Exploring Emotions: Inside Out

In this episode of Wicked Psychotherapists, Tanya and Erin explore the 2015 Pixar movie Inside Out and its relevance to mental health therapy. 

They discuss how the film creatively portrays emotions and processing, particularly in children, and how it resonates with both therapists and clients. 

They share their first impressions of the movie, the importance of integrating all emotions for healthy development, and reflect on the personal impact of growing up with animated influences like Inspector Gadget. 

They also touch on parenting styles depicted in the movie and eagerly anticipate the sequel, Inside Out 2.

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Transcript

0:08

You are listening to Wicked Psychotherapists, a podcast where two psychotherapists show you that taking care of and learning about mental health doesn't have to be wicked hard.

Erin: 0:31

Hey everyone, this is Tanya. Hi, this is Erin, and welcome to Wicked Psychotherapist.

Tanya: 0:36

Yeah, today we have a fun one. This is a a movie that I think most people have probably seen by now or just know the concept. Inside Out, the first one, not the second one. we thought talking about Inside Out would be fun and very applicable to mental health because, hello, emotions and thoughts and how people develop more geared towards like, you know, child mental health, but of course is helpful for adults to know as well. You know, I feel like I learned something you know, when I was watching it. So I thought we would just kind of go over some key points just related to mental health. Some things that we found interesting and just have a general discussion of the movie. But. This movie is almost 10 years old. It came out in 2015. And the second one is coming out or it's already out in theaters as we speak now in late July. But We have not watched the second one yet, but we will. We will. So, we'll talk a little more on that later, but. So, this movie first came out in 2015, I was working in community mental health and I just thought, like, oh my god, this is so validating to what we do in therapy. Like, it really shows how complex emotions are. It really shows how processing works. And I just felt like, wow, if everyone could see this, maybe they could see our jobs as You know, like maybe with more geared towards like children, but still something very important to understand. That was my take. I was just like so impressed. Like I loved it. I love the way they presented it. I thought it was so, innovative and groundbreaking in the way they showed emotions and development. What were your first impressions, thoughts of Inside Out?

Erin: 2:22

Well, I am just shocked at how I have no concept of time because I had no idea it was 10 years ago. But was really impressed about how they did get it all, like as far as the emotions and how, As an adult watching it, I felt brought back to how I might have been feeling or how I have felt in different situations as a kid and as a teen and an adult but you know I'm sure we'll get more to that later but I was really impressed with how they did break it down the different emotions and Had it related specifically to your childhood at that time.

Tanya: 2:57

Yeah, I agree. It really was impressive how they showed the exterior and the interior and how that kind of formulates. And it's not just, you know, Oh we're happy. We're sad. It's that as You know develop and grow up and you have different experiences It's going to create different emotions and then different emotions from that and you're going to have simultaneous emotions and how to regulate these how to you know not avoid particular emotions in order to kind of integrate all of this sense of, you know, making a worldview and also, you know, the different phases we go through and how emotions are affected in that. You know, a big theme I did see was you know, loss and with, at the beginning where Riley the main character, the little girl, she, I'm assuming everybody kind of knows it at this point. We're just going to talk about it. If not, then go watch the movie and you'll understand. It's ten years old. Yeah. Yeah. You know, how she has to move because of her father's job and like just lose all her friends, all her activities, everything that she knows, everything that's a comfort zone and kind of being able to navigate, you know, that's a big loss. She really, when she goes to school, she's just completely like frozen because of all the change. And she just doesn't really, it doesn't really compute, you know? And she just kind of, I feel like almost needs to like, you know, then we see the interior of like, okay, how does this play out? And there's a lot of. You know, sadness there, but, you know, in sadness the character is there, but joy tends to overtake

Erin: 4:28

and

Tanya: 4:28

kind of want to be like, everything's okay, which is kind of an avoidance.

Erin: 4:32

Yeah, we're happy, we're fine, yeah, everything will be okay.

Tanya: 4:35

Which we see in Riley's parents, they kind of want her to just be happy, and so they're kind of giving her that clue to, you know, this has to be. Avoid it. If you're sad then we'll turn it into a positive. I say that with air quotes, right? You know, that things, you know, in order to get over things, you have to just look at the positive side, which I don't know about you, but that really bothers me when people say that. Because that's, I mean, maybe in some cases that applies, but I'm thinking like in this instance. You're just avoiding a junk load of emotions and it, you're also invalidating that person's experience.

Erin: 5:10

Yeah. Well, and you hit it right, right, right on the head with Riley was experiencing a lot of grief, like moving from all that you know, and what a culture shock from living in a place where you're able to do hockey and snow and everything to somewhere where they're like, why? Hockey? Yeah. I don't know it and everybody already is established and they know each other and they're friends and you're the new kid and It's it was probably really it's it was probably really hard for her and the parents were it sounds like they were trying to Everything's okay. We're fine because maybe they were experiencing the same thing, but They have to put on these masks just to show, okay, we're happy, so you're happy instead of slowing down and being like, you know what, the three of us are really sad and we do miss our old place, but let's do it together. Let's grieve. Let's give ourselves moments to grieve, but also then we can move on and experience this new place together.

