Podcast Summary:

Take Out Therapy: End Overthinking & Overwhelm for Empathic High Achievers
Host: Rebecca Hunter, MSW
Episode: Expand Your Perspective & Improve Your Mental Health With a Simple Therapy Tool
Date: September 19, 2025

Main Theme

Rebecca Hunter dives into a deceptively simple but transformative therapy tool: embracing the idea that two things can be true at the same time. She explains why this mindset can expand our perspective, shift mental patterns, and improve overall mental health. The episode feels like a thoughtful, encouraging conversation with a therapist friend—and delivers practical advice for empathic high-achievers struggling with overthinking and overwhelm.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Trap of a Singular Perspective

Stuck in Our Own Heads:
- Many of us only bring problems to a few people, or even just process them internally. As a result, “we only have our brain to work with, we only have our experience and our history and our level of skills to work with.” (02:13)
- We can get “stuck in our opinion or in our thought about how things are” (02:46)
The Brain’s Need for Certainty:
- “The brain really wants to latch on to one [idea]...it likes to know what’s up.” (03:28)
- This means we miss chances to recognize nuance, complexity, or alternate realities co-existing.

The Therapeutic “Two Things Can Be True” Tool

Introduction of the Tool:
- A common technique Rebecca uses in her therapy sessions is helping clients see that opposite truths can coexist.
- Her signature line: “Two things can be true at the same time.” (03:50)
Concrete Examples:
- Relationships: “You can wanna be in a relationship with somebody and be completely committed to them and not be able to stand them at the same time, right?” (03:54)
- Emotions: “You can be grieving deeply, deeply grieving and laughing and enjoying yourself at the same time.” (03:59)
- Work Dynamics: “Your boss might be an absolute jerk and also you might not be doing the best work, right?” (04:15)
- Life Struggles: “Your relationship might really, really, really be struggling and yet, you know, it will be okay.” (04:22)

Practice: “Yes, And…”

Therapy and Business Technique:
- Rebecca references “yes, and…”—a skill from both psychotherapy and business meetings.
  - Example: “When you’re in a meeting and you think like, I cannot believe that moron just said that. And you say yes. And also, here’s another idea, right?” (05:21)
The Power of Holding Opposites:
- Practicing ‘yes, and’ thinking grows your mental flexibility, opening space for empathy and better decision-making.

Actionable Takeaways

When You’re Stuck:
- Rebecca’s advice: “If you’re really stuck, think, hmm, how else could I look at this?” (05:43)
- She encourages listeners to reach out for help as needed—and shares that she’s practicing this tool in her own life “every single day.” (06:02)
Reassurance and Support:
- “Two things can be true at the same time for all of us. Keep up the good work. I’ll see you soon.” (06:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Two things can be true at the same time.” (Repeated, e.g., 03:50, 05:08)
“You can be grieving deeply, deeply grieving and laughing and enjoying yourself at the same time.” (03:59)
“The brain wants us to think we do [know what’s going on], but two things can be true at the same time.” (03:41)
“If you’re really stuck, think, hmm, how else could I look at this?” (05:43)
“This is something that we teach all the time in the therapy office. It’s like the very difficult skill of saying yes. And.” (05:08)
“I am having to do this work every single day of my life right now…” (06:02)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:05–01:50: Introduction to the episode and its purpose.
01:51–03:31: Discussion of how our brain defaults to singular, rigid perspectives and why we get stuck.
03:32–05:07: Explanation of the “two things can be true” tool; examples from relationships, grief, and work.
05:08–05:42: “Yes, and” skill—using the tool in therapy and business.
05:43–06:20: Closing encouragement, reminders to practice the tool, and offer of continued support.

Tone and Language

Rebecca speaks with a warm, conversational tone—often referring to the listener as “friend.” She blends gentle humor (“I cannot believe that moron just said that”), genuine empathy, and direct, practical advice in a relatable style.

Summary Takeaway

Rebecca Hunter delivers a succinct, actionable mental tool in this episode—reminding listeners to consciously consider that two (even opposite) things can be true at once. This shift in thinking helps break rigid patterns, eases emotional stuckness, and offers space for genuine growth and peace of mind. As Rebecca puts it, “Keep up the good work,” and remember, “If you’re really stuck, think, hmm, how else could I look at this?”

