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Speaker 1: Hi, guys, and welcome to another new episode of You

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Speaker 1: Need Therapy Podcast. My name is Kat and I am

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Speaker 1: the host, and today you're getting another episode of just

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Speaker 1: me talking to you guys about something that I wanted

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Speaker 1: to bring up and have a conversation with myself to

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Speaker 1: you about. If you're new to the podcast, I'm a

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Speaker 1: licensed therapist, but I always like to remind everybody quickly

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Speaker 1: before we get into the juice of what we will

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Speaker 1: be talking about, that this is not therapy in itself

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Speaker 1: or a placement. But the hope is maybe something that

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Speaker 1: we talk about might lead you to therapy to work

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Speaker 1: on something that's important to you. So what am I

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Speaker 1: going to talk about today? We are going to talk

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Speaker 1: about this idea or this thing called toxic positivity and

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Speaker 1: what is it? And what's the difference between that and optimism?

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Speaker 1: And is my positivity talks? Am I allowed to be

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Speaker 1: positive anymore? Because oh my gosh, there's all this stuff

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Speaker 1: about positivity being toxic? But I also don't want to

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Speaker 1: just sit in the ship all the time. So what

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Speaker 1: do I do? And to be honest, In the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years, this term has been brought up more

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Speaker 1: and more and more and more, and that's why I

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Speaker 1: want to talk about it. I hadn't even heard of

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Speaker 1: this term until a couple of years ago. Positivity was

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Speaker 1: just positivity, and it was like, well, how can being

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Speaker 1: positive be toxic? And it can be, So we're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about that now. I am a natural optimist and

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Speaker 1: someone who believes in the power of p m A.

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Speaker 1: I've done a couple of episodes about p m A

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Speaker 1: and I find it very valuable and wholeheardly believe in

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Speaker 1: that concept, in that idea, and so when I first

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Speaker 1: heard that the term toxic positivity, I didn't even want

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Speaker 1: to give it the time of day. I just wanted

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Speaker 1: to be like, yeah, that's whatever. I don't want to

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Speaker 1: pay attention to that. But you know, in the end,

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Speaker 1: I kind of had to one because it is a

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Speaker 1: thing and to I'm a therapist and I have to

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Speaker 1: know these things. And that's one of the reasons that

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Speaker 1: I think this episode is important, because this is a

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Speaker 1: thing in the words being thrown out a lot, and

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Speaker 1: so it's keeping but from being able to show up,

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Speaker 1: I think fully, because I don't want to be called

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Speaker 1: out for that. You know, we're in this like call out, cancel, culture,

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Speaker 1: and nobody wants to be wrong, and so then we

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Speaker 1: shut parts of ourselves off. And I'm inviting you to

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Speaker 1: turn those parts of you back on. And toxic positivity

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Speaker 1: is not the same thing as being optimistic, and optimism

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Speaker 1: and positivity have a beautiful place in the world. I

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Speaker 1: also think it's important because when we hear the word toxic,

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Speaker 1: I think we automatically think bad, which totally makes sense.

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Speaker 1: But I also think that there are a lot of

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Speaker 1: people who are spreading and engaging in toxic positivity that

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Speaker 1: aren't actually bad, and they are on bad intentions. They

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Speaker 1: are just doing what they think is right and probably

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Speaker 1: what they've been taught and surrounded by. And I get

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Speaker 1: this like weird, like blaming vibe from content around toxic positivity,

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Speaker 1: And again it's a harmful thing. I'm not pro toxic positivity.

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Speaker 1: But to alleviate this problem isn't to create a icky

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Speaker 1: vibe around it. It's to offer feedback and educate ourselves

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Speaker 1: about it. You know, we can't know until we know. Therefore,

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Speaker 1: today we're going to get into the now. So in

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Speaker 1: simple terms, let's talk about what toxic positivity is. It

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Speaker 1: is when authentic feelings, like real authentic feelings get dismissed

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Speaker 1: by yourself or other people by basically being coerced into

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Speaker 1: looking at the bright side. Right, So it involves dismissing

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Speaker 1: feelings that are perceived as negative and responding to distress

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Speaker 1: with false reassurance rather than like empathy and real connection.

