CLOSER

By: Nicole & Ryan Thomas Neace
  • Summary

  • By their very definition, psychotherapists are opaque. Their work is done in relative isolation, its contents are confidential, and their personal lives tend to be relatively unknown except to a select few, and even they may still experience a discreet distance.

    Are they really who they say they are?

    What do they talk about behind closed doors?

    Is therapy a way of life for them or a role they play?

    Are the things they do and say in therapy good for the geese as well as the gander?

    Career psychotherapists Nicole and Ryan Thomas Neace reveal the contents of their own dialogue and relationship as an exercise in radical authenticity, presenting a foil to the shroud that often surrounds people who do relationships for a living. CLOSER brings listeners just that – close enough to catch a poignant and unapologetically intimate glance into not just what they do, but who they are.

    Juxta, California, Inc. 2024
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Episodes
  • Episode 7: Calm, Fascinating, Balance, Alignment
    Dec 4 2024

    Fresh off the heels of Thanksgiving 2024, Ryan & Nicole invite their children, ages 12 and 15, to join them in a several times yearly family ritual to connect, reflect, and share their hearts around themes of gratitude and change.

    Discussed: gratitude, change, growth, family, calm, fascination, balance, alignment

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    37 mins
  • Episode 6: Bad Blood
    Nov 27 2024

    In popular culture which now includes so much psychological lore, conflict and fighting in relationships are often stigmatized as something to be avoided. In this heartfelt episode, Ryan & Nicole consider the ways in which fighting is itself a kind of intimacy, and a necessary one, in that when it is done productively it can produce a fuller and exponentially more pleasing and productive second intimacy which becomes a lifeblood to healthy, growing relationships. To highlight this, Ryan & Nicole received permission from the Brittish Indie Folk Rock Group, Bear's Den, as well as their European Label, Tribe, to play a portion of the Bear's Den song, Bad Blood. The song is used as a springboard to express the difficulty and pain and heartache, and again, the necessity of fighting in their own relationship in carving at forward progress and love.

    Discussed: Bear's Den/Tribe/Bad Blood, fighting in relational contexts, perspectives on arguing within family and marriage, learning to fight productively, date nights, connection between scheduled intimacy and the propensity to fight, human hunger for intimacy, psychological distress experienced in the body, healing through holding, unresolvable issues, and more.

    Music Credit:

    This episode features music by Bear's Den, used with their permission and that of their music label, Tribe. All rights to the music are owned by Bear's Den and are included here with the explicit consent of the band. Please support the artists by visiting https://www.bearsdenmusic.co.uk/.

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    45 mins
  • Episode 5 (Mini-Bonus): For Julie & Tyler
    Nov 21 2024

    In this special mini-bonus episode (under 10 minutes), Nicole recalls a wedding to visit Julie & Tyler, a couple very close to their hearts. Julie & Tyler asked Ryan to riff on love and marriage and life during the ceremony, and Ryan presents those poignant remarks here for the first time publicly. Special thanks to Julie & Tyler for permission to share them and their gift.

    Discussed: unresolvable issues in relationships, vulnerability, relationships, compassion, authenticity, empathy, deepening relational dialogue, wisdom, life and marriage, Wendell Berry, Rainer Maria Rilke, Handel's Messiah, individuality and coupling, sameness and difference, distance and closeness, and more.

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    10 mins

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