Nobody wants to be, or be around, a “Negative Nancy” or “Davy Downer.” The benefits of having an optimistic outlook improve our overall well-being as they boost longevity, help us bounce back from stress, and help regulate emotions. We are often instructed by society to be optimistic and stay positive, especially in American culture. But there’s a fine line between having positive attitude and toxic positivity. It becomes toxic when we ignore reality, suppress negative emotions, and try to be overly positive in every situation, regardless of what is really happening. In this podcast, LA Psychotherapist, John Tsilimparis, joins Cecile, Juan, and Shawn for a deep dive into this topic. We discuss what toxic positivity is, how to recognize it, and why we display it to others, and even to ourselves. John gives us tools we can use to give ourselves the space we need to feel our emotions and acknowledge reality, and have a watchful awareness to build resilience and be supportive.

If you feel like you have been holding and hiding out just to get through the long winter days, it’s time to get up, get out, and start to let go. Spring is here! We jump start this new season of Ends With Z by setting and resetting intentions to embrace nature’s power of rebirth and awakening new energy within us. Spring invites us to be in flow with this season’s transformational power. The signs of change are happening around us. Embracing these shifts gives us the energy to step outside of our comfort zones, to transform our own lives, and to connect more deeply with nature, ourselves, our intention, and our community.

Why does this Fall feel harder for so many of us? We know the end of the year is always challenging with the upcoming holidays and family obligations, but this year the elections added to our stressor – no matter who you are. We either view change as a threat, where we either go in to fight-or-flight mode or we accept change as a part of life and learn to adapt to survive and build resilience. How do we get from “I just can’t” to “I can handle this.” Los Angeles Psychotherapist, John Tsilimparis, joins the podcast to help us better understand our personal relationship with change and gives us ways we can learn to accept and make change work for us, to find our new footing, to recognize our own blind spots, and to not worry about the things that we cannot control. John gives us useful tools to keep our boundaries, manage difficult conversations and not sound weak, judgmental, dismissive, or harsh.