What exactly do sports teach us emotionally?

In this episode, Taylor and Jihad explore sports as more than competition or entertainment. From team culture and coaching to vulnerability, resilience, identity, and emotional expression, they unpack why sports can become one of the few socially accepted places where people fully experience the highs and lows of being human.

They discuss:

• Why sports create space for emotional expression
• The psychological differences between team sports and individual sports
• Healthy team culture vs toxic “bro culture”
• Vulnerability, public failure, and performance
• Coaching, accountability, and emotional development
• Why shared struggle creates connection
• Fanaticism, fandom, and identity
• The emotional lessons hidden inside competition
• The psychology behind “pulling the goalie”
• What sports can teach people about resilience, belonging, and growth

Along the way, they also tell stories about Boy Scouts, basketball, cycling, coaching young athletes, traveling to Lakers games, and the strange ways humans bond through hardship and absurdity.

The Emotional Men Podcast is real conversations about psychology, therapy, relationships, identity, and the messy business of being human.

#EmotionalMen #EmotionalMenPodcast #SportsPsychology #MentalHealth #Psychology #MensMentalHealth #Vulnerability #TeamCulture #Resilience #EmotionalIntelligence #Coaching #TeamSports #PersonalGrowth #PerformancePsychology #Podcast

What happens when facts and feelings don’t line up?

In this episode, Taylor is joined by organizational psychology professional Jihad Sakhnini for a wide-ranging conversation about how people actually make decisions. Not just logically, and not just emotionally, but somewhere in between.

They explore the difference between what’s true and what’s real, why feelings can feel like facts, and how curiosity becomes the key tool for navigating both without getting stuck. Along the way, they dig into self-awareness, relationships, internal dialogue, and why most people skip the step that actually leads to better decisions.

This isn’t about choosing facts or feelings. It’s about learning how to work with both.

• The difference between facts, feelings, and lived experience
• Why feelings feel true (even when they’re not)
• The role of curiosity in decision-making
• How people jump from sensation to certainty
• Why noticing your body matters more than you think
• The gap between what’s true and what’s real
• How internal dialogue shapes perception
• Why most people struggle with “yes,” “no,” and everything in between
• The concept of “scared yes” vs. “sad no”
• How relationships improve when you stop assuming and start exploring

• You don’t have to choose between facts and feelings. You just need curiosity to navigate both
• Feelings aren’t facts, but they are real data about your experience
• Most people skip curiosity and go straight to interpretation, and that’s where problems start
• Learning to notice before you assign meaning gives options for action
• Clear decisions often come from understanding your internal signals, not ignoring them

• The difference between truth and personal reality
• Why high performers focus on what they feel, not what they assume it means
• How curiosity creates space for better conversations and decisions

#CuriosityOverCertainty #FactsVsFeelings #EmotionalIntelligence #SelfAwareness #MentalHealthPodcast #Psychology #TherapyTalk #HumanBehavior #DecisionMaking #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #Relationships #Communication #Emotions #CriticalThinking #SelfDevelopment #InnerWork #EmotionalMenPodcast

What does it actually mean to be successful, and what happens once you get there?

In this episode, Taylor and Pete break down the idea of managing success, moving past surface-level definitions like money and status to explore something more complicated: choice, effort, timing, and the role of luck.

They dig into why most people struggle to define what they want, how success often shows up as a process rather than a moment, and why opportunity alone doesn’t guarantee anything. From career pivots to missed chances to the uncomfortable reality of privilege, this conversation challenges the idea that success is purely earned or purely accidental.

The episode also explores a key tension: is success defined by outcomes, or by the effort and intention behind them? And what happens when the thing you thought you wanted turns out not to fit once you get there?

This is a grounded, honest look at success without the usual “grind mindset” nonsense. Just two therapists trying to make sense of how people actually build lives that work.

• Why most people can’t clearly define success
• The difference between being lucky and being successful
• How opportunity becomes something meaningful (or gets wasted)
• Success as a process vs. a single moment
• The role of effort, intention, and outcome
• Why rigid goals can block growth
• When to stay the course vs. when to pivot
• The connection between success and choice
• Personal vs. professional success, and when they conflict
• How relationships and lived experience shape what success actually feels like

• Success isn’t something you stumble into. You build it over time
• Luck creates opportunity, but action determines what happens next
• If you don’t define success for yourself, you’ll chase someone else’s version
• Effort matters, even when outcomes don’t match expectations
• Pivoting isn’t failure. It’s often necessary
• The ability to choose how you spend your time is a major form of success
• What you gain along the way may matter more than the original goal

• Pete shares a major career decision that shaped his path
• Taylor reflects on how a chance encounter led him into therapy
• A discussion on why lottery winners often lose everything
• The idea that success can come from what you gain, not just what you achieve
• A real-time debate: is success outcome-based or effort-based?

The Emotional Men Podcast is two therapists talking about mental health, human behavior, and what it actually looks like to live a meaningful life.

