What you are capable of, what you are not capable of, and which one is true are all derived from how you perceive yourself within the context of the world and peoplearound you. Dr. Henry Cloud shares ways to expand how you look at yourself, what you’re capable of, and your relationships with what is outside you. Adrienne needs help dealing with a short tempered father. Lizzie doesn't know whether a romantic interest is safe after he withheld some important things from her. Donna is hoping for...

How is it possible that your day to day life can heal you? Dr. Henry Cloud explains how specific but small changes in your day to day life can lead to big changes. Lauren asks Dr. Cloud how to grieve a friendship that's over. Erika is having trouble healing from financial trauma that's causing poor spending behaviors. Mandy was neglected by her mother and is still having trouble finding safe and meaningful way to connect with her.   Boundaries.Me Plus is on sale until of the end of the...

The past is the best predictor of the future. Dr. Henry Cloud explains how patterns can be utilized to change your future. By looking at the past honestly we can begin altering our present actions. Mary needs help addressing her in-laws' toxic behavior. Andrea wants to know when it's the right to time to get exclusive in dating relationships. Dan has started a successful business and is getting regular jobs but needs help focussing on the foundation of the business itself.   Boundaries.Me...

Dr. Henry Cloud talks about why empathy is central to having deeper relationships than you have right now. The power of empathy is that it circles back to us. Dr. Cloud explains how as we listen to others and understand their feelings we will begin emotionally regulating ourselves. John is dating someone long distance and wants to know if there's a "right" way to do it. Sally had an affair a while ago and still feels shut out of the relationship. Ginger is trying to find peace after losing a...

Dr. Cloud explains how relationship pain can linger in our lives even when the relationship is over for the right reasons. He lays out ways to start reconnecting with others and working on healthier attachments. Joie's 21 year old son is getting married this weekend and she hasn't met his fiancé yet. Cheryl's 22 year old son went through a bad break up and is literally losing his hair. Emily is having trouble moving on from her alcoholic ex-husband. Kris needs help drawing boundaries around...

Welcome back to the Dr. Cloud Show! In this episode Dr. Henry Cloud talks about big obstacles and and small obstacles. How do you know which is which, and furthermore what kinds of tactics are you bringing to surmount them? Callers: Lori is having trouble managing a working relationship with an ex-husband she owns a business with. Jeremy has a 13 year old daughter that started dating and doesn't know where the line is with being overprotective. Therese went through a divorce and is wants to...

If you've listened to Dr. Cloud before then you know how much he cares about time and energy. Around the holidays this is especially important. He talks about how to utilize your time and energy so that you're getting the most out of this special time of year. Kieran is trying to spend more time with his girlfriend but her sister is getting in the way. Alexis wants to make peace with her mom without getting manipulated in the process. Maron is feeling dating fatigue and wants to know if she's...

The Dr. Cloud Show returns! In this episode Dr. Henry Cloud talks about how to get through the holidays with a smile on your face. He takes a call from Betsy who is looking to help her friends through difficulty in their marriage. Carol needs help setting boundaries around financially helping her adult daughter. And Colleen is having trouble with the spiritual aspects of joining a secular support group.   Boundaries.Me Plus is on sale until of the end of the year. You can get a full year of...

What is the psychology of becoming yourself? How is your identity formed? This is a deceptively layered question related not only to your past, but to your present and future. There is a concept here that’s important to understand: your true self, and your false self are not the same. We all understand who our true selves are, but our false selves are that person we show to the world out of fear, insecurity, or lack of understanding where we fit in. Sometimes, we lose track of who is who. Dr....

In this third final mini session on difficult conversations Dr. Cloud talks about getting clear about the purpose you’re bringing to the conversation. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to win, trying to persuade, to convince, to show you are right? Or, are you trying to find a solution? When we come with the goal of finding a solution that works for both sides it becomes motivational. This is how we leave a conversation with real change on the horizon. When we transform the other...

In this highlight, Dr. Cloud goes into part two of his session on having a difficult conversation. This one is all about preparation. How do you bring your best and keep your fear in check when entering into a difficult conversation? First, you have to have a difficult conversation with yourself. What splinter is stuck in your finger? We have to take that splinter out before we go into the conversation. Sometimes we do that by talking with someone that isn’t involved in the situation to bleed...

This is part one of a short series on how to have difficult conversations. In this highlight Dr. Cloud talks about an important skill to build before having a difficult conversation. In this session, he talks about how to create safe space for conversations that could explode. There are a few major issues that arise in difficult conversations: fight, flight or freeze. Dr. Cloud shares ways to make the conversation psychologically safe for the other person. A psychologically safe space is...

In this highlight from the show, Dr. Cloud talks about how we hold ourselves back internally from being who we want to be, or doing what we want with our lives. As children we are kept on short leashes and as we become adults it can be extremely difficult to accept our freedom. No one is holding the leash anymore, but in our heads it’s still there. As long as we keep these mental leashes in our minds, our lives will stay very small. You might associate leash with a comfort zone, and that’s...

