The Psychology of your 20’s

This week on the podcast we discuss the experience of worrying and overthinking the future. From anticipatory anxiety, the the illusion of control, paradox of choice and self preservation, anxiety about the future has a lot of psychological origins that we will unpack in todays episode to try and find freedom from future spiralling and embrace the moment.

This week we dive into the psychology behind hookup culture and casual dating in our 20’s. We are joined by the host of The Openhouse Podcast, Louise Rumball, as we discuss the cultural and societal changes that have contributed to this sexual liberation, what happens to our brain during and after a hookup, empowering ourselves through pleasure but also healthy boundaries and the science and personal stories behind why casual dating may not be for everyone. Listen now!

This week on the show we dive into what it really means to heal your inner child. From reparenting to relearning your attachment style, the power of play and protecting your inner childlike wonder and curiosity, we discuss the psychology and everyday practices we can enact to connect and heal our inner child wounds and bring that joy and vulnerability to our adult lives. Listen now!

This week on the show we deep dive into why we outgrow our friendships as we enter our 20’s. We often have a romanticised idea that friendships last a lifetime, but during this decade we realise that it’s a lot more nuanced. We explore the main factors behind the friendship “fizzle”, why it’s a normal part of growing up, how we can handle the emotions that come along with and learn to value solitude and be selective when it comes to our friendships. Listen now!

This week we deep dive into everything there is to know about therapy in our 20’s. From identifying when you need therapy, to finding the right therapist, the different types of therapy that are available, some of the misconceptions about therapy and the details of your first session, this episode provides all the information to remove some of the mysticism and stigma behind getting some help for your mental health in your 20’s. Listen now.

This week I am joined by Chidera Eggerue, otherwise known as the Slumflower, host of the Slumflower Hour and author of the Number 1 Sunday Times Bestsellers What a Time to be Alone (2018) and How to Get Over a Boy (2020) to discuss attachment styles, how to set boundaries and non-negotiables when dating men. We discuss the own hard lessons we’ve learnt through our intimate relationships, how to reclaim your power, the psychology behind why we accept the bare minimum and so much more. Listen now!

This weeks episode we deep dive into the psychology self confidence and how we can master our sense of confidence and self assurance to be the best versions of ourselves. We discuss the elements that make up confidence, the impact of nature versus nurture and the difference between self confidence and arrogance. We also explore some of the evidence-based strategies that we can use to improve our self esteem and why “faking it till you make it” is more than just a saying. Listen now!

In this weeks episode we discuss the evolutionary and psychological reasons behind why we gossip. We explore the origins of gossip, the different forms of gossip and how it influences our 20’s, particularly our social connections and sense of community. We also dive into the downsides of rumours and slander, how gossip has evolved with social media and discuss how we can break free of the cycle of gossip in our lives and create more positive conversations and relationships. Listen now.

This week we discuss codependency and how it can manifest in our friendships and relationships in our 20’s. We break down some of the misconceptions around codependency, the origins of the terms and early signs our relationships may be codependent. We also dive into the difference between healthy dependency and maladapative codependency and how we can recenter and restore balanced and mutual relationships with those in our lives. Thank you to today’s sponsor, Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

This week we discuss the idea of the dream job, whether it is fact or fiction? We discuss where the idea of the “dream job” comes from, why we feel so much pressure around deciding what we want to do with our lives, career anxiety and how to rebalance our relationship with our professional lives in our 20’s. Listen now to learn more. Thank you to today’s sponsor, Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

This week we discuss the psychology of authenticity and how we can discover and therefore embrace our authentic selves. We discuss what it is to be authentic, why we suffer when we are disconnected from our true selves and the daily practices we can incorporate to live authentically, be vulnerable and consistent with our core self and values. Thank you to todays sponsor Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

This week I bring on a special guest and a close friend, artist Sydney Farey, to discuss the horrors and surprises of dating in our 20’s. We discuss the psychology behind why we are attracted to the wrong people, the impact of our childhood and early relationships on our romantic lives and how to prioritise yourself whilst we date during our 20’s.

This week we break down the psychology of New Years resolutions, the significance of the new year for making goals and promises to ourselves, why we set New Years resolutions, the typical reasons we tend to fail and how to be successful. We explore self efficacy, personal development theory and the psychology behind failure to understand how we can achieve our 2023 goals.

This week we discuss loneliness, particularly around the holiday season. Why is it that we feel so lonely during that period between the holidays and the new year, whether we are surrounded by family or spending our time alone and what are some of the explanations for this feeling. We discuss the benefits and downsides of solitude, how to overcome loneliness and why the holiday season can be so difficult.

