Whitney Goodman | Toxic Positivity: Keeping it Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy

The Unmistakable Creative Podcast

Srinivas Rao

Society & Culture

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Join us as we welcome Whitney Goodman, a thought-provoking therapist and author, to delve into the complexities of toxic positivity. In this insightful episode, Whitney challenges the conventional wisdom of 'positive thinking,' revealing how it can often mask real emotions and hinder genuine healing. Drawing from her rich experience and her book, "Toxic Positivity," she discusses the pitfalls of forced optimism and the importance of embracing all emotions for true growth. This conversation is a must for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of emotional health and authenticity.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I started looking into the history of positive thinking, the law of attraction, all of that.
0:06.3	And it's really woven into the fabric of what we believe as Americans, right?
0:13.0	It's in our Constitution, the right to the pursuit of happiness.
0:17.0	And I think when you look back at the history of religion,
0:22.0	trying to integrate people into the workforce early on, you see all of these
0:28.4	recurring examples of God wants you to be happy, God wants you to be happy and rich. You know, we're constantly told that
0:37.0	happiness is the highest value that we can achieve, right? You hear these quotes like,
0:43.2	happy people are the best people and I think for so many people that is their
0:49.2	goal, right? I hear people come to therapy saying, I just want to be happy.
0:53.5	And they have no idea what that even really means
0:58.1	that it's become an absolute cultural obsession at this point.
1:05.0	I'm Sreeney Rao and this is the unmistakable creative podcast where you get a window into the stories and insights of the most innovative and creative minds who started movements, built thriving businesses, written best selling books and created insanely interesting art. For more check out our 500
1:24.3	episode archive at unmistakable creative.com.
1:29.2	Whitney welcome to the unmistakable creative. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us.
1:36.0	Thank you for having me. Yeah, so I found out about your work because I stumbled up on your book in a bookstore toxic positivity keeping it real in a world obsessed with being happy and as somebody who loves this idea of no bullshit self improvement and considers the greatest compliment we've ever received in
1:53.6	iTunes review, no feel-good fluff. I thought, yeah, I have to talk to you. But before we get
1:59.6	into the book, given that I kind of see as a social scientist, I wanted to start by asking what
2:04.4	social group where you're a part of in high school and what impact did that end up having on what you
2:09.2	ended up doing with your life in your career?
2:11.2	Oh gosh, interesting.
2:14.7	When I think about like social group, I went to a small high school, I think my graduating class
2:20.6	had like 120 kids.
	...

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