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Speaker 1: It has, like unconsciously, its roots in the idea that

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Speaker 1: feelings are either good or bad, and it invites this

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Speaker 1: idea that morality lives within feelings and they're like feelings

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Speaker 1: are these moral things when they're not. Feelings are feelings.

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Speaker 1: So being positive has been kind of connected to moral

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Speaker 1: rightness or moral correctness, and that means a lot of

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Speaker 1: us judge ourselves for feeling emotions that are seen as negative,

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Speaker 1: and so we have to pull back and realize that, like,

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Speaker 1: wait a second, emotions aren't negative and positive. They are

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Speaker 1: they are not good or bad. There's no moral nous

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Speaker 1: around fee Lanes. If I have taught you guys, anything,

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Speaker 1: it is that feelings are not good or bad. Like

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Speaker 1: that is just something that I harp on over and

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Speaker 1: over because it's such an important truth. They just are period.

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Speaker 1: They are tools and helpful guys, and they help lead

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Speaker 1: us to where we need to go and what we

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Speaker 1: need to ask for and what we need to create.

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Speaker 1: And they may not feel good, right, They might be

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Speaker 1: might be uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean they are morally

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Speaker 1: wrong or bad or we shouldn't have them and we

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Speaker 1: should have other ones. So the pressure to spread um

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Speaker 1: and engage in toxic positivity, it's I get it, Like,

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Speaker 1: if you really sit down and think about it, it

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Speaker 1: makes sense. It comes from feeling uncomfortable with emotions. It

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Speaker 1: comes from being uncomfy, and we're when we're uncomfy, it

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Speaker 1: makes sense that we would want to not be uncomfortable

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Speaker 1: and alleviate that. So, like I said, it's often very

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Speaker 1: well intentioned. We just want to feel better, or we

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Speaker 1: want to help somebody else feel better, or we want

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Speaker 1: to make somebody else feel better, so then we feel better. Right,

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Speaker 1: So we're caring for ourselves by acting like we're caring

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Speaker 1: for somebody else. But what that really can do is

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Speaker 1: cause like a lot of alienation and feeling of disconnection

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Speaker 1: when really, in those moments, when we have those uncomfortable feelings,

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Speaker 1: what we really need is connection, and this does the opposite.

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Speaker 1: So there's this woman named Susan David and she has

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Speaker 1: an awesome ted talk that I recommend listening to, and

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Speaker 1: she describes this kind of idea in her ted talk

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Speaker 1: as having dead people's goals, which I think is such.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it was funny when I heard it, and

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Speaker 1: it's funny when I think about it, because only dead

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Speaker 1: people never feel unwanted or never get disappointed, or never

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Speaker 1: feel uncomfortable. They only dead people never get stressed or

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Speaker 1: have their heartbroken. Tough emotions are just part of what

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Speaker 1: she calls our contract with life. And she says discomfort

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Speaker 1: is the price of admission for a meaningful life, and

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Speaker 1: I just think that that is so true, right, So

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it again. Discomfort is the price of

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Speaker 1: admission for a meaningful life. Meaning if I want a meaningful,

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Speaker 1: good saturated life, I have to be willing to sit

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Speaker 1: in discomfort. I have to be willing to feel a

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Speaker 1: range of emotions. And if I'm not, I am contracting

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Speaker 1: to a less meaningful life. Okay, so let's talk about

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Speaker 1: what toxic positivity can sound like now that we know

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Speaker 1: what it is. Because I think again, because this is

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Speaker 1: so well intentioned. Sometimes we don't think what we're saying

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Speaker 1: is that, but it actually is. So I'm gonna give

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Speaker 1: you some basic phrases and some examples and you can

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Speaker 1: be like, oh I do that all the time, or

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Speaker 1: oh yeah, I really don't like when people do that.

