Everything Is Going To Be OK. No Option B.
Everything Is Going To Be OK. No Option B. is a practical psychology podcast hosted by Dr Hanan Bushkin. It features honest, structured conversations on topics like anxiety, trauma, relationships, emotional regulation, discipline, avoidance, self-respect, purpose, and behavioral change. The podcast offers clear psychological insight and practical steps to help listeners feel less stuck and live with more structure, responsibility, and direction.
Episodes
Rejection in a relationship: So what now?
You suggest spending time together. You reach for affection. You bring up something that matters to you—and leave wishing you’d kept quiet.Why does rejection from someone you love feel so personal? And what happens when protecting yourself from being hurt means you stop reaching for them altogether?In “Rejection in a Relationship. So What Now?”, Dr Hanan Bushkin explores the vulnerability beneath
Stop Asking the Scorpion to be a Frog
Some people will keep showing you exactly who they are. The problem is that you keep hoping they're someone else.There's an old fable about a scorpion and a frog. The frog knows the scorpion might sting him, but accepts his convincing explanation and carries him across the river anyway.Halfway across, the scorpion stings him.And there's a powerful lesson in that story.We do this in rel
Don't make a bad decision more expensive
Don't Make a Bad Decision More ExpensiveSometimes the biggest mistake isn't the original decision. It's everything we do afterwards to avoid admitting we got it wrong.Why do intelligent people continue investing time, money and energy in something that clearly isn't working? Why do we defend decisions we made years ago, even when everything we've learnt since tells us to reconsider?In this episode
Life Hasn't Asked You the Question Yet
What if you're judging a moment in your life before you even know what it means?In Slumdog Millionaire, a young man who grows up surrounded by poverty, violence and trauma finds himself on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Years later, experiences he never imagined would matter become the very things that help him answer questions nobody expected him to know.And there's something profoundly h
The Lies we tell ourselves
The Lies We Tell OurselvesMost of us think self-deception means believing something obviously false.But the more dangerous lies are usually far more sophisticated.They contain truth.They contain context.They contain reasons that make sense.And that is exactly why they can keep us stuck.In Episode 19 of Everything Is Going To Be OK, No Option B, I explore the stories we tell ourselves about procras
The most dangerous place in life is "almost"
Almost ready. Almost changing. Almost having the conversation.It sounds close. But you can stay there for years.In this episode, I explore the gap between knowing what needs to change and actually doing something about it. Through the stories of Kodak, SpaceX, Amazon, Netflix and Nokia, we look at why the next step rarely comes with certainty — and why the cost of standing still deserves as much a
The life you complain about
The Life You Complain AboutThere’s an old Jewish story about a man who cannot stand his life anymore. His house is too small, his family is too noisy, and everything feels unbearable.His rabbi gives him some very strange advice: bring the goat into the house.Things get worse before they get better.In this episode, I use that old parable to explore a difficult question: how much of our dissatisfact
Lindsay Clancy: understating is not permission
The Lindsay Clancy case forces a difficult question: how do we take mental illness seriously without turning explanation into permission?In this episode, Dr Hanan Bushkin argues for a firm distinction between understanding why someone may be struggling and excusing harm done to another person — especially a child.Mental illness must be taken seriously. People need support, treatment and protection
When your mind says there is no way out
Sometimes pain becomes so intense that it starts speaking with the authority of truth.“There is no way out.”“Nothing will change.”“No one can help.”“Everyone would be better without me.”Those thoughts can feel like conclusions.But there is an important difference between:“I cannot see a way out”and“There is no way out.”The first describes where you are standing.The second claims to know the entire
What if success costs you the life you wanted
King Midas didn’t ruin his life because he failed.He ruined it because he got exactly what he wanted.That’s what makes his story so unsettling. Everything he touched turned to gold—until he realised he could no longer eat, drink or hold anything he loved without destroying what made it valuable.In this episode, I want to talk honestly about ambition. Not about whether success matters, but about wh
What is a "dad?"
A child may never know what his father protected him from.In Life Is Beautiful, a father turns terror into a game so that his son does not have to fully see the horror around him. He carries the truth. He absorbs the fear. He pays the emotional cost.That is often what fatherhood looks like.Real fathers do not always receive thanks or acknowledgement. They protect, provide and take responsibility—o
When Helping is Actually Hurting
Helping feels loving.Rescuing feels loving.Stepping in, fixing the problem, making the call, removing the consequence, taking over the task — all of it can feel like care.But what if some forms of helping actually make people less capable?In this episode of Everything Is Going to Be Okay, No Option B, I unpack the difference between supporting someone and rescuing them.Because there is a crucial p
When life refuses to make sense
Sometimes life gives you a reality you cannot explain, cannot fix and would never have chosen.This episode is deeply personal.It is dedicated to a friend I cared about who recently passed, and to the family and people who loved her.Grief can leave us devastated, angry and asking questions that may never receive satisfying answers.Why her?Why now?Why didn’t the treatment work?Why didn’t God interve
The Odyssey: The psychology of Temptation
Odysseus knew that he was going to change his mind.So he made certain that nobody would listen to him when he did.Before sailing past the Sirens, Odysseus ordered his crew to block their ears with wax and tie him tightly to the ship’s mast. He warned them that once he heard the Sirens singing, he would beg to be released.They were not to obey him.They were to tighten the ropes.Odysseus understood
Peter Pan was never free
Peter Pan could fly anywhere.But he could not build a life anywhere.As children, we see Peter Pan as the ultimate symbol of freedom. He never has to grow up, work, accept responsibility or allow anyone to tell him what to do.But look more carefully and Peter Pan becomes a far more tragic character.Everyone around him grows. Wendy builds a life. The Lost Boys find homes. Time gives their lives cont
The psychology of being present
Most of us are constantly moving towards the next thing.The next goal.The next holiday.The next achievement.The next version of ourselves.We tell ourselves that once life calms down, once we earn more, once the children are older or once we finally reach the goal, then we will relax and enjoy our lives.But the finish line keeps moving.In this episode, Dr Hanan Bushkin explores Leo Tolstoy’s famous
The Emperor Is Naked. Now What?
Most people think The Emperor’s New Clothes is a story about vanity.It is also a story about what happens when everyone can see the truth, but nobody is willing to take a position.In this episode, I unpack why people sit on the fence, why indecision feels safer than commitment, and why every serious choice comes with a sacrifice.I also explore the old philosophical idea of Buridan’s ass: a donkey
Which little pig are you?
Why do human beings love stories?Not just because they entertain us.Stories are one of the cheapest ways we learn.Someone else makes the mistake. Someone else ignores the warning. Someone else pays the price. And if we are paying attention, we get to collect the lesson without having to suffer the same consequence ourselves.We don’t have to slip on the banana peel. Sometimes we just need to watch
You Don’t Need Better Boundaries. You Need a Better Life.
Australia has tried to set one of the biggest modern boundaries: no social media accounts for children under 16.And whether you agree with the law or not, the early signs reveal something important:A boundary does not work just because you announce it.You can ban the app.You can remove the phone.You can say no.But if a child’s friendships, boredom, identity, entertainment, status, validation and e
Nina Hastie; Laughter, Rejection, and turning Chaos into Order
Nina Hastie is known for being sharp, funny and impossible to ignore.But this conversation is not about celebrity.It is about the human being behind the humour.In this episode, Dr Hanan Bushkin sits down with Nina for a powerful conversation about laughter, rejection, addiction, sobriety, self-respect and the difficult work of turning chaos into order.They explore what humour can do for pain, why
Fifa World Cup. Have we lost perspective
The 2026 World Cup is the biggest in history — 48 teams, 104 matches, three host countries, and a global machine bigger than ever. But this episode asks a harder question: when does bigger stop meaning better?Dr Hanan Bushkin explores why more money, more success, more status, more achievement, and more scale can still leave a person unanchored. Because if growth destroys your sleep, family, healt
Are you loved, or are you just useful?
Episode 2: Are You Loved, or Are You Just Useful?In this episode of Everything is going to be ok, no option B, Dr Hanan Bushkin explores one of the most uncomfortable questions in relationships, families and everyday life: Are you actually loved — or have you become useful?There is a big difference between being needed and being respected. A mother can become the family Uber driver. A father can b
When the Mirror Becomes the Master
In the first episode of Everything Is Going To Be OK. No Option B., Dr Hanan Bushkin explores what happens when the mirror becomes the master.We all need feedback. We all care, to some degree, how we are seen. But there is a point where reflection becomes identity — where the opinions, approval, applause, rejection, silence, and judgement of others start deciding who we think we are.This episode i
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