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Couple of years ago a large portion of the call-in shows either focused on or evolved into (sometimes from seemingly completely unrelated topics) childhood talks with the callers. I found this the most powerful way in which Stefan would both connect emotionally and go to the roots of the problem of the callers. I have had many shocking insights listening to those. For about a year or so now, I have noticed a significant decrease in the amount of callers and time spent focusing on callers childhood experiences. This year, 2016, without claiming to have listened to all the shows I would still confidently assert that I could count the times the childhood question at least came up on the fingers...and I have no theory to why this is... I could probably entertain the fact that Stefan might have shifted the focus away from this due to him considering that it is the time for more macro orientated talks rather than really personal ones, but I remember being times during the call-ins where I could not imagine any reason for why this topic did not came up...first example that comes to mind is the quite recent call where a couple was on the fence about having kids or not and from the way they talked it was so clear that they had unhappy childhoods...and if I am not wrong Stefan did not even go into the callers past for one second which was shocking to me since I remember him always doing that in the past in similar kind of situations. What do you think?

I've been an avid listener to audio podcasts and FDR contributor for a while now. I'd like to contribute towards Stefan improving his call-in shows. Please let me know if it's not the right place to share this feedback, or if it's only me who feels this. Almost every time Stefan ends a conversation with a caller, he'll says something like: "Mike, who do we have next?". There's nothing's wrong with saying that, except that maybe it should be preceded by a conventional "thank you" and/or "bye bye" exchange. I feel that ending of a seemingly ongoing phone discussion (audio only) without an appreciative verbal hand-off can leave an impression of disrespect, which I know is not the case with Stefan, but still that's my perception every time. I know Stefan thanks everyone a lot in a general way, but since perception is reality and for new listeners out there, I thought that maybe some sort of polite { "Thank you for calling" - wait for the reply - "bye bye" - wait for the reply } process at the end of each conversation would be beneficial to not leave the impression of cutting them off and being rude. It may be tricky if some callers hang on to the discussion, but in most cases, it would leave a positive impression. I may be wrong, maybe there's no other way than to dry-cut it. ____________________"Mike, who do we have next?"_______________________ :-) Or maybe not... Just food for thoughts. Regards, Pat