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Speaker 1: I understand that now, So phrases like good vibes only

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Speaker 1: look on the bright side. Yes, but you have so

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Speaker 1: much to be grateful for. Don't let that blank, right,

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Speaker 1: So don't let that make you cry, or don't let

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Speaker 1: that get you down, or don't let that whatever it is,

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Speaker 1: it's not that bad. Other people have it worse, or

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Speaker 1: this one everything happens for a reason. I hate that.

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Speaker 1: I really do hate. I also don't believe that everything

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Speaker 1: happens for a reason, but that's another conversation. So some

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Speaker 1: examples of sometimes what this looks like in an experience

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Speaker 1: would be like somebody who is is struggling getting pregnant, right,

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Speaker 1: maybe they had a miscarriage or something, and somebody says, well,

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Speaker 1: at least you were able to get pregnant. It's like, okay,

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Speaker 1: so I can't I can't be sad then, because at

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Speaker 1: least I can do that. Or when something super bad happens,

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Speaker 1: like there's a correct or maybe you lose your job

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Speaker 1: or you have a breakup and somebody says like, well,

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Speaker 1: everything happens for a reason, and it's like, okay, that's

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Speaker 1: not helpful because it feels very icky and I feel

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Speaker 1: like I'm being punished and why would I be being

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Speaker 1: punished right? Or now? Am I being ungrateful and not

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Speaker 1: staying in line with my faith and my religion because

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Speaker 1: I'm mad that this happened, But it's part of God's plan, right.

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Speaker 1: This can look like telling somebody who's grieving something to like,

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Speaker 1: just look at the positive things in their life they

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Speaker 1: still have, Like maybe somebody's a parent died, and they're like, well,

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Speaker 1: focus on the parent that you do have, And it's like, okay, okay,

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Speaker 1: it seems off, but if that's what I'm supposed to do,

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Speaker 1: I guess. And then again it comes with this like

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Speaker 1: rush of my being ungrateful because I have a parent.

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Speaker 1: And honestly, I think this one is kind of confusing.

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Speaker 1: But when we label people who like and look at

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Speaker 1: people who look happy all the time and and have

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Speaker 1: this like essence of positivity as stronger or like, I guess,

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Speaker 1: more likable, um, that is a form of toxic positivity,

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Speaker 1: Like you're stronger because you can be more happy, but

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Speaker 1: is that what strength looks like? So those are just

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Speaker 1: some examples of what that can look like in in life.

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Speaker 1: And I'm sure some of you guys out there have

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Speaker 1: been like, yeah, I've been told that or I've experienced that,

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Speaker 1: are like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And

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Speaker 1: again you can see in these examples with toxic positivity

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Speaker 1: that negative emotions where what has been being labeled as

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Speaker 1: negative emotions. Right, So emotions that aren't comfortable or being

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Speaker 1: labeled as negative emotions, they're seen as inherently bad, so

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Speaker 1: we shouldn't have them. So by somebody saying don't feel

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Speaker 1: that or it could be worse, trying to alleviate that

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Speaker 1: hurt or sadness or any of that, it's sending the

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Speaker 1: message that those things are bad and you shouldn't feel them.

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Speaker 1: And when these quote unquote like positive ideas or phrases

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Speaker 1: are are pushed towards something, the real experience somebody is

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Speaker 1: having is being denied. Their experience is being minimized like

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Speaker 1: it's not so bad, and they're just being invalidated, which

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Speaker 1: really can when we're invalidated, it actually really does affect

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Speaker 1: us because sometimes we aren't sitting there being like, oh

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Speaker 1: I feel invalidated. We're sitting there and saying to ourselves,

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Speaker 1: oh I'm wrong. Right, there's not always that connection of

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Speaker 1: like they're invalidating me, but this feels valid. There comes

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Speaker 1: this part of me that's like, oh, I'm wrong for

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Speaker 1: feeling this. So a number of problems arise from toxic positivity,

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna talk about it too. And it can

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Speaker 1: be confusing because why would it be bad to be positive?

