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The Voyage Cast: Real Talk on Marriage, Mental Health, & Emotional Growth

The Voyage Cast: Real Talk on Marriage, Mental Health, & Emotional Growth

Di: Eddie Eccker
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When life needs more than a session, we’re here to help beyond the office.

Welcome to The Voyage Cast, a podcast for anyone seeking real guidance in relationships, emotional health, personal growth, and mental health news. Hosted by Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Eddie Eccker, this show offers therapy-informed insights for navigating the tough stuff like conflict, communication breakdowns, and disconnection in marriage or family life.

🎙️ Each episode covers topics like:
👉 Marriage repair and relationship tools
👉 Emotional intelligence and mental wellness
👉 Communication strategies that actually work
👉 Real-life stories and interviews about healing, change, and resilience

👉 Current news impacting & shaping our culture & the field of mental health


Whether you’re facing challenges in your relationship, trying to break unhealthy patterns, want a roadmap for deeper connection and lasting love, or you just want to know what's going on - The Voyage Cast helps you stay the course.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes and tools that go beyond the office.
🌐 Learn more at: https://www.voyagescounseling.com/ or https://www.eddieeccker.com/

© 2026 The Voyage Cast: Real Talk on Marriage, Mental Health, & Emotional Growth Economia Gestione e leadership Igiene e vita sana Leadership Psicologia Psicologia e salute mentale Successo personale Sviluppo personale
Episodi
  • Porn Is a Monkey's Paw (A Halloween Episode)

    Porn Is a Monkey's Paw (A Halloween Episode)
    Oct 29 2026
    Send us Fan MailA ghost story from 1902 is a great description for what pornography does to a man. This Halloween episode reads you the ending of The Monkey's Paw, then uses it to explain why porn is so hard to quit: it pays, the cost comes from a direction you aren't watching, and every fix you try while still holding it makes it worse.This one is for the man who has tried to quit porn more times than he can count, the wife or girlfriend who found it and can't understand why he won't just stop, and the friend who is about to get a phone call.In this episode:The reading. The last third of W. W. Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw, the way it was written.The bargain. Three things in the story that explain the struggle: the paw pays, the cost arrives sideways, and the second wish makes it worse.What the research actually says, including the parts that don't help my case. The 50-study review on porn and relationship satisfaction. Why the effect is small on average and why that doesn't mean what people think. The study that found viewing alone, not viewing, is where the damage is. Starting porn and divorce. Whether it's an addiction (the DSM says no, the WHO says sort of). The MRI study. Why "porn causes ED" is kind of a myth but does contain some real warnings.How men get out. The one treatment with a real trial behind it, what medication does and doesn't do, and the six things I tell the men I work with.For the wife. You are not the cause of this. You are a partner in the marriage. Both are true at the same time.A friend's story. James Michael told his wife. Then they went out for Chinese food.Not kid-friendly. Frank discussion of pornography.If you're in need of support, Voyages Counseling can help. New clients: (720) 729-7372. https://www.voyagescounseling.comTHE STORYThe Monkey's Paw, W. W. Jacobs (1902), full text: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12122MENTIONED IN THE EPISODEJames Michael, "A History of Secrets: What It Takes to Tell the Truth," The Good Men Project: https://goodmenproject.com/arts/102137/?shem=aimgspeMy article on Proverbs 7 and how affairs start, "I Never Thought I Would Be the One": https://www.eddieeccker.com/post/i-never-thought-i-would-be-the-oneTHE RESEARCH, IN THE ORDER I TALK ABOUT ITWright, Tokunaga, Kraus and Klann (2017), Pornography consumption and satisfaction: a meta-analysis: https://academic.oup.com/hcr/article-abstract/43/3/315/4670699Abdi et al. (2024), Effect of pornography use on sexual satisfaction: a meta-analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39267458/Maddox, Rhoades and Markman (2011), Viewing sexually explicit materials alone or together: https://www.doi.org/10.1007/S10508-009-9585-4Perry and Schleifer, Till porn do us part? Pornography use and divorce (summary): https://www.asanet.org/wp-content/uploads/pr_am_2016_perry_news_release_final.pdfGrubbs et al. (2019), Self-reported addiction to pornography in a nationally representative sample: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=psych_pubBriken et al. (2024), Assessment and treatment of compulsive sexual behavior disorder: https://academic.oup.com/smr/article/12/3/355/7634799Voon et al. (2014), Neural correlates of sexual cue reactivity in compulsive sexual behaviour (summary): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140711153327.htmJacobs et al. (2021), Online pornography and sexual dysfunction in young men: https://publichealth.jmir.org/2021/10/e32542Malcolm and Naufal (2014), Are pornography and marriage substitutes for young men?: https://docs.iza.org/dp8679.pdfCrosby and Twohig (2016), Acceptance and commitment therapy for problematic internet pornography use (summary): https://cehhs.usu.edu/news/2016/pornography-treatmentPsychotherapy for problematic pornography use: a comprehensive meta-analysis (2025): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40126561/Savard et al. (2022), Naltrexone and paroxetine vs placebo for compulsive sexual behavior disorder: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9453901Support the showWhat does it take to keep becoming? Eddie Eccker wrestles with that question on The Voyage Cast through interviews, topical discussions, and teachings on emotional health, marriage and family, faith, and the habits and stories that shape a life.Connect Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voyagescounselingco/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573649534384 X: https://twitter.com/thevoyagecast Website: https://thevoyagecast.com Eddie Eccker: https://www.eddieeccker.com Voyages Counseling: https://www.voyagescounseling.com
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    51 min
  • The Princess Bride, Part 2: As You Wish | Why “I Do Everything for You” Isn’t Landing

    The Princess Bride, Part 2: As You Wish | Why “I Do Everything for You” Isn’t Landing
    Oct 27 2026

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    “As you wish.” Three words that sound like a servant talking to his boss, and Buttercup knew Westley by them the instant she heard them. Why did those words get through when the line about pain didn’t?

