Dr. Gary Bell's Absurd Psychology
Marriage
Not for the faint of heart or sensitive spirit, Dr. Gary Bell's Absurd Psychology is about helping our lives in the insane world we exist today. It is a sarcastic, smart and witty view of the lives we cope with, including straight answers, real information and new perspectives to bring LIFE back to our existence. Dr. Bell brings deep insight, common sense and weaves general knowledge of how the brain is operating under various circumstances. Dr. Bell challenges us all to OWN our lives. How do we become change in an ever changing world? If anything, you might sound smarter to your friends. Everyone is an armchair therapist, but now you will know enough to be dangerous. No whining or caterwauling allowed! This is a search for essence, passion and meaning as we exist surrounded by mediocrity, insecurity and insignificance. Take your medication and listen. You might learn something.
Location:
Tempe, AZ
Description:
Not for the faint of heart or sensitive spirit, Dr. Gary Bell's Absurd Psychology is about helping our lives in the insane world we exist today. It is a sarcastic, smart and witty view of the lives we cope with, including straight answers, real information and new perspectives to bring LIFE back to our existence. Dr. Bell brings deep insight, common sense and weaves general knowledge of how the brain is operating under various circumstances. Dr. Bell challenges us all to OWN our lives. How do we become change in an ever changing world? If anything, you might sound smarter to your friends. Everyone is an armchair therapist, but now you will know enough to be dangerous. No whining or caterwauling allowed! This is a search for essence, passion and meaning as we exist surrounded by mediocrity, insecurity and insignificance. Take your medication and listen. You might learn something.
Twitter:
@drgbmft
Language:
English
Website:
http://www.drgbmft.com/
Episodes
Repent for What?
9/30/2025
•Repentance is not so much a feeling or sentiment but rather a process. It’s the process of honestly and thoughtfully reviewing one’s past actions, one’s motivations, sentiments, and underlying “issues,” and committing oneself to the task of “turning away” from old, negative patterns and making a conscientious effort to adopt and reinforce very different, healthier ways, thus becoming a new and better person. It’s an arduous process. Tune in and learn the value of repentance and how to do it!
Duration:00:56:46
Crazy or BiPolar?
9/28/2025
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by unusual shifts in mood, energy, and ability to function. These shifts involve extreme "highs" (mania) and "lows" (depression), sometimes accompanied by symptoms like racing thoughts, sleep problems, impulsive behavior, and feelings of hopelessness. Psychology plays a key role in understanding bipolar disorder by studying its symptoms, causes (like genetics and environment), and effective treatments, which often include medication, psychotherapy, and lifestyle adjustments. Tune in and learn all about bipolar.
Duration:01:00:01
White Collar Criminals
9/16/2025
The psychology of white-collar crime involves understanding the motivations, personality traits, and decision-making processes of individuals who commit these offenses. Key factors include a focus on material wealth, optimism bias about getting caught, egocentricity, and potential difficulties in social and sexual relating. Certain personality traits like narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, as well as low levels of conscientiousness and self-control, have been linked to increased likelihood of engaging in white-collar crime. Tune in and learn how to identify and understand white collar crime!
Duration:00:58:12
Married for the Kids
9/9/2025
Is staying married for the kids the right choice? This is one of the most heart-wrenching decisions a parent can face. It’s a question that weighs heavily on those contemplating divorce, sparking a complex debate about the best path forward for the family’s emotional and psychological well-being. Tune in and learn how all this plays out for children and parents. Learn how to prevent or manage a divorce!
Duration:00:56:55
Apathy: No More to Give
9/2/2025
What, exactly, is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. It’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. Whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Tune in and learn all about how apathy effects your life and how to overcome it!
Duration:00:58:13
Psychology: Conspiracy Theories and Fake News
8/26/2025
Conspiracy theories, from a psychological perspective, are often linked to distrust of authority, political cynicism, and psychological traits like paranoia, narcissism, and insecure attachment. Belief in these theories can be reinforced by circular reasoning, where evidence against or lack of evidence for a conspiracy is interpreted as further proof of its existence. We live in a world filled with media who purposely provides us with disinformation to gain readers, listeners and viewers by inciting our emotions to validate our biases. Tune in and learn all about how disinformation and conspiracy theories shape our lives and how to fight it!