Tanya: 6:06

Yeah, for sure. And I think that's a good point is that. You know, the parents probably, they meant well, and maybe that's just what they learned, but it's in doing so and kind of just saying, okay, we, we just need to do this or, you know, with one emotion, like, it kind of shows that like, okay, well, being upset, being sad, or being angry, or, you know, feeling any type of way Is not good. And you see that with Joy kind of being, if I may say so, a little obnoxiously present, you know, and that's why she's kind of like bossy. She's kind of taking over a lot because that's the emotion that Riley has been given the message, this is okay. You know, this is okay to do. The other ones are kind of uncomfortable. She kind of, she got that message for it.

Erin: 6:47

Yeah, the other, all the other emotions are just like, all right. We had to stand back and she's going to be front and center, you know, Joy is going to be front and center and kind of take the lead. Even though they might be like, wait a minute, the other emotions probably are just as valuable too.

Tanya: 7:02

Yeah, for sure. And it certainly is, you know, kind of something where you're showing the process of integration of these emotions, you know, as when we're a kid you know, we may think of things as black and white kind of, or like, you know, all or nothing. We're kind of a little more in that like concrete stage. And I think we tend to think like, okay, this is good, this is bad, but she's starting to experience things where, you know, there could be a lot of joy in this, there could be, you know, some very joyful experiences, but there's also a lot of sadness, there's a lot of loss, there's a lot of sacrifice, a lot of grief a lot of fear, right, of, you know, starting this. And so that's worth recognizing and just putting it out there rather than Saying like, well, let's just express joy because then, you know, those emotions don't feel comfortable to express at all and you're not exercising them and you're really not realizing the value of that integration that, you know, in, I'm sure, I don't know, have, this is actually kind of a random question that I'm just thinking of. Okay. Have you experienced working with someone who you feel like never really integrated some of their emotions, like, properly or just kind of only expresses in a very, like, all or nothing and has discomfort in the

Erin: 8:11

in the middle? Yeah, yes. Yeah. And it might not be that they're always experiencing joy. It could be the fear or, you know, the anger or one of just one of the things is just dominant. And that it is kind of. Difficult to help them process other things going on, because if you are always in joy, you know, nothing wrong with being joyful and happy, that's awesome. But if you're using that instead of focusing on the grief or the loss or your fear that's happening or other things, it can be a little detrimental at times.

Tanya: 8:43

Yeah, because they can build up if they're there and they're not being acknowledged. And I've had some clients where you know, and I'm talking about clients that are not on like the autism spectrum or anything like that. I'm just saying this is really something like in terms of more looking at just emotional processing and everything because it's a little bit, it's a little Different maybe with someone who's on the autism spectrum but I would talk to them about thinking traps and, you know, this is a common term in cognitive behavioral therapy. And just talk about, you know, like, okay, sometimes we have these traps that we get ourselves in. We develop patterns for how we deal with certain situations, and it can be based on past, you know, situations that we've had to deal with, or role models, or just how we feel like this should do, because That's the model of the world that we have, but you get trapped in them. You can't really see outside of them. And, you know, let's think of some alternative thoughts, some alternative ways to kind of maybe think about this and practice that skill in order to kind of change that pathway a little bit. Because at the root of a lot of these people's problems was that they were. Noticing. other, a desire for other emotions to pop up in their life, but they didn't know how to do it. And they didn't really recognize it and they didn't, it felt like it was wrong, you know? And so, I think that's why this movie is just so groundbreaking and in my mind you know, it's something that I feel like it's, it just demonstrates so well the complexity in the fact that we, you know, how we do develop. Different emotions from different experiences and how this is healthy and how this can help you and serve you. Right. And unfortunately, you know, sometimes our upbringing or. influence from friends or social media you know, whatever cultural background, you know, whatever it is, environment you grew up in might influence that to think that, okay, this is right, this is wrong. So I, and I'm just going to give an example, like say for for men you know, I think probably in our generation it was not as easy for them to, maybe it was like starting to be a little easier than the generation before

Erin: 10:47

and the gen,

Tanya: 10:47

definitely easier than the generation before that. For them to feel like, okay, either I can act out angrily aggressively, or you know, just, you know, stay quiet or, you know, they didn't have many options in terms of emotions for the most part, right? I'm generalizing. Now I think there's a little more expansive room for that. Yeah. To express feelings, like there's a little more acceptance. I feel like we're on that road with this. Well, and probably

Erin: 11:11

even like past generations, maybe in a generation or generation before even physical touch from, you know, like fathers to sons is probably like, gonna shake your hand or give you a Pat on the back instead of a hug or something like that. It's where now it's probably it seems that it's more the norm to Hug, and it's okay to express it express physical touch and emotion

Tanya: 11:33

Yeah, and I think these are you know, this is with this kind of education and this Maybe just, you know, maybe a feeling of we can evolve and our understanding of gender roles and how emotions are expressed and I just think it all comes back to, I'm not saying this movie has influenced that. I mean, although maybe it has somewhat, but I think in general, this generation was ready for this movie, you know, is that it was very much like placed well.

