Engineering Love

More than half of U.S. adults are now using AI to manage stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm. Among people who already use AI for mental health, nearly half say it's the first place they turn when something feels wrong.
So the real question isn't whether AI is good or bad.
It's this:
Can AI actually support mental health in a meaningful way? Or does it accidentally reinforce the very patterns people are trying to heal?
In this episode, I unpack where AI genuinely helps, and where it quietly breaks down when it comes to changing your old patterns.
We cover:
• Why AI feels supportive — and why that can be misleading
• The difference between insight and integration
• How systems are trained to mirror and validate
• The risk of comfort without accountability
• Why real emotional safety includes friction
• How self-trust erodes when authority gets outsourced
• Practical ways to configure AI so it challenges you instead of agreeing with you
Timestamps
00:00 — Is AI your best friend or your emotional echo chamber?
04:12 — The data: how many people are already using AI for mental health
07:35 — Why AI feels so validating
11:20 — Insight vs. integration: what most people miss
16:45 — Comfort without responsibility
21:10 — Real emotional safety includes friction
25:40 — Where self-trust quietly erodes
29:30 — How to configure ChatGPT to reduce sycophancy
33:10 — Prompts for deeper self-awareness
38:05 — When AI becomes a red flag instead of a tool
41:20 — Growth requires integration
Understanding yourself is powerful.
But growth happens when your nervous system learns something new. In real relationships, under real conditions.
Insight can start the process.
Integration is moving from self-awareness to changing your behaviors. This is what changes your life.
If this episode resonated and you're realizing insight isn't the same as change, that's exactly what The Practice is built for.
It's a community focused on integration. Building nervous system capacity, relational skill, and real-time repair. Not just understanding your patterns, but interrupting them.
You can learn more and join the waitlist at kimpolinder.com
Kim's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_counseling/
Kim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@engineeringlovepodcast

In this episode, Kim sits down with eating disorder specialist Sarah Burney to unpack what's really going on beneath "food noise," body dissatisfaction, and chronic struggles with eating. This conversation moves beyond surface-level advice and into the deeper emotional, neurological, and relational drivers of disordered eating.
They explore why food is rarely the actual problem, how shame quietly fuels the cycle, and why changing your body never resolves the underlying distress. Sarah also clarifies common misconceptions around body dysmorphia versus negative body image, explains when professional support is warranted, and offers a grounded framework for helping both yourself and loved ones without reinforcing shame.
This episode is for anyone who feels consumed by food thoughts, stuck in body-based self-worth, or confused about where healing actually begins.
Guest: Sarah Burney Licensed in CA, AZ, OR, and PA burneytherapygroup.com
Timestamps
00:00 – What "food noise" actually feels like
02:31 – Stress eating, dopamine, and emotional regulation
03:54 – Food as self-soothing vs avoidance
05:06 – When food thoughts cross the line into needing support
05:26 – Medical vs psychological red flags
06:03 – How shame initiates and sustains disordered eating
07:19 – Why changing your body never solves the real problem
08:21 – Is body image ever the root issue?
09:00 – Core beliefs, trauma, and self-worth
10:15 – Why success and appearance don't fix internal distress
11:15 – What treatment actually looks like
12:11 – Body dysmorphia vs negative body image (important distinction)
14:12 – Separating self-worth from self-improvement
15:35 – Being treated differently based on appearance and why it matters
17:18 – Why reaching the "ideal" body doesn't bring relief
21:04 – The belief underneath "I need to look different"
24:33 – Disordered eating vs diagnosable eating disorders
25:26 – Why eating disorders are not about food
26:48 – How loved ones can help without causing harm
29:47 – What to look for in an eating disorder specialist
Kim's website: https://www.kimpolinder.com/
Kim's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_counseling/
Kim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@engineeringlovepodcast

In this episode, I'm joined by Alex Beattie, founder of The Divorce Planner, to talk about what actually helps in the earliest stages of separation and divorce. Alex is a divorce prep coach who works with people before they hire attorneys or mediators, helping them get grounded emotionally and prepared practically before big, irreversible decisions are made.
We talk about the grief, shame, and identity disruption that often catches people off guard, even when divorce feels mutual, and why slowing down at the beginning can protect you emotionally and financially in the long run.

Alex's web site: https://www.thedivorceplanner.net/
--------------
Timestamps & topics
00:00 – What a divorce prep coach actually does How divorce prep differs from legal strategy and why preparation before calling a lawyer matters
02:15 – Why people want to "just get it over with" Emotional overwhelm, avoidance, and the risks of making decisions from shutdown or panic
03:50 – Divorce as the end of an imagined future Grief, loss of identity, and facing a blank slate you didn't plan for
06:10 – The emotional pain people underestimate Why sadness, grief, and shame still show up even when divorce is the "right" decision
08:40 – How childhood patterns resurface during divorce Why old narratives about worth, safety, and capability come back online
10:20 – Divorce and confidence collapse Questioning your value, competence, and future, especially for stay-at-home parents
13:05 – Reframing skills, worth, and capability Recognizing transferable skills and rebuilding self-trust
14:45 – Retraining the brain during a destabilizing life transition Awareness, emotional regulation, and building stability when everything feels uncertain
17:00 – Social stigma, family reactions, and judgment Why divorce still carries shame and how others' reactions can complicate healing
19:10 – The most unhelpful things people say during divorce "Well-meaning" comments that actually increase shame and self-doubt
21:30 – How friends can offer real support Listening, practical help, and showing up without trying to fix or judge
24:10 – Letting yourself receive support Why isolation makes divorce harder and how connection actually builds resilience
28:40 – Why you should never negotiate money without knowing your numbers How fear around finances leads to long-term regret
30:10 – The 5-5-5 decision rule Evaluating divorce decisions based on their impact over time, not just immediate relief
32:00 – Final advice for early-stage divorce decisions Why slowing down now protects your future self and prevents costly mistakes later
--------------
Kim's website: https://www.kimpolinder.com/
Kim's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_counseling/
Kim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@engineeringlovepodcast

