The popular public radio program "Hidden Brain" has a new five-episode series about the nature of loss and the grieving process. It also offers tools for people going through a variety of challenges, said host Shankar Vedantam.
Vedantam said the series is not looking at specific traumatic events, such as the Maui wildfires, but at the themes that connect different events.
"It's really asking the question, what does psychological science and psychological research have to offer people so that they can come through difficult times with more serenity, come through difficult times with a better sense of balance and well-being? That's the idea of the series," he said.
The first episode released on Oct. 30 is called "Change Your Story, Change Your Life." It shares the idea that each person is the author of their own life, not always the audience. And if each person is an author, then they can choose how to tell their story.
"If you think about a life having a series of ups and downs, and if you think about your entire life being a book, a novel, for example, you have to construct chapters and decide where you're starting each chapter and ending each chapter," Vedantam said. "And it turns out where you put the chapter breaks in your life plays a profound role in your happiness and well-being."
He said psychologists distinguish two types of chapters. Contamination sequences start positively and end negatively, while redemption sequences start negatively and end positively — with a lesson learned or a door opened.
"If we construct our lives and the chapters of our lives so that we are telling more redemption sequences and fewer contamination sequences, we are likely to feel happier about our lives, feel better adjusted, and experience more well-being," he added.
You can find "Healing 2.0" under the "Hidden Brain" podcast on your favorite podcast platform. "Hidden Brain" also airs on HPR-1 on Thursdays at 7 p.m.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 6, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
