Your nervous system might be confusing chaos for chemistry. Here’s how sitcom couples can teach you the difference between thrilling and truly safe.

Ever wonder why you keep ending up with partners who feel exciting but leave you exhausted? In this episode of The Attachment Trap, therapist and author Tim Ervin unpacks the science of neuroception, your body’s behind-the-scenes “safety radar,” and why it sometimes mistakes the familiar for the safe.

Through laugh-out-loud moments from How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, and Ted Lasso, you’ll see how healthy vs. unhealthy patterns play out on screen and in real life. You’ll learn why calm can feel “boring” at first, how to tell the difference between capacity and chaos, and what it takes to choose the ride that takes you somewhere you actually want to go.

Because love shouldn’t feel like surviving, it should feel like living.