Thoughts on Thoughts

In this episode, we share with you one of our favorite distress tolerance skills that we teach in therapy- radical acceptance. We discuss how to use radical acceptance to navigate times of stress, overwhelm and how to use this skill to reduce your mental load. This coping strategy can truly be a game changer!

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If you have ever wondered what starting therapy is like or what to expect in a first session with a therapist, we have all the answers for you in this episode! Hopefully this episode can give you a road map of sorts for how therapy starts and can ease any pre-first session anxiety you may be experiencing.

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Need something life giving, connecting and fun in your life? Well, self-care club has entered the chat! In this episode we tell you what a self-care club is (seems self explanatory but is it?) and give you ideas for how to get your own started. This is truly so FUN and we hope you love this idea just as much as we do!

If you want to hear our other episode on what we feel like the true definition of self-care is, you can find that here:

This is our first episode in a new miniseries dedicated to helping you reduce your mental load/emotional labor. The mental load is all of the invisible, back of the mind stress that we carry with us every day that can really take a toll on mental health. With this miniseries, we hope to give you real tools that can help you significantly reduce the mental load in your life. This first installment is about journaling. If you are not a fan of journaling, please don't write off this practice just yet! Give this a listen and we will hopefully give you some ways to do it that will work for you. We started this series with journaling because you have to get what is unconscious conscious- what is really holding you back from making changes in your life? We also talk about seasonal journaling which is a different (and pretty fun?) way of going about this.

Seasonal Journal Prompts:

What am I most excited about?

What am I already stressed about?

How can I mitigate/eliminate this stress?

What summer outfit do I feel great in?

What is something I can decide once?

What home task will I be least motivated to do?

How can I make this easier for myself?

What will I be glad I did or didn’t do?

What do I want the season to feel like?

Other journal prompts:

Brain dump

What would my ideal day look like? What do you want me to know today? What do you want me to feel today? What do you want me to do today? OR (taking out the higher power) What do I want to learn, feel and do today?

What is worth suffering for?

Imagine being the best possible version of yourself-what would bring you closest to being that person?

If social media didn’t exist and nobody would know what you were doing, how would you live differently?

What comes most naturally to you?

What would your ideal daily routine look like?

What do you want your legacy to be?

What do you need to do to arrive at your death bed proud of yourself?

Check in with yourself: 1. Physically, 2. Spiritually, 3. Mentally, 4. Socially What can I do to recenter myself? What are my priorities in this season of life?

When it comes to mental health, sometimes we can get stuck on solely focusing on decreasing unhappiness instead of also doing things to increase joy and positive feelings. In this episode we give you some ideas for how to have a mindset shift that allows for increasing joy and happiness in your life.

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In this episode we share one of our favorite parenting tips! We are going to revisit the idea of being a thermostat instead of a thermometer when it comes to handling our kids' tantrums and struggles. This mindset shift has helped us immensely in our own parenting experiences and we hope it will help you as well!

Social media...we love it, sometimes hate it, gotta have it but often want to escape it! Social media can have a big impact on our mental health so we wanted to have a conversation about this with Heidi Robey! Heidi is a mental health advocate and comedian who uses content creation on TikTok, IG, FB and Youtube to share humor as well as her own personal experiences with mental illness. **Trigger Warning- this episode does contain topics surrounding suicide

In this episode you can expect to hear why we think social media can play a part in mental health struggles, how to have boundaries with phone use, how to navigate comparison/criticism online, and some tips for how to have a healthier mindset/approach around social media.

If you want to hear more from Heidi you can find her here:

In this episode we discuss how to support teenagers who are struggling with their mental health and how to help them build resilience. We are joined by Heather Ransom, LCSW, RPT. Heather is a licensed clinical social work and registered play therapist. She is EMDR trained (you know how much we love EMDR) and she works a lot with trauma, attachment, anxiety, and depression across the age spectrum. She just finished serving on the Missouri Board for Play Therapy for 5 years and we loved hearing all of her ideas and tips for building strong, supportive relationships with teenagers.

In this episode we have the opportunity to talk with Joni Lybbert! Joni is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and the host of "The Sad Moms Club" podcast and she is an expert in postpartum and maternal mental health. We chatted about recurrent struggles postpartum and in motherhood in general and how we navigate those struggles with our clients and in our own lives.

If you would like to hear more from Joni you can find her here:

Breathwork can be a powerful tool for releasing emotion, healing trauma, and calming the central nervous system. In this episode Taylor will guide you through three different breathing techniques that you can use when you need to create some moments of calm in your day. 

The article Taylor referenced in the episode:

If you enjoy learning about mental health topics through the analysis of TV and movie characters (I mean...don't we all?) then this will be a fun listen for you! We analyzed the characters of our favorite holiday movie, "The Holiday". Who is anxious, who is avoidant, and who is secure? Does anyone escape the anxious/avoidant trap? All important questions for this riveting holiday romcom. Happy Holidays! 

Please subscribe and leave a review for the podcast if you have been enjoying the episodes- it helps us so much! 

In this episode we talk about how to navigate your expectations of therapy and your therapist. What can you expect from the relationship you have with your therapist? What does healing really look like? How long does therapy take? We talk about all those things and more in this quick chat. Enjoy!

In this episode we welcome Jessica Frew to the podcast who is our definition of a powerhouse! She shares her story of divorce and betrayal trauma and how she is now navigating co-parenting with her ex-husband and current husband. She talks with us about what it means to her to be bold and how her life-altering experiences have shifted how she loves herself and others. We can't wait for you to hear from this amazing woman- thanks Jessica! 

To learn more from Jessica you can find her resources here: 

If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed with gift giving this season tune in to hear all our tips for keeping things minimal and stress free! We like to keep things simple for the holidays because it helps eliminate decision fatigue and keep us focusing on connection rather than consumerism. If you aren't minimal about the holidays NO WORRIES! Live your best life- we all know we need to just do what makes us feel great this holiday season! Enjoy!

Ashlynn Mitchell is one of our favorite people to learn from! In this episode she teaches us how to face the storms of life head on with the mindset shift of "being the buffalo". Ashlynn tell us how she has done this in her life as she has faced betrayal, divorce, grief and all that comes in life's storms. We know you will love this episode- thank you Ashlynn! 

You can find more from Ashlynn here: 

This week we answer questions you submitted about romantic relationships! We talk about what to do if one partner is an extrovert and the other is an introvert, navigating changes that happen in the relationship after having a child, communication surrounding sex and more. We hope you enjoy this episode and please keep sending us your questions to thoughtspod@gmail.com or on our Instagram, @thoughts.podcast . 

If you have been interested in purchasing our Relationship Resilience Course you can use the code SAVE20 at checkout to receive 20% off. Link to the course below: 

The seasons are changing and that means the nights are getting longer and it’s beginning to get cold. This change in seasons can bring with it a change in mood. In this episode we discuss SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and how to treat it. One of the ways we delve into deeply is the Danish concept of Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah). This concept of coziness will bring warmth and light into the bleak winter days ahead. So grab a blanket, get cozy and be prepared to get excited for the upcoming fall and winter seasons!

We have gotten so many questions about how to navigate friendship breakups. This episode will speak to what to do if you are feeling like a friendship is no longer healthy for you, what to do if you are broken up with/ghosted by a friend and how to heal from broken friendships. 

If being a foster parent is something that has been on your heart and mind or you are curious and want to learn more about it then give this episode a listen! We talked with Rachel Garrett, a licensed foster parent and CASA, about her experience with being a foster parent and we learned so much from her. She talked about the fears and misconceptions surrounding being a foster parent, how she has navigated her own mental health struggles throughout the process and her most recent experiences with fostering two teenagers. Rachel has such amazing self awareness and insight to share on this topic and we are so excited for you to learn from her. 

To learn more from Rachel (and she is a wealth of knowledge, trust us) you can find more from her here:

In this episode, KJ reads the story, "What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind" which was written by Jennifer Senior for The Atlantic. This is a true story about the McIlvaine family who lost Bobby McIlvaine (beloved son, brother and soon to be fiance) when he was killed the morning of 9/11/2001. This story illustrates how grief can be processed so differently for each individual. Bobby's mother shut out Bobby's girlfriend, Jen, when Jen refused to let her see Bobby's last diary. Jen became a shell of a person and refused to give up the diary- what was in the diary that made it so difficult for her to part with? Bobby's father became well known in some circles for his ideas about 9/11 being an "inside job" and Bobby's brother was wracked with survivor's guilt. So where are they now after processing their grief for two decades? Listen in to see how one event can be processed so differently by individuals and how grief can take on many forms. 

In this episode we talk about secondary trauma- what is it, how can you know if you are experiencing it and what you can do to heal it. We packed this short episode full of information and we hope you find it helpful! 

Why has Jessica been living in the hospital for two months? She tells us all about it in this episode! Dealing with unexpected, difficult news and dealing with things she can't control has been a huge part of Jessica's infertility journey. In this episode you will hear her discuss how she is dealing with some big unknowns currently. We hope you love hearing her story and be sure to ask her any questions you may have on our social media or our e-mail! 

In this episode, we hear from Jessica about how her infertility journey is going. We talked to her for the first time about this back in 2019 (episode is linked below if you want to start there) and it is very evident that Jessica has worked hard on healing emotionally through this process. She breaks down for us how she has processed the reality of being sterile, how she has navigated her grief and how she deals with secondary emotions. Let's hope Jessica records a part 3 because I don't want to spill the tea yet but...things have continued to be a rollercoaster for her! 

In this episode we are answering some listener questions! The focus is mainly on navigating relationships through breakups, setting boundaries, non-traditional addictions and social media. Enjoy! 

If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter or wanting to change something in your living space to feel better, listen to this episode for a motivation boost! We chatted with Lisa, professional organizer/minimalist/KonMari Consultant about how decluttering can act like therapy. She shared with us how tidying can lower stress and anxiety levels and gave us some helpful tips on how to go about the tidying process in a way that will have a ripple effect on your whole life. We love this episode and hope you will too!

