S7 Ep 82 Offended: Your Secret Superpower for Real Growth

About this episode

This episode explores how to use offense as a tool for personal growth and resilience.

What if the sting of criticism or feedback wasn’t something to avoid, but your greatest tool for personal growth? In this episode, I share how a single piece of honest feedback from a recent counselor training (that could have derailed me years ago) barely phased me this time, and why that shift matters. I open up about a grad school professor whose constant nitpicking once felt like a personal attack, only to become one of my most valuable mentors. Along the way, we dive deep into the psychology of offense: why we get so defensive, the cognitive biases (like self-serving bias, confirmation bias, and negativity bias) that fuel it, and how shifting from a fixed to a growth mindset can turn those uncomfortable moments into powerful opportunities for change. You’ll walk away with practical questions to ask when offense hits, tools to build quiet, resilient confidence, and a new way to see feedback, not as a threat, but as data that helps you level up without the emotional baggage. If you’ve ever replayed a critical comment, gotten defensive in a meeting, or struggled to receive tough feedback, this episode will help you flip the script. Tune in and discover how to use offense as…

People in this episode

Host: Piper Harris

Topics covered

• personal growth
• feedback
• psychology of offense
• cognitive biases
• growth mindset
• resilience

Keywords

• criticism
• feedback
• defensiveness
• self-serving bias
• confirmation bias
• negativity bias
• growth mindset
• resilient confidence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Untangled Mind™

More episodes of Untangled Mind™, LLC hosted by Piper Harris

• Season 7 Ep 85 Holding Hope: Stage 2 Triphasic Trauma Model Remembrance & Mourning · May 18, 2026 · 1h 9m
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• S7 E83 Holding Hope: Understanding Trauma and Why the Triphasic Model Matters · April 13, 2026 · 50 min
• S7 Ep 83 Holding Hope: Understanding Trauma and Why the Triphasic Model Matters · April 13, 2026 · 50 min
• Season 7 Ep 81 Part TWO with Dr. Emily Ferrara Comfortable but Not Changing: The Three Signs You’re in Stalled Therapy · March 25, 2026 · 2 min
• S7 Ep80 The Filter at the Table · March 23, 2026 · 16 min