Erin: 12:00

Yeah. Yeah. And. Yeah, it's kind of neat, too, if you think of it 10 years ago, how many people grew up with it. You know, this was their movie that they grew up with in elementary school or middle school and so on. And so it's kind of maybe helped people to understand their emotions a little bit more and maybe be more empathetic with other people.

Tanya: 12:19

Yeah, and like, have you noticed The merchandise and everything and the worksheets that are, like I've noticed, like, I used to use Teachers Pay Teachers Assignments for when I used to teach or, for particular lessons for kids, you know, in counseling because there'd be some counseling themes in there. There's a lot of Inside Out themed things for that and I even had, a friend gave me a set of all the characters, like just figurines, and I would have that in my office, and it was a point, it's a point of talking, it's now part of the cultural talking you know, towards, like, what kids understand as emotions. And, you know, they may not understand the symbolic meaning of it, but I think they, they get the literal to it and that is somehow that sticks in their mind. So I just, I think that's a really great influence.

Erin: 13:02

Yeah, and how neat to have it in your counseling office instead of just Like a Freud bobblehead doll, like you see some people have. Yeah.

Tanya: 13:11

So it's like, who wants to play with a Freud bobblehead? Yeah, but, I don't know, maybe some people do, but I don't. Not me. Yeah, no, I'm good. I got my, my I don't have the figurines close to me, they're over there, but I got my Mr. Rogers. I got my Golden Girls button that you got for me. Oh, I like that. The sayings. And I got my inside out. The characters just couldn't fit on my desk, but those were like my go tos. I love those. I don't have any toys. I always have like fidgets, like I have like this, like, fidget and stuff like that, like I just kind of, I didn't have enough room for the figures. I'm jealous, I don't have any toys at my desk. Oh, get, go on

Erin: 13:48

Amazon and get some. Yeah, I'll have to, I mean, I'm sure I can just raid one of the kids room. Alright, this is now living at my desk.

Tanya: 13:55

Yeah, it's fun to have, I mean sometimes I can even incorporate that. into therapy with, I now work primarily with adults and I can still incorporate some of the lessons of like, Hey, you know, if you're like, like we were just saying, if we have people who think kind of like in extremes, you know, that kind of are not comfortable maybe in the complexity of emotions or even holding two emotions at the same time.

Erin: 14:18

Yeah. How neat. Cause a lot of people are more visual. So if you have joy and sadness in either hand or joy and anger or something that could be pretty. Pretty fun.

Tanya: 14:28

Yeah. It's a good way. I mean, because, you know, people that, if they have kids or if they just like know of the movie, they're like, Oh yeah, like, even though like, okay, I know it's like very simplistic, but on that level it makes sense, you know, it really does. So I also was wondering about, I thought this part of this theme of the movie was really interesting where there is. like personal growth, like in your core personality, right? So Riley is moving from a place of being like a young child who kind of understands things and like, I'm in my comfort zone, everything is like, this makes me happy, I'm pretty happy, you know, not like, if I'm sad, it's because like, I, you know, my friend couldn't play, but it doesn't like take over. Now she's had to move you know, leave all her friends, And everything and she's learning like, okay, there's this sadness here. I can't avoid it. Right? Like she starts to learn like, you know, that's not really, I'm still feeling it.

Erin: 15:23

And

Tanya: 15:24

she has that moment, I think in the movie where she like breaks down with her parents and she's like, I'm just sad. Just like upset. And like, is like, I need for this to be okay, that I have this sadness, but I don't want it to overtake me, but, you know, like I have it. And that's like so key to me, I remember that so clearly because it's just such a way of saying like, it's okay for me to be sad and to get support, and this doesn't have to define me, kind of thing, you know, like it can be that, that can be a part of me. Who I am

Erin: 15:53

and to be able to express it. Yeah. And to be able to express it and say it and know what the words are because so often we don't know We don't pause and we don't know. Wait a minute. Oh, wait. I am just sad. It's You know, not just sad, but I am sad. Yeah, I need to just maybe I do it's okay for me to just lay in my bed and just be sad or to cry or just to Want to avoid people for a little bit because Sometimes that's what you need.

