Empowering High-Functioning Adults with Practical Psychological SkillsEmpowering High-Functioning Adults with Practical Psychological Skills
A Quest for Well-Being
Psychotherapist David Hernandez talks with Valeria Teles about how Stoic-inspired psychology and CBT-based skills can help high-functioning adults handle anxiety, grief and trauma. The conversation focuses on shifting unhelpful thoughts, setting boundaries and building emotional resilience through small, practical steps.
58:17•2 Jun 2026
Practical Psychological Skills for Anxious High-Functioning Adults
Episode Overview
- Circumstances do not directly cause distress; it is the thoughts about those circumstances that drive emotions and actions.
- Psychological insight shows what is happening, but psychological skills are needed to create real and lasting change.
- Grief is natural and healthy, while extra suffering often comes from guilt, self-blame and unhelpful beliefs that can be challenged.
- Trauma tends to create "stuck points" such as "I am defective" or "I can never trust again", which can be identified and revised.
- Boundaries are not selfish; learning to say no and prepare for pushback is vital for people raised in dysfunctional, chaotic homes.
“Many of you have been told that you're broken when you're not.”
Gain insights from experts and survivors on building emotional resilience and reclaiming peace of mind. This conversation brings together host Valeria Teles and psychotherapist and coach David Hernandez, co-founder of Stoa Life, to talk about practical psychological skills for high-functioning adults who might look successful on the outside yet feel anxious, burned out or stuck inside.
David shares how growing up in 1970s Brooklyn, wrestling with faith and atheism, serving as a Navy Hospital Corpsman and spending over 20 years in law enforcement pushed him to question suffering, evil and the nature of human change. That journey led him to Stoicism and CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), and to a clear core idea: "The circumstances around us don't cause us our distress.
It's our thoughts about those circumstances that cause us to feel and act in certain ways." The chat is especially helpful if you're the kind of person who gets things done at work but struggles quietly with anxiety, anger, grief, or relationship stress. David breaks down the difference between psychological insight (understanding what’s going on) and psychological skills (actually changing it).
You’ll hear simple, concrete tools like noticing body signals, pausing, and asking "What am I thinking?" to catch automatic reactions before they run the show. Grief, trauma, and boundaries come up in very real examples: a husband still mourning his sister 35 years later, a mother who lost a child, and adults who grew up people-pleasing in chaotic homes.
David explains how normal grief differs from complicated suffering, why trauma often traps people in "stuck points", and how learning to set boundaries isn’t selfish but essential. A key message runs through the whole conversation: "Many of you have been told that you're broken when you're not." If you’ve ever felt that way, this episode might make you ask: what if your brain isn’t broken at all, and you simply haven’t learned the skills yet?
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