We have decided to call time on Two Shrinks Pod as our personal and professional lives have prevented us from being able to regularly produce the show. As we both care about the quality of the work we put out, we decided that if we couldn’t produce something we were proud of then it was time to end the pod. ...

If you’re a student struggling to cope with exams or a parent supporting one, this episode is for you. Just in time for the year 12 exams, we’ve prepared a crash course on how to cope with anxiety in the lead up, on the morning of and during an exam. Listen for practical tips, how to know when to take a break and ways you can calm down once your in your exam. ...

Head over to the School of Movies Podcast to listen to Amy and Hunter talk about the comedy mob film Analyze This starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal. We talk about anxiety attacks, toxic masculinity, doing therapy at gun point and the ethical issues of receiving gifts from your mobster client. School of Movies Analyze This : https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-jbcwc-12d7d2b School of Movies is a British podcast hosted by Alex and Sharon Shaw who dissect and discuss modern cinema, there...

This episode we’ve put together a crash course on phobias. We know phobias are on the VCE psychology exam and we have covered the main topics and theories covered in the course. The episode is pitched at Australian year 12 psychology students (and for their parents wanting to understand what this psychology garbage is). We don’t assume any prior psychology knowledge so this means that it is good episode for anyone who want to understand about psychological theory and treatment. Understanding...

For episode 81 we’re taking a comprehensive, research driven look at abortion: what it’s like making the decision, how it impacts people psychologically and what happens if you can’t have one when you want to? Join us for a discussion of what the research actually says, in all it’s complexity, about how women respond after an abortion.To skip forward to a particular topic: 05:30 Decision making 19:35 Psychological impacts of having a voluntary abortion 40:25 Impacts on sexual...

This episode we’re covering our professional gripes with a thin veil of science and talking about work research. Join us for a light-hearted, research based whinge about frictionless spaces for nomadic workers (or hotdesking), how meetings interrupt us, documentation makes us burnt out and just how judgemental we all are about email signatures. To wrap up, Hunter proves a point about windfarms to a random farmer he met on a plane and Amy waxes lyrical about comfort food. ...

This time on 2SP we’re taking a look at sarcasm through 4 research articles. How does it develop in childhood? Are some cultures really more sarcastic? Can make us more creative? And, can emojis help avoid awkward misunderstandings of sarcasm when we text? After a delightful break with some sparkling shiraz, Hunter laments the impact of clutter on productivity and Amy talks about whether people feel more safely attached to their pets or their partners. Sarcasm Research The highest form of...

Struggling to get anything done? Constantly torturing yourself over what you could’ve achieved if only you had a routine, stuck to a schedule, magically became a more productive, focused person? You’re not alone.Join us for a chat with Madeleine Dore: Melbourne journalist, interviewer and creator of the Everyday Routines project.. She takes us through how to approach our days creatively, why we get stuck and how even the most prolific creatives battle with their routines. Want to hear more...

For our last episode of the year we’re looking back over 2021. We chat about the episodes of the year with a dash of new research, a new therapy portrayal in Mare of Easttown and a nostalgic look at our favourite episodes. To really get things off our chests, we wrap up with the Gripe List - a random assortment of things that have pissed us off in 2021. As always, thank you for listening. We’ll be back at the start of 2022

This episode we’re giving a crash-course for parents on how to help your child when they’re anxious. Amy talks us through what kids’ anxiety looks like, how to begin to calm things down and when to call in the experts. Listen for practical, doable tips on what to do when your kid’s anxiety is overwhelming them or you. To finish up, Hunter talks about and Amy is inspired by Twitter to talk through drop bear survival. ...

We know how much healthcare workers have been through, are still going through. So for this episode, we wanted to help doctors, nurses and allied health clinicians deal with burn out and when it’s all too much. Join us to hear Hunter talk through how you know when you’re becoming burnt out and what can you do to deal with patients who push your buttons. Because we’re creatures of habit, we finish with things we came across - Amy talks about why kids stick out their tongues to concentrate and...

It is late October 2021, Melbourne is emerging from a 77 day lockdown and we’ve just earned the dubious title of most locked down city in the world. Throughout, this difficult situation has been made harder by constant media and political pressure to end lockdowns, often with the argument that lockdowns cause suicide. ...

This week we’re returning to an everyday psychology topic and pondering why we laugh. In classic Two Shrinks style, we talk through four pieces of research: preschoolers laughing with their friends, personality and laughter, ridicule in family and funeral workers’ use of laughter. As always we finish up with things we came across: Amy freaks out about robot-human interaction and Hunter delights in a letter to the editor. Research: Social Facilitation of Laughter and Smiles in Preschool...

