Worried about retirement, job loss, or getting stuck in your career? In this work-focused Q&A, we answer real questions about growth, purpose, and navigating change.

In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis respond to listener questions about work and career transitions. Topics include preparing for retirement without losing purpose, coping with job loss, rebuilding confidence during the hiring process, finding mentors, improving workplace communication, handling psychologically unsafe environments, and figuring out why you may not be moving up.

The conversation explores practical steps such as building structure during unemployment, treating job searching like a job, strengthening interview preparation through real practice, balancing power and responsibility at work, and clarifying whether skill gaps or personality dynamics may be affecting advancement.

Throughout the episode, the focus remains on identity, structure, mental health, and taking responsibility for what you can control while accepting what you cannot.

Send your questions to richthoughtspoorjokes@gmail.com and subscribe for more conversations about work, leadership, relationships, and mental wellness.

Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes, is brought to you by Compass Coaching. At Compass Coaching, we specialize in executive coaching by collaborating with you on your goals, giving you reliable information, skills development practice opportunities, goal-oriented behavioral strategies, and help in tailoring these skills to your specific situation. We offer both topic-specific, empirically-based programs for businesses, organizations, and companies, all built on cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused principles.

Learn more and connect with us at www.compasscoachingforlife.net

How do you give difficult feedback without sounding harsh? What do you do when someone interrupts, shuts down, or refuses to change?

In this listener Q&A episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis answer practical questions about communication in real life. Topics include delivering underperformance feedback at work, dealing with someone who refuses to change, balancing assertiveness with respect, handling interruptions, and ending conversations without feeling rude.

The conversation also explores communication in virtual meetings, how therapy can help improve communication skills, mediating conflict between colleagues or children, and managing stress during difficult conversations. You will also hear a thoughtful discussion about when and how AI can be used responsibly in communication without replacing your own skill development.

Throughout the episode, the focus remains on emotional regulation, preparation, boundaries, and building stress tolerance so you can stay composed when conversations get hard.

Send your questions to richthoughtspoorjokes@gmail.com and subscribe for more conversations about communication, relationships, and mental wellness.

Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes, is brought to you by Compass Coaching. At Compass Coaching, we specialize in executive coaching by collaborating with you on your goals, giving you reliable information, skills development practice opportunities, goal-oriented behavioral strategies, and help in tailoring these skills to your specific situation. We offer both topic-specific, empirically-based programs for businesses, organizations, and companies, all built on cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused principles.

Learn more and connect with us at www.compasscoachingforlife.net

You asked, and we answered. In this episode, we respond to real questions about sex, desire, intimacy, and communication.

In this listener Q&A episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis respond to questions that often come up in therapy offices but are rarely talked about openly. Topics include sex after 60, changes in desire across the lifespan, communicating sexual needs, feeling too busy or disconnected for intimacy, and navigating shame, embarrassment, or mismatched desire in relationships.

The conversation also explores practical and emotional questions around sexual health, including menopause, erectile changes, safety and testing, waiting for sex, buyer’s remorse, pornography, sex toys, and how early sexual experiences shape expectations later in life. Throughout the discussion, the focus remains on self awareness, values, consent, curiosity, and building intimacy that actually works for the people involved.

This episode is grounded, direct, and compassionate, offering perspective rather than prescriptions and encouraging listeners to reflect on what they want, what matters to them, and how to talk about sex in ways that strengthen connection rather than create distance.

Send your questions to richthoughtspoorjokes@gmail.com and subscribe for more conversations about mental wellness, relationships, and meaningful connection.

Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes, is brought to you by Compass Coaching. At Compass Coaching, we specialize in executive coaching by collaborating with you on your goals, giving you reliable information, skills development practice opportunities, goal-oriented behavioral strategies, and help in tailoring these skills to your specific situation. We offer both topic-specific, empirically-based programs for businesses, organizations, and companies, all built on cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused principles.

Learn more and connect with us at www.compasscoachingforlife.net