Dr. Nydia Conrad

08/30/2026

06/17/2026

06/05/2026

Missed our last retreat?

Got a passport?

We’re headed to Costa Rica!

This upcoming intensive is being designed for individuals and couples who are ready to step away from their daily routines and create meaningful change in their lives. Not just a vacation. Not just another workshop. An opportunity to focus on yourself, your relationships, and what comes next.

More details coming soon…

05/17/2026

I was just watching one of those absurdly graphic videos explaining what happens to your nervous system when you step on a Lego. It was graphic, gross, and yet incredibly intriguing.

As a psychologist, I do love a good rabbit hole, so I started investigating.

Turns out there is actually a psychological term for this. Psychologist Paul Rozin coined the term benign masochism.

Basically, it is when part of your brain says:
“This is horrifying.”
while another part of your brain says:
“Keep watching.”

From an evolutionary standpoint, humans are wired to scan the environment for threats because ignoring dangerous or disgusting things historically was not a great survival strategy.

Why we continue doing it now appears to involve a reward system connected to threat scanning while simultaneously recognizing that we are actually safe.

That is why people enjoy horror movies, haunted houses, graphic surgeries, bone breaking videos, pimple popping videos, and apparently close up animated Lego nerve damage simulations on Facebook.

So next time you find yourself watching something nasty while simultaneously asking yourself why you are still watching it, just know:

you probably have a few benign masochistic tendencies.

Happy Saturday!

05/11/2026

People consistently overestimate how much other people notice their awkward moments, appearance, and mistakes.

Psychologists call it the “spotlight effect.”

Most people are too busy worrying about themselves to analyze you nearly as much as you think.

05/11/2026

Being a mom means sticky hands on clean clothes, endless boogers, mystery stains, sleepless nights, and somehow functioning after being up at 3 a.m. cleaning up vomit or changing diapers. It means carrying snacks everywhere you go, hearing “mom” shouted from another room 47 times a day, and learning how to hold a crying child while pretending you are not completely exhausted yourself.

Then one day, they get older. Being a mom starts to mean saying yes to swimming in a freezing cold pool when you have a hundred other things to do. It means driving from store to store looking for the perfect dress for her first dance like it is the most important mission in the world. It means saying no to things they do not understand yet, trusting one day they will.

Some of the moments are chaotic. Some are hilarious. Some are so hard they leave you questioning whether you are doing any of it right. Then out of nowhere comes a moment of overwhelming pride where you look at your child and realize watching them grow has been one of the greatest privileges of your life.

Happy Mother’s Day to the women doing the hardest, messiest, most meaningful job there is.

05/05/2026

Psychologists don’t read too much into things.
They extract layered meaning from limited information.

05/04/2026

If this looks familiar, then you may want to read my latest blog about people who solicit empathy as a power manipulation move.

https://www.casalucida.net/post/when-sympathy-becomes-strategy-the-quiet-power-play-no-one-talks-about