With the holiday season I thought it would be a great time to discuss how we can set boundaries within our closest relationships. From emotional, physical, financial to spiritual boundaries, how can we establish realistic and sustainable boundaries in our lives and what do we do when someone violates these. Thank you to todays sponsor Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

This week we discuss our quarter life crisis! Whilst it may be a normal experience for those of us in our 20’s, the experience can be incredibly scary and stressful. We dive into how to navigate a quarter life crisis, the characteristics of this period, why it’s important for our growth and how to move through this experience and come out the other side as successful and healed individuals. Thank you to todays sponsor Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

This week we discuss social comparison, the good, the bad, the psychology. We talk about why it is that we compare ourselves to others, the impacts of social comparison and how to break the cycle of judging our attributes and characteristics compared to others.

With many of us entering the colder, winter months, understanding what seasonal depression is and how it impacts our mood, energy levels, appetite and mental well-being is crucial. This week we break down the science and psychology behind seasonal affective disorder and how we can overcome the ‘winter blues’ brought on by the colder months.

This week we discuss the insidious nature of diet culture and how it convinces us we need to change our bodies to be happier. We discuss how diet culture has become so influential through normalisation, repetition across social media, social approval and early learning in childhood. Finally we talk about how to push back against the negative beliefs and behaviours ingrained in us by diet culture and embrace our bodies.

This week I have invite on a special guest to chat about whether exes can be friends. Our conclusion, well … you’ll have to listen. We talk through how we fell in love, why we broke up and whether we could get back together. Thank you to todays sponsor Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

In this episode we discuss the characteristics of toxic parents and the impact they have on our development and adulthood. We dive into narcissistic parental abuse, intergenerational trauma, overcoming a toxic upbringing and how to establish boundaries.

How do we explain the feeling where we have everything we could want, but we still feel so unhappy and dissatisfied? In this episode we explore some of the reasons for unhappiness in the face of success and everything we have ever wanted to dispel some of the stigma around sadness, depressive episodes and the normalcy of feeling unhappy.

Rejection can be such a blow to our self-esteem, whether it’s romantic, with friends, at work or during our studies. Rejection can be a painful experience, but psychology can explain many of the reasons why we look to avoid rejection and how we can overcome experiences of rejection, especially in our 20’s. Thank you to todays sponsor Athletic Greens. Please use the following link for a FREE one year supply for immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs at www.athleticgreens.com/Jemma

This week we discuss how to be happy being alone and all the amazing benefits that come with single hood in our 20’s! How can we cultivate a life we love despite being single and why do we crave love even when we are happy being alone?

BONUS EPISODE. This week we discuss the power of micro habits and how we can integrate them into our everyday lives to create the lifestyle changes we are after in our 20’s.

Our careers and work can be a major point of stress in our 20’s and we try to figure out what exactly we’re doing and where we want to go. In this episode we discuss career anxiety, feeling lost and when it’s time for a change. Thank you to this weeks sponsor, Athletic Greens. Please go to athleticgreens.com/Jemma to redeem you offer of 1 year do free vitamin C and 5 free travel packs.

This week we discuss trauma in childhood, the way it effects our brain and chemistry, our behaviours and our relationships in adulthood.

We are joined this week by Laura, a student mortuary technician in Australia to discuss her experiences and role and how she thinks about death and the meaning of a good life on this special guest episode.

This week I’m joined by Lindsay, a Financial Therapist who runs Mind Money Balance to discuss how we manage anxiety and emotions around money in our 20’s. From healing our childhood relationship with money to dealing with financial boundaries in relationships, we explore the intersection between money and our 20’s in this special, guest episode. Lindsay Bryan-Podvin (she/her) is a biracial financial wellness expert, speaker, and author of the book "The Financial Anxiety Solution." A practicing social worker since 2012, she uses a shame-free approach to help people get their minds and money in balance by focusing on the intersection of money and mental health using financial therapy. While financial literacy is important, she champions the belief that money is rooted in emotions and impacted by the systems around us. She has a degree in sociology and a Master’s in Social Work with certificates in Financial Social Work and Financial Therapy. She lives with her partner and their dog on the occupied land of the Fox, Peoria, and Potawatomi peoples, also known as Michigan.

What does identity really mean? And how do we know when we’ve found it, can we ever truly embody our ‘true selves’? In this episode we discuss what it means to undergo massive shifts in our identity and come out of it the other side and how we might assist that journey.

This week we discuss how to make new friendships in our 20’s. We all can recognise how hard it is to make friends as we enter adulthood but what does psychology actually say about this struggle and why is it so difficult as we move beyond our school years into work and the real world.

Are soulmates real? And how do we know if we’ve met the one? This week we discuss the idea of twin flames and soul mates and alternative explanations for the deep connection and chemistry we feel with some people and whether we are destined to meet.

How does the pill and hormonal birth control impact our psychological well-being and experiences in our 20’s? This week we discuss the history and origins of the pill and how it interacts with our body and systems. Are the benefits worth the risks and what about the dark history behind the emergence of this common form of female birth control?

This week talk about the cultural phenomenon of hustle culture, the rise and grind age of work and professional success. We also discuss the role of burnout in this relationship and how we can recentre our lives to avoid this type of exhaustion and free ourselves of the stress and pressures of the need to always be hustling.

