Anxiety’s Tug-of-War: Dr. Doug Mennin on Emotion Regulation Therapy | Dealing With Feelings

What if anxiety isn’t a signal that something’s wrong with you—
but a sign that you’re being pulled between two parts of yourself?

This week on Dealing With Feelings, I sat down with one of my closest friends and longtime collaborators, Dr. Doug Mennin, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia and creator of Emotion Regulation Therapy.

Doug doesn’t just study anxiety. He helps people live with it in a way that restores agency and clarity—without trying to shut feelings down.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why anxiety peaks when we care deeply about something
How emotional clarity starts with attentional clarity
The myth of “getting rid of” uncomfortable emotions
Doug’s dead bunny metaphor (yes, really… it’ll make sense)
Why allowing conflict inside us can actually lead to calm

If you’ve ever felt pulled in two directions, stuck in a loop of worry, or unsure what your emotions are trying to tell you—this one’s for you.

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Let's embark on this journey of emotional growth and resilience together! #DealingWithFeelings #EmotionRegulation #EmotionalIntelligence #EvidenceBasedStrategies #GuestInterviews #drmarcbrackett #podcast

A special thank you to the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence for supporting this webcast. I also want to thank Oji Life Lab for their generous support: https://ojilifelab.com. Oji Life Lab is the leader in mastery-centered learning for the workplace. To develop your skills in leadership, emotional intelligence and more, visit oji life lab dot com or click the link in the description of this video and use the promo code DEALINGWITHFEELINGS to save 25%.