Wise Effort, with Dr. Diana Hill | Flourishing After Addiction #43

"Wise effort won't get rid of your problems—it's how you relate to them that matters most."

My guest on the show today is Diana Hill, psychologist and ACT expert, whose new book Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy Where it Matters Most comes out in September and deserves your attention—particularly if you're drawn to the intersection of behavioral science, modern psychotherapies, and contemplative wisdom. Diana is a leading voice in psychological flexibility, known for making complex ideas both practical and grounded.

Check out our conversation here: (here’s the audio directly embedded in Substack…)

And as always, you can also listen to this episode on your favorite podcast player, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Our conversation focuses on one of my personal preoccupations: effort, right effort, wise effort—what makes effort wise and how to cultivate the wisdom to discern what you can't change from what you can. She has done wonderful work on psychological flexibility and the art of directing our finite energies toward what actually matters.

We also talk about the deeper aspects of that question: how we make peace with the fundamental difficulty of being human, how to be with discomfort, how to navigate traditional treatment versus other practices in the messiness of life.

Diana was very kind to share her own experience with anorexia and the limitations of traditional treatment, and how that shaped not just her therapeutic approach, but her psychological perspective. We explore how the conventional idea of fighting against our difficulties is often precisely what keeps us stuck, and what it looks like to work with our psychology rather than against it.

We also talk about attachment patterns, values clarification, the wisdom of the body, couples work and intimacy, and even touch on artificial intelligence. I found it personally very helpful and enlightening and I hope you do too!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Dr. Diana Hill is a psychologist, ACT expert, and host of the Wise Effort podcast. Her new book Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy Where it Matters Most comes out in September. Known for translating complex psychological concepts into practical wisdom, her work has been featured in NPR, Wall Street Journal, and Psychology Today. Drawing from the most current psychological research and contemplative practices, Diana bridges science with real-life application to help people cultivate resilience and well-being. She specializes in psychological flexibility and helping people direct their energy toward what actually matters.She is the host of the Wise Effort podcast and author of several books including Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy Where it Matters Most, I Know I Should Exercise But…, The Self-Compassion Daily Journal, and ACT Daily Journal. Her insights have been featured on NPR, Wall Street Journal, and Psychology Today, among others.
Learn more and connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube (@drdianahill).

If you’re finding this newsletter useful, please consider sharing this episode with someone else you think would benefit.

In this episode:

· Wise Effort – Diana’s book, coming this September 2025. I read this in advance copy; it’s thoughtful integration of ACT principles with contemplative practice—the kind of synthesis that will resonate with many listeners here. Pre-order now!