In a timely conversation following the Meta verdict and rising concern about technology’s mental health impact, I sit down with Shannon Algeo to explore what we call the death of friction — how smartphones, social media, and AI are reshaping human attachment, empathy, and psychological well-being.

We discuss how social norms have shifted—largely without our awareness—since the rise of the smartphone, and why the constant tether to digital devices dysregulates the nervous system, fragments memory, and leaves many people feeling strangely empty after online connection.

We unpack why talking to AI is not therapy, how technology platforms increasingly exploit the human attachment system, and what intentional practices can restore presence, embodiment, joy, and real connection in an algorithmic world.

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Shannon Algeo, AMFT, APCC is an American and Irish writer based in California. He is a psychotherapist, researcher, poet, Yoga Nidra teacher, and co-founder of We Human and the We Human Podcast (formerly SoulFeed). Shannon is the author of the books The Power in Your Hands: Liberate Yourself From Attachment to Technology and Trust Your Truth. He is on faculty at the Esalen Institute and the Kripalu Center, and leads digital liberation programs and offline retreats around the world that support people to reclaim their humanity, creativity, and attention in the digital age. Make sure to preorder his latest book: The Power in Your Hands

In this episode, I’m joined by Hannah Rama, LMHC, to explore the patterns of perfectionism and overfunctioning that many high-achieving women—especially those in helping professions—quietly carry.

Women who are capable, driven, and deeply committed to caring for others often find themselves taking on more and more responsibility. While these traits can lead to professional success and meaningful impact, they can also come at a significant emotional and physiological cost.

Hannah and I discuss how these patterns develop and the early experiences that can lead someone to feel their worth is tied to productivity, achievement, or constantly operating at 110%.

In this conversation, Hannah shares how she supports women clinically in:

• recognizing when the cost of overfunctioning has become too high

• learning to regulate the nervous system when burnout and overwhelm begin to build

• cultivating self-compassion and sustainable self-care without losing ambition or drive

• exploring the underlying experiences that shaped these patterns

She also offers specific nervous system regulation practices she recommends in her work, as well as the framework she uses to help high-functioning women create a healthier and more sustainable relationship with achievement.

This conversation will resonate with clinicians, helping professionals, and high-achieving women navigating perfectionism, burnout, and chronic overfunctioning.

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Website: https://www.true-north-therapy.com/

In this episode of Beyond Trauma, I’m joined by Sarah Peyton to explore the transformative practice of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and how it invites us to see the “flow of life” moving through each person.

We discuss why communication becomes so difficult when nervous system reactivity, attachment patterns, and unmet longings come into play. Sarah explains how self-compassion helps us stay grounded in moments of conflict—and why recognizing the freeze response as a natural survival strategy is essential.

Together we unpack:

• How holding the question of another’s beautiful longings changes how we listen
• The role of nervous system safety in helping others hear us
• Clean emotional words versus blame-based language
• How attachment style influences vulnerability and communication patterns
• How to navigate conversations with people we deeply disagree with—without losing connection

If you’ve ever wondered how to stay loving and regulated in hard conversations, this episode offers both neuroscience and heart.

Sarah Peyton, author, Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainer and neuroscience educator, integrates constellations, brain science and the use of resonant language to heal trauma with exquisite and warm gentleness. Sarah teaches and lectures internationally and is the author of four books on relational neuroscience and self-compassion: Your Resonant Self: Guided Meditations and Exercises to Engage Your Brain’s Capacity for Healing, the companion Your Resonant Self Workbook: From Self-sabotage to Self-care, and Affirmations for Turbulent Times: Resonant Words to Soothe Body and Mind, and The Antiracist Heart: A Self-Compassion and Activism Handbook, co-authored with Roxy Manning, PhD. Find her at www.sarahpeyton.com.

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Intro & Outro Music by Daniel Zaitchik