HeyJaredPLAYING-IT-SAFE
I'm Dr. Z., a clinical psychologist and an author. In PLAYING-IT-SAFE I will share with you research based-skills, interviews, readings, insights, tips, and all types of curated info to get unstuck from worries, anxieties, fears, obsessions, and ineffective playing-it-safe…
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 8
- Latest publication
- Sep 16, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest episodes
107. Acceptance: When You Upgrade Your Own Feelings (opens the original)
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Your mind runs a control agenda all day long. Some of its strategies are obvious: distraction, keeping busy, opting out. And some look nothing like control at all: the silver lining, the blessing count, the lesson. Same job, better manners. This episode is about acceptance, the first of the six processes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and about the half of the definition almost nobody teaches. What you will learn: Why looking on the bright side belongs on the same list as distraction and
106. Experiential Avoidance: The Hidden Way We Play-It-Safe (opens the original)
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You're not avoiding the conversation. You're avoiding how it will feel to have it. If you've ever reorganized your inbox instead of making the difficult call or started researching instead of starting the thing, this episode is for you. This episode unpacks experiential avoidance: the mechanism underneath every playing-it-safe behavior. What you will learn: What experiential avoidance actually is, in plain language, no jargon, and why it's the engine behind ALL playing-it-safe behaviors includin
105. Acceptance vs. Resignation: What Most People Get Wrong (opens the original)
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You've been calling it acceptance. But, if your world has gotten quieter, smaller, and safer since the painful thing happened, that might be resignation. In this episode, Dr. Z tackles one of the most confusing distinctions in ACT: the difference between acceptance and resignation. If you've been thinking repetitively about a past loss, failure, or regret (going back over it, telling yourself you're learning from it, then finding yourself in the exact same loop tomorrow), this episode is for you
104. Waiting for the Good Option: The Playing-It-Safe Trap (opens the original)
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You're not missing information. You're missing a different question. This episode is for anyone sitting inside an impossible decision, one where every option feels wrong, the pros-and-cons list has been rewritten twelve times, you've talked to everyone you trust, and you still can't move. Your mind wasn't built for situations where both choices cost you something you care about. More deliberation isn't the answer, it's the trap. And there is a question that cuts through all of it. Not "what's th
103. Drop the Crutch: How "Safety Behaviors" Keep You Anxious (opens the original)
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She was at every party. But she was never fully in the room. Safety crutches, the subtle playing-it-safe moves that keep anxiety temporarily quiet, look nothing like avoidance. You're showing up. You're present. But you're also carrying a shield. And the shield is costing you every moment of real connection you're trying to build. This episode is for anyone who has ever walked into a situation with a plan already in place to feel less exposed — and wondered why the situation still felt so far aw
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