Lori Gottlieb: How changing your story can change your life
Lori Gottlieb: Cómo cambiar tu historia puede cambiar tu vida
Lori Gottlieb asks: What if the stories we tell ourselves are wrong? Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
by telling you about an email
de un correo electrónico
called "Dear Therapist,"
llamada "Querida terapeuta",
of very personal letters
de tipo muy personal
de todo el mundo.
from heartbreak and loss,
desde desamores y pérdidas
en mi portátil
"The Problems of Living."
"Los problemas de vivir".
I get lots of emails just like this,
tengo muchos iguales a este,
en mi mundo por un momento
into my world for a second
until a couple of years ago.
unos años atrás.
stopped wanting to have sex as much,
de querer tener sexo como antes,
no se esperaban esto.
that for the past few months,
que hace unos cuantos meses
a altas horas de la noche
long, late-night phone calls
mi padre se lió con una compañera
with a coworker when I was young
to trust my husband again.
through a divorce,
pasen por un divorcio,
que debe hacer esta mujer?
about how painful infidelity is.
es algo muy doloroso.
painful it is here
es más doloroso todavía
growing up with her father.
cuando sucedió con su padre.
have some empathy for this woman,
sientan cierta empatía con ella,
feelings for her husband.
"nada positivos" hacia su esposo.
that go through my mind too,
esas ideas a la cabeza
these letters in my inbox.
cuando respondo a esas cartas
when I respond to these letters
is actually just a story
se describe una historia particular
of this story also exists.
de esa historia.
como sicoterapeuta
anything as a therapist,
al contar su propia historia.
narrators of our own lives.
que haberles dicho
going to believe my TED Talk.
en mi charla TED.
que mintamos a propósito.
that we purposely mislead.
is absolutely true,
es absolutamente cierto,
they emphasize or minimize,
y me quieren hacer ver,
in a particular way.
de una forma particular.
described this beautifully -- he said,
lo describe a la perfección, dice:
to take a moral stance."
posicionarse moralmente".
en historias sobre nuestras vidas.
with stories about our lives.
por qué nos ha ido mal,
why things went wrong,
de otra forma
we make sense of our lives.
de dar sentido a nuestras vidas.
las historias que contamos
or just wrong?
o solamente erróneas?
shape our stories.
determinan nuestras historias.
a menudo en mi trabajo
shapes what they become.
determina en lo que se convierten.
is that if we can change our stories,
cambiar nuestras historias
an unreliable narrator.
no soy una narradora poco de fiar.
si digo que soy sicoterapeuta,
because if I say I'm a therapist,
about to give you a pelvic exam?"
a explorar la zona pélvica?".
de decir que soy editora
es ayudar a la gente a editarse,
to help people edit,
about my specific role as Dear Therapist
especial en "Querida terapeuta"
I'm not just editing for one person.
no solo edito para una sola persona.
of readers how to edit,
de lectores cómo editar,
como en el ejemplo.
or going in circles,
o anda en círculos?
or are they a distraction?"
o una mera distracción?"
tend to circle around two key themes.
suelen girar en torno a dos temas clave.
at freedom for a second.
echemos un vistazo a la libertad.
sobre la libertad son algo así:
amount of freedom.
to the problem at hand,
sentimos que ya no la tenemos.
we feel like we have none.
van de sentirnos atrapados
are about feeling trapped, right?
by our families, our jobs,
nuestro parloteo de autoflagelación.
with a narrative of self-flagellation --
es mejor que la mía",
is better than mine" story,
esa de que "Nadie me quiere",
the "I'm unlovable" story,
work out for me" story.
y no me responde,
and she doesn't answer,
she'll never trust him again,
nunca volverá a confiar en él,
her children will suffer.
que es el ejemplo perfecto
that I think is a perfect example
in these stories.
shaking the bars,
a la izquierda está abierto,
de las rejas de la libertad,
around the bars to freedom
for our role in the story,
de nuestro rol en la historia,
that I see in our stories: change.
que veo en las historias: cambio.
in the story to change."
en la historia cambie".
she'd be the king."
sería el rey".
cantidad de pérdida.
or utterly miserable,
o sea deprimente sin más,
el lugar y el argumento,
and setting and plot,
dialogue in this story.
de esta historia:
how the story is going to go
cómo sigue la historia
is to venture into the unknown.
es aventurarse en lo desconocido,
than a blank page.
que una página en blanco.
becomes much easier to write.
se hace más fácil de escribir.
about getting to know ourselves.
de conocernos a nosotros mismos,
is to unknow yourself.
es desconocer como eres.
you've been telling yourself
de la historia que te has contado
that you've been telling yourself
from the woman, about the affair.
de esa mujer, la de la infidelidad.
taped up in my office:
anotada en mi oficina:
outside of one's knowledge or competence.
que exceden nuestro saber y competencias.
after this TED Talk.
tras esta charla TED,
that as a therapist,
como sicoterapeuta,
lo que quiere hacer,
what they want to do,
their life choices for them.
sus elecciones vitales por ellos.
su propia historia
together, right here,
todos juntos, aquí y ahora,
how we can all revise our stories.
cómo revisar nuestras historias.
that you're telling yourself right now
que se estén contando a Uds. ahora
you're experiencing,
que estén experimentando,
at the supporting characters.
en los actores de reparto.
de esta historia?
que me escribió esta carta
who wrote me that letter
lo que se llama "compasión idiota".
what's called "idiot compassion."
we go along with the story,
-siguiendo con esta historia-
get the promotion he wanted,
no le dieron el ascenso que quería,
several times before
que ya le pasó varias veces
put in the effort,
el material de oficina.
also steals office supplies.
ese es un imbécil".
that her boyfriend broke up with her,
que su novio la dejó,
that there are certain ways
or the going through his drawers,
o rebuscar en sus cajones,
hay siempre una pelea,
in every bar you're going to,
we need to offer wise compassion,
hay que ofrecer compasión sabia,
sino a nosotros mismos.
