Most of us carry stories about ourselves that simply aren’t true, and we’ve never stopped to hear them out loud. In this conversation with Rick Rubin, Dr. Paul Conti explains how those stories take hold, why the mental health field has lost its way, and how bringing compassionate curiosity to ourselves can change everything.
Dr. Paul Conti is a psychiatrist, author, and founder of Pacific Premier Group, a medical practice providing mental health care, consulting, and coaching. A graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine, he completed his psychiatry training at Stanford and Harvard, where he served as chief resident before joining the medical faculty. He is the author of Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic, which examines trauma’s effects and paths to healing. His latest book, What’s Going Right: A Powerful New Method for Optimizing Your Mental Health, was released in May 2026 and offers a framework for understanding ourselves and improving mental health.
In this episode, Paul and Rick discuss:
– How losing his brother led him to therapy, and then to psychiatry
– Why the stories we tell ourselves drift so far from the truth
– How insecurity can show up as an inflated ego
– Listening to the unconscious through automatic thoughts and dreams
– The generative drive: the human urge to make the world better
– Why the field of psychology is so fragmented today
– What the first psychedelic revolution got right and wrong
– Why trauma is behind 80% or more of what he treats
– CBT, DBT, and how to find the right therapist
– Whether you really have to hit rock bottom to change
0:00:00 – Paul Conti
0:05:08 – Losing His Brother & First Therapy
0:10:20 – Becoming a Psychiatrist
0:15:29 – The Stories We Tell Ourselves
0:21:01 – Insecurity & the Inflated Ego
0:27:18 – The Unconscious Mind & Dreams
0:30:48 – Relationships, Spirituality & the Generative Drive
0:41:57 – The State of Psychology
0:51:51 – The Psychedelic Revolution
1:05:05 – Trauma: The Theme Behind Everything
1:11:49 – Therapy Styles & Finding the Right Fit
What’s Going Right: https://drpaulconti.com/whats-going-right/
Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: https://drpaulconti.com/trauma-the-invisible-epidemic/
Pacific Premier Group
Website: https://pacificpremiergroup.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pacificpremiergroup
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