Today’s Prison Letter is from a chronic people pleaser serving a 10 year sentence for essentially going against his better judgement.  Join Dr. Mark as he explores the most common fear-based behaviors of people pleasers, including looking for acceptance from bullies, confusing self esteem and self confidence, and seeking thanks as a means of avoiding rejection.

Today’s Prison Letter is from a former high school football star who hung out with the wrong crowd and ended up in jail, instead of the NFL. Join Dr. Mark as he goes inside the mind of entitled young athletes who are seduced down a path toward grave mistakes, paved with addiction, power, excitement, adrenaline and testosterone - and how for better or worse we become the average of the five people we choose to hang out with.

Today’s Prison Letter asks how to stop mentally replaying scenes from the past that play over and over like a broken record.  Join Dr. Mark on an amazing journey, as explores the causes of repetitive thinking, the dangers of escalating anxiety, finds hope in the difference between pain and suffering, and puts on the brakes with a guided meditation to help finish an unfinished past.

An inmate with a family pathology of alcoholism and co-dependency asks Dr. Mark to help her break free.  Join Dr. Mark as he cracks the code of co-dependent behaviors, explains how much gving is giving too much, and what it takes to stop the cycle from repeating again.

A former death row inmate whose sentence was reduced to life without parole asks if it’s possible to start over with his family and friends. Join Dr. Mark on a difficult journey as he searches high and low for peace between an inmate and the world who had given him up for dead.

Co-parenting is a challenge when both parents are on the outside.  Join Dr. Mark as he takes parenting to another level with a father in lockup and a mother who is moving on with her life - exploring anger, blame, forgiveness, and the future.  

A 9-11 first responder who ended up in prison, asks for help regaining self-respect after this unexpected fall from grace.  Join Dr. Mark as he explains the true nature of PTSD, the difference between coping and healing, how we fail our heroes, and how having horror heard helps heal hurt.

An inmate serving life for being the driver in a drive-by shooting asks for help understanding his propensity toward bad.  Join Dr. Mark as he explores the inner battle of good vs. evil, how environment impacts impulse, and the effects of negative and positive self-talk on changing outcomes.

An inmate asks how to control the crazy, out-of control jealousy that put him behind bars. Join Dr. Mark, who served on the OJ Simpson prosecution team, as he takes on the “green-eyed monster” - exploring crimes of passion, possessiveness and rage, and explains how to cool the fire and save your sanity when jealousy rears its ugly head. 

An inmate wants to mend fences with his family, after coming to blows with dad as a youth. Join Dr. Mark as he explores the delicate relationship between men and their fathers, why coming to blows is a recipe for disaster, how to make the perfect apology, and the true meaning of forgiveness.

In today’s prison letter, an inmate regrets bearing his soul in a support group after a bad experience.  Join Dr. Mark as he explores the politics of vulnerability, when not to let your guard down, where to find power in vulnerability, how to disarm the ass-kissers above you, and the difference between catastrophe and tragedy.

An inmate asks how to curb impulses and stop repeating patterns. Join Dr. Mark, who served on the prosecution team for the OJ Simpson trial, as he describes a “7 Step Pause” sequence that can put the brakes on impulsive actions, how to observe the past, shape the present, and how to live with things never being the same again.

Today’s Prison Letter is from an inmate whose progress is threatened by the excitement of compulsive gambling.  Join Dr. Mark as he explores the difference between a skill, a gift and a superpower; and reads between the lines to see how this inmate is actually rolling the dice to try and win self esteem.

An inmate reaches out to find out how to not just get past hate, but get over it.  Join Dr. Mark as he journeys inside the heart of hate to find out where it originates, how hurt and fear trigger hate, how denied feelings feed hate, and how feeling unfelt hurt and fear helps heal hate.

This Prison Letter is from a young inmate who started out as a typical kid from the suburbs, but took a wrong turn and couldn’t get back. Join Dr. Mark Goulston as he explores how good kids can go bad, including social pressures, drugs, and hidden family issues.  Dr. Mark takes note of the clues that might have saved this inmate from prison, if only someone had noticed the path of breadcrumbs leading the way, and wonders if undiagnosed bipolar disorder is more common than we realize - and...

Join Dr. Mark on an emotional rollercoaster as he reads a letter from a distraught prisoner who was refused what was supposed to be a slam dunk parole, and is now struggling with the temptation to quit. Find out the 3 reasons people quit, how fear of success and fear of failure are related to quitting, how guilt and shame play into quitting, the best 4 steps to heal any relationship where you’ve hurt someone, and how to ride the swinging pendulum of emotions before you give in to quitting.

This episode's Prison Letter is from a young inmate who turned to drugs when they couldn't turn to a parent, and how being angry about not being able to turn to a parent drove this kid to crime and prison, where 10 years of youth will be spent.  Join Dr. Mark as he reads the letter - and reveals that he himself was just two steps away from this being his own story.

Dr. Mark takes on a newsworthy question as he reads from the letter of a killer who wants to make the ultimate apology, to the victim’s parents.  Find out when apologies help, how they can hurt, and whether or not it’s always the right thing to do. Take this impossible journey with Mark as he compares the letter writer’s situation to other cases where parents have lost their kids to murder - like Columbine, Sandy Hook, and of course the one he knows first-hand, OJ and the Goldman family....

Dr. Mark shares a sneak peek on what's ahead...and what's inside!