Tanya: 16:19

Yeah, and I think this is where, like, healthy coping mechanisms are developed, right? Like, if you kind of were never able to express and comfort those other emotions, maybe you could only express, like, happiness or anger or something like that. If you were sad, I mean, some people may have been, like, mocked for that or put down or called weak. And so you may just put that in the back of your mind and say, okay, and then you end up expressing it maybe overly in, in anger or overly in like shutting down. And I think when you are able to speak and say, I'm sad about this and get the support that her parents are very supportive, you know, they do want to help her. She's able to say, okay, I can reach out to people. I can, this is okay. It gets stored as like a, You know, kind of core understanding that she can have these different emotions and it can be okay And she's developing the coping skills to kind of integrate this Which I think is really amazing. It really shows that you know, and I understand this movie was very much You know, the parents were A she had two caring loving parents You know, not everybody necessarily has that. And that's maybe where people would develop other mechanisms that are maybe unhealthy or just don't work or are not very good for them. Yeah. And I think, you know, the core personality here, right? Like we, we often think back to who are we as people. And some people may be like, I was a happy kid, you know, like, I don't know what happened. And they may be remembering this time before all these complex emotions, and they were never really able to integrate it. And so it feels like they've maybe never been happy since then, or maybe there, you know, there's been trauma, or, you know, and then that was hard to process, and, you know, a lot of other things can happen between that. But, you know, we think it's kind of overall, like, you know, you want to be able to handle feelings in moderation. You, you don't want things to, to feel like, you want to be able to know that you can get support, you can have coping skills with some things, you can hold different emotions. Emotions are not bad. They're signals. They're clues. They're things that we need to understand ourselves and what's going on. And that is, like, literally therapy, right? It is therapy and it's so cool the visuals in it and how like they have little ball memories and like the core memories and how they get stored and I just love it. I love that. I love that movie. But yeah, so I, I think it really validated lot kids, for people, for emotions, like yay, we're pro emotions, therapy, you know, like how it works. do you feel like this was helpful, or like the characters or the lessons was, has it been helpful for you in your own practice or just your own like thinking about things with theories of how to practice therapy?

Erin: 18:58

I think when I have watched the movie, it makes, it does stick with me for a little bit longer and it does have some talking points because I know I, I personally, I see just adults and I know I've said this before, but I have referenced the movie and I do feel like it does help like as far as being able to have people really understand, you know, like even talking about core memories You know, cause you hear a lot of times people talk like, Oh, this is a core memory. This is going to become a core memory. But a lot of people at times don't really understand what that is. It's like, Oh, it's the big trip to grandma's or it's the ride in the bike or it's this really special time sitting on the bed reading together. Or it's this fight I had with my friend in middle school or it's moving or, you know, so they don't realize that, Oh, that's what they mean by that. These are some things that help. Define or develop who we are and how we cope with those things throughout each experience, you know, and that can apply. Sorry. Oh, no, I was gonna say and we're constantly still developing new memories. It's not just those main core ones. It's just, you know, we still are developing new ones on top of that, too, because you'll see like, hey, they're still coming down. There's like, different long term memories are now going to be in, you know, in different slots.

Tanya: 20:09

Yeah, absolutely. That's exactly what I was going to say. Yeah. Like, like we were both thinking at the same time. It's, it definitely, yeah, like building upon it and like different phases in your life bring that about, but you're still, you're always kind of growing in that and you can still, you can change certain parts of yourself. by understanding them differently, you know, and kind of looking at, okay, these emotions, these things that, you know, maybe I've done in the past, I can, with a new understanding, develop, you know, different core memories that can help me to understand myself differently or move about this life differently. So very much can be applied to adults. That's such a good point. Yeah. Yeah.

Erin: 20:50

Because how often, especially If we couldn't, wouldn't that what would the point of therapy be? Because we're constantly almost like helping people to rediscover themselves or reinvent themselves or to figure things out. And if we weren't able to change everything and if everything was just kind of cemented from when we were a child, that'd be pretty disappointing, wouldn't it? Like, but now we're able to figure out who we are and who we want to be and work on some of that stuff from childhood or young adult or whenever, whatever. you're coming in for, but you are able to change that and redefine who you are and how you process things.

Tanya: 21:25

Yeah, for sure. I really, I, yeah, I like the way you put that. I think that really is a good way of kind of looking at the span of a lifetime and like how these emotions are placed and memories and how we maybe have not broken it down, and I'm saying we as like a society, maybe have not really broken it down to this level. At least, you know, maybe for this generation, I know we talked about another connection with you had brought up, which I thought was really great, Winnie the Pooh, that there is some people say they're like different parts, different emotions, like yours, depression, tigers, like, you know, hyperactivity or whatever. ADHD,

Erin: 22:00

maybe. ADHD,

Tanya: 22:02

yeah and yeah and that, that is kind of, you know, from, I guess from our generation, right? You know, like, that would kind of be it, but it, I feel like it really pulls it together. Like, you understand the workings of the mind in

Erin: 22:13

this. Yeah. Yeah. With Winnie the Pooh. Yeah, there is the different things where they can all be emotions or feelings of what you're feeling, but what separates it too is Winnie the Pooh is more how Christopher Robin is experiencing it or how it affects him. And yes, I know all this is also based on Riley, but the way that Inside Out, I feel it is different is it's Not only are they in the brain and you see this whole little board where they're working off of Then you go into then you see what's happening in the mom's brain and the dad's brain. So it's not just Riley's fear it's you know, it's oh so every human or every person has experienced this or they have this group of Emotions kind of being their cheerleaders are kind of working with them and helping them and It does feel a little different. I mean, I love Winnie the Pooh, but it's always a big cheerleader for Eeyore, too, but I do see the difference with this.

