For this special bonus episode, Ben shares his experience volunteering at Experience Camps, a free nonprofit camp for kids ages 9–18 who have lost someone they love. After spending a week alongside these kids, Ben talks with Kevin about what he learned about grief, healing, connection, and finding joy even in the middle of loss.

To learn more visit www.experiencecamps.com

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This week is about relationships, how to know if someone is actually right for you, and whether you're being too picky or holding out for what you really want.

Our guest is Beverly Teller, Ben's mom, a longtime therapist, and one of the most requested guests we've had on the show. She's also been giving Kevin “free therapy” around the dinner table for years.

We get into what makes a relationship right for you, what you should and shouldn't compromise on, and how to tell the difference between having standards and protecting yourself from getting hurt. Kevin opens up about what he was looking for in a partner, the pressure he put on himself to become “good enough,” and what dating taught him about himself.

We also talk about healthy conflict, why relationships don't need to be free of disagreement, and how to know when you're fighting to be right instead of trying to understand each other.

If you've ever wondered whether you're settling, asking for too much, or just afraid to take the risk, this episode is for you.

New episodes every Thursday. Follow on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and on Instagram at @freetherapy.

And as a reminder, we are not therapists, and while this may feel like therapy, it's not. So if you're struggling, please reach out to a mental health professional who can help.

0:00 Intro to Ben's mom
10:30 Are you in the right relationship?
17:32 Am I being too picky?
23:02 What should I look for in a partner?
32:15 What is holding Kevin back?
44:56 Secret to a lasting marriage

45:30 Why commitment can feel scary

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This week is about what happens when you finally stop trying to be okay with what happened to you.

Ben sits down with his former therapist, Jessica Serber, who helped him work through years of grief and anger after surviving cancer three times before the age of 24. For a long time, Ben thought healing meant moving on, staying positive, and building a life that had nothing to do with cancer. What he eventually learned was almost the opposite: he couldn’t move through the pain until he let himself actually feel it.

They talk about the anger Ben didn’t think he was allowed to have, the parts of his life he felt cancer had taken from him, and how finally telling the truth about those feelings changed his relationship with the experience. They also get into what healing actually looks like when the thing that happened to you never completely goes away, and how to show up for someone you love when there’s nothing you can say to make things better.

We’ve been best friends since college. We lived in the same house while Ben was going through chemotherapy and still barely talked about what was actually happening. Years later, sitting down with Jess brought us back to conversations we didn’t know how to have then.

If you’ve been carrying pain, anger, grief, or something you’ve convinced yourself you should be “over” by now, this episode is for you.

You can’t heal what you won’t let yourself feel.

New episodes every Thursday. Follow on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and on Instagram at @freetherapy.

And as a reminder, we are not therapists, and while this may feel like therapy, it’s not. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a mental health professional who can help.

0:00 Reuniting with his old therapist
10:00 Allowed to feel his anger
17:51 Seeing his cancer as trophies
28:09 What to say when someone's struggling
35:28 Getting uncomfortable to heal
42:24 Grief camp and giving back

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.