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PODCAST

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the science of joy

Henry Emmons MD, Holistic Psychiatry; Aimee Prasek PhD, Positive Psychology

Joy Lab isn"t your typical happiness podcast. We focus on strengthening your mental health with the science of joy, recognizing that joy can be tapped into even amidst experiences like depression, anxiety, stress, grief, and burnout. You can expect a blend of the best cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, positive psychology practices, stress management techniques, and mindfulness skills. Each month we focus on building one Element of Joy such as gratitude, self-compassion, confidence,

health & fitness mental health

All Episodes

30:32

Letting Go of Intrusive Thoughts & Rumination: The...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/10/07

Intrusive thoughts, rumination, worrying... these are nearly universal experiences and the most important thing, particularly when it comes to intrusive thoughts, is that the content doesn't matter as much as what you do with them. Whether it's a shocking thought that pops up out of nowhere or that rumination that woke you up at 3 am and then kept you up last night, the problem isn't necessarily the thought itself. It really has to do with how we grip onto those thoughts. The harder you try to

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14:21

What Are You Holding On To? The Science & Skill of...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/10/01

We define "Letting Go" as the skill of loosening your grip on the thoughts and behaviors that keep you anchored to the past, resisting the present, or anxious about the future. And the goal isn't just to be more present, but to be less burdened and exhausted by the endless effort to edit what happened, control what's happening, and predict what's coming next. When you stop pouring energy into all of that, you get that energy back. We also describe letting go surrendering to what is or allowing

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05:49

A Mental Health Podcast With No Ads? Why We Refuse...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/09/30

If you've listened to a wellness or health podcast lately, you've probably heard loads of advertisements. We've decided that ads are not a good fit for Joy Lab because they can steal your focus from the important wellbeing-boosting work you do here. Of course, refusing to put ads in the podcast means we need support in other ways. Here are some ways you can join in our nonprofit mission, help keep Joy Lab going, and spread more resilience across our communities: Subscribe to Joy Lab Experiments

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28:54

Who Are You Trying to Be Enough For? The Psychology...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/09/23

Are you struggling with not feeling like "enough?" This is actually a common feeling that can get wrapped up or conflated with stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, and so many other mental health struggles. The good news is that no matter what you're dealing with, you do have some influence here and can work on skills to build our sense of self-worth and enoughness. We'll dig into Self-discrepancy theory, which explains how the gaps between our actual, ideal, and ought selves can stir up dejection

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22:19

It's OK to Be Wrong: Releasing Perfectionism &...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/09/16

What does it means to know enough, and why do so many of us have our sense of self-worth tangled up with the need to appear certain, informed, and never wrong? The common obstacles of perfectionism, yearning for power and to feel "special," along with anxiety are fueled by a world of constant information, public scrutiny, and the subtle pressure to prove our intelligence. It makes a tough environment to come back to the wisdom Socrates shared 2,500 years ago: real wisdom lives in knowing what you

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23:27

Why Doing Enough Is Enough + Why Perfectionism...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/09/09

Do you feel like you have to prove your worth through the shear amount of work you do or prove your value by making sure you're seen as busy, always hustling, and super productive? Do you feel burned out, overwhelmed with work, or simply feeling that you're just doing too much? If so, this is the "doing enough" episode, and we hope you come away acknowledging that you're wired to do enough (often more than enough) and that the pressure to do more is something we layer on top of that natural wiring,

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19:54

Having Enough: Why Acquiring More Will Never Fill the...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/09/02

It's easy to feel like you don't have enough; it's the message we constantly receive through media and advertisements. It's the message that once you have this thing, or make this much, then you will be happy... all of your dreams will come true! The truth is actually the opposite as this kind of grasping for more is associated with mood problems, anxiety, and stress. We'll dig into this trap of "having enough" and how we can break free from it and embrace our enoughness. About: The Joy Lab

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28:26

You Are Enough: The Science and Practices of...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/09/01

Experiences with stress, depression, and anxiety are often paired with feelings of not measuring up or that you're not enough. However, feeling that you're lacking in some way is not limited to a mental health diagnosis; these feelings are actually very common and, unfortunately, they make our lives smaller. We're working on our Element of Enoughness in this episode, identifying Enoughness as an inner knowing that you are enough just as you are, with acceptance of where you are at this moment,

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26:23

Manage Energy, Not Time for Better Mood and Mental...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/08/26

Rest and recreation are essential tools for resilience and good mental health as they help support the biological rhythms your body is already running. We'll dig into these rhythms more in this episode by breaking down three layers of the body's natural cycles: Ultradian rhythms (the short cycles within each day), circadian rhythms (24 hour cycle), and infradian rhythms (longer cycles like menstruation and seasonal changes). The practical thread through all three is the same: manage energy, not

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31:54

Rest Isn't the Opposite of Productivity (stress...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/08/19

