Andrew Adams, co-founder and CEO of Headway, is making access to therapy easier. Headway is a mental health care marketplace that matches patients with providers who accept insurance. Earlier this year, Headway was named a LinkedIn top 50 startup.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Andrew joins Leah to discuss the barriers to accessing mental health care. He shares his experience with finding a therapist and going to therapy, as well as his personal motivation for building a national network of mental health care providers. Andrew also reflects on how his mental health hygiene routine has changed as his company and responsibilities as a CEO have grown. 

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Andrew Adams on LinkedIn.

To learn more about Headway, check out their website.

Athena Aktipis is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University and co-Director of The Human Generosity Project. She studies how people work together, especially during crises, through the lenses of evolutionary biology and psychology. Her latest book, “A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: A Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times”, digs into the history and science of cooperation.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Athena joins Leah to discuss the history of human survival during times of crisis. Drawing from her research with the Maasai tribe, Athena explains why cooperation is key to surviving both natural and human-caused disasters. She also shares how game theory can be used to build more cooperative communities. 

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Athena Aktipis on LinkedIn.

Scott Rick is a behavioral scientist and marketing professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He holds a PhD in Behavioral Decision Research from Carnegie Mellon, where he was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Scott joins Leah to explore the complicated role of money in relationships. He shares advice for couples who have different views on spending money, including strategies for those who hate spending and those who enjoy it too much. He also discusses the importance of gift-giving in relationships and how to use psychology to find the perfect gift this holiday season.

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Scott Rick on LinkedIn.

To learn more about how money messes with relationships – and how you can keep it from messing with yours – check out Scott’s book Tightwads and Spendthrifts: Navigating the Money Minefield in Real Relationships.

Shasta Nelson is a leading expert in healthy relationships and intimacy. For over 15 years, she’s been translating the science of human connection into actionable practices for enhancing belonging and well-being.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Shasta joins Leah to discuss the key components of healthy relationships. Shasta shares strategies for developing new friendships and nurturing existing ones, as well as advice for ending a friendship. She also draws on data about loneliness and happiness to explain why working on our relationships is the most important thing we can do to improve our overall health. 

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Shasta Nelson on LinkedIn.

To learn more about how to foster healthy relationships, check out Shasta’s book Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness.

Lynne Peeples is a journalist and author of The Inner Clock: Living in Sync With Our Circadian Rhythms. She covers science, health and the environment and holds master’s degrees in biostatistics and science journalism.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Lynne joins Leah to discuss the science behind our circadian rhythms. Lynne explains why our inner clocks are out of sync and what that means for our physical and mental health. She also offers strategies for resetting our clocks, including limiting the hours during which we eat and following a consistent sleep/wake schedule.

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Lynne Peeples on LinkedIn.

To learn more about circadian rhythms, check out Lynne’s book The Inner Clock.

Carole Hopson is a Boeing 737 captain for United Airlines and the author of ‘A Pair of Wings,’ a historical fiction novel about Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to get her pilot license. After a successful twenty-year career working for iconic brands like the National Football League, Foot Locker and L’Oréal, Carole quit her job to pursue her lifelong dream of flying planes. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Carole tells the story of how she turned that childhood dream into a second-act career. She shares wisdom on balancing your career alongside the responsibilities of being a parent, demonstrating why moms make for some of the best employees. She also discusses her novel and her next big dream: sending 100 Black women to flight school by 2035. 

Follow Carole Hopson on LinkedIn. 

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

To learn more about the life of Bessie Coleman, check out Carole’s novel A Pair of Wings.

Cassie Holmes is a Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Her first book Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most is a practical guide for how to think about and spend time in order to experience joy every day. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Cassie joins Leah to discuss her research on time and happiness. After dispelling the notion that more free time equals more happiness, Cassie offers tips for making the things you have to do every day – commuting, house chores, etc. – more enjoyable. She also explains the concept of ‘time crafting’ and why it’s so important to account for how we spend the hours in our days.

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Cassie Holmes on LinkedIn.

Jeffrey Hall is a Professor of Communication Studies and the Director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at the University of Kansas. He studies the way technology influences relationships, including the impact of social media on feelings of belonging, connectedness and loneliness.

The harms of social platforms have been well documented over the past decade – political polarization, misinformation – but is social media also to blame for the rise in loneliness? On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Jeffrey joins Leah to discuss the role of social media in the loneliness epidemic. Jeffrey argues that when used more intentionally, social media can fulfill its original promise: help us stay connected and deepen our connections with the people we care about most.

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Jeffrey Hall on LinkedIn.

Keep an eye out for Jeffrey’s forthcoming book The Social Biome: How Everyday Communication Connects and Shape Us.

Thubten Chodron is an American Tibetan Buddhist Nun and the founder of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery in the United States. In her recently re-released book Working With Anger, Thubten describes different practices for dealing with our anger that don't involve expression or suppression.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Thubten and Leah explore the Buddhist perspective on some of the toughest emotions we experience, including anger. While many of us believe that anger is useful or even righteous, Thubten argues that anger distorts our perception of reality. She encourages us to reframe our anger using techniques such as meditation, self-reflection and humor.

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow Thubten Chodron on LinkedIn.

To learn more about the Buddhist perspective on anger, check out Thubten’s book Working with Anger: Buddhist Teachings on Patience, Acceptance, and Transforming Negativity.

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here.

David Kessler is a grief and loss expert and the author of several bestselling books, including two he co-authored with Elizabeth Kubler Ross. He’s worked with thousands of people on the edge of life and death, helping them to find happiness and fulfillment after experiencing life’s gravest tragedies. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, David joins Leah to discuss the role of meaning and how we make it after experiencing a loss and the grief that accompanies it. He describes the process of ‘excavating’ one’s pain – a crucial step in the grieving process that must precede meaning-making. He also offers advice for talking to your coworkers about grief, stressing the importance of simply being present for those who are in the midst of grieving as opposed to offering solutions. 

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Follow David Kessler on LinkedIn.

To learn more about the meaning-making process, check out David’s new workbook, The Sixth Stage of Grief: Tools for Releasing Pain and Remembering with Love.

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here.

This week, in honor of World Mental Health Day, Everyday Better host Leah Smart is sharing her story of living with anxiety – and how she’s learned to manage it. 

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

Additional Resources:

Anxiety and Depression Association of America

A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

Anxiety Rx by Dr. Russell Kennedy

Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Dr. Martin Seif and Dr. Sally Winston

The Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner