Blog

The Thought Spiral.

Whether you're navigating closeness, community, or self-awareness, these articles offer grounded, psychology-informed tools and research to help you connect more consciously. Welcome to my learning library.

Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

The Self as Story: Rethinking Identity through Narrative

What if the Self is nothing more than a story? According to Dan McAdams, it might be. This is the core of McAdams’ narrative identity theory, which argues that we form identity by internalizing and continuously revising a life story that integrates the past, situates the present, and anticipates the future.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

What Even Is Authenticity?

The ideal of authenticity is everywhere. But what are we actually referring to when we say “authenticity”? Is it honesty? Consistency? Alignment between inner and outer worlds? And how do we differentiate authenticity from performance when all human behavior is, at least at some level, relational?

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

Soft Skills Aren’t Soft: They’re Survival.

For years, we’ve dismissed emotional intelligence, communication, and care as “soft skills,” or the optional extras of the professional world. Kind, but not critical. Nice, but not necessary.

That language is long overdue for a rewrite.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

I Need You, But I Need Me Too: A Meditation on Modern Intimacy

We celebrate independence, praise detachment as emotional maturity, and raise an eyebrow at anyone whose love feels a little too consuming, too dependent, too much. Somewhere along the way, dependence became a dirty word. So how do we say “I need you, but I need me too?”

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

The Myth of Finding Your People

The myth of finding your people suggests that belonging is passive— something that happens when the right conditions align. Yet both psychology and lived experience tell us otherwise: belonging isn't found, it's built.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

The Psychology Behind Authentic Networking

Authentic networking isn’t about collecting business cards or perfecting your pitch. It’s about cultivating mutual trust, emotional resonance, and psychological safety. In other words, it’s about building real relationships, even at work.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

Why We Put Up Emotional Walls

You know the feeling: someone gets too close, and suddenly, you’re pulling back. Maybe you change the subject. Maybe you make a joke (whoops, guilty). Maybe you disappear altogether. We call it putting up walls, but it’s really a form of protection. And like most protective strategies, it started somewhere meaningful.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

What We Misunderstand About Complex Trauma.

What do we call the “tiny” traumas – the ones that build up over time? The kind that unfolds over the years, shaping the very foundation of how we see ourselves and the world? Often stemming from relationships or systemic oppression, this is the territory of complex trauma.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

Somatics 101

Our bodies hold our stories. They also have the potential to release them. Learn how somatics enter the realm of psychology and the latest principles in mind-body integration.

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

What Drives Us to Connect in the First Place?

Relationships are essential for meaning, belonging, and growth. But, despite having opportunities for connection more readily available than ever before, studies report lower satisfaction and depth in relationships. What drives us to connect in the first place? And what are we truly seeking?

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Aubrey Aust Aubrey Aust

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

What do dreams actually reveal about our desires and needs? Explore how dreaming helps us imagine new possibilities and find meaning in our lives.

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