The Truth About “Dad Brain”: Dr. Dan Singley Interviews Darby Saxbe, PhD

I talked with Darby Saxbe, PhD, USC professor and author of the new book Dad Brain, about that exact bind. My approach with these guys hasn't changed: keep the protector-provider identity, just expand what it means. The healthiest version of you is one of the best things you can give your kid and your partner. That's not a reframe I made up to make therapy more palatable — it's what her research on family wellbeing actually shows.

We also got into "Dad Brain" headlines in the media. AKA "becoming a father shrinks your brain," which Darby's research shows is the wrong way to read the data. What's actually happening is more like editing a film down to its tightest cut — the brain circuitry involved in reading your kid's needs gets sharper, not smaller in a bad way. Worth knowing if you're in the fog of the fourth trimester and it feels like something's wrong with you. It isn't.