Duration:00:56:17
Artificial Intelligence and Us
8/19/2025
Artificial intelligence (AI), sometimes known as machine intelligence, refers to the ability of computers to perform human-like feats of cognition including learning, problem-solving, perception, decision-making, and speech and language. Early AI systems had the ability to defeat a world chess champion, map streets, and compose music. Thanks to more advanced algorithms, data volumes, and computer power and storage, AI evolved and expanded to include more sophisticated applications, such as self-driving cars, improved fraud detection, and “personal assistants” like Siri and Alexa. Tune in and learn how the psychological and personal world is evolving with A.I.!
Duration:00:53:17
The Power of Anticipation
8/12/2025
•Anticipation is a psychological process we engage in to mentally prepare for a certain outcome that we expect to happen in the future. Anticipating future events happens automatically, taking place largely in the oldest part of the brain, the cerebellum. Our minds are wired for anticipation; we evolved to have the capacity to form accurate expectations about the future so we could make better predictions about it. That ability allowed humans to take advantage of experiences that benefit us and avoid ones that would be dangerous, increasing the chance of survival. Tune in and learn how anticipation leads our lives!
Duration:00:55:39
When We Are Wrong
8/5/2025
For most of us mere mortals, admitting we are wrong is very difficult, even under the best of circumstances. At times, we argue vehemently over trivial matters, even with loved ones. In such instances, we might notice how we avoid admitting we are wrong, or how we quickly point out how the other person was wrong about something else. "Oh, yeah, well maybe I did forget to take the trash out, but you constantly leave your dirty dishes in the sink!" When it comes to more substantive issues, such as politics, we will often argue as if our very lives depended upon it. Tune in and learn the value of being wrong and owning it!
Duration:00:56:20
Resentment in Relationships
7/29/2025
Not all couples can pinpoint a specific trigger for a spiral of relationship resentment, but studies have shown that resentment is often a response to a wrong—or something perceived as punitive or humiliating. It also can grow in relationships in which teasing or humor is barbed, where one has a habit of diminishing the competence of the other, or when there is little perceived appreciation of a partner. Resentment can also spring from a sense of being betrayed in some way or taken for granted—or one partner shouldering an unequal share of household or financial responsibility. Tune in and learn how to recognize and heal resentment!
Duration:00:52:47
Parenting Teenagers
7/22/2025
Adolescence is a challenging time for young people, bringing on not only the physical changes of puberty, but emotional transformation as well and in some cases, the emergence of serious mental health conditions. For parents, it can sometimes seem like their affectionate, adoring child has become a different, distant person and that their teen’s friends have become more important to them than their family. But some of these changes are part of the essential process of moving toward independence and parents who are able to offer more empathy than judgment can continue to be a source of guidance for their kids, and emerge from this period with their relationship intact. Admittedly, though, teens do not always make it easy: A heightened egocentrism is a core trait of adolescence. Tune in and learn all about how to keep your teenagers in check!
Duration:00:55:26
Cognitive Bias: How We Are Influenced
7/15/2025
Cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking, affecting how we process information, perceive others, and make decisions. It can lead to irrational thoughts or judgments and is often based on our perceptions, memories, or individual and societal beliefs. Biases are unconscious and automatic processes designed to make decision-making quicker and more efficient. Cognitive biases can be caused by many things, such as heuristics (mental shortcuts), social pressures, and emotions. Tune in and learn how all of us are influenced by cognitive bias!
Duration:00:54:32
Low Emotional Intelligence
7/1/2025
Let’s start by saying that intelligence is one of the messiest topic areas in all of psychology. We don’t really know what it is (debate and controversy exist over definitions and conceptualizations), but what we do know is that—broadly speaking—whatever it is, it’s one of the finest predictors of outcomes in all psychology research. Of course, its ability to “predict” is dictated by how it’s operationally defined and, likewise, assessed—but that’s another issue for another day. Tune in and learn how to spot low emotional intelligence, deal with it and learn to improve!