This week we discuss the tricky topic of situationships in our 20’s - the grey space between casual and committed. How do we establish good boundaries in these relationships or avoid them to begin with? And when do we know it’s over?

What can we do when we feel lost and directionless in our 20’s? It’s a common feeling and one shared by many but when you’re in a rut it can be hard to get our. In this episode we discuss actions we can take to recentre ourselves and our vision or mission in life and make big changes to push us forward.

On this episode we talk about the interactions between alcohol and the brain. Alcohol can be a huge part of our lives in our 20’s, as can anxious feelings the morning after drinking so it’s important to understand why our body (and our brain) reacts this way to alcohol and how we can remedy those feelings of stress the next day.

We discuss the four attachment styles and their implications for the relationships we have in our 20’s. Where did the idea of attachment come from, how relevant are they and can we heal disordered patterns of attachment? Listen in for the answers to those important questions

This week we discuss the secrets and successes of emotional intelligence and how to cultivate and grow your EQ in your 20’s. Why is it so important? What are the benefits? And how can we be the most emotionally intelligent versions of ourselves?

What do we do when we’ve lost someone we’ve loved? In this weeks episode we talk about the confusion and anger, the safeness, following the loss of a loved one. How do we move on and continue to hold the memory of them close?

Why I went on antidepressants, my experience and the stigma around medication and mental illness.

What does it mean to be ‘cool’ and why does it matter? In this weeks episode we discuss the importance of social acceptance and why being authentic is actually the key to being socially attractive.

On this episode we discuss anxiety in our 20’s. We talk about the body on anxiety, different anxiety disorders and the unique triggers in our 20’s.

We discuss the biology behind those awful breakup feelings, how to truly let someone go, the stages of grief and whether it’s possible to be friends with you ex.

Why you’ve been feeling lonely recently because I have been too! We talk about how to embrace loneliness, why your best relationships are just around the corner and the power of gratitude.

We discuss love languages, what are they, are they real and where did the idea come from? We also talk about recent research done by Hinge on the most common love languages and the modified quiz which now includes two additional love languages.

This week we discuss the psychology of social media: how it controls our behaviours, social comparison and the what makes tiktok so addictive.

This week we discuss people pleasing: what it is, where it comes from and some interesting links to trauma and gender. We also discuss some strategies for learning how to say no and putting yourself first!

What does psychology have to say about our fear of failure and how can we change our mindset to one that embraces the mistakes we are inevitably going to make? This week we discuss failure of many sorts in our 20’s: relationships, academic, in the workplace. Tune in!

Why do we fight and how can we resolve conflict in a healthy manner? We’re talking about interpersonal conflict today and answering some of the big questions around fighting with those we love.

What happens when the worst case scenario happens? Whilst that rarely happens, today we break down catastrophic thinking and why we always expect the worst case scenario.

We bring on the longest and nearest friend to talk about how our friendship has lasted for almost a decade, the lessons we’ve learned in 2021, home buying and so much more.

We start our new year off RIGHT with a view into what psychology has to say about forgiveness and why it is the life changing philosophy we need in our 20’s. We discuss skills, strategies, set backs and benefits in our last episode of 2021 as we start the new year with a clean slate and fresh hearts

The psychology of the big life changes that we all experience in our 20’s: moving cities, graduations and job changes, it’s that time of the year. But where does the anxiety of big life changes come from? How do we deal with the fear of loneliness and adjustment disorder? Listen to find out.

Why do people cheat? Is the phrase once a cheater, always a cheater correct? Where do conceptions of monogamy come from? Learn in this episode.

Why do we feel a “spark” for some people and not others? What creates attraction and what is our ‘love map’? Listen in to find out why we are attracted to some people over others and how we can transform passionate love into something stable and long term.

This week, we talk about narcissism and how to identify narcissists in our own lives. We talk about how their behaviours may make relationships particularly hard, the origins of this personality disorder and whether a cure is possible!

In this episode we are discussing the psychology behind friendship breakups - why we need to move on from people, the types of toxic friends to look out for, the best way to breakup with a friend and more! Tune in for some juicy psychology and lessons for our 20’s.

Howdy! This week we have a little lockdown snapshot where I delve into the psychology behind why lockdowns can be such a killer for our mental health. Indulge in some of my tips abs tricks for staying sane and as always, get vaccinated and stay COVID safe.

This weeks episode is a deep and highly personal one. Hold onto your horses. We discuss unrequited love - why we feel it, how to fix it and whether it is truly what we can call love ❤️😢

This week we discuss jealousy - the green monster - and break down where jealousy originated from, it’s emotional core and how we can address these feelings.

This episode we discuss the fear of missing out - where FoMO comes, why it feels so shit and potential solutions to stop worrying about what you’re missing out on.

This week we talk about the transition to full time work in our 20’s and why the 9-5 is not conducive to a well rounded lifestyle. Special guest Erin also joins us to give her expert opinion.

On this weeks episode we discuss imposter syndrome; where it comes from, why we feel it and why society wants to convince women it’s a gendered problem.