    In the second of six episodes of The Princess Bride, licensed marriage and family therapist Eddie Eccker returns to the farm, where a rude farm girl orders a farmhand around, and he answers the same way every time. The scene usually gets read as proof that love is action, not words. Eddie thinks that reading is wrong, and the real lesson is more useful.

    What’s in this episode:

    The pitcher she could have reached herself, and what John Gottman calls a bid
    Turning toward, away, or against: what Gottman’s lab actually counted, and the 86 percent to 33 percent gap between couples who stayed married and couples who didn’t
    Why the famous divorce prediction numbers deserve skepticism (Heyman and Slep, 2001)
    Harry Reis on responsiveness, the feeling that your partner gets you
    What the 2024 review of love languages found (Emily Impett, University of Toronto)
    The bad version of “as you wish,” and why going quiet to keep the peace isn’t it
    Two things to try this week: count your partner’s reaches for seven days, and make one bid plain

    For the listener who does everything and says nothing, and the one who says all the right things and can’t figure out why none of it lands. And for anyone who, like the grandson, didn’t sign up for the kissing parts.

    Next episode: Vizzini, his favorite word, and the mistake smart, careful people make about their spouses every day.

    Eddie Eccker, MS, LMFT, is co-owner of Voyages Counseling in Colorado and the author of You Are Not Finished (coming 2027) at eddieeccker.com and voyagescounseling.com.

    Sources:

    • Gottman Institute, Turn Toward Instead of Away, on the 86 and 33 percent figures
    • Heyman, R. E., & Slep, A. M. S. (2001). The hazards of predicting divorce without cross-validation. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(2), 473–479. Full text
    • Reis, H. T., Clark, M. S., & Holmes, J. G. (2004). Perceived partner responsiveness as an organizing construct in the study of intimacy and closeness. In D. J. Mashek & A. Aron (Eds.), Handbook of Closeness and Intimacy (pp. 201–225). Erlbaum.
    • Impett, E. A., Park, H. G., & Muise, A. (2024). Popular psychology through a scientific lens: Evaluating love languages from a relationship science perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Abstract | University of Toronto summary

    Support the show

    What does it take to keep becoming? Eddie Eccker wrestles with that question on The Voyage Cast through interviews, topical discussions, and teachings on emotional health, marriage and family, faith, and the habits and stories that shape a life.

    Connect
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voyagescounselingco/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573649534384
    X: https://twitter.com/thevoyagecast
    Website: https://thevoyagecast.com
    Eddie Eccker: https://www.eddieeccker.com
    Voyages Counseling: https://www.voyagescounseling.com
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    16 min
  • The Princess Bride, Part 1: Life Is Pain | What to Accept and What to Fight

    The Princess Bride, Part 1: Life Is Pain | What to Accept and What to Fight
    Oct 22 2026

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    “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” It’s the most quoted line in The Princess Bride, and the man who says it is right about pain and wrong about the woman he loves.

    In the first of six episodes on The Princess Bride, licensed marriage and family therapist Eddie Eccker takes the hilltop scene apart. Westley, masked as the Dread Pirate Roberts, tells Buttercup that life is pain while believing a story about her that isn’t true. The episode is for anyone in a hard stretch who keeps thinking this shouldn’t be happening.

    What’s in this episode:

    Why valuing happiness too highly can make people less happy (Iris Mauss, UC Berkeley)
    Radical acceptance, where Marsha Linehan’s DBT skill came from, and how it gets misused
    The 2018 study that found accepting your feelings helped and accepting your situation didn’t (Brett Ford, University of Toronto)
    Cynicism as armor, and why Westley couldn’t tell his real injury from the story he built on it - A two-sentence practice for the next time you think this shouldn’t be happening

    Haven’t seen the movie? Watch it this week. The sword fight on the Cliffs of Insanity is one of the best in cinema, and the actors did it themselves.

    Sources and research notes:

    • Ford, B. Q., Lam, P., John, O. P., & Mauss, I. B. (2018). The psychological health benefits of accepting negative emotions and thoughts: Laboratory, diary, and longitudinal evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(6), 1075–1092. Abstract | Full text
    • University of Toronto summary of the Ford study: Don’t brood or wallow when feeling bad
    • Mauss, I. B., Tamir, M., Anderson, C. L., & Savino, N. S. (2011). Can seeking happiness make people unhappy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness. Emotion, 11(4), 807–815. Full text
    • Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. The radical acceptance skill is in the Distress Tolerance module.

    Eddie Eccker, MS, LMFT, is co-owner of Voyages Counseling in Colorado and the author of You Are Not Finished (Coming soon).

    More at eddieeccker.com and voyagescounseling.com

    Support the show

    What does it take to keep becoming? Eddie Eccker wrestles with that question on The Voyage Cast through interviews, topical discussions, and teachings on emotional health, marriage and family, faith, and the habits and stories that shape a life.

    Connect
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voyagescounselingco/
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573649534384
    X: https://twitter.com/thevoyagecast
    Website: https://thevoyagecast.com
    Eddie Eccker: https://www.eddieeccker.com
    Voyages Counseling: https://www.voyagescounseling.com
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    17 min
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