The Character's Toolkit
The Character's Toolkit
Podcast Description
In every episode, therapist (and reader!) Marisa Gelfand chats with novelists and therapists to explore the mental health struggles of fictional characters.
Characters don’t have access to a therapist’s insights, but you do, and you walk away with the skills.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on mental health themes as they relate to fictional characters, with episodes covering topics like coercive relationships, mental filtering, and sports performance anxiety. For example, episodes dive into the nuances of controlling relationships with insights from experts, explore cognitive distortions, and examine the psychological challenges faced by athletes.
In every episode, therapist (and reader!) Marisa Gelfand chats with novelists and therapists to explore the mental health struggles of fictional characters.
Think, bibliotherapy: mental health with a literary twist.
Characters in books and literature don’t have access to a therapist’s insights, but you do, and you walk away with the skills.
Marisa chats with Kimberly McCreight, author of Someone Else’s Husband, and therapistLeor Wasser to explore self-deception, denial, and the stories we tell ourselves to protect against painful truths. Together, they unpack why the mind creates self-deception as a coping mechanism, how fear, anger, and shame can keep us holding onto relationships or identities that no longer fit, and how self-compassion and curiosity can help us face reality once we’re ready.
Want more? Follow @TheCharactersToolkit on Instagram!
The Character’s Toolkit is a bibliotherapy-based mental health podcast where novels and fictional characters are used to explore therapy concepts and coping skills.
Disclaimer
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