I don’t think I have ever thought about the role of the ego in teaching. Until now! Thanks to an old student who wanted to talk with me about her ego, Joe and I dig into the tension between having self-regard (and being a little self-righteous) and maintaining amicable professional relationships.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Joe and I discuss

* Redefining Ego: Why the ego’s “bad rap” might be holding you back

* Managing Self-Righteousness: Practical tips for keeping professional relationships right — when you’re right, goddammit.

* Validating Expertise: How to handle the frustration of colleagues’ not appreciating the value of what you know.

* Teacher Objectification: Unpacking the emotional toll of being treated like a punching bag for all of society’s woes.

Needless to say, everybody has an ego, so this episode is relevant to everybody. Teachers and non-teachers alike!

Speaking of ego, I love this quote about TTE from Frank Racioppi of Ear Worthy:

“I love that show. It’s one of the shows that does good in this world.”

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

External Link

The Emperor’s Blades

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

In a departure from the typical TTE conversation, I talk in this episode with Felicia Keller Boyle about her two podcasts, The Bad Therapist Show and What Your Therapist Thinks (if you’re already looking up the latter podcast, you are joining thousands of others who listen religiously). So we’re talking podcasting but, actually, we're talking about emotions. We’re therapists, after all.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about

* navigating the guilt of making money and why women in particular can struggle with it

* behind the scenes of how What Your Therapist Thinks reached the top of the podcast charts

* managing the pressure of having a crazy successful podcast

* strategies for overcoming fear and doing the things that scare you most

* Felicia’s specific challenge to help you build your psychodynamic muscles this week

Listen all the way to the end of this episode to hear Felicia’s challenge. She and I would love to hear your results! Leave a comment if you’re comfortable sharing.

For my non-teachers out there: Check out What Your Therapist Thinks! Relevant to absolutely everybody!

And PLEASE please please please: Fill out the TTE survey! I truly need to hear from you what you like, don’t like, want more of, want less of. Include your email address so you can be eligible for the drawing on Valentine’s Day that will get you a free TTE Tee or mug. It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes of your time. Thank you so much in advance!!!

External links

The Bad Therapist Show

What Your Therapist Thinks

The Bad Therapist coaching page

Jeremy Enns

Guanyin

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

This one’s from a while back about a teacher who was so fed up with a student who was a huge “pain in the ass” that she wanted to quit. Right then and there.

And I’ll be damned if she didn’t turn that relationship around in the most dramatic way.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Joe and I talk about the difficult circumstances surrounding this teacher’s and this student’s situation and the hypotheses she and I came up with that helped her return to school and dig into their relationship. It’s kind of a miraculous story imho.

This story is relevant to non-teachers, too, in that it encourages openness to but also curiosity about behavior that might seem weird but might actually be an unnervingly pointed cry for help. Which some of us are in positions to respond to — without being nefarious saviors!

We discuss

* nefarious saviors

* furries and Joe’s and my amazingly limited knowledge of them

* why students might actually court negative attention

* doing aikido with super irritating students

* the fine line between caring too much and not caring enough

* Joe’s awesome alliterative axiom

Share your thoughts! Leave a comment! Share this episode! Share a story of your own with us! 413.239.4158. We love hearing from you!

And there's more…

I’m so eager to hear from you that my team and I have put together a survey to get a mid-season formative assessment from my listeners. I really want to hear what you like, don’t like, want to hear or read, etc. Please take a few minutes to give me your honest feedback! I’m a therapist, so I can take the truth.

As incentive, anyone who responds will have their email address put in a nice hat from which I will pull a winner — of a TTE “Stay in Your Effin’ Garden” T-shirt! I myself have one (as you might imagine), and I love it. Soft, perfect fit, extremely useful message. Get to that survey as soon as is humanly possible — we’ll pull the winner on Valentine’s Day. Wow! What a love-ly gift!!

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout