Welcome to the Relationships Made Easy Podcast where you’ll learn everything you need to know to create connected, happy and fulfilled relationships. I’m your host, Dr. Abby Medcalf.
In this show, I’ll share tips, strategies, conversations and research to help you become the person you want to be, in the relationship you want to be in!
Before you listen any further, let’s figure out if this the right place for you. It’s the right place if:
- You’re feeling dissatisfied or frustrated in your relationship with yourself, your partner or in any of the other meaningful relationships in your life
- You’ve tried to make changes before, but they just don’t stick, and you end up reverting back to old behaviors and patterns
- Your partner won’t do a thing to help change the relationship. Not one little thing.
- You’ve been stuck in these patterns a long time and you think it’s going to take a lot of time and energy to change (it really won’t)
- You’re feeling overwhelmed with all the information out there and you’re just not sure who or what to listen to anymore
If any of these feel like you, you’re in the right place! This podcast is your jam!
This introductory episode is all about getting to know me a little, sharing my vision for what Relationships Made Easy is all about and what you can expect as a listener.
In this podcast, first and foremost, I’ll be focusing on the most important relationship in your life. The one you have with yourself. You can’t have a happy and fulfilled relationship with anyone else, until you at least start to have one with yourself. All too often we’re so focused on the other people in our lives, our partners, parents, children, friends, coworkers or bosses, that we don’t focus enough on ourselves. We end up feeling like victims a lot, because the focus is on what other people are doing, instead of what we need to do. So, you end up waiting. You’re waiting for your partner to stop nagging you, you’re waiting for your mother to apologize; you’re waiting until you can quit your job and never have to deal with your boss again. You’re waiting. You’re waiting for other people to change, thinking this will change how you feel. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But, this isn’t how it works.
And that’s really what’s at the heart of my vision for this Podcast: Empowering you to make changes to create the life you want, instead of looking to the other people in your life to change. I want you to assume, from this point forward, that it’s all about you and what you’re doing and that you have the power to create the life and relationships you really, really want. Here’s the secret no one tells you: When you change and start to truly think and act differently, the people around you change too. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve never seen it fail. You will become a different person and those around you will move out of the way, step up or lean in. No matter what, something will change.
And here’s the other secret no one tells you. All the things that make up a happy life (effective communication, listening, self care, confidence, and managing your emotions) are all just skills. I can teach you these skills. And, like any other skill, as you practice them consistently, you’ll get great at them. In this case, you’ll get great at relationships and life.
I’m here to inspire you. I’m going to do that by combining my professional experience as a psychologist, author, entrepreneur, businesswoman, researcher, trainer and thought leader with my vast experience being a human just like you: A partner, mother, friend, sister, ex-wife, daughter, employee and generally a person who tries to do good in the world, but messes up, just like you.
This seems like a good time to more formally introduce myself. If you’re just discovering me for the first time, my name is Dr. Abby Medcalf. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area now, but am still a New Yorker through and through. I speak and think fast and always bring humor to everything I do.
My life will likely sound familiar to many of you listening right now. I work hard to balance all the puzzle pieces: there’s my business which includes meeting, one-on-one with clients, flying around the country doing speaking and training engagements, and working on my books and programs. There’s my awesome family (my man, my kids, siblings, an aging mother who refuses to move from her retirement community in Florida; and my friends. I consider my friends family – they’re the family I chose).
Then there’s my relationship with myself: I’ve been a daily meditator since long before it was cool; I’ve been off of drugs for most my life now and have spent many years working with others trying to get clean and sober; I love fashion and can be found in an awesome pair of stilettos most days of the week; I workout most weekday mornings, but hate it. I am not a lover of the exercise, but do it because I know I need to. If you’re someone who struggles to exercise and take care of yourself, this Podcast will be great for you and will give you lots of strategies for getting it right (or, at least, better). I’m struggling with the fact that I’m aging and not nearly as cute as I used to be. What the hell happened to my neck? Really God, it’s not enough that gravity is kicking my ass, you needed to screw with other things too?
I have an educational background in counseling psychology and also in business. This means I’m different (I used to say weird, but I’m trying to up my self-talk game). Working in businesses and with top executives, I’m not given years to make changes. These people tell me what’s wrong and then want it fixed, quickly. I’ve applied these same strategies to the work I do with individuals and couples in my private practice and I’ve gotten amazing results. I’ve been working with people for over 30 years now and I’ve created techniques and systems that work to bring about real change, in a timely way. It might have taken you 10 years to get your relationship to this point, but it’s NOT going to take 10 years to fix it and make it what you want.
I’ve been featured as an expert on ABC and CBS news and I’ve been a keynote, speaker and trainer at companies such as Google, Apple, PG&E, AT&T, American Airlines, Kaiser Permanente, and Chevron (to name a few you might know).
Being of service is at the heart of my life. I want to help others – it’s what makes me tick. It’s how I was raised and it’s at the core of what I do. I always choose trying to make the world a better place. I am positive that, if people were happier in their relationships – if they felt satisfied, connected and fulfilled, we would have no more hate, bullying or violence (yes, I said it). So, welcome to my mission. Helping the world, one relationship at a time.
And, that’s pretty much me. So, let’s move on to what you can expect as a listener to this Podcast:
- An approach from me that’s filled with humor, honesty, self-reflection and a lot of experience
- Research-based information – it’s not just stuff that sounds good – it’s stuff that’s been proven to be effective
- Actionable tips and strategies that you can use right away to create change in yourself and your other relationships
- A focus on romantic relationships, but also techniques that will work in all the other relationships in your life from your parents, to your kids, to your boss at work
If you want more information about me, you can check out my website at abbymedcalf.com or follow me on social media at @abbymedcalfthriving
Thank you for listening and I can’t wait to get to know you as we move through this Podcast together.
Subscribe & Review in iTunes
