If my podcast has helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeper

2025 was one of the hardest years of my life—but it taught me lessons I wouldn’t have learned any other way. In this video, I break down the 14 most important insights that came from pain, mistakes, and hard-earned clarity—and how I’m applying them in 2026.This isn’t motivational fluff or “new year, new you” advice. It’s an honest reflection on emotional health, discipline, relationships, identity, and what actually leads to a life that feels sustainable.

Next Steps:📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly.

About me:

I know what it is to feel hopelessly stuck and worthless to the world in general. I also know what it is to live without those feelings. I’m both a Clinical Psychology specializing in treatment-resistant depression and anxiety, and a human who has spent more than a decade managing sever depression and anxiety.

• Mental Health Coaching with me
• Therapy with me (for people in Iowa)
• Find me on YouTube

Resources

🪣 Get my free 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles.

😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.

📖 My 1st book: For When Everything is Burning

Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client.

But I do care.

Head to https://huel.yt.link/tUoz2cs and & use SCOTT20 to get 20% off your first order of $75+ !Most people don’t get stuck in therapy because they’re not trying.They get stuck because they misunderstand the timeline.Mental health change isn’t like turning a steering wheel and instantly seeing results—it’s more like steering a massive ship. The lag between effort and improvement is longer than you think, and that delay is where people quit… right before the payoff.In this episode, I explain:- Why effective therapy skills often feel “useless” at first- How impatience keeps you cycling through tools without using any long enough to work- Why quick fixes (alcohol, porn, shopping, gambling, etc.) feel tempting—and why they backfire- The mindset shift that makes therapy skills actually stick- A practical way to commit to skills without obsessing over results- If you’ve ever thought, “I tried that and it didn’t work,” this is for you.Next Steps: If my videos have helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeperhttps://bit.ly/DrScottLightBetweentheLeavesYT📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://bit.ly/SelfHopePsychologyDepression and Anxiety resource:🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better📖 My book: For When Everything is Burninghttps://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client. But I do care.

Head to https://huel.yt.link/O6TCyKx and & use SCOTT10 to get 20% off your first order of $75+!Minimum spend required. New customers only. #adIf you have intense mood swings but bipolar disorder or major depression never quite felt like the right fit, this video may explain why. I break down Cyclothymic Disorder—a commonly overlooked mood disorder that causes chronic emotional highs and lows without full manic or depressive episodes.We’ll cover symptoms, common misdiagnoses, and evidence-based treatments so you can better understand what’s happening—and what actually helps stabilize your mood.If my videos have helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeperhttps://bit.ly/DrScottLightBetweentheLeavesYTNext Steps: 📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://bit.ly/SelfHopePsychologyDepression and Anxiety resource:🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better📖 My book: For When Everything is Burninghttps://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client. But I do care.

Thanks to Grow Therapy for sponsoring this episode! Head to to the site to find your estimate and get started today!If you’ve never felt like a “people person,” this video is for you. I break down the practical strategies I’ve used to function in society without pretending to love it—or becoming someone I’m not.This isn’t about becoming social, charismatic, or likable. It’s about surviving—and occasionally enjoying—human interaction when your default setting is avoidance.If my videos have helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeperhttps://bit.ly/DrScottLightBetweentheLeavesYTNext Steps: 📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://bit.ly/SelfHopePsychologyDepression and Anxiety resource:🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better📖 My book: For When Everything is Burninghttps://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client. But I do care.

Get $50 off at shortform.com/drscott and start learning more from NonfictionSome people are born resilient. Others have to build it from scratch. In this video, I break down what resilience actually is (and what it isn’t), why you can’t will it into existence, and the 10 practical strategies that helped me go from painfully sensitive to functionally resilient in a harsh world.This is for the people who feel everything deeply, overthink everything, and still want to keep going anyway.If my videos have helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeperNext Steps: 📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. Depression and Anxiety resource:🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better📖 My book: For When Everything is Burninghttps://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client. But I do care.

Most people don’t realize what mattered most to them until it’s already gone—and by then, all that’s left is grief, regret, and the feeling that you wasted time you didn’t know was precious.

The human mind is terrible at appreciating the present while we’re still living it.

In this episode, I share a set of practical ways to recognize what truly matters before you lose it—from doing things like it’s the last time, to putting a price tag on what you’d never trade, to a few unconventional techniques that can snap gratitude into focus when your brain refuses to cooperate.

This is a chapter preview from my upcoming book The Light Between the Leaves, releasing April 2026 and available now for pre-order. This chapter is called “Remember What Matters Most.”

Get the book here.https://bit.ly/DrScottLightBetweentheLeavesYT

Next Steps:

📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://bit.ly/SelfHopePsychology

Depression and Anxiety resource:

🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory

♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com

😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.

https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better

📖 My book: For When Everything is Burning https://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning

Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client.

But I do care.

Thanks to Huel for sponsoring this video! Get 15% off Huel’s newest and existing products by heading to nhttps://huel.yt.link/1cTKz1e and using code SCOTT10 (new customers only, min $75 purchase).Depression isn’t just sadness—and having “a good life” doesn’t make you immune to it. In this conversation, I break down the two very different ways depression shows up, why success and stability don’t protect your mental health, and how purpose, pressure, and meaning shape both work and well-being.We also explore discipline, isolation, alcohol, motivation, and why mental health improvement requires effort—but not constant self-punishment. If you’ve ever wondered why things should feel good but don’t, this episode is for you. If my videos have helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeperhttps://bit.ly/DrScottLightBetweentheLeavesYTNext Steps: 📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://bit.ly/SelfHopePsychologyDepression and Anxiety resource:🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better📖 My book: For When Everything is Burninghttps://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client. But I do care.

The holidays can be one of the hardest times of year for mental health — and if you dread this season instead of enjoying it, you’re not broken. You’re human.In this video, I break down a practical holiday survival guide for navigating winter depression, family stress, loneliness, grief, financial pressure, and emotional overload. Whether you’re overwhelmed by too many people, struggling with too few, or just feeling crushed by the season itself, this is a grounded, realistic framework for getting through it with your sanity intact.This isn’t about toxic positivity or “just be grateful.” It’s about boundaries, energy budgeting, nervous system care, and redefining what the holidays actually need to be — for you.If my videos have helped, my new book, The Light Between the Leaves, goes even deeperhttps://bit.ly/DrScottLightBetweentheLeavesYTNext Steps: Get $50 OFF an annual Shortform ( @_Shortform ) sub at shortform.com/drscott and start learning more from nonfiction.📩 Get Practical tools for navigating life with depression and anxiety, delivered weekly. https://bit.ly/SelfHopePsychologyDepression and Anxiety resource:🪣 Get my 5-day guide to reclaiming your time and energy despite mental health struggles. https://bit.ly/DrScottBucketTheory♥︎ 2 Unique ways to work with me - https://drscotteilers.com😴 Dramatically improve your sleep in 2 steps with my new Sleep Workbook.https://www.drscotteilers.com/resources#how-to-sleep-better📖 My book: For When Everything is Burninghttps://bit.ly/forwheneverythingisburning Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a replacement for receiving treatment. It is purely educational in nature. My relationship with you is that of presenter and audience, not therapist and client. But I do care.