Tanya: 23:11

Yeah, it's really kind of a, like you said, it's kind of more individual to, like, it would almost be like internal family systems, like arts work. Yeah, I think for like an individual like Christopher Robin like here's your sad side. Here's your like hyperactive side that's in very general terms We're you know being very general for anyone that doesn't know about that. Just you know, if you're interested look up internal systems You know, but there's different roles you assign to yourself. It's not about being a multi personality, it's just, you know, stuff that we all see ourselves as. But yeah, that's a good point to, to point out that we do go into other people's brains in Inside Out. We do see that it's happening with all of us. Like, we all have emotions, we all have this complexity, we're all trying to work this out. And that is a great point because it's like, you're not alone in this and this is not something that. No one has to deal with, you know, this is something that we all have to deal with. Whether or not you're like considered an emotional person or not. I still have a tough time with that because I'm like, how can you not at least be a little bit emotional? Yeah. Like we all have emotions.

Erin: 24:12

We, well in that context, especially with the Inside Out, and isn't everyone emotional? So when someone says like, oh, you're so emotional, it's like, yeah, I'm emotional. I am. Right. Yeah. So are you.

Tanya: 24:24

Right. Yeah. You just may have like a more limited sphere. You don't engage as much in them, but like, as humans, we are I don't know, some people maybe operate from a different point of view and they just find that works for them, you know, but it's there, it is there, you know. I hope so, unless you're like a, you know, sociopath or something, you know, and even then you'd still have emotions. They'd just be a little darker.

Erin: 24:48

Yeah. Yeah.

Tanya: 24:49

Yeah. Exactly. A little scarier. I did want to touch upon the bing bong, I wanted to say billabong bing bong. Sir Ford. The loss of bing bong, because bing bong's like Riley's imagination and that's, this is such a key moment because, you know, It's almost, you know, like he, Bing Bong has to, you know, not have that connection with Riley. He has to kind of go away in that point, like she has to kind of, Grow up and understand things a little bit differently and it's kind of like a bittersweet moment It's yeah, you understand it, but you're also really sad because it's a loss and

Erin: 25:24

yeah In a sacrifice too. It's yeah, it's so sad I was just getting really sad just thinking about like his sacrifice that he made, you know so joy can get up and you know make it and he's like and he jumps off his little scooter or wagon or whatever it is and Knowing that he's gonna disappear and it's so sad and I think joy was in denial for a while to where she's like, you know, no, we're gonna go You know, you're gonna make it then, you know, Riley will remember you and you'll come back and you know, it's gonna be you know It's probably you know, but then it's like, you know, bing bong was probably like no, you know, like I you know I yeah, I've had my time with her and You know, this is my Sacrifice so that you can still help her, you know, cuz he loved her.

Tanya: 26:08

Yeah, I think it was interesting because joy was kind of trying to help and in her own way, But it was kind of yeah a little bit in denial a little bit of avoidance and sadness sat and listen and let bill Bing bongs Bing bong have like the space to talk and like there's that point of like emotions are sometimes just you need to talk them out you know and that again counts like

Erin: 26:32

oh my god

Tanya: 26:32

yeah

Erin: 26:33

And that's where also sadness was so important because sadness like i know joy kept thinking like sadness is such a drag like she literally had to drag her places because she's like i can't walk i can't do this but sadness is so important especially with Bing bong's journey, you know to be able to tell the story and stuff because joy probably would be like no you know, no you're fine, you know or whatever and Sadness is just quiet and probably opening the space so people can talk, you know And it's just like

Tanya: 27:03

alone for it.

Erin: 27:04

Yeah have both emotions. It's okay to remember the happy times and also to be sad about that. There might be Changing.

Tanya: 27:11

Yeah. I really liked that. That was very, like, I could see that, I could feel that moment. Yeah.

Erin: 27:16

I just remember being really sad, thinking, like, okay, what things did I, you know, like, as a child or a teen, like, have to decide, okay, this isn't part of me anymore, or, you know, like, it's, or what parts do I have to pack away, like, you know, it's, or do I not? Yeah, some of us don't, you know, it's like sometimes and that's okay, too. I mean,

Tanya: 27:35

yeah, it's kind of it's interesting because You can I mean like I remember feeling like I because you know We're both the youngest of just a billion siblings, right? Yeah, and we You know probably said the pressure of like, oh I have to be like, you know Like them kind of thing and so we probably had a lot of pressure on that to like kind of grow up Yeah And I remember thinking, like, I can't watch cartoons, like, nobody ever said anything really to me, but it just kind of felt like nobody else was really wanting to watch them, and I was like, oh, I can't be like the baby, like, watching cartoons, and so I would, like, I think I stopped watching them before I, like, wanted to stop watching them, you know, and I remember when I was probably in like my, like mid to late teens, I kind of would like want to watch cartoons again and kind of just be like, like, not like, you know, too much, but just like if I'd see a cartoon on TV, I'd be like, Oh, I'm going to just kind of watch it, you know, like it was just kind of nice to like, Recapture that, you know, and like, I kind of was like I could, I'm not super into this, but it was just a nice memory. I don't know.

