Snapshot · Call Her Daddy
Olivia Wilde revealed that relationship therapist and author Esther Perel was her personal therapist for a period, and later became the official consultant on The Invite.
Where this was said
At 4:07 · chapter starts 1:52
Alex Cooper sets the scene with characteristic intimacy — pregnancy snacks, heating pad, no phone — before praising The Invite for its psychological nuance and modern relationship dynamics. Wilde lights up at the mention of Esther Perel, revealing that Perel wasn't just an inspiration but her actual therapist. She explains reading Mating in Captivity 20 years ago without fully understanding it, then spending two decades in relationships before the film finally unlocked it. The script, written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormick from a Spanish play, felt Perelian from the start — so Wilde brought the therapist herself in as a full consultant. The result: Penélope Cruz built her entire character on Perel, giving audiences a chance to spend the film with a fictionalized version of the world's most famous relationship therapist [1] — Olivia Wilde "Esther Perel wasn't just an inspiration for The Invite — she was Olivia Wilde's actual therapist years ago, then the film's official consul…" 03:10 .
Esther Perel wasn't just an inspiration for The Invite — she was Olivia Wilde's actual therapist years ago, then the film's official consultant. Penélope Cruz even based her character directly on Perel, letting audiences essentially spend the film hanging out with the world's most famous relationship therapist.
Wilde said she read Esther Perel's book Mating in Captivity 20 years ago and it blew her mind, but she didn't truly understand it until going through enough relationships herself.
Spencer Greenberg and Jeremy Stevenson analyzed almost 500 self-improvement techniques and found they all reduce to just 12 underlying psychological drivers.
Cold exposure has good short-term alertness benefits but the evidence base for long-term health benefits is much weaker than popularly believed.
In a randomized study of 20 habit-formation techniques run on hundreds of people, almost none of the techniques produced statistically meaningful results.
People given a tiny-habit fallback option (e.g. 10 squats instead of gym) were actually MORE successful at completing the full habit, not less.
The most effective habit-formation technique was 'habit reflection' — recalling a past successful habit, writing down what helped, then applying those lessons to a new habit.
A study found that simply scheduling enjoyable activities was as effective as standard cognitive behavioral therapy for depression, leading to its own therapy called behavioral activation.
The 'worry time' technique — deferring all worries to a designated time of day — helps people realize they have more control over worry than they thought and reveals it is less useful than it feels.
A study found that participants told to try to stay awake while in bed fell asleep faster than participants told to try to sleep — illustrating the paradox of direct effort.
Spencer Greenberg reduced his severe social anxiety dramatically in roughly 6 months through a structured exposure therapy hierarchy, culminating in asking strangers for hugs.
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