Every Monday morning step into the office of iconic psychotherapist Esther Perel and listen in as real people in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and profound details of their stories. From breakups and open relationships to workplace conflicts and fractures in the family, it’s a place to hear our own stories reflected in the lives of others. So…where should we begin? Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
137 episodes transcribedShe is a single mother by choice. She lives in a very tight knit community with very traditional values. Now that her child is almost one, she's ready...
She's grappling with the aftermath of a tumultuous relationship with a narcissistic partner. First, he love bombed her and made her feel special only...
Dating often comes with a lot of questions. Who gets to say what they want? Who gets to be chosen? Who gets to choose? Should I stay on/off the apps?...
This is a classic session, from the second season of How's Work? From day one, they’ve described their relationship as “tumultuous," but there are hig...
They were in love for 6 years and building a life together. They froze embryos and agreed on a timeline for getting pregnant. But when the time came,...
This week, Esther talks to a caller who often feels let down by her friends. She longs for deeper and more meaningful relationships and worries she is...
A mother comes to Esther for help dealing with the escalating conflicts between her husband and their teenage daughter. She's tired of being caught in...
This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? An on-again, off-again couple in their fifties, dating in a post-divorce landscape, are struggling...
Their relationship is on the edge. They're grappling with communication issues and the emotional scars from their past. And they're trapped. Trapped i...
"Am I too much?" is a consistent frame for a relationship that so many people come to Esther with. This week, a Southern preacher who has made a caree...
Esther talks with a young divorcée about the challenges of co-parenting with her ex-husband while wrestling with feelings of anger and frustration. Th...
She feels abandoned by him, he feels choked by her, and their marriage is at a tipping point. They are a couple so focused on their kids that they hav...
We all know the difference between being alive and feeling alive. The state of the world has many of us struggling with threat and uncertainty, both o...
This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? A young couple has endured a series of crises early in their marriage, from a benign brain tumor t...
Esther speaks to a woman who has been estranged from her father for almost two years for reasons she can’t quite figure out. Despite multiple attempts...
Esther talks with a woman who is contemplating ending her five-year long-distance relationship. She reflects on avoidant behavior, stemming from a fea...
This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? After ten years, a husband tells his wife he no longer wishes to be married. A month later, stuck...
Sexual preferences demand a lot of trust, intimacy, and vulnerability in relationships. This week, Esther talks with a couple who are refreshingly ope...
They had a whirlwind romance, and he spun a tale of their future to come—marriage, kids, a life together. He's in his mid-forties, and she is in her l...
Should we have tried harder to make this work? What if you're the one who got away? These are the questions that keep us up at night. This week, Esthe...
