About this episode

The episode discusses how to transition from self-awareness to meaningful action in overcoming avoidance coping.

Dr. Rick and Forrest continue last week’s conversation on avoidance coping, this time focusing on how to move from insight into meaningful action. They explore why self-awareness often isn’t enough to create change, focusing on common impediments like ambivalence, shame, and the difficulty of seeing our patterns in real time. They then unpack the practical science of change: surfacing predictions behind avoidance, testing them through right-sized experiments, and fully internalizing the outcomes. Other topics include scaffolding, state-dependent learning, the HEAL process, and what to do when the dreaded experience actually happens. Key Topics: 0:00: Intro: why awareness isn't enough 4:54: Ambivalence to change 13:50: Other impediments to change22:00: How to want to change 28:42: Creating predictions 32:26: Setting up an effective experiment 43:26: Linking new outcomes to old memories 1:01:51: Recap Support the Podcast: We're on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link. Sponsors Take our audience survey: https://rickhanson.com/survey/ For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code BEINGWELL at https://oneskin.co/BEINGWELL. Learn more about your ad…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr. Rick Hanson, Forrest Hanson

Topics covered

• avoidance coping
• self-awareness
• change
• ambivalence
• experiments
• HEAL process
• state-dependent learning

Keywords

• avoidance coping
• self-awareness
• change
• ambivalence
• experiments
• HEAL process
• shame
• state-dependent learning

Sponsors

OneSkin

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Patreon, megaphone.fm

Places: Rick Hanson

More episodes of Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

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• Breaking the Avoidance Loop: Why You Keep Repeating the Same Patterns · June 29, 2026 · 1h 7m
• The Secret to Happiness: How to Feel Loved with Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky · June 22, 2026 · 1h 15m
• How to Repair: The Key to Successful Relationships · June 15, 2026 · 1h 24m

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