You understand why you avoid.
You see the pattern.
And you're still doing it.
In this episode, Kim Polinder explores the frustrating gap between self-awareness and actual change — and why insight alone rarely leads to different behavior.
Rather than framing change as a decision or a motivation problem, this conversation breaks down procrastination as a capacity issue. Kim walks through four common "false fixes" people rely on when they're trying to change — strategies that look responsible on the surface but quietly reinforce avoidance.
Using real-life relational examples, nervous system science, and practical reframes, this episode explains why waiting to feel calm, trying to be perfect, forcing yourself through hard moments, or endlessly consuming self-help content often backfires.
The focus is not on fixing yourself, but on building emotional capacity: the ability to stay present with discomfort, repair when things go sideways, and stop turning one hard moment into a verdict about who you are.
Timestamps & Topics
[00:00:00] – The Conundrum: Why self-awareness doesn't change behavior.
[00:01:39] – Defining Capacity: Why change requires extreme discomfort.
[00:02:48] – False Fix #1: Waiting to feel calm or "ready" before acting.
[00:03:59] – False Fix #2: The perfectionism trap and the cost of "doing it right".
[00:06:50] – False Fix #3: Forcing exposure without a support system.
[00:08:45] – Pausing to Avoid vs. Pausing to Build Capacity.
[00:14:09] – False Fix #4: Searching for the "Golden Key" of insight.
[00:16:40] – Short-term relief vs. Long-term training of the nervous system.
[00:19:35] – Why willpower fails under emotional threat.
[00:22:00] – Compassionate Curiosity: How to stop abandoning yourself.
[00:24:37] – Why we lose access to our skills when triggered.
[00:27:13] – The Lab Partner: The necessity of community and repair.
[00:29:14] – Invitation to the Virtual Cohort: Building capacity in real-time.
Kim's website: https://www.kimpolinder.com/
Kim's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_counseling/
Kim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@engineeringlovepodcast

In Episode 10, Kim opens Season Two by breaking down procrastination in a way most people have never heard it explained before.
This episode isn't about productivity, discipline, or time management. It's about emotional risk, fragile self-esteem, and the identities we built in childhood to survive.
Kim explains why procrastination shows up around the things that matter most. Big conversations. Creative work. Boundaries. Healing. Growth. And why avoidance isn't laziness. It's protection.
Drawing from attachment theory, trauma, neurobiology, and her own lived experience, Kim connects procrastination to emotional attunement, identity, shutdown, people-pleasing, catastrophizing, and the fear of inner collapse. She also explains why insight alone doesn't change behavior, and what actually has to shift for real movement to happen.
–––––––––––––––––– Time Stamps & Topics
00:00 – Rage, triggers, and decades of stored emotional memory
00:25 – Why feeling misunderstood cuts so deeply
00:52 – Procrastination isn't about time management
02:29 – Procrastination around hard conversations
03:01 – Mistakes, shame, and fragile self-esteem
05:28 – What self-esteem actually is (and isn't)
06:25 – Emotional attunement explained
07:37 – Why "they'll never understand me" isn't true
08:10 – Childhood emotional neglect and minimization
09:14 – Avoidant coping and jumping to solutions
09:57 – Why being sat with matters
10:27 – Religion, conflict avoidance, and emotional bypassing
11:30 – Biology of trauma and implicit memory
12:33 – Adoption, abandonment, and cognitive bias
13:46 – Anger as a lifelong trigger
14:52 – Suppression vs expression of emotion
15:41 – Coping mechanisms and shutdown
16:24 – Anxious vs avoidant responses in conflict
18:28 – Catastrophizing and control
19:13 – Why anxiety feels protective
23:14 – Childhood roles: good child, peacemaker, achiever
26:25 – Waiting until you're angry to speak
29:12 – Why your partner isn't the whole cause
30:07 – Shutdown as self-protection, not punishment
31:05 – Why insight doesn't change behavior
33:11 – Reframing hard conversations
36:16 – How family freezes you in old identities
37:35 – Why growth feels threatening
38:05 – Holding competing emotions about parents
39:22 – Letting go of old identities
40:05 – Why growth feels risky, not empowering
41:18 – What actually reduces procrastination
42:09 – Questions to ask yourself about avoidance
44:58 – Pay attention to what you avoid
45:26 – What avoidance is protecting ––––––––––––––––––
This episode is especially relevant if you feel stuck despite insight, avoid hard conversations, or keep postponing the things that matter most to you.
Kim's website: https://www.kimpolinder.com/
Kim's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_counseling/
Kim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@engineeringlovepodcast