books, including The Language of Emotions, The Power of Emotions at Work, and Embracing Anxiety, and she is the developer of the online learning site Empathy Academy.
If You’re Looking for More….
You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
This week supporters will hear:
- How to Deal With Confusion
- Three Things Karla McLaren 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 Karla McLaren’s new book The Language of Emotions Workbook
Read Karla McLaren’s other books
Visit Karla McLaren’s website
Find out about upcoming courses at the online learning site developed by Karla McLaren, Empathy Academy
Follow Karla McLaren @KarlaMcLarenAuthor on Facebook, @karlamclaren.m.ed on Instagram, @EmotionDynamics on YouTube and on LinkedIn.
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 Jan 20, 2025
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Have you ever felt so defeated and frustrated that you want to just throw in the towel and run away? Author KAY HUTCHISON did exactly that, fleeing her annual holiday to the Cote d’Azur, moving out of her home, and leaving behind her marriage and a well-established career.
In seeking to understand what forced this huge rupture in a previously smooth existence, Kay tried a range of mainstream and alternative therapies. In the end, she took part in 37 different forms of therapy to explore her particular midlife crisis and experience of the menopause. From colonic irrigation through to Shamanic therapy, Kay found solace and insight that she was able to share in her powerful book, My Life in 37 Therapies.
In this reissued classic episode, Kay and Andrew explore the many different ways in which therapy can help us cope with midlife, and its tendency to throw at us so many of the unresolved issues of early life.
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 Kay Hutchison 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
Buy My Life in 37 Therapies by Kay Hutchison
Find out more about dealing with midlife and the relationship issues it can cause in Andrew’s book It’s Not a Midlife Crisis, It’s an Opportunity.
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 Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Society teaches men that strength lies in ignoring their feelings and “soldiering on”. Author and relationship coach BRYAN REEVES has seen the costs of this approach both in his own personal life and those of his clients.
This week Andrew and Bryan discuss:
- Bryan’s story of finding direction after leaving the US Air Force.
- The reasons why men resist unwanted feelings
- The damage this causes to their relationships with family and friends.
A former US Air Force Captain, Bryan is an internationally renowned author, relationship coach and men’s coach. His blog, videos, courses, and books have been consumed by 50+ million people. Bryan co-hosts the popular podcast, “Men, This Way,” and his newest book, Choose Her Every Day (Or Leave Her) has so far sold over 10,000 copies as a self-published edition.
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 Bryan Reeves knows to be true.
- Walk Away Man Syndrome
- 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
Read Bryan Reeves’ new book, Choose Her Every Day (Or Leave Her)
Listen to Bryan Reeves’ podcast Men, This Way.
Visit Bryan Reeves’ website
Follow Bryan Reeves on Instagram @bryanreevesinsight and on Facebook and TikTok @bryanreevesofficial.
Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools
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 Jan 06, 2025
Monday Jan 06, 2025
Do you think about drinking alcohol more than you think about eating sandwiches? Do you spend significant amounts of time thinking about NOT drinking? Or are you one of the many with an uneasy feeling that alcohol is no longer bringing anything good into your life, and may well be holding you back?
Therapist and sobriety expert VERONICA VALLI had a problematic relationship with alcohol for twelve years. She has now been sober for twenty years, and has helped countless others give up drinking.
In this classic reissued episode Andrew and Veronica discuss:
⭐️How giving up alcohol can give you the energy and freedom to be your true self.
⭐️Why your friends may not always be your cheerleaders if you give up drinking.
⭐️Why a drinking problem is really a symptom of another, underlying problem.
⭐️What to do if your partner has an alcohol problem.
⭐️Extreme social pressure to drink and how to deal with it.
Veronica Valli has worked in the field of alcohol recovery for almost two decades. She is an author, podcaster and former clinical psychotherapist.
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 Veronica Valli 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 Veronica Valli’s new book Soberful: Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol
Take a look at Veronica Valli’s website
Listen to Soberful: the Podcast
Find out about the Soberful private group on Facebook
Follow Veronica Valli on Instagram @veronicajvalli and on Facebook @soberfulpage
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 Dec 30, 2024
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Where did you find inspiration and meaning in 2024? This week sex therapist and friend of the podcast TRACEY COX joins Andrew to reflect on another year of The Meaningful Life, and to discuss the episodes that meant the most to them.
They share highlights from episodes with:
- Samantha Rodman Whiten (Dr Psych Mom) on Being an Adult Child of Dysfunctional Parents.
- Jessica Baum on Anxious Attachment.
- Douglas Thomas on What You Can Learn About Yourself from Your Sexual Fantasies.
- Robert Glover on People Pleasing
- Robert Neimeyer on the Six Tasks of Grief
- Joseph Lee on Jungian Dream Analysis (bonus material)
- Alan Pearce on Comas and Near-Death Experiences (bonus material).
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:
- More things we learned last year and first news on exciting new projects for 2025
- 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
Buy Great Sex Starts at 50: How to Age-Proof Your Libido by Tracey Cox
Get the advice you need on your sex life from Tracey Cox
Listen to Tracey Cox and Kelsey Chittick’s SexTok podcast
Follow Tracey Cox on social media: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X.
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 Dec 23, 2024
Monday Dec 23, 2024
It’s hard to move on social media these days without bumping into a post on gratitude. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, this week’s classic interview with Chester Elton, “the apostle of appreciation”, is for you.
According to Chester, gratitude cuts to the heart of who we really are. Gratitude exists at an emotional level and is about WHO is in our lives, WHAT we find meaningful and HOW we live. If we make time for gratitude, we can find a way to live that makes everything less stressful.
Chester and Andrew also discuss the ways we can build gratitude into everyday life, adding meaning and lightness to our daily routines.
Chester Elton has carried out extensive research into how gratitude can help us lead in the workplace. His books, co-authored with Adrian Gostick, include Leading With Gratitude and All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results.
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 Chester Elton 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 Chester Elton’s Leading with Gratitude Book
Sign up for Chester Elton’s free LinkedIn newsletter, The Gratitude Journal
Read Chester Elton’s article on Why We Should be Grateful for Hard Times
Read Jay Shetty’s book Think Like A Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day
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 Dec 16, 2024
Monday Dec 16, 2024
Christmas is a time of heightened emotions: lots of fun, lots of food, plenty of arguments. This year Andrew invites friend of the podcast and love coach CATE MACKENZIE to explore what Christmas means to each of them.
Cate and Andrew discuss:
- Their best and worst Christmas experiences.
- Christmas traditions that work.
- Most evocative Christmas songs
- Cultivating the right mindset to make the most of Christmas
- Accepting pain and disappointment if they arise.
Cate Mackenzie is a COSRT Accredited Sex and Relationship Therapist, Love Coach and Artist. Her passion is supporting people to fall in love with themselves, with life and with others. Cate was the dating coach for Channel 4’s 'The Undateables', a flirting coach on Channel 5's 'The Jeremy Vine Show' and a Sex Therapist on Channel 4's 'Kinky Britain'. Her heart paintings have been sold in 80 countries worldwide through IKEA.
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:
- Different Christmases for Different Times in Your Life
- Three things Cate Mackenzie 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 Cate Mackenzie’s website
Listen to Cate Mackenzie’s podcast, Love, Pleasure and Joy with Cate Mackenzie
Follow Cate Mackenzie on LinkedIn and Twitter @CateMackenzie and Instagram @Catemmackenzie
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