Taylor McCarrey and Pete Kingsley bring a mix of professional experience, personal stories, and straight-up honesty to conversations about growth, relationships, and the messiness of being human.

Email: emotionalmenpc@gmail.com

#EmotionalMen #Podcast #Success #PersonalGrowth #MentalHealth #Psychology #SelfReflection #LifeChoices #GrowthMindset #Therapy #Resilience #Purpose #Meaning #EmotionalHealth #MensMentalHealth

What does power actually do for us, and how much control does it really give us?

In this episode, Taylor and Pete dig into the pursuit of power from several angles: social power, financial power, professional power, physical power, and the power that comes from knowledge and skill. They talk about how people relate to power, why so many of us chase it, and why having more influence does not necessarily mean having more control.

Along the way, they unpack the difference between power and control, the illusion that power can protect us from uncertainty, and the ways people use their power well or badly. They also explore how power affects relationships, perception, humility, confidence, and identity.

This is a conversation about status, influence, vulnerability, self-awareness, and what it means to live honestly in a world where very little is ever fully under our control.

We talk about

* Why people pursue power in the first place

* Different forms of power: money, knowledge, relationships, and physical ability

* The difference between influence and control

* How power changes the way we see ourselves and others

* Why visibility is not the same thing as expertise

* Whether humility and power can coexist

* How accomplishments build confidence and self-trust

* Why trying to eliminate uncertainty usually backfires

A lot of people talk about power like it is automatically corrupting, or automatically necessary. This conversation sits in the tension between those ideas. Power is real, useful, and unavoidable. But control is far less solid than most of us want to believe.

#EmotionalMenPodcast #MentalHealthPodcast #TherapyPodcast #PowerAndControl #Psychology #SelfAwareness #PersonalGrowth #EmotionalHealth #Relationships #Masculinity #MentalHealth #TherapistPodcast #HumanBehavior #Confidence #Control

Confidence gets talked about like it’s always a good thing, and that's generally true. But there's a line where confidence turns into overconfidence, and eventually into something closer to delusion. The problem is, that line isn’t always obvious.

In this episode, Taylor and Pete break down what confidence actually is, where it comes from, and how it’s different from arrogance, insecurity, and blind belief in yourself. They explore how confidence shows up in real life, from therapy rooms to music, from fighter pilots to brain surgeons, and why the same trait can either build trust or destroy it.

They also dig into the uncomfortable part: what happens when you’re confident and still fail. Does that mean you were wrong about yourself? Or does it mean something else entirely?

The conversation lands on how to build a more grounded version of confidence. One that’s built through experience, tested by reality, and strengthened by stepping just outside your comfort zone instead of pretending you’re already great.

• What confidence actually is (and what it isn’t)
• The difference between confidence, overconfidence, and delusion
• Why confidence without reality checks becomes dangerous
• How humility and confidence are more connected than people think
• The role of experience in building real confidence
• Why some people avoid confidence while others lean too far into it
• How context changes what confidence looks like
• The difference between self-confidence and self-esteem
• Why failure doesn’t automatically mean you were wrong about your abilities
• How to grow confidence in a way that actually holds up in the real world

Confidence isn’t pretending you’re great.
It’s knowing what you can do, testing the edges of that honestly, and letting reality sharpen you instead of breaking you.

#Confidence #SelfConfidence #MentalHealth #Therapy #Psychology #PersonalGrowth #Mindset #SelfAwareness #EmotionalIntelligence #Overconfidence #Delusion #GrowthMindset #LifeSkills #Podcast #MentalHealthPodcast #TherapistTalk #EmotionalMenPodcast

Oftentimes, people think they’re reacting to the person in front of them when they're really reacting to someone that person reminds them of.
They’re reacting to patterns from past relationships.

In this episode, we break down transference in psychology, which is the process where past experiences shape how you respond to people in your life today. Whether it’s your partner, your boss, or even your therapist, old relationship patterns can quietly influence your reactions, expectations, and emotions.

We talk about how projection in relationships shows up in everyday life, why emotional triggers feel so strong, and how past experiences can make you misread what’s actually happening in the present. This isn’t just a therapy concept. It’s something that affects communication, conflict, and connection in real relationships.

We cover:

• How past relationships shape emotional reactions
• The difference between what happened and what’s happening
• Why “I can’t trust anyone” can feel true after difficult experiences
• How therapists understand transference and countertransference
• The risk of turning people into someone they’re not

This episode also explores how emotional intelligence and self-awareness can help you recognize these patterns and respond differently so you’re not stuck repeating the same dynamics.

#transference #psychology #trauma #attachment #therapypodcast #therapiststalking #mentalhealth #therapy #relationships #psychology #selfawareness #emotions #personalgrowth #podcast #emotionalintelligence

In this episode, Taylor McCarrey and Pete Kingsley explore the complicated relationship between religion and mental health through the lens of religious trauma.

Religion can offer meaning, structure, and community. For many people, it forms the foundation of their moral beliefs and their understanding of the world. But when authority, shame, or fear are used in the name of faith, the same system that provides belonging can become a source of deep psychological harm.

