Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
Episodes
Is This Survivor's Guilt?
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Esther speaks to a man struggling to live a life he can enjoy. He feels wracked with guilt over a troubled history with his birth mother and her life ...
She's Out, He's Still In.
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After 20 years together, they wonder if their marriage has run its course? She is too unhappy to stay together and doubts if she ever felt true passio...
Depleted Mothers Club
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you begin to define a new identity for yourself when you've left the comforts of the world you've known in search of a bigger life? This is wha...
A Marriage Organized Around Trauma
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. In the 20 years since, he has struggled with PTSD and addiction. She has long taken on the role of his care...
A Hospital Divided
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They're best friends and ER doctors at a small hospital. During the pandemic, they experienced a fracturing among their coworkers, who they once thoug...
I Left. Now I Want My Wife Back.
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He fell in love with someone at work and left his wife. Fast forward a year, he's engaged and realizes he's made a mistake. Now he wants his wife and ...
Self Love Isn't Something I Grew Up With
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Esther talks to a woman who was passed over for a promotion, again. She straddles two cultures and finds that it is impacting her work and her persona...
How's Work? - The Preacher's Wife Part Two
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When a tragedy shakes their church and their community, both the preacher and his wife try to put the pieces back together for themselves and his cong...
How's Work? - The Preacher's Wife
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
She has never quite fit into the mold of the preacher's wife in their small town. He has put his self-worth solely into his career, as a bandaid over ...
My Brother's Wife Ruined Our Relationship
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this Esther Calling, we meet a woman who feels that her brother's wife is standing in the way of her relationship with her brother. For years, she ...
I Want Her to Like Me Less
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A woman in her 40s talks to Esther about a crossroads in her life. She has begun a relationship with a supportive and loving partner, but without the ...
I Crossed a Line I Never Thought I Would Cross
07 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you transgress the one boundary you never thought you would? In this week's Esther Calling, Esther talks to a woman who began an emo...
Long Distance and Lost
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They knew each other as kids. He grew up in a house where love was never a guarantee. She had the seemingly perfect family and all the love in the wor...
Am I Being Gaslit?
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this Esther Calling, Esther talks to a woman looking for clarity on whether she's being overly sensitive to her partner's critiques or if he is, in...
Donor Daddy
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He donated sperm to help a friend start her family. A decade later that gift shattered his own. Esther talks through the consequences of a secret. Lea...
Where Should We Begin? is coming back… weekly
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Monday morning step into the office of psychotherapist Esther Perel. Each week on Where Should We Begin?, hear real couples in search of insight...
Love In War with Esther Perel: Ukraine
11 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this session Esther counsels a couple torn apart by the war in Ukraine. Young sons divided between a mother who leaves for the sake of her younges...
I Need Her to See Me
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this latest episode of Esther Calling, we meet a young woman looking for advice on how to stand up for herself in a fraught and traumatic relations...
We Started As An Affair
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Esther says in this session, “a love story is between two people, a marriage engages an entire community of people.“ Here we see how that plays ou...
I Deserve to Be a Mother
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
She longs for a child, but her partner isn’t there yet, and as a trans woman she already faces other barriers to parenthood. She worries she’s let...
Having Needs Doesn't Make You Needy
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
He’s in a new relationship and wants it to be exclusive, but he can’t get a read on his partner's feelings. It’s hard for him to have an open ho...
My Orgasm Is Not Just For Me
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What starts as a story of sexual incompatibility and a difference in life goals for these two women takes a wildly unexpected turn during this session...
Twice Married, To Each Other
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They were married, divorced, and then married again. And with four kids between them, tensions run high. They fight about everything: the chores, the ...
Will He Make The Space For Me
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Her new boyfriend’s wife died four years ago. Reminders of her are all over his house, from her clothes in the closet to her photos on the wall. It ...
It's a Matter of Pride
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In another episode of Esther Calling, he worries his desire for a serious relationship is putting women off. But early in their phone call, it becomes...
I Can Be Strong and Be Taken Care Of
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Esther says, love is at once an affirmation and a transcendence of who we are. But when one partner grows up as the child taking care of his mothe...
I Don't Mean to Be Mean, But...
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
She has no boundaries, he’s walled off. And their opposing communication styles cause immediate tension in this explosive session. So much so, that ...
An Intimate Evening with Esther Perel
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You are invited to an intimate evening with Esther Perel. In place of this week's session we gather for a few rounds of Where Should We Begin, A Game ...
Before We Got Together I Identified As Gay
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Before they got together, he identified as straight and they identified as gay. What does it mean to make space for their queer identity while they da...
Where Are They Now - A Romantic Revival
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time on the podcast, Esther invites a couple back to her office for a second session. 10 years ago, his first wife took her own life. A...
Losing My Best Friend
18 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this second episode of Esther Calling, we meet a woman who feels she is losing her best friend. The caller feels that her friend is rushing into a ...
My Partner's Privilege
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This time there is no couch, but instead an unexpected phone call from Esther to a woman who is struggling with the differences between her and her pa...
If I Quit, What Will People Say? | How's Work?
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He’s a doctor, she works for the government. Her job is one thing on paper, and another thing in secret. He wants to leave his job, but doesn’t kn...
Couples Under Lockdown: Lagos, Nigeria
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last summer they left everything they'd built in Seattle for a chance at a very different life. He took a dream turn to expand his company and be clo...
Couples Under Lockdown: New York, New York
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They have three kids and their volatile marriage has fallen apart. She still hopes to rebuild. He can't get out of there fast enough. Two weeks befo...
Couples Under Lockdown: Bavaria, Germany
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For the last year they have lived in separate countries. She took a dream job closer to where she grew up in Germany and he stayed behind with the pr...
Couples Under Lockdown: Sicily, Italy
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They left each other emotionally years ago, but with three kids they have been trying to keep it together. For the last two weeks they find themselve...
Prologue
17 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Step into iconic relationship therapist Esther Perel’s office and listen as 10 anonymous couples in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and pr...