This episode digs into the question, “Who’s actually driving the car inside your mind?” Using Internal Family Systems (IFS), I break down how anger, fear, shame, hesitation, and even revenge can hijack the wheel in a split second—leaving you wondering why you reacted the way you did. We look at protectors, firefighters, managers, and the parts of you that step up when you feel hurt, betrayed, embarrassed, or threatened. I share the moment I first learned “there are no bad parts,” and how that shifted my relationship with my own anger and the parts of me built for retribution and self-protection.

We also talk about why Self—not ego, not wounded history, not survival strategies—is the one who should be driving. If you've ever looked back and thought, “That wasn’t the version of me I want behind the wheel,” this episode gives you a way to understand what happened and how to get the keys back. You’ll walk away with a practice you can use this week to notice which part is driving and how to let Self lead with clarity instead of fear.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Why do relationships sometimes hurt more than they should — and when is that pain actually telling the truth?

This episode explores how attachment patterns, negativity bias, and nervous-system threat detection amplify conflict in intimate relationships. You’ll hear why closeness raises emotional stakes, how anxious and avoidant strategies escalate under stress, and where insight helps — and where it can quietly turn into self-blame.

The episode also draws a clear line between nervous-system reactivity and real relational problems, emphasizing repair, structure, and accountability rather than minimizing harm.

A grounded, neuroscience-informed look at why love alone doesn’t regulate relationships — and what actually creates stability under stress.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Most of the pain you feel isn’t coming from the moment itself — it’s coming from the way your brain interprets the moment. In this episode, we break down the neural circuits behind suffering: the amygdala’s threat response, the insula’s reading of bodily sensations, the dopamine and norepinephrine loops that drive craving and avoidance, the prefrontal cortex going offline under stress, and the default mode network turning discomfort into self-story and catastrophe. And we explore why certain timeless principles — acceptance, clarity, presence, aligned action — reliably calm these systems down. No dogma, no mysticism. Just the biology of why we suffer, and the practical skills that help us stop multiplying the pain.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Why you keep doing stuff you know is bad for you comes down to one thing: dopamine. This episode breaks down motivation, procrastination, compulsive habits, burnout, and trauma-driven behavior through the lens of how your nervous system actually works—not the Instagram version, not the lab-coat version. If you’ve ever wondered why you wake up scrolling, chase short-term relief, repeat patterns you hate, or lose momentum halfway through your goals, this is the mechanics behind all of it.

We get into dopamine baselines, craving cycles, overstimulation, trauma-linked intensity seeking, and the loop that keeps pulling you toward behaviors you don’t even enjoy anymore. You’ll learn why stability feels uncomfortable, why big achievements crash harder than failures, and how to rebuild motivation without burnout or shame. This episode gives you the real psychology and neurobiology behind drive, discipline, self-sabotage, and why your brain keeps choosing the wrong thing even when you know better.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Life’s hardest seasons have a way of feeling like the dungeons from the Zelda games many of us grew up with — dark rooms, tough puzzles, unexpected bosses, and the sense that you’re wildly underprepared. In this episode, Brian breaks down how those game mechanics mirror real growth: the tools you only earn in pain, the companions who show up at the right moment, the side quests that give life meaning, and the arrival fallacy that keeps us chasing the next milestone. A deep dive into leveling up through the hardest chapters of your life.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

In this episode, we break down why your amygdala fires in 12 milliseconds and hijacks your reactions long before your thinking brain comes online. From Publix checkout lines to relationship conflict, we explore the “second arrow,” CBT interpretation loops, vulnerability triggers, and how to shift from reflexive reaction to intentional response. This is emotional maturity through a neurobiological lens — without shame, without spiritual bypassing, just clear, grounded psychology.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

This episode explores a simple story with a lot of psychological weight: the raft you build to survive one season of life isn’t the vessel you’re meant to carry forever.
We talk about outgrowing anything that once kept you afloat — relationships, belief systems, workplaces, identities, recovery communities, or roles your family needed you to play.

I walk through the parable of the raft in plain language, connect it to real developmental transitions, and break down what differentiation actually looks like in adulthood:

• letting go without rejecting your past
• growing without apologizing for it
• staying grounded even when others misinterpret your change
• honoring what once protected you without dragging it into every new chapter

We also look at the psychology behind why people get uncomfortable when you grow beyond the container you started in — and how to navigate that without defensiveness or contempt.

This isn’t an episode about addiction or a single recovery model. It’s a conversation about evolution, identity, and the courage to move forward when a structure has done its job.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Explore stuck patterns through a fuller lens — not just as “addiction issues,” but as adaptations shaped by trauma, emotional disconnection, and the roles people had to play in childhood. Drawing on clinical experience, long-term recovery, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and the work of trauma experts, this episode breaks down what some recovery circles never talk about: why emotional suppression becomes the core problem, how rapid mood shifts are often misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder when it’s really dysregulation, the purpose our coping tools served, why peer-led programs help but don’t tell the whole story, and what genuine healing actually requires.

This is a grounded look at human behavior — beyond slogans, beyond self-blame — toward connection, agency, and the slow rebuilding of a relationship with yourself.

Check out the website for articles published weekly: www.naplesintegratedrecovery.com

Want to work together? I see psychotherapy clients in Florida:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/brian-granneman-naples-fl/1153470

I also offer accountability, coaching, and sober companion services. Send an email: brian@naplesintegratedrecovery.com