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Speaker 1: And why would it be bad to look at the

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Speaker 1: bright side? And again, I want you to hear this.

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Speaker 1: I don't think being optimistic and being a positive person

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Speaker 1: is wrong, bad, or harmful. It's this experience of denying, minimizing,

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Speaker 1: and invalidating somebody's emotions that is what can be very,

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Speaker 1: very dangerous. So it can actually lead us to ignore

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Speaker 1: real harm. So because can encourage us to minimize our

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Speaker 1: feelings and reactions to experiences, we may also encourage the

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Speaker 1: minimization of like the severity of something. And so you

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Speaker 1: think about when it comes to abuse, right, then these

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Speaker 1: people might remain in these abusive relationships because it's like, oh,

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Speaker 1: it's not so bad, or look at all the good

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Speaker 1: things he does but at least you have a partner.

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Speaker 1: It's like these kinds of things, like we wonder why

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Speaker 1: it's hard for some people to get out of relationships.

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Speaker 1: And I did this episode on force forgiveness a while ago,

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Speaker 1: and I talked about how sometimes we can be pushed

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Speaker 1: into this box of you must forgive, especially in religious communities. Right,

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Speaker 1: So this brings up this idea of spiritual bypassing that

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Speaker 1: I want to address really quickly while we're here, because

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Speaker 1: encouraging the idea of forgiveness in this space increases the

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Speaker 1: risk of people staying with things like abusive partners and

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Speaker 1: then being abused more so. Spiritual bypassing is a term

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Speaker 1: that was coined by this guy named John Wellwood, and

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Speaker 1: he describes it as a widespread tendency to use spiritual

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Speaker 1: ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues,

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Speaker 1: psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks. So spiritual bypassing comes

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Speaker 1: about when we use spirituality to avoid things, to avoid things,

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Speaker 1: to suppress things, to kind of escape, right, to get

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Speaker 1: away from the uncomfortable stuff we experience in life. And

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Speaker 1: a huge part of it is over emphasizing the positives

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Speaker 1: and avoiding negatives, so over emphasizing our blessings and trying

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Speaker 1: to avoid things that are hard in our lives, right like,

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Speaker 1: so count your blessings and all that. And this happens

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Speaker 1: in many, many religions and spiritual groups. It's not just one.

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Speaker 1: I see it a lot in Christianity because that's the

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Speaker 1: faith that I'm surrounded by the most, but it can

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Speaker 1: happen in any spiritual experience. And because some common examples,

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Speaker 1: just like off the top of my head as I'm

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Speaker 1: thinking about this, are things that you'll hear when like

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Speaker 1: let go and let God. Everything happens for a reason,

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Speaker 1: It's part part of God's plan, like those kinds of things.

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Speaker 1: Pray about it, Oh my gosh. Like in the Episoday

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Speaker 1: with Hannah Brentchure, like a year ago, I think, when

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Speaker 1: out in January she talked about her mental health, like well,

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Speaker 1: if you just would pray more, God would heal your depression.

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Speaker 1: And when we send that message it pushes people to

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Speaker 1: not ask for help, okay, and that it makes us

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Speaker 1: feel like we're bad Christians. So the more I will pray,

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Speaker 1: maybe God will will give give me the healing that

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Speaker 1: I need. And so I have to put it in

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Speaker 1: God's hands, so I can't talk about it because if

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Speaker 1: I talk about it, that means I probably haven't been

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Speaker 1: praying enough, and you can see how that cycle goes.