Erin: 28:35

Yeah, I, yeah I think, yeah, because I'm the youngest too, of, and there's a big age gap, you know, like, so there's, you know, there's not like someone just like a year, my oldest is ten years, and my, Second oldest seven and four and whatever and but I remember my brother and I like when I was in high school He would wait for me to watch like inspector gadget when we'd get home in and he's like, you know, like 77 8 years older than me, but it was so but I think I was helping him probably be like, all right I'm not too cool to, you know, but we both really enjoyed watching Inspector Gadget. I think it came on after. He's like, I'll

Tanya: 29:12

watch it with you. Yeah, I think it probably came on. No, turn up the volume. Because I remember my

Erin: 29:15

sister used to get so mad because she used to want to watch because she was so grown up. She would want to watch, like, Guide in Light or something like that. Like, one of the soaps.

Tanya: 29:22

Oh, yeah. All the soaps stories. Yeah, we'd be like,

Erin: 29:26

oh no, we have to watch Inspector Gadget, you know, but, so,

Tanya: 29:28

oh, and by the way, youngins, if you're listening to this, it's because we only had one tv. We didn't have phones to watch. I know. That's hard to imagine. But yeah, we all had to share like a TV with like three channels, unless you were super

Erin: 29:41

rich, but we were not. So we had the one TV and I think we, I think someone had like a smaller TV somewhere. But yeah, it was just like the one TV, so you had to fight over, like, what show you

Tanya: 29:52

were gonna watch.

Erin: 29:52

Yeah,

Tanya: 29:53

and like usually the youngest doesn't win, you know, like, come on, you know, it's like every once in a while maybe. Yeah, so I had the

Erin: 29:58

backing of the oldest, like, you know, like, so. That's good. Smart. I

Tanya: 30:03

like that. I wish I knew that strategy. Fine, well,

Erin: 30:05

it wasn't like he was always the most mature, but, you know, he was fun.

Tanya: 30:09

No, but that's great. I loved Inspector Gadget.

Erin: 30:11

Me too, I still do, like. I still

Tanya: 30:14

do too. It's

Erin: 30:15

like, because the movie was really funny and I think there's like a new cartoon on. You know on Netflix or something, but it still holds out. I just love it. It's so funny. It's like, ah, he's so dumb. And just always getting in trouble. It's such an

Tanya: 30:27

endearing way, I actually have a weird story related to it. Like when I thought I was Inspector Gadget. Like, I was playing like I was. So, I broke my arm thinking I was Inspector Gadget. Like, when I was like five or six. And I went over to a neighbor's house down the street. I was with two of my sisters who are like a year and a half older than me, and we were playing with like, kind of our mutual friend, whatever, and she had this clothesline in the back, and I had just seen an episode where Inspector Gadget ziplined, and I just so wanted to do it. And so I was like, I can do this. I don't think I told anyone, I just started doing it, and fell. Right on my arm. Ran down the street. It was oh, it's okay. And then I just ran down the street and started crying, broke my arm. Oh my gosh. And so, I thought, I was, I loved him so much, I thought I was him. Well, you didn't have, you didn't have Go

Erin: 31:17

Robot Arm or whatever. You know, you didn't get to. Yeah, I

Tanya: 31:20

didn't, yeah, I should have prepared for that. That was silly of me, you know. You didn't have

Erin: 31:23

Penny and Brains to protect you.

Tanya: 31:25

I will always remember. It's such it's like such a, you know, it's not a great memory, but it's like, it's a funny memory. Yeah. I just, I really thought I could be Inspector Gadget,

Erin: 31:33

you know, I wonder how many kids have stories of twisted limbs or whatever from trying to do something like that. Like falling off of like roofs or

Tanya: 31:43

something. I mean, I not, but you know, like something like that. But yeah, just

Erin: 31:47

That's funny though. Maybe I

Tanya: 31:48

was the only one who ever did it. I don't know. Yeah,

Erin: 31:50

it probably looked like the perfect, I mean, I, especially in like kid brain, it's probably like, all right. I could scale that. This is perfect. I saw him do it in that episode the other day. This is gonna work. I really

Tanya: 32:00

did. In my mind, it was perfect and I like did not tell anyone. I don't, I didn't tell anyone that's what I was thinking because I was embarrassed by that. First I don't really know why. I, maybe I just like realized it was stupid and I was like, oh, but I still loved Inspector Gadget. Yeah. And like, it made me so happy, so. Yeah but yeah, there's maybe because there's

Erin: 32:19

such a Adventure and child likeness to him too. So it's just like almost like it's okay to be Silly and think of new ideas as an adult. So as a kid Or a teen even, when I was, or an adult for my brother, because he was probably like 17, 18. But it's okay, like your childhood doesn't have to be lost as you get older, so that kind of ties in too.

