The Overwhelmed Brain

Paul Colaianni has been producing The Overwhelmed Brain since November 2013, and with close to 600 episodes in the archive, there is an enormous body of work here. Colaianni is a certified behavior and relationship coach trained in brain sciences including NLP and hypnosis, and he brings that background to episodes focused on emotional intelligence, personal boundaries, self-worth, and navigating toxic relationships. The format is mostly solo episodes where Colaianni works through a specific emotional challenge, often inspired by listener questions and real coaching scenarios. He talks about things like why people-pleasers struggle to say no, how to identify manipulation tactics from partners or family members, and what happens in the brain when you feel emotionally hijacked. The show pulls around 280,000 downloads a month and averages 30,000 downloads per episode, which puts it in the upper tier of personal development podcasts. What keeps people coming back is Colaianni's directness. He doesn't sugarcoat things or hide behind jargon. If you are stuck in a pattern of allowing others to cross your boundaries, he will tell you exactly what that looks like and walk through specific steps to change it. Episodes typically run 30 to 50 minutes and come out weekly. The back catalog is particularly useful for anyone dealing with emotional abuse or codependency, topics he returns to frequently with practical, specific guidance.