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Speaker 1: Not great. God gave us the brains we have, so

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Speaker 1: we can reach out to help and get help from

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Speaker 1: the people who have brains that know how to help

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Speaker 1: alleviate and heal some of our mental health, physical health,

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Speaker 1: all of our things. Again another conversation. I just wanted

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Speaker 1: a side step and talk about that for a second,

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Speaker 1: because this is part of that. So another way that

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Speaker 1: toxic positivity can be harmful is that it can encourage

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Speaker 1: someone to start believing that something's like wrong with them,

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Speaker 1: that they're defective because what they hear and what we

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Speaker 1: hear is our experience is wrong. And this can in

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Speaker 1: turn affect our self esteem. Right, so something's wrong with me.

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Speaker 1: I'm defective. And if I can't look on the bright side,

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Speaker 1: if I can't feel okay, or if I can't get

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Speaker 1: over this, then I might feel like I'm like failing

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Speaker 1: or failing at life feeling at being good at this,

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Speaker 1: or I am a bad Christian, I am a bad mom,

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Speaker 1: or I am a bad teacher, I am a bad

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Speaker 1: whatever it is. And then it also perpetuates this idea

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Speaker 1: that in that right, you're defective, you're weak, you're inadequate.

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Speaker 1: So when you feel sad, stressed, angry, hurt, when you're

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Speaker 1: in the pick of your stuff, that means you're weak

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Speaker 1: because you can't get out of it. And this will

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Speaker 1: turn into isolation because that there comes a big old

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Speaker 1: blanket of shame on top of that, and the shame

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Speaker 1: that this develops can kind of deter someone from asking

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Speaker 1: for help, especially like I was saying in that example

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Speaker 1: of the spiritual bypassing, like it can encourage us to

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Speaker 1: not ask for the help that we need that could

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Speaker 1: actually be the solution to this situation. And we need

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Speaker 1: our feelings, right, We need to feel our feelings because

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Speaker 1: our feelings are tools and guides and they lead us

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Speaker 1: to that connectedness, which is asking for help and getting

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Speaker 1: that need met. And this one is a big one.

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Speaker 1: When we create these false positive experiences, what we also

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Speaker 1: are doing is we're losing the ability to develop skills

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Speaker 1: to deal with the world and it's like actual truth

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Speaker 1: as it is, rather than deal with the world with

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Speaker 1: how we want it to be. So when we invite

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Speaker 1: the false positive and that narrative. We're living literally in

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Speaker 1: an in a manufactured and authentic world. I have a

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Speaker 1: tool for dealing with how I want the world to be.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to be rainbows and butterflies in the bright

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Speaker 1: side and the grass is greener, but it's not. So

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Speaker 1: then we miss out on the ability to develop skills

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Speaker 1: to actually deal with the truth that is what we

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Speaker 1: are sitting in. And then also I think it can

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Speaker 1: affect a lot of relationships in the sense that we

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Speaker 1: don't develop communication issues. So if I'm suppo to look

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Speaker 1: on the bright side and not focus on all the

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Speaker 1: bad things like don't nag, don't nitpick, don't choose your

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Speaker 1: battles like that kind of thing, it can actually push

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Speaker 1: us away from creating like conversations. And what I know

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Speaker 1: about conflict is that is an invitation for intimacy. And

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Speaker 1: so we are missing out on this experience to create

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Speaker 1: more intimacy, and then we're building resentment and it pushes

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Speaker 1: us farther from each other. Again, it removes the ability

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Speaker 1: to connect. And when it comes down to it, it's

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Speaker 1: just also very confusing. It just sends the message that

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Speaker 1: I'm wrong, my feelings are wrong like this, this meter

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Speaker 1: inside of me is off, and I shouldn't be feeling this,

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Speaker 1: but the thing is you're feeling it. So it's just

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Speaker 1: very confusing if you sit in that idea and you

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Speaker 1: can't just tell yourself to not feel something. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: work that way. I can't be like, hey, cat, don't

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Speaker 1: be sad, and then all of a sudden, I'm not sad.