Taylor and Pete discuss what religious trauma actually is and why it can be difficult to recognize. Unlike many forms of trauma that come from a single event, religious trauma often develops within a culture or belief system over time.

When a person’s identity, morality, and sense of worth are tied to religious expectations, harmful messages can shape the way they see themselves and their place in the world.

The conversation explores several themes commonly associated with religious trauma, including the loss of spirituality, the subjugation of the self, altered health outcomes, and the loss of community. The hosts also examine the difference between guilt and shame, and how systems that teach people they are inherently bad can create lasting emotional damage.

At the same time, both hosts emphasize that religion itself is not inherently harmful. Faith traditions can provide meaning, connection, and moral guidance. The real danger appears when authority is misused, when questioning is discouraged, or when belief systems become rigid and punitive.

They also discuss why leaving a religious environment can be so difficult. Religious communities often provide a person’s social structure, relationships, and identity. Walking away from that system can mean risking the loss of community and belonging.

Ultimately, the episode asks an important question: what does healthy faith actually look like?

Religion, at its best, should encourage growth, humility, and compassion. It should expand a person’s sense of meaning rather than diminish their worth.

As Taylor says in the episode, religion should be an invitation to more, not proof that you deserve less.

Topics discussed include:

• What religious trauma actually means
• The difference between “big T” trauma and smaller but meaningful harms
• How religious culture can shape identity and mental health
• The role of authority and groupthink in spiritual communities
• Shame vs guilt in moral development
• The psychological impact of leaving religious communities
• Why questioning faith can be an essential part of healthy belief

About the Hosts

Taylor McCarrey is a licensed mental health practitioner practicing in Texas and Washington.

Pete Kingsley is a licensed mental health practitioner in Washington and Idaho and a PhD student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Together they bring decades of experience in psychotherapy, research, and lived experience navigating life, mental health, and culture.

Connect with the show

Email: emotionalmenpc@gmail.com

Follow and subscribe to support the podcast and join the conversation.

#ReligiousTrauma
#FaithAndMentalHealth
#ReligionAndPsychology
#MentalHealth
#Therapy
#Psychology
#Spirituality
#HealingFromTrauma
#FaithAndDoubt
#MentalHealthPodcast

In this episode, Taylor and Pete dive into the growing cultural presence of therapy language and the ways it can be misunderstood or misused. As more people become familiar with psychological terminology, the risk increases that those terms will lose precision, or become tools for avoiding responsibility, shutting down difficult conversations, or claiming authority in arguments.

The conversation begins with a look at how therapy concepts often migrate into everyday speech. Words like gaslighting, trauma, and toxic behavior have real clinical meanings, but they are frequently used in casual ways that dilute their significance. Taylor and Pete discuss how this erosion of meaning can make genuine psychological concepts harder to recognize when they truly matter.

A major focus of the episode is the idea of “weaponizing therapy speak.” This happens when therapy language is used not to clarify or understand an experience, but to control the conversation. Labeling someone’s disagreement as “gaslighting,” claiming every uncomfortable moment is “trauma,” or hiding behind a diagnosis to avoid responsibility are all examples of how therapeutic language can become a conversational shortcut rather than a path toward understanding.

The hosts also explore the relationship between accountability and diagnosis. Mental health conditions can absolutely make certain tasks or behaviors more difficult, but difficulty is not the same as impossibility. When therapy language becomes a shield against responsibility, it undermines both personal growth and the credibility of mental health work itself.

Another key theme is the power dynamic inherent in therapy. Therapy is not harmless or weightless. It carries influence. Therapists hold authority, training, and the ability to shape how people understand their experiences. Clients also hold power, because the therapeutic relationship only works when both parties engage honestly. Recognizing and respecting that power on both sides is essential for ethical and effective therapy.

Taylor and Pete also break down what therapists actually mean when they talk about evidence-based practice. In popular culture, people often assume therapy should work like medicine or physics: apply the correct technique and the problem goes away. In reality, effective therapy depends on three interconnected elements: research, the therapist’s expertise and relationship with the client, and the unique experiences and willingness of the client themselves. Without all three, even the most evidence-supported techniques may fail.

The conversation also tackles the meaning of trauma, highlighting the difference between clinical definitions and lived experience. In clinical contexts, trauma often refers to exposure to life-threatening events or serious harm. In lived experience, trauma can also involve moments that fundamentally disrupt a person’s assumptions about safety, identity, or the world around them. Understanding this distinction helps prevent the term from becoming either overused or dismissively minimized.

At its best, therapy gives people better tools to understand themselves and one another. But like any tool, those ideas need to be used carefully, honestly, and with a willingness to engage rather than shut things down.

#MentalHealth
#Psychology
#Gaslighting
#Trauma
#EmotionalIntelligence
#Communication
#Relationships
#PersonalGrowth
#MensMentalHealth
#Boundaries
#Accountability
#SelfAwareness
#EmotionalMenPodcast