Find more helpful information from Lisa here:

We'll be the first to say that setting healthy boundaries can be really hard and it takes practice! In this episode we discuss how to know when boundaries are needed in a relationship, how to set them, and what to do if the reaction to a boundary being set is not what you were hoping for. Healthy relationships require healthy boundaries so it is important to learn how to do this and we hope our discussion gives you some tips!

Here it is, the episode full of our best advice for parenting teens. So much physical and emotional development happens in the teen years which can lead to mood swings, unpredictable behavior and major boundary pushing. This is normal but can be a strain on the parent-child relationship so we are here to help! If you have additional questions please drop us an e-mail or send us a DM! 

Jessica takes over hosting this week's episode and teaches us all about how to make healthy, meaningful friendships as an adult. As you listen to this episode you may think, "Wow, Jessica seems to have a lot of friends." Well she does and it's because she truly implements all of the things she is going to teach you in this episode in her own life. If you have been feeling alone and friendless, tune in and take some action steps from this episode and change that!

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that causes extreme cycles of obsessions (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (behaviors) in those affected by it. In this episode, we talk with Michelle Berntson who was diagnosed with OCD at a young age. She gives us a look into her life managing her OCD and anxiety and clears up some common misconceptions about OCD. We love how she walked us through how she works to manage her obsessions and compulsions on a daily basis. Her insight is so valuable and we hope you will listen in! 

In this episode we each talk about the books that have helped us in our personal and professional lives. We talk about the books that helped us see the world differently, helped us as therapists and are close to our hearts. Can we be too sappy about books? NAH. Check this episode out if you are looking for a new book to read or are always trying to add to your list of "Books To Read".

EMDR therapy has become more and more common in the therapy world as so many individuals have experienced relief and healing from it. This episode will give you a closer look at how this type of therapy accesses the brain's natural ability to heal and why it works to help reprocess traumatic events, disturbing memories and our negative core beliefs that stem from those events and memories. EMDR therapy can be a unique, challenging and relieving experience for many and we hope this episode will help you gain a better understanding of it. 

Navigating the dynamics of a stepfamily can be uncomfortable at times so we recorded this episode to hopefully give you some helpful insight. We have each worked with stepfamilies in our therapy practices and we wanted share some ideas here about how to navigate the relationships and the transitions that come with blending families. Taylor also shares her own experience of being in a stepfamily and we loved hearing her story. 

If you couldn't tell by the title (which you probably couldn't) this is our episode that is dedicated to crying and how fantastic it is! Let's normalize crying as an amazing coping strategy, shall we? Mmk! In this episode we talk all about the mental and physical health benefits of crying. We also dig into what you can do if you have gotten to a place where you feel too numb to cry or you feel like you cry too much. We love this episode and hope you will too!

Learning about the Drama Triangle in therapy can be a game-changer for people so we wanted to talk about it on the pod. This is a simple way to look at your role in your relationships. This framework can help you identify some ways you interact with others that could be causing some drama. Are you leaning more into the role of victim, rescuer or persecutor in your relationships? Give this episode a listen to find out!

As they say...expectations are the root of heartache. Apparently it wasn't Shakespeare who said that so how legitimate can that sentiment really be? Seems pretty legitimate actually- when someone doesn't meet expectations it can be super painful. So how do we navigate the expectations we have for others? In this episode we give you some mental strategies for how to do this! Enjoy!

Is sex ever just about sex? We find out in this episode when we talk with Chelsea Petersen about physical intimacy in relationships. Chelsea is a licensed marriage and family therapist and the founder of Cache Valley Counseling. She has worked extensively with couples for over a decade, helping them navigate disconnection and intimacy issues. Chelsea is definitely an expert on this topic and we hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with her!

Alright, here is another round of Q&A where we answer your submitted questions! We cover some boundary setting, how we became therapists and answer some questions about what to do after you yell at your kids & how to cope with parenting woes. This one is hopefully packed with helpful information for you. Enjoy!

Caregivers are an often overlooked group of people but a group we feel like needs a lot of support, especially where mental health is concerned. In our conversation we discuss how caregiver fatigue is different than burnout and how we can best support the caregivers that we know. If you are a caregiver yourself, tune in to hear some thoughts on how you can take care of yourself and navigate dealing with mixed emotions (like experiencing relief and grief at the same time). 

In this episode we talk about a subject that many of our clients are deal with and that we have also dealt with personally- wanting to be in a relationship but you just aren't right now. We talk about how to navigate this time and how a shift in perspective may bring some relief. This topic is close to our hearts and we hope you resonate with our conversation about it!

Traumaversaries, anniversaries of trauma, can be difficult to navigate. We are coming up on a traumaversary that we all collectively share with the anniversary of the pandemic and the start of quarantine that we experienced last year. In this episode, we discuss what you may notice in the upcoming weeks as far as an increase in symptoms. Our bodies remember how things felt for us even if our minds have numbed us to some things. It's a fascinating (and difficult) thing to experience so we want you to know what to look out for!