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Speaker 1: I wish I could do that. If I didn't want

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Speaker 1: to feel sad, I would have to actively find a

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Speaker 1: way to numb or hide. If I didn't want to

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Speaker 1: just listen to the sadness and and and let that

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Speaker 1: guide me to what I need, I would have to

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Speaker 1: actively find a way to numb or hide, and I

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Speaker 1: would probably have to use in a behavior that can

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Speaker 1: end up being pretty harmful. And then it doesn't actually

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Speaker 1: make that feeling go away. It's a distraction and it

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Speaker 1: just pushes it to the side for a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Toxic positivity is an idea that I think came out

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Speaker 1: of a desire to do good that actually just encourages

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Speaker 1: us to deny authentic, uncomfortable feelings, even though they're very

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Speaker 1: much real and most of the time justified. Which speaking

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Speaker 1: of justified, let's talk about that for a second. So

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Speaker 1: there's a difference between something being justified and something being valid,

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Speaker 1: and I think what happens is often we don't want

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Speaker 1: to validate something that we think is wrong, right, So

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Speaker 1: we don't want to like validate something we don't agree with.

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Speaker 1: But validation doesn't mean we agree with something right. That

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Speaker 1: idea makes sense, like I don't want to encourage something

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Speaker 1: that I think is wrong or bad or this or that.

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Speaker 1: But feelings are never wrong. They literally just are. They're

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Speaker 1: just things. A feeling is alway is valid because it's

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Speaker 1: there and you have it, period, It doesn't mean it's justified.

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Speaker 1: We can validate someone's emotional experience without being like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's justified. You leave that at the door. Just always

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Speaker 1: to do here validate. The solution to toxic positivity is validation.

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Speaker 1: It's very simple, which we're going to get into and

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Speaker 1: I'm going to give you some examples of what that

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Speaker 1: sounds like. But before we do that, I do want

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Speaker 1: to take a second and talk about the difference between

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Speaker 1: like being optimistic and being toxically positive, because I think

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Speaker 1: also those get confused of like can I still be optimistic.

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Speaker 1: Can I still encourage optimism? Can I still encourage hope?

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Speaker 1: And the answer is yeah. The thing about optimism is

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Speaker 1: that optimistic people aren't just like happy people all the time.

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Speaker 1: Optimism involves this very real idea and belief in hope. Right, So,

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Speaker 1: hope is a thing that they hold onto. Hopefulness is

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Speaker 1: the ability to anticipate and believe in positive circumstances and

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Speaker 1: improved outcomes. That's literally, Hopefulness is the ability to anticipate

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Speaker 1: and believe in positive circum stances and improved outcomes. And

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Speaker 1: what we know from research this is very true is

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Speaker 1: having hope actually increases the likelihood of finding what it

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Speaker 1: is that someone wants or longs for. So hope is

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Speaker 1: something that's very helpful. Hope is very healthy. Hope is

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Speaker 1: something that we want to invite into our lives. Now, Again,

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Speaker 1: being optimistic does not mean someone is happy all the time.

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Speaker 1: It does not mean they look at the bright side

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Speaker 1: all of the time. What it means is that even

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Speaker 1: when joy is lacking, they have the ability to choose hope.

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Speaker 1: And you can't outright choose your feelings, you can choose hope.

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Speaker 1: And it isn't black and white that's the thing that's

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Speaker 1: I also want to remind us that. So if you

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Speaker 1: heard how I said that even when joy is lacking,

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Speaker 1: so what that could mean is even when there is

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Speaker 1: a lot of sadness, even when there is hurt, even

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Speaker 1: when that there is an ability to believe something different

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Speaker 1: can be present in the future. I would call myself

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Speaker 1: a very optimistic person. And I have a lot of feelings,

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Speaker 1: like a wide range. I have all the feelings. I

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Speaker 1: feel them all, and I don't like to, but I do.