Tanya: 32:43

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, that's a great way to look at it. It's so true though, it's so true, because look at us, we still like it. I still, I mean, I still think that's like, to me it's a great, it's a great, it's a weird great memory, but. Yeah, it's. Yeah, that's a core memory. It really is. And like, I don't know that anybody, like, if any of my families, I don't know that they ever knew that. Like, I told,

Erin: 33:03

yeah,

Tanya: 33:04

I told my, like, years later when I was an adult, but like, I held it. like, in my mind, like, I knew that's what I wanted to, like, I was like, I can do this. That's so funny. And since I have been ziplining quite a few times over, like, some, and I was, I did not break anything. So, it was I fulfilled that, and I did think of Inspector Gadget. Did you? That's so fun. So, it's good to keep, that's like the joyful memories and, like, the childhood, like, nostalgia, innocence. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. That's funny. It was still.

Erin: 33:31

Yeah. I remember, I just remember how mad my sister used to get. Oh my god. She was. She hated it. She would get so mad. She'd be like, you guys are so immature because she was trying to be so cool and she thought she, and she was cool and she, you know, we were not, I guess, in her brain. Yeah,

Tanya: 33:47

the guiding light sucks.

Erin: 33:48

You know, like, come on.

Tanya: 33:49

Who cares what Bluejack's doing? She's a god to the

Erin: 33:51

best. Yeah.

Tanya: 33:52

Yeah. So, I mean, you know, this even shows to this day, like some of our. Emotions, and like how it's still a part of you, right, like you don't lose that, you know, like you, you can engage with it, of course it's not your like main exterior, like, person, I'm not like, you know, going ziplining on my own, like, clothesline now and like thinking I can fly or something like that, but, you know, like honestly, you know, this is so strange, I just thought of this But I wonder if that's why, like, I have tried a lot of, like, aerial things that I really always was fascinated by, like, like, flying has always been such a, like, oh my god, I love being in the air, and so I've done, like, hang gliding, I've done skydiving, and I loved it, and I remember thinking how fun it would be from Inspector Gadget, with, like, his mobile always had, like, his

Erin: 34:35

coat always became a plane or a glider. Yeah.

Tanya: 34:39

Huh. I wonder if that's kind of why I was like, and like, I still am. I still like, like we're planning a hot air balloon trip and I am like, I seriously am so excited about that. Like I just love that stuff. And I don't know if that's kind of where I first started thinking about it, but I just thought about it. That's interesting. Maybe we'll have to do

Erin: 34:56

a future episode of How Cartoons Make us who we are today. Yeah, Inspector Gadget is gonna make the list. Yeah, Mr. Gadget. Inspector Gadget is definitely You're on Mr. Inspector Gadget, very formal he definitely is high on my list.

Tanya: 35:12

Yeah, I think so too. Who played him? Was it Robert Downey Jr. that played him? No, I think it was Matthew

Erin: 35:18

Broderick? I think it was either him or, Mr. Broderick. I always think it's him and the guy who played Ferris Bueller. Is he the guy who played Ferris Bueller or the Oh,

Tanya: 35:27

Crap. I can't remember his name. I can picture his face. He was married to Sarah Jessica Parker. Yeah, that's Matthew Broderick, isn't it? Matthew Broderick, yeah. Oh yeah, you already said that, yeah. Yeah.

Erin: 35:34

I

Tanya: 35:35

Mixed them up at one point. I don't know why. Yeah, him and the other guy. I can't

Erin: 35:38

remember his name because It was like Ferris Bueller and then Better Off Dead came out around the same time. And then they look alike, those two actors. And, again, back in the 80s, sorry everyone.

Tanya: 35:50

Yeah, we always, we'll always return there. Yeah,

Erin: 35:52

but yeah, I mean, yeah, but I did like, going back to what we were talking about before though, I did like that part where he was sacrificing himself for Joy to get back to Riley. To, you know, like it was almost like it's giving permission for her to help her, you know, with the next stage of whatever development is. Yeah.

Tanya: 36:11

Yeah, like to grow and to be okay to grow and yeah, and to know that it's sad, but it's something that is, is always there, you know, and the memories are there, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, I know we're kind of, we're on the verge of, we need to kind of wrap this up, but I'm curious what your thoughts are for Inside Out 2, what you think may be addressed, or are you just like excited to see it? Let's, you know, let's pull a little something out there about that.

