Ever wonder why your sibling drives you insane—or why you lead, love, or lose yourself the way you do?
In this powerful kickoff to tHE ARTichoke Podcast mini-series, we peel back the layers of birth order psychology, blending raw truth, neuroscience, trauma, and humor.

This isn’t pop psych. It’s brain science in real life. Discover how family roles, societal norms, ACEs, and survival patterns silently sculpt your adult identity.

You’ll never see your position—or your people—the same again.

References

Brant, J. M., Perry, M. L., & Dunlap, K. E. (2022). Neural correlates of hyperresponsibility in firstborn adults: A cognitive-emotional analysis. Journal of Applied Neuropsychology, 29(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/09084282.2022.1983047

CDC. (2020). Preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs): Leveraging the best available evidence. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/preventingACES.pdf

Chen, S. Y., Wang, T. R., & Li, Y. (2021). Sibling position and reward-related brain activity in adolescence. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 657302. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.657302

Keller, E. A., Smith, L. A., & Nguyen, T. (2023). Reconstructing family roles through neuroplastic intervention: A sibling-order identity study. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 145, 104724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.104724

Moreno, H. K., Abrahams, T. S., & Liao, M. (2020). Emotion regulation and birth order: Neurodevelopmental insights into middle-child social cognition. Developmental Psychology, 56(4), 711–723. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000904

Silva, R. C., & Yoon, J. H. (2021). Longitudinal changes in executive functioning linked to perceived sibling roles. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33(11), 2222–2235. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01733

We are not emotionally empty—we are emotionally overloaded and under-equipped.

This episode holds a mirror to the quiet chaos many have normalized ~ high emotional reactivity with low emotional fluency. It’s not a conversation about managing emotions, it’s a call to understand them with precision, presence, and depth.

I explore what happens when people know how to express however, not regulate. When they feel deeply, but cannot name what’s there.

This is where most of us live, in the gap between emotional performance and emotional maturity.

You’ll leave this episode with three non-negotiable tools for emotional clarity, and one hard truth—if you cannot sit with your emotions, they will sit inside everything you do.

This is not for your highlight reel.

This is for the you that’s ready to live clear.

Reference

Brackett, M. A., Bailey, C. S., Hoffmann, J. D., & Simmons, D. N. (2020). Emotions matter: How emotional intelligence education improves learning, relationships, and mental health. Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

An educational, humanistic episode exploring the hidden reality of balanced connections, grounded in evidence-based research

Most people hear the word transactional and picture money, goods, or contracts. But what if the quiet exchanges happening in your daily relationships, your time, your energy, your presence, are just as transactional, and just as vital? In this episode, we peel back the assumptions surrounding connection and explore the undeniable truth: all relationships involve exchange. Backed by social neuroscience and psychological theory, we’ll reframe what it means to give, receive, and find peace through balanced connection.

Whether you’ve called it love, support, loyalty, or service, maybe it’s time to call it what it is.

References

Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279602

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social: Why our brains are wired to connect. Crown Publishers.

Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.