Dr. Becky Kennedy: Overcoming Guilt & Building Tenacity in Kids & Adults

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Becky Kennedy, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and renowned expert on parent-child relationships and emotional processing. Dr. Kennedy is also the founder of Good Inside, an educational platform for parents and parents-to-be. We discuss how to learn, embody, and teach better emotional processing, leading to healthier relationships—not just in the context of parent-child dynamics but also in the workplace, romantic partnerships and friendships.

Dr. Kennedy shares practical strategies for managing guilt, building frustration tolerance, nurturing emotional intelligence, and being a sturdy parent or person in general. We also explore the impact of technology on emotional processing in both kids and adults and discuss ways to foster greater feelings of capability and confidence. This conversation applies broadly to all types of social connections and aims to empower listeners to cultivate more resilient, loving and supportive relationships.

Articles

• Neural correlates of anxiety under interrogation in guilt or innocence contexts (PLOS ONE)
• Neural mapping of guilt: a quantitative meta-analysis of functional imaging studies (Brain Imaging and Behavior)
• The Neural Signatures of Shame, Embarrassment, and Guilt: A Voxel-Based Meta-Analysis on Functional Neuroimaging Studies (Brain Sciences)
• Guilty by association: How group-based (collective) guilt arises in the brain (NeuroImage)
• Brain Regions Activity During a Deceitful Monetary Game: An fMRI Study (Archives of Neuroscience)

Books

• Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
• Books by Oliver Sacks

Other Resources

• Good Inside
• Building Resilience and Improving Frustration Tolerance in Children (workshop)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Guest Series | Dr. Paul Conti: How to Understand & Assess Your Mental Health
• Dr. Noam Sobel - Tears & Emotion (timestamp)
• Dr. Bernardo Huberman: How to Use Curiosity & Focus to Create a Joyful & Meaningful Life

People Mentioned

• Rich Roll: ultra-endurance athlete, author, podcaster
• Karl Deisseroth: Professor of Bioengineering & Psychiatry, Stanford University
• Oliver Sacks: British neurologist, author
• James McGaugh: Professor of Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine

Sponsors

• AG1
• Wealthfront**
• Our Place
• Joovv
• LMNT
• Eight Sleep

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