Transcript

A (0:05)

In today's episode, you'll discover the simplest way to expand your perspective and frankly, improve your mental health. Stick around. Welcome to Takeout Therapy, the podcast for empathic high achievers who are done with overworking, overthinking and overwhelm. I'm Rebecca Hunter, a therapist and an anxiety expert here to help you stress less, set better boundaries, and finally relax without guilt. If you're ready to stop people, ple control of your mental health and create real work life balance, you're in the right place. Thanks for listening. Let's get to work. Well, hello there, friend. I'm so happy you stopped in today. Today's episode is kind of a special one. I pulled it out of the vault. I recorded it originally about two years ago and it's still one of my favorites. This is a short episode with a simple tool and honestly, really powerful. I'm sharing the easiest little tool that I use all the time in my therapy sessions. It's such a game changer because it helps you expand your perspective. And honestly, it's a big boost for your mental health too. Expanding your perspective is a good idea, wouldn't you agree? It's a quick listen, but I think you'll get a lot out of it. So let me know what you think. Here's the recording. I'm going to talk to you about how two things can be true at the exact same time. Let's ponder this, shall we? So you know how when we're grappling with something in our life, we're like, well, this is how it is. And then I think what's kind of annoying is that people always have an opinion. No, what about this? Or no, what about this? And if we don't really like the opinion at all, we might dig our heels in just a tiny bit harder and go, no, no, no. It is like this. That is what I said. And then the other thing is that sometimes some problems, we just don't roll them out to everybody and anybody. So we don't have a lot of perspective except our own. Which basically means that we only have our brain to work with. We only have our experience and our history and our level of skills to work with. And darn it all, don't we get stuck in our opinion or in our thought about how things are, how people are, how our job is, what is possible for us, where we have to live our lives, what we're meant to do, like, everything. I even I feel like who we have to spend our time with, how we need to spend our time what we need to believe as parents, even if we don't, right? We get stuck in all these ideas, but the brain really wants to latch on to one. And so a lot of times when I meet up with somebody in the therapy office, they're like, well, this is what I think about this. And sometimes it gets kind of hairy because they basically hired me to present a new perspective. Actually, that's not exactly what my job is. My job is to help you come up with your own newer perspective, another perspective. Because here's the deal. Two things can be true. You can wanna be in a relationship with somebody and be completely committed to them and not be able to stand them at the same time, right? You can be grieving deeply, deeply grieving and laughing and enjoying yourself at the same time. Two things can be true. And I feel like this is so important because as humans and as brain carrying organisms, this machine, it just likes to latch on, you know, what it likes to do. It likes to know what's up. And the thing, my friend, is that we don't always know what's up, but the brain wants us to think we do. That makes sense. But two things can be true at the same time. Meaning, yeah, your boss might be an absolute jerk and also you might not be doing the best work, right? It's like your relationship might really, really, really be struggling and yet, you know, it will be okay. There's like all these opposite ideas that, and even opposite emotions that if we can just hold them side by side and think about what you're going through in your own life and you can do this, you can just like hold them side by side and see how that changes things. See if you can bring in a new perspective or a new idea or just allow, what else is there to just show up for you around a difficulty that you're having and see if you can. Yes. And it, this is something that we teach all the time in the therapy office. It's like the very difficult skill of saying yes. And, and this is a business technique as well. When you're in a meeting and you think like, I cannot believe that moron just said that. And you say yes. And also, here's another idea, right? Two things can be true at the same time. That's all I want to tell you today. So if you're really stuck, think, hmm, how else could I look at this? And of course, if you need help coming up with it, you let me know, takeouttherapy.com I'm here for you. I am having to do this work every single day of my life right now because two things can be true at the same time for all of us. Keep up the good work. I'll see you soon. Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. I really appreciate you being here and doing this work. When you show up and do your work, it inspires the people in your life to go do theirs too. Be sure to subscribe and please do a quick review of the podcast so more people can find this kind of help. That's how it all works. Speaking of which, if you haven't taken my free newly revamped class that will help you stop overthinking everything to death. Yeah, I see you there. Just grab it@takeouttherapy.com I'll teach you what actually works. And remember, takeout therapy is a great educational resource, but always get the level of support you need for your situation. Head to takeouttherapy.com to stay in the loop and until next time, take really good care of yourself friend.