We're constantly swamped by messages like rest or idleness leads to laziness or that if you rest, then you'll fall behind — it's been repeated by so many self-proclaimed gurus, business experts, and biohacking influencers that we've started to believe the false messaging. The truth is that you're wired to take purposeful action, to have a healthy store of motivation, and to rest so that you can do those things when needed. So, how come so many of us feel stuck in the swing between pathological

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38:42

Healing Doesn't Have to Feel as Heavy As Hurting:...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/08/12

We're digging into a reframe that can change the way a lot of us think about depression, anxiety, stress, and mental health treatment. The reframe has to do with the very common belief that there's one logical fix waiting to be found and that once found, we'd feel better and all will be fixed. The truth is that the way through overthinking, stress, and even anxiety and depression looks a little different for every person. Another thing we'll work to reframe in this episode is the culturally

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24:57

The Power of Play for Depression, Anxiety, & Stress...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/08/05

Is the opposite of depression happiness and the opposite of anxiety just calm? Some researchers have actually played with the idea that the opposite of depression and anxiety might just be... play. It's an interesting idea considering play and depression are inversely related, people who play more report a stronger internal locus of control (the sense that they have some agency over their lives), and when people engage in play, self-reported depression decreases. We'll dig into this more as we look

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37:08

Stop Optimizing & Exhausting Yourself and Start...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/08/01

A big chunk of the self-help and wellness industry runs on some core messages: you are not good enough and you need to be fixed, improved, and optimized. We disagree and hope this element of recreation (and re-creation) helps you brush off some of those false messages and return to what is already good and resilient in you. This is also one of the three months per year (April, August, and December), where we tap more into our rest and activity cycles by doing less and nourishing more. With that in

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21:47

Self-Focused vs. Task-Focused Attention & How Great...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/07/29

This final episode of our Confidence series ties everything together: the inner work of accepting discomfort and self-doubt, defusing from self-critical thoughts, and clarifying values now becomes the foundation for outer action. You can build confidence through the daily practice of taking small committed actions, again and again, in alignment with your values, even when you don't feel ready. We'll dig into strategies like psychological flexibility: the ability to be present with thoughts,

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24:36

Confidence, Motivation, & Values: Focusing on...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/07/22

When confidence is built on external approval, performance, and outcomes, it's fragile. It's also a fragile support for motivation that depends on getting the win, which then boosts your confidence and motivation temporarily, priming you to start the search for your next win to fuel your sense of confidence and refill your motivation tank. The problem comes when the wins sit far apart and your , confidence and motivation start to run on fumes. Or, if you try and fail, then your confidence and

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25:08

You Are Not Your Thoughts: Cognitive Defusion for...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/07/15

You've likely had a situation where you wish you had confidence, but instead felt full of self-criticism, self-judgement, imposter feelings, and anxiety. The good news is that skills like cognitive defusion (the practice of loosening the grip that self-critical thoughts have on you) can help tremendously to help you get some space from those overwhelming thoughts. We'll dig into these thoughts in this episode, explore why they rise up, and introduce some practical tips and strategies to help you

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28:42

Building Confidence with Mindful Acceptance (even...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/07/08

One of the most essential coping skills for building real confidence is mindful acceptance. This is the practice of noticing that fear, self-doubt, and self-consciousness are present and... that's ok. Henry puts it simply: you're acknowledging there's a passenger on the bus. You're just not letting that passenger drive. We'll also take some time to name and untangle the harsh inner critic. That's the voice that pretends to be accurate self-assessment but is usually something absorbed from a

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26:34

How to Build Confidence (When You Don't Feel...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/07/01

Are you not feeling confident and curious how to increase confidence in yourself? If so, know that you are not alone, you are not suffering from imposter syndrome, and you are not in need of fixing. As we start our series on Confidence, we'll work to dismantle the most common — and most damaging — myth about confidence: that confidence is just a feeling and that you need to be confident before you act. We'll focus on a confidence reframe: Confidence is a willingness to act and a trust in your own

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09:18

From Rumination and Defending to Right-Sizing:...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/06/24

Humility is one of the most quietly powerful practices for positive psychology and mental health. It's also one of the most misunderstood. Here's the heart of it: humility is not a weakness. It's not about making yourself small or performing modesty for social approval. It's an accurate, grounded sense of self, what Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren calls "right-sizing." You own your strengths and weaknesses. And you hold your worth steady through all of it. We explored four types of humility this month:

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17:17

Going Beyond Yourself: How Humility Fights...

Joy Lab | strengthen your mental health with the... ·

2026/06/17

Humility is a powerful mental health tool we have. The science of happiness is clear: genuine connection and belonging are among the strongest predictors of emotional resilience and wellbeing. In this episode of Joy Lab we'll explore the final dimension of humility: going beyond yourself. Building on Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren's framework from Humble, we'll explore how knowing yourself and checking your ego aren't the finish line. That's prep work so you can show up for others with open eyes and an

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