We’re back after an unexpected break with a classic Two Shrinks question, why do we cry?Why is it that something painful, emotional or even joyful makes us tear up? How does it help us communicate, share with others, process how we feel? We’ll talk through why music makes us cry, what babies expect to happen when they cry, who cries in therapy and when it helps. To wrap up, we finish with the all important play behaviours of octopuses/octopi/octopodes and some research into whether little...

In honour of our third instalment of psychs on film, we’re following the trilogy format and introducing a new character, well actually a guest - Sharon Shaw, podcaster and therapist from the School of Movies podcast. Join us for a discussion of 6 film and tv therapists - what we love, how it’s different from real life therapy and issues we can’t stop ranting about. The shows we talk about are: ...

The Breakfast club - five teenagers in detention, each struggling and assuming everyone else has their life together. But what would happen if they were referred for therapy instead? Join us for a Two Shrinks look at Claire, Bender, Principal Vernon, Allison, Andy & Brian as we talk through how we’d make sense of these characters and what they’d need in the therapy room.The Molly Ringwald article we reference can be found at:...

This episode we’re talking about an unashamedly heavy topic. Given the recent events in Australian Parliament, we wanted to talk about how psychologists, friends and family members of people who have been sexually assaulted can respond. How you can best support someone who’s beginning to share their story, even when you don’t know what to say. If you’d like to skip to a particular topic:9:45 Common reactions to media coverage of sexual assault & some basic coping strategies15:30...

To kick off 2021, two shrinks is getting sinful. Thanks to a suggestion from psychiatrist Dr Jackie Rakov (@psychwrite on twitter), we’re taking a look at the psychology behind the seven deadly sins. Do we find people more attractive when we’re primed with lust? Does envy make us more likely to harm others? Is pride different from straight-up narcissism? Listen in to for a light-hearted but in depth look at whether the sins really are that bad.Timepoint/Articles:05:30 Envy...

We’re trying something revolutionary this year - a 2020 wrap up episode! Join us as we chat about psychs on film; how to cope with things like bushfires, lockdowns and irritations on the holidays and; the little ways the pod has impacted us this year. Most exciting of all is a return, at about 50 minutes, of the gripe list, with everything from printer issues to uber eats (we know, we’ve been pretty wild this year). To finish it off, we chat about the toxicity of George’s Marvellous Medicine...

This episode we’re excited to be responding to a highly relatable listener question. Justin Hensley (@EBMgoneWILD) asked us: “How does one take a compliment? In COVID times we get a lot of “thank you for your service” but even regularly I suck at taking them. Is it an upbringing thing?”So we’re pulling it apart in the two shrinks way with a chat about why it’s so hard, what issues can be underlying this & how on earth you’re supposed to accept a compliment graciously. To wrap up, it’s...

Ever find yourself getting anxious about talking to new people, avoiding speaking in work meetings or overanalysing something you’ve said? Then this episode is for you. We chat about practical ways to start to work on social anxiety - calming yourself, challenging your thoughts and experimenting with new skills. To wrap up the show Amy has a bone to pick with critics of cryving (driving while crying) and Hunter rhapsodised over the appeal of simple desserts. ...

This episode, Amy and Hunter talk shit about the US elections. After a long, stressful week anxiously watching, we chat about how we’ve felt, our top gripes from the past 4 years & why it’s ok to let it all out. We all need to talk, process, feel everything that’s going on right now - hear why it’s important to let loose before we can move on. Art installation of Trump’s 20,000 lies:...

For no reason we can think of (COVID, US elections, lockdowns, 2020…), lots of us are struggling with anger at the moment. This episode we take a practical look at anger to help you know when you’re feeling it & what to do when it crops up. We talk about why it’s helpful to understand your anger and some steps to calm down quicker when it does. As always we wrap up with things we came across, this time looking at just how little intervention is needed to stop cheating & why Hunter is...

This week, in the wake of President Trump being diagnosed with COVID-19, the world has been going through a collective emotional experience. People who ordinarily wouldn’t relish in the misfortunes of others are feeling a pleasurable twinge of schadenfreude. We noticed people talking about how guilty they’ve felt so we wanted to pull apart this complex emotion in the two shrinks way: What is it? Why do we experience it? And is it really ok to feel like this? As always, to wrap up we finish...