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Speaker 1: And to be honest, this week, I have been more

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Speaker 1: sad than I have been in a really, really, really

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Speaker 1: long time, and I had to honor those feelings. I

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Speaker 1: didn't like it. I had to honor them and validate

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Speaker 1: them and sitting them and remind myself that it makes

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Speaker 1: sense that I'm experiencing, that my sadness deserved some love

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Speaker 1: and attention and some validation. And I don't think I'm

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Speaker 1: always going to feel this way forever. Therefore, I don't

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Speaker 1: have this initial push to be like, don't be sad,

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be okay, because, like I have this hope

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Speaker 1: in me that knows that it's not always going to

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Speaker 1: be this way. So I can honor what I'm experiencing now,

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Speaker 1: So how do you, guys, get out of this trap

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Speaker 1: or how whether it is that you do it to

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Speaker 1: yourself or you find yourself saying this to other people,

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Speaker 1: Because sitting with discomfort is hard for all of us.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to offer some alternatives that you can offer

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Speaker 1: to yourself and others to get out of it. And

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Speaker 1: like I said, the solution to toxic positivity is validation.

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Speaker 1: And validation does not mean I agree with everything someone

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Speaker 1: is saying. And if we could actually implant that idea

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Speaker 1: in our brain, I think this world would be very,

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Speaker 1: very different. I can validate without saying I agree with you.

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Speaker 1: What it means is I honor your truth is your truth,

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Speaker 1: and I honor your experience as your experience, and I

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Speaker 1: do not have the need to make my experience your experience.

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Speaker 1: There's no rationalization invalidation at all. So here are some

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Speaker 1: examples of what something may sound like when it's spread

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Speaker 1: in a toxic positivity way, and then a way to

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Speaker 1: shift and just validate. So if we look at the

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Speaker 1: phrase look at the bright side, you could try this

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Speaker 1: is really tough, period. That's it. And instead of saying

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Speaker 1: something like it could be worse. You could say, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that sounds like it really sucks. Is there any way

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Speaker 1: that I can support you right now? Or instead of

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Speaker 1: don't let that bother you, you can try yeah, it

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Speaker 1: makes sense that this affected you this way. And instead

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Speaker 1: of it's not that big of a deal, you could say,

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Speaker 1: I hear that this feels really big right now for you.

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Speaker 1: Do you want to talk about it? And it's that

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Speaker 1: of you don't need that negative energy, good vibes. Only

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Speaker 1: you could say even though I don't like admitting it,

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Speaker 1: life can be really tough sometimes. Ah, there, And so

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Speaker 1: we're not trying to fix anything. We're not trying to

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Speaker 1: change anything. We're trying to validate somebody and help them

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Speaker 1: own and acknowledge and respect their experience. I respect their experience.

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Speaker 1: And when I can respect my experience and honor that,

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Speaker 1: I can feel more connected. I can feel actually more

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Speaker 1: okay in that because I don't have to wonder if

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Speaker 1: I'm bad or wrong, and I can listen to my

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Speaker 1: feelings and hopefully allow them to guide me to what

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Speaker 1: it is that I need. So there is my little

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Speaker 1: talk on toxic positivity. It's something that is pretty hot

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Speaker 1: right now because there is a lot of stuff going

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Speaker 1: on in the world, and we don't want to feel

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Speaker 1: it all the time, and sometimes we just want to

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Speaker 1: be good vibes only. But the truth is that's not

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Speaker 1: the truth. So I hope this was helpful, and I

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Speaker 1: hope this felt afe to listen to rather than scary,

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Speaker 1: because my experience is that when people have been talking

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Speaker 1: about this, it felt like it's kind of scary. So

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Speaker 1: I remember, not everything is black and white, and we

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Speaker 1: can own our truth and validate other people's truths at

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Speaker 1: the same time. If you have any questions about this,

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Speaker 1: remember you can always email me at Catherine at you

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Speaker 1: Need Therapy podcast dot com. You can follow me on

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Speaker 1: Instagram at cat dot de fata or the podcast at

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00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,359
Speaker 1: at you Need Therapy Podcast. Thank you for listening and

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Speaker 1: and being part of my little family on here, and

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Speaker 1: I hope you guys have the week you need to

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Speaker 1: have By