Michael Luo
Appearances
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah. When I think about vulnerability, I sometimes think about the age old, tell me about yourself question. So when I think about that question, tell me about yourself, I instinctively think about my secondary characteristics, like my title and my job, my ethnic background as a Chinese American, where I live, where I grew up.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
But when I think about it some more, it doesn't really answer, tell me about yourself. It doesn't allow people to get to know me and who I am. It says something about my superficial characteristics and some parts of the life I've lived, but doesn't really give people a feel of who I am.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Whereas if I tell people instead that I love to host events, not just finding humans less scary, but in general, because I love to see people happy and to bring something new to the table, something exciting. I'm also a very sensitive person who gets hurt easily, but also shows that I'm very perceptive and sharp.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
if I give those descriptors instead, it may allow people to get a better sense of who I am, not just the formal title, job, and where I've lived.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, I think I was sensitive from the very beginning. I remember in middle school, I was forced by my mother to order at McDonald's and I froze up. I was stuttering and I started crying in front of the female cashier at McDonald's and I couldn't even finish my order. It was a big moment. But really, I recognize now that it is like that feebleness and that fear
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
human nature of being insecure that people actually gravitate towards. It's not really me being perfect or me being an MD or me having these accolades. It's actually my feebleness that people are drawn towards. It's like a strength now.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yes, my social anxiety absolutely fluctuates. Before this podcast, I was very anxious, about 70% anxious. I didn't eat before this because I figured it might want to come back up. And now that we're doing it, I'm feeling maybe 15% anxious. Yeah, it kind of goes up and down for sure. And actually what helped me before this podcast was imagining David saying, 70%, that's not enough.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Bring it up more.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, for sure.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, I'm welcome. Yeah.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
That I really don't know what I'm talking about. I'm not really in the right place here. And it doesn't make sense.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, sure. I would love to. So Jacob has always done miraculous work with a lot of teens when it comes to depression and anxiety. And one day he called me thinking about how to take it to the next level and how to help maybe even a bunch of people and scale up all at the same time. And through that, we started to host a couple of workshops called Finding Humans Less Scary.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
And that I'm kind of a fraud for trying to host a social anxiety workshop.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
That's the most of it.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
They're probably 35% true.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Maybe like 80 or 90 percent.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I think it would hurt most if it came from Jacob.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I'm available. Okay.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Wow. And what exactly am I a fraud?
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, it's true. It's definitely unusual for a psychiatry resident to help people with social anxiety in a huge pro bono situation. manner where we're inviting 100 people from the community. It's definitely odd, eccentric, unfamiliar. At the same time, I'm a level three team CBT clinician. This is what I do. This is why I practice psychiatry, because psychiatry, I think, is outdated.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
And what team has brought me is nothing short of
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
miracles and happiness it's just something that i want to share i don't really care actually if you judge me that you think i'm a fraud or not i don't really care because people come people get relief euphoric and i'm just here for a good time so i don't really care what you say okay who won i felt like i won that one big or small i felt like pretty big big or huge i felt huge Huge. How awesome.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
It is a social anxiety workshop held on the weekend. This weekend, it will be March 29th and March 30th from 930 to 530 p.m. all day. And it's a great place for people to really get out of their comfort zone and try a lot of social behavioral techniques and learn from the master himself, Jacob Towery.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
And how did you get to huge? I loved my counterattack. I think that was good.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
The most hurtful, yeah.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Thank you. I almost think of David as the grandmaster and then Jacob as the master and I'm the pupil. So there are like lineages to this. Awesome.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Oh, yeah, David, could you please?
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Wow, that sounds really scary. I surely hope that I don't know everything about what I'm talking about. I really think it's important for me to have a learner mindset. I'm here for a good time, the behavioral training. I'm here to fail on my face and make a huge mess of it on stage in front of an audience. I hope I really don't know anything.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
That way people can see how stupid I look and I will grow tremendously from that.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I felt like I won that one.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Felt big.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I would say close to huge. It felt pretty good.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, great. So, Michael, I know you're kind of hosting this event. I don't really know why.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Proudly and excitedly, too. Yeah, I don't really think you should be proud or excited because you really have no idea what you're talking about. You don't have that experience.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
You certainly don't know how to teach social anxiety. It wouldn't be a good idea for you to teach. You should let someone else do that because you don't have any experience.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I love that response. I thought that was fantastic.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I kind of felt like the weight of everything just disappeared. Yeah.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
It's true, David. You are the ultimate expert. Can you be a little bit more specific? What exactly do I not know what I'm talking about?
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
You're on the wrong podcast. Yeah, I'm on the wrong podcast. Wow. Well, I'm certainly here. Can you tell me what would be the right podcast for me then? I'm kind of confused.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I felt like it was a redirection.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
It was big.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Big, huge.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I'm feeling pretty comfortable. My anxiety's actually gone to quite little now, now that we've kind of put in the middle of things and things are good. Okay, great.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
So, um, so Rhonda, I just wanted to let you know that you're not in the right place here. You're on the wrong podcast.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Love that. So Rhonda, let me ask you who won that interaction, me or you?
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, I agree.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, I agree. This is definitely an extraordinary place to be. I feel very privileged to be here. It's definitely not for everyone's opportunity to be able to sit on a podcast with Jacob and David and Rhonda. I don't really care if I'm not allowed to be here or not. Guess what? I'm actually still here and I'm talking to the listeners of the Feeling Good podcast. So say what you want.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I don't really care. And who won that one? I feel like I won that one and it felt pretty huge. Awesome.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I was ready for that one.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
So on March 29th and March 30th, it will be a super fun and dynamic workshop dedicated to treating social anxiety. If you're someone who is not really sure how to have a deeper conversation and sometimes you struggle with small talk, if you have fear around dating or public speaking, or maybe you're just craving more deeper connections with people...
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
We welcome you to please sign up on the website, fightinghumanslessscary.com. We'd love to have you. Yeah, it will be a miraculously amazing event and results are not guaranteed, but also guaranteed.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I definitely think there is a mindset.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
thank you for that invitation yeah i definitely think there is a mindset switch after three years of working with jacob i think i'm inclined now to see other humans as like me rather than as an other and it really is like a conscious decision it's like a mental switch when i see someone now i try to relate to them how are they similar to me do they have the same suffering as me um
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Rather than like focusing on, oh, they look different from me or they speak differently from me. I'm always looking for commonalities. And that just kind of allowed me to warm up to people quickly. I have so much to thank for Jacob's existence and everything else.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Oh, yeah. So after the event every year, I always have takeaways and I try to practice. This year, I focused a lot on consent, since that was a pretty big part of Finding Humans Less Scary 2. I find that consent is such a genius idea because... Vulnerability is a super great skill to connect with other people, but that consent really helps me balance and allows me to check in.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Is my vulnerability welcome here? Is this a good option? And so I love when Jacob asks, would you like a handshake or would you like a hug? And it gives the option to the other person. It's very honoring.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Hello. Thanks for having us on.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
Yeah, and I think consent even goes past just physical touch. It can even be used for giving a compliment. That's something Jacob also taught me is asking someone instead of love bombing them right away, like, would you like a compliment? And that's like very honoring. Instead of like me going to David, oh, David, you taught me everything I know. You've changed my life. Thank you so much.
Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy
432: Finding Humans Less Scary Marathon Returns! Yay!
I think maybe David might like an invitation first. Like, hey, David, would you like a compliment from me about what you've done for me?