Beyond Skepticism

Michael Imas speaks with Natasha Swerdloff, President of the 3PGC, psychotherapist and author, about a controversial idea: that psychological suffering has a single cause, and that understanding it changes everything.Together, we examine whether this claim holds up under scrutiny, where mainstream psychology may fall short, and how the Three Principles relate to — or clash with — philosophy of mind, ethics, and contemporary models of psychotherapy. Can mental health really be understood without techniques, diagnoses, or long-term intervention? And how do you distinguish genuine insight from a comforting belief?SPONSORI'm so grateful to The Listening World Summit 2026 for sponsoring this video. You can join the summit online for free or come to the venue in Prague, May 23rd to 25th 2026. I'd be happy to meet you there. Please check them out at https://thelisteningworld.comSUBSTACKFor early access to videos with minimal or no ads and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://michaelimas.substack.com/DONATIONSIf you want to support the channel by donation, here's my PayPal: paypal.me/MichaelImasDELINKSIf you'd like to check out Natashas work, please visit her website at https://theprinciplesinstitute.com/INTERACTIONIf you have questions, suggestions or anything else you want to share: comment below! You liked the episode and want more? Please like, subscribe and share this episode so I can continue investing into more high quality episodes!TIMESTAMPS00:00 Trailer01:10 Start01:17 Why should anybody care about the 3 Principles?03:49 How to Approach this Understanding?06:49 3 Things Natasha realized over time10:26 The Listening World Sponsored Section12:02 What about Violent Crime and War?23:02 What field are the 3 Principles?33:20 Why not engage in Spiritual Traditions or Philosophy of Mind instead?40:31 The man who was afraid of dying46:10 Ethics revisited54:35 Natasha shares her story about thought and jealousy57:53 What can the principles uniquely provide?1:02:02 If experiences come purely from insight, what about love and relationships?1:04:38 What’s the biggest challenge for the 3 principles?1:08:18 What are the biggest misunderstandings people have about this?1:10:00 What is practically different to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?1:17:01 3P take on Diagnosis1:21:38 How to measure Grounding?1:28:06 The one source of experience1:30:11 What does “Thought” really mean?1:34:09 Criticising the Principles can be frustrating1:37:32 Why is there no engagement with academic philosophy?1:42:10 The Veil of Perception1:46:04 Ethics revisited again1:52:28 Questioning Idealism1:56:43 Is Math just Thought?1:59:28 The Trolley Problem2:00:48 The Principle of Consciousness2:02:19 Free Will vs. The Principle of Mind2:04:09 Short Questions, Fast Answers2:06:00 Last Words#psychology #spirituality #philosophy

For the fifth episode of Beyond Skepticism, Marina Galán — professional speaker, companion, and Vice President of the 3PGC — joins Michael Imas for a conversation about authenticity, surrender, and success.We explore in depth how people often create a sense of lack in their minds and then try to fill it with external achievements — but also what alternative ways of navigating life are available.At the end, Marina shares a deeply personal and powerful breakthrough.This is one of the most raw and unfiltered conversations I’ve ever facilitated. The questions weren’t prepared — and the depth Marina brought still impacts me, even two months after recording.DONATIONSIf you want to support the channel, here's my PayPal: paypal.me/MichaelImasDELINKSIf you'd like to know more of @MarinaGalana , check out her website at https://www.marinagalan.com/ and her instagram at https://www.instagram.com/marinagalana/INTERACTIONIf you have questions, suggestions or anything else you want to share: comment below! You liked the episode and want more? Please like, subscribe and share this episode so I can continue investing into more high quality episodes featuring thought leaders all throughout the world.MICHAEL IMAS SOCIALS:https://www.instagram.com/michael_imas/https://www.tiktok.com/@michael.imasTIMESTAMPS00:00 Trailer 02:19 Start02:34 What does a Successful Life look like?05:52 The Unknown08:48 Gratitude, Purpose and Living in the Unknown12:18 The Value of Acquired Knowledge14:44 Having Breakthroughs in Life – What makes us truly Happy?17:29 Where does Purpose come from?18:44 The Intelligence of Life vs Theory of Evolution22:56 The Value of Silence26:18 Making up False Goals29:18 Is Every Feeling Available Right Now?32:12 How to Change our Experience of Life36:08 Giving up Good Thoughts42:22 Reverse Engineering a Feeling vs Wisdom44:42 Creating Lack50:42 What if Surrendering just doesn't Work Reliably?56:07 Authenticity, Honesty and Going Deeper on Lack1:06:22 Doubt, Functioning and Failing1:15:27 Being a Companion1:21:13 Marina Tells a Personal Story1:34:01 Last Words#authenticity #innerwisdom

For the third episode of Beyond Skepticism, Fenella Blakaj M.Ed., School Adviser for Mental Health, Author and Director of the school "WayUp" , joins Michael Imas for a conversation about Parenting and Education. We explored what makes children thrive, the conflicting parenting advice out there, what's really needed for a revolution in education and many more exciting topics of conversation.

For the premiere episode of Beyond Skepticism, Michael Neill, world-renowed Coach, Author and Speaker, joins me for a conversation about what makes life delightful, the role of thought in our moment to moment experience and how his coaching modality took a complete turn away from NLP despite having great success.If you'd like to watch more of Michael Neills stuff, check out his Podcast Caffeine for the Soul or his website at michaelneill.org.You liked the episode and want more? Please like, subscribe and share this episode so I can continue investing into more high quality episodes featuring thought leaders all throughout the world.