Duration:00:54:14
Impulsivity: Can't Stop Myself
6/24/2025
You have probably done it before: fired off an offensive response to an email, said something you later regretted or did something to you wish you wouldn’t have. Yes, you, like many others, have probably fallen victim to impulsivity. There may have been times your impulsive actions paid off. Yet, there are those times where your impulsive behavior may have left you asking “What was I thinking?” There is no doubt about it: The complexity of impulsiveness can be a blessing on one hand and a curse on the other. Tune in and learn how impulsivity can be managed or manage you!
Duration:00:53:31
How Psychology Works: Theories
6/17/2025
Psychological perspectives are different ways of thinking about and explaining human behavior. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to studying and understanding the human mind and behavior. That's why psychologists utilize a variety of perspectives when studying how people think, feel, and behave. Exploring different perspectives gives us a fuller, richer way to look at psychology—and solve problems that people might be experiencing. Tune in and learn all about how psychological theories change lives!
Duration:00:55:29
Finding Purpose and Meaning
6/10/2025
For most of the 20th century, philosophers, psychologists, and psychiatrists argued that meaning in life is a rare, profound experience, attainable through an active search, deep self-reflection, or some other arduous way of creating meaning in a seemingly meaningless world. But we now know that most people, most of the time, report that their lives feel more meaningful than not. Although actively constructing meaning may be required in some cases—for example, when your world is turned upside down after a traumatic event—cultivating meaning in life may be as simple as detecting the meaning that is already there. Tune in and learn all about how to find meaning and purpose in yoru life!
Duration:00:53:46
Real Deep Communication
6/3/2025
Open and vulnerable communication between intimate partners is at the core of a relationship’s capacity to survive and thrive. It is what builds trust, clears the way for authenticity, and opens the gates to true intimacy. If relationship partners do not feel seen, heard, understood, and safe as they express their innermost desires and fears, they will never know the joy of blending souls. Yet despite the plethora of available guidance, many of the couples I see are still woefully inept in understanding what the other partner means and feels. Despite their attempts to learn successful communication skills, they continue to misunderstand and misinterpret one another. Tune in and learn how to connect in a deep real way!
Duration:00:55:34
The Mind of a Psychopath
5/20/2025
Psychopathy is a condition characterized by the absence of empathy and the blunting of other affective states. Callousness, detachment, and a lack of empathy enable psychopaths to be highly manipulative. Nevertheless, psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot.
Psychopaths can appear normal, even charming. Underneath, they lack any semblance of conscience. Their antisocial nature inclines them often (but by no means always) to criminality. Tune in and learn all about the mind of psychopathy!!!!
Duration:00:53:00
Relationship Churning: Dating an Ex
5/6/2025
To grasp the concept of relationship churning, it’s essential to explore its key elements and historical context. Relationship churning isn't a new phenomenon; it has been observed throughout history, albeit under different names. Modern implications, however, have amplified its prevalence due to changing societal norms and technological advancements. The psychology of relationship churning is deeply rooted in attachment styles and emotional triggers. Individuals with insecure attachment styles are more prone to engage in relationship churning. Cognitive dissonance also plays a role, as individuals struggle to reconcile their conflicting emotions about the relationship. Tune in and learn all about this emotional rollercoaster!
Duration:00:54:18
Why Manners Matter
5/6/2025
Good manners are a reflection of the Golden Rule: if you are nice to me, I'll be nice to you. The Golden Rule exists in every culture on the planet. A likely reason for this is our hyperactive connection circuitry in the brain that prominently uses the neurochemical oxytocin. When someone is nice towards another person, the recipient's brain releases oxytocin and this causes him or her to respond with kindness. Oxytocin is the embodiment of the Golden Rule. Tune in and find out how paying attention to manners can change your life!
Duration:00:54:18