On Again/Off Again
This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? They've been on and off for almost 20 years. While she takes care of his and their child...
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Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
Listen to the incomparable therapist Esther Perel counsel real couples as they reveal the most intimate, personal, and complicated details of the conflicts that have brought them to her door...
Episodes
20 of 154 episodes
Will I Always Be Alone?
He comes to Esther not with a singular question but with an overflow of words and unspoken truths. Betrayed by a once-supportive church and...
Can I Be Loved?
A young woman writes to Esther asking why she is interested in someone emotionally unavailable. Despite efforts to break this pattern, she r...
Am I Being Gaslit?
In this classic Esther Calling, Esther talks to a woman looking for clarity on whether she's being overly sensitive to her partner's critiqu...
I Love My Partner, So Why Can’t I Let Go of My Ex?
What is the distinction between a love story and a life story? And what happens when they no longer move in the same direction? After return...
Burdens of the Family
This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? They share a legacy of war, a refugee upbringing and family trauma. Their marriage was s...
Is Using ChatGPT Hurting My Relationship?
She comes to Esther with a question that feels distinctly of this moment: when does a tool become a transgression? After leaving a long, sta...
You Slept With My Best Friend
The two couples had been inseparable—neighbors, chosen family, godparents to each other's children. She reaches out to Esther in despair aft...
My Hero Complex
When his ex calls in the middle of a crisis, he finds himself pulled back into a familiar role: the rescuer. He's always been the one women...
20 Years Later, Esther Revisits Mating in Captivity
This week, Esther invites you into a conversation about desire, disruption, and what it means to stay alive to one another in a rapidly chan...
In This Relationship What Is "I" and What is "We"?
This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? They grew up with traumatic backgrounds, met in college, immigrated to the US together....
Are You Abandoning Me or Am I Suffocating You?
Twin brothers come to Esther with a shared question: how do they break free from the conflict that has shaped their relationship for years?...
Love in the Time of AI with Kashmir Hill
A recent session was a threshold moment for Esther where she found herself doing couples therapy with a man and his AI companion. To explore...
To Make Room for My Brother I Learned to Disappear
With her wedding just weeks away, a young woman calls Esther with a question she’s been carrying for most of her life: how do you allow your...
I Gave Him an Ultimatum. Now What?
A person gives their partner an ultimatum, and they fail to meet it. What happens then to the relationship? This couple comes to Esther with...
My Parents Got Divorced, So Why Am I Still in the Middle?
When a mom reaches out on her daughter’s behalf, an old family dynamic comes into focus. A woman finds herself caught between her two divorc...
How To Start (Even When You Don't Know Where You're Going)
As work becomes the place we look for identity, stability, and meaning, the stakes feel higher than ever. Esther invites you in for a live c...
Is This the Person I'm Meant to Be With?
They arrive in Esther’s office at a crossroads. A year ago, they decided to de-escalate their relationship: to transition from romantic part...
Wedding Woes About My Mom
She’s getting married soon, but before she walks down the aisle, she wants to walk toward her mother with more understanding. Years of compl...
Should I Have Another Baby?
When we become parents, many of us quietly promise ourselves that we won't be like our parents. We're going to do it differently. This week’...