What's Going Right: Dr. Paul Conti On Self-Sabotage, Trauma & Why Being Hard On Yourself Is Slowing You Down

Dr. Paul Conti, a psychiatrist with over two decades in trauma treatment, joins Rich Roll to explain mental health as analogous to physical health: we must examine the "engine" beneath symptoms like anxiety or depression, rather than just polishing the hood. He advocates approaching the mind with "compassionate curiosity," starting from what's going right—resilience, perseverance—since far more functions well than not. Avoidance perpetuates problems, but self-inquiry reveals solvable patterns, often rooted in fear, negative self-talk, or unexamined trauma.

Facing Inner Avoidance

People avoid self-examination due to fear of finding something irredeemable, amplified by mental health's focus on pathology and stigma. Conti counters this with simple goodness: humans naturally fear the unknown, like children scared of a dark clothes tree that proves harmless in light. Negative self-narratives form from a built-in negativity bias for survival, hijacked by trauma into guilt and shame, leading to stories like "nothing goes right for me" despite evidence otherwise.