I think the technical term might be --
técnico sería-
lo que hemos obviado en nuestra historia.
what we've left out of the story.
si el marido está teniendo una aventura,
is having an affair,
changed two years ago,
cambió hace dos años,
phone calls are really about.
que hace de madrugada.
that because of her history,
story of betrayal,
to let me, in her letter,
who's taking a Rorschach test.
que hace el test de Rorschach.
they look like that,
de tinta parecidas a esto,
at his ink blot and he says,
you definitely don't see."
definitavamente".
esto se llama "punto de vista".
I make when I chew.
que hago cuando mastico.
le está echando más leche a mi granola
to secretly put extra milk in my granola
after my father died two years ago.
desde que murió mi padre hace dos años.
to what I was going through.
por lo que pasaba.
cuyo padre murió hace unos meses
whose father died a few months ago,
like I talk to my friend,
como hablo con mi amiga,
tolerates me now.
I read you earlier,
que les he leído antes,
narrator's point of view.
de otro narrador.
que la engañaba,
a husband who's cheating,
who can't understand his grief.
que no entiende su pena.
is that for all of their differences,
que existen entre ambas historias,
is a longing for connection.
al narrador en primera persona
of the first-person narration
la perspectiva de otro personaje,
from another character's perspective,
becomes much more sympathetic,
se vuelve más empático
in the editing process,
en el proceso de editar
de donde arranca el cambio.
if you looked at your story
person's point of view?
el punto de vista de otro?
from this wider perspective?
una perspectiva más amplia?
gente deprimida, a veces digo:
who are depressed,
con quien hablar de ti",
to talk to you about you right now,"
nuestras historias especialmente.
in a very particular way.
lonely or hurt or rejected.
nos sentimos solos, heridos o rechazados.
we're looking through.
our own fake-news broadcasters.
de nuestras propias noticias falsas.
of the letter I read you.
de la carta que les leí.
y tostaditas, por cierto.
and pita chips, by the way.
todos los narradores alternativos
of the alternative narratives
but also in my column.
sino también en mi columna.
in the same situation
la misma situación
unbeknownst to the other,
of this woman's letter is,
de la carta de esta mujer,
of her letter that she wrote to me.
de la que me escribió a mi.
is having an affair of any kind --
what the plot is yet.
de qué va el argumento.
for what the plot can become.
de que el argumento cambie.
that I see people who are really stuck,
que veo gente atrapada de verdad,
in their stuckness.
when you try to offer them a suggestion,
una sugerencia,
eso no funcionará porque..."
that will never work, because ..."
because I can't do that."
but people are just so annoying."
pero la gente es insoportable".
of misery and stuckness.
de miseria y estancamiento.
I usually take a different approach.
me acerco de forma diferente.
de no tenerme de sicóloga.
I'm not your therapist right now.
at me right now,
que hay una historia
about all of us, eventually.
sobre todos nosotros.
authors of our own unhappiness,
nuestra propia infelicidad,
while we're still alive.
mientras todavía vivimos.
y no la víctima en nuestra historia,
and not the victim in our stories,
la página que vive en nuestra mente
that lives in our minds
which stories to listen to
qué historias hay que escuchar
to go through a revision
por pasar por una revisión
to the quality of our lives
para la calidad de vida
acerca de ellas.
we tell ourselves about them.
to the stories of our lives,
influye en la historia de nuestra vida,
personal Pulitzer Prize.
propio Premio Pulitzer personal.
help-rejecting complainers,
quejicas que rechazan ayuda
that is so easy to slip into
or angry or vulnerable.
enfadados o indefensos.
you're struggling with something,
que algo les agobie,
herramientas de edición
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lori Gottlieb - Psychotherapist, authorLori Gottlieb asks: What if the stories we tell ourselves are wrong?
Why you should listen
Lori Gottlieb is a natural storyteller -- and no wonder. She has crafted stories for film and television series as Hollywood executive, delved deep into her subjects' stories as a nationally recognized journalist and has helped people to change their stories through her weekly "Dear Therapist" column for "The Atlantic" and her clinical work as a psychotherapist.
In her latest New York Times bestselling book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, which is currently being adapted as a television series with Eva Longoria, she tells the stories of four of her patients, along with a fifth patient -- herself. She also serves as a member of the Advisory Council for Bring Change to Mind and as an advisor to the Aspen Institute, and she appears as a frequent expert on emotional health in media such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Early Show, CNN, and NPR's "Fresh Air." Her new podcast, which will premiere in 2020, will be co-hosted with fellow TED speaker Guy Winch and executive produced by Katie Couric.
Lori Gottlieb | Speaker | TED.com