Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I have Dr. Feigie Russ on the show.

Dr. Feigie is a licensed psychologist specializing in anxiety and OCD. With over 20 years of clinical experience, she blends her psychological expertise with a deep love for Hashem, to help individuals navigate their inner struggles. This week, she is releasing a brand new book called Letting Go: Overcoming Anxiety Through Emunah and Bitachon.

When I learned about this book I was intrigued, but when I got to look through an early copy, I was blown away. At the beginning, I was skeptical — how would this book be different than others out there on emunah, bitachon and anxiety? Dr. Feigie Russ totally turns the whole concept on its head by bringing ego into the mix. It’s a unique perspective that I hadn’t heard before, one that really clicked for me and is also super comprehensive — the book is more than 400 pages so she really tries to address every aspect around the topic.

In this episode, I speak to Dr. Feigie about:

-What prompted her to write this book

-Her own relationship with love for Hashem and building her emunah and bitachon

-How she dealt with a really painful experience and came out the other side stronger

-A refreshing perspective on navigating anxiety and really overcoming it from a place of understanding

-How to handle uncertainty

-How ego gets in the way when it comes to personal growth AND the appropriate place for ego in living a healthy, balanced life that serves Hashem in the way you want to

-How the most difficult relationships in our lives can both teach us the most about self-love and actually get us to that place

-How to know when giving is coming from a real place or a people-pleasing place and further, how to overcome a people-pleasing nature

-The conversation to have with yourself about knowing how you’re genuinely feeling about giving and doing more

…and so much more!

To get in touch with Dr. Feigie, you can email her at drfeigieruss@aol.com.