Erin: 36:36

Okay. Well, I mean, it seems like it's going to be a lot more touching on, The next stages, like puberty, and teenagers, and which is

Tanya: 36:44

Oh lord,

Erin: 36:44

yeah, different friendship groups, and, you know, because friendships change a lot, you know, it's not just like, oh, we're group friends, now it's gonna be the triangulation, and, you know, or just like, boyfriends, and more focused on grades, and College, maybe. I don't know. I haven't seen it. I, you know, I haven't seen it, so I'm excited to see it. What about you? What do you think? What do you hope to see or what do you think from the trailers? I'm

Tanya: 37:08

really anticipating, I agree, I think it's gonna be more complexity upon the complexity that already they started and there's gonna be an expansion of emotions and, you know, kind of seeing how that integrates and also of like maybe thought processes and Yeah, with people that become more important in your life, like maybe your friends are more important at certain points, and like how that kind of affects Riley's thinking. So I, I am excited to see that, even though like, teenagerhood makes me nervous, and so I'm a little kind of like, ugh, it like brings me back to my own, which was not fun. Yeah,

Erin: 37:42

teenagers, yeah, being a teenager, you don't really realize. It's probably very aggravating for adults around you at times. Yeah. Because it's a stressful period, and full of a lot of hormones and emotions, and I guess that movie will be perfect.

Tanya: 37:57

Maybe though it'll help us to kind of see the interior of it and to kind of say, Oh, okay. And like, you know, kind of feel a little less frustrated with it. You know what I mean? Maybe. I don't know. Cause we're both frustrated by teenagers. Yeah. Yeah.

Erin: 38:10

Yeah. Not all, but yeah, but a lot. Yeah. It is. It does. And then often I think, you know, which I'm sure we'll talk when we go inside out too about our own experiences being teenagers.

Tanya: 38:20

Yeah, that I think we definitely are gonna hit on that down the road. But yeah, this is fun. Any other thoughts you want to add in there before we wrap it up?

Erin: 38:28

I did like at the end how everybody had a space, you know, so it wasn't just, you know, Joy's button, how she allowed every, you know, she allowed Sadness to start using the I keep wanting to say keyboard, but like whatever it's called, the, you know, Yeah, the control thing, you know, like, and how she wasn't just in control and she started to realize like, oh, wait a minute, we all are really important. You know, it's, you know, we need a little bit of fear, a little bit of anger, disgust and you know, sadness and joy. Yeah. And it all, you know, it's, and you can have them all at the same day or you can have like certain experiences. You can micro. You know, little micro emotions, too. It's gonna, it could happen.

Tanya: 39:10

Yeah, it's all very complex I think. It's about recognizing that emotions are not just, you know, you need to be happy, you need to be sad, like there's just so much, I think, to be, to feel like you are well balanced and able to express that and to feel okay in that. Yeah. It just brings me back to my child therapy days, you know, like that was just all the tenets that we would try to Work with you know, so I just I just think it's a wonderful movie like it's a gem

Erin: 39:36

Yeah, and it really also taught about Like the parenting styles too because I know the parents had their little emotions like arguing with them in the in their head But also kind of helped them to Oh wait Slow down pay attention to what your spouse is doing or what your child's doing or how? All this affects everybody And I think that was kind of neat to see as well.

Tanya: 40:00

I, you know, I just had a thought from you saying that. I wonder if in Inside Out 2, it may be more perspective of Riley and her friends. Like seeing from a friend's perspective and all that. Oh yeah

Erin: 40:11

because friends do become your world or, you know, a bigger portion, you know, at, in high school and, Yeah,

Tanya: 40:18

well, yeah, this has been fun. So we hope you, you enjoyed this talk about Inside Out. We love it. We're a fan. We hope you are as well. If you're listening to this, you probably are. But it is just, you know, kind of our you know, trophy for therapy. We're just we, you know, it very much validates a lot of the work that we do. Yeah. And helps to explore that, so.

Erin: 40:39

Yeah, because Tanya has the dolls and her office and.

Tanya: 40:42

Yep. Yep. I think I even had Like a picture, too, like some sort of picture that somebody had gifted me at one point, too, of it, like just kind of the hang up and everything. But yeah, so, you know, we're gonna wrap this up now. Look for somewhere down the road an episode, more than likely we're gonna, we're gonna talk about Inside Out 2, let's just face facts. Yeah, makes sense. So, so look for that somewhere down the road, probably not immediately, but, you know, I'd say within like six months or so, you know. Yeah, because I think we

Erin: 41:09

have the next couple, month or so scheduled, so.

Tanya: 41:12

Yeah. All right. So, that was great. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at Wicked Psychotherapist. On Facebook we are The Wicked Psychotherapist. Subscribe. Follow us wherever you can listen to podcasts. And if you could please please write us a review. Yeah, that would help us out amazingly and for some reason I talked about stickers last time and I will send Stickers to you or something or I will send you inside out. I don't know just write us a review Tanya has a lot of promises so hold her to it I have little gifties that I can send out that I kind of no longer use not being in child therapy anymore and being Telehealth so yeah, and they're new Things that, like, were never used. So, we just really want you to review us. It helps us. So I'm offering that. So yeah. So, and don't forget, stay wicked.

Erin: 42:00

And keep your mind well. Okay. All right. Well, have a good week and we'll talk to you next week. Bye bye. Take care, guys.

42:08

We Wish You a Merry Christmas I'm not sure what I'm doing here.