In this highlight from the show, Dr. Cloud talks about love and limits. One of the more difficult things about loving others is that we make ourselves vulnerable. Codependency easily arises in relationships when we fear losing love and enable bad behavior to prevent that love from leaving. The question then is whether we’re loving them fully when we don’t set limits around bad behavior. Dr. Cloud argues that in fact love and limits working in tandem are required in order for healthy love....

In celebration of 5 years of Boundaries.Me, we are hosting an open house October 17-31! All of our courses, coaching, and community are available for free during this time, with no credit card and no purchase required. Visit http://www.boundaries.me/openhouse to join us.   In this highlight from the show, Dr. Cloud talks about one sure fire way to ruin relationships: Fairness. Why would fairness ruin all of our relationships? Because it requires perfection, and none of us can live up to...

In this highlight, Dr. Cloud talks about something all of us are guilty of: avoiding pain. The psychologist RD Laing said, “There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain.” Avoiding pain is a prescription for more pain. Dr. Cloud shares ways to address pain with less fear, and stop avoiding pain.   Dr. Cloud's next workshop is called The Path. The Path is a life-changing online workshop that will teach you...

You’ll constantly hear about two main areas to improve on in your life: the physical and the metaphysical. But that’s not the whole story. In fact, it’s missing a HUGE part of our lives–the third leg of the stool if you will. In no particular order there are three areas we  we need to maintain and improve on in our lives. One is our physical bodies. Next we have our metaphysical side (our thoughts, moods, spirit etc.). And third we have who we are connected with, our relationships. Having...

In this highlight from the show, Dr. Cloud presents us with a seeming paradox of growth: developing new abilities and meeting challenges involves struggle. Trees need wind in order to stay standing–they need the stress of wind to stimulate the growth of deeper roots. It’s a parallel that applies to us humans too. Good stress fosters growth. Just like we need resistance to grow muscles, we need metaphysical challenges to grow spiritually and mentally. Not only do we need to change the way we...

In this highlight from the show, Dr. Cloud talks about how and why we procrastinate and gives us some deceptively simple ways to address it. It starts with shrinking the task. Because the things we are putting off doing are always overwhelming in some way, the key is in breaking it down to one simple thing you can do. It’s not that you lack the ability to do the thing you’re avoiding, it’s just that you aren’t moving. Your emergency brake is engaged. Get that parking brake off, pop that tiny...

Starting on a successful path of growth requires having a good accountability partner. So what makes for a good accountability partner? Dr. Cloud goes through a short checklist of what to seek out and what to avoid in our candidates.    Dr. Cloud's next workshop is on Healing Parental Wounds. In this 2-hour live streaming webinar Dr. Cloud will help you identify your parental relationship injuries, understand how to face them, and give you the practical tools and advice you need to grow...

Dr. Cloud's next workshop is on Healing Parental Wounds. In this 2-hour live streaming webinar Dr. Cloud will help you identify your parental relationship injuries, understand how to face them, and give you the practical tools and advice you need to grow past your suffering. If you can't attend live, don't worry, you can stream the recording as much as you like. To find out more about it go to https://Boundaries.me/parental   Get one week of free coaching videos from Dr. Cloud and...

We all want to be self confident but it’s often elusive. Dr. Cloud takes us through an introduction on how we acquire self confidence. Self confidence comes from trusting yourself and your actions. That’s hard to do when we doubt ourselves. Dr. Cloud brings it back to original sin, and the idea that we are able to judge like God does. When we commit to these types of self judgments we are no longer simply doing the thing in front of us, but also criticizing it in ways that cause anxiety, fear...

In this highlight from The Dr. Cloud Show: When we’re trying to get from point A to B in a relationship or with a goal, a critical factor is our time. Literally anything we want to improve on–an addiction, finances, raising children, learning a new skill–requires time and prioritization. How we use our time is obviously important, but it’s very easy to miss the reality of what we’re doing with it. That’s where the time audit comes in. When you learn where you’re actually spending your time...

In this highlight from the podcast, Dr. Cloud discusses the old cliche about how your thinking determines your feelings. Does your thinking change your feelings? Do your feelings change your behavior? Does your behavior change your thinking? In short, yes, to all of these depending on what you need to address. It might not be intuitive. You might be feeling anxious, and you know that changing your thinking will change how you’re feeling, but good luck! We often find that with anxiety, we need...

Achieving the ideals in life–feeling good, having great relationships, and accomplishing goals–is something that all of us want. It’s funny that so many of us struggle with this right? So often the first crucial step is missing. You have to focus on the inside. Seeking internal growth is required to see the changes we want come into existence. Dr. Cloud asks: What path are you on to work on your internal growth?   Dr. Cloud's "Getting Over Trauma" workshop is on August 30th at 5pm Pacific!...