Honor Your Spark

When you envision a fraternity house full of hormonal college dudes having a conversation about sexual consent, who do you imagine they’d be more likely to listen attentively to: a sterile, scripted lecture delivered by a poor graduate intern from Campus Health, or… one of the most successful adult film stars in the business? Uh, yeah, that’s what I thought. And that’s exactly what Tasha Reign did...

Our managed care system can eat a d*ck. 🙊 Oops, did I say that? Because I DEFINITELY MEANT IT. 😡 For any of you who are fortunate enough to not know what “managed care system” is— it’s the jargon-y term for insurance-based healthcare, which— in the US, is MOST healthcare.

Join Val for a solo episode including a powerful EFT tapping practice to shift into a more magnetic mindset, AND a sneak peek at her brand new membership, LIT AF, for the woman who is ready to honor her highest self by embodying her more EVERY DAMN DAY.

It’s refreshing to live at a time where acknowledging and discussing privilege has become practically mainstream. Yet, there are some types of privilege that usually get left out of the conversation. One of them? PRETTY privilege. While it’s uncomfortable to acknowledge that the world treats attractive people differently, it’s also undoubtedly true. And just like any type of privilege, typically t...

This episode is overflowing with  gold freaking nuggets, y’all. Here’s just one taste that our guest Erica Murphy casually dropped in the convo: The pain of truth is never going to be as bad as the pain of ambiguity or of self limitation. 🤯❤️‍🔥RIGHT?! Whether you’re a healer or on your own healing journey (or both), we ALL share in the purpose to leave this planet and everyone we encounter a lit...

Perfectionism is a sneaky little bitch. What makes me say that? Well, most of us wouldn’t actually SAY that we expect perfection of ourselves. That’s ridiculous, right?! Clearly we’re much smarter than that. 😜And yet… most of us nod along knowingly when we hear things like, “I brushed off the 20 positive comments and obsessed about the ONE negative comment.” If that’s not perfectionism, I don't k...

Too fat. Too skinny. Too much cellulite. Not enough muscle. Big butt? Ok, but better have a tiny waist. We are told every single day a MILLION ways that our bodies should NOT be. What the actual fuck, right? Between mainstream media, social media, and all the SuPeR heLpFuL comments our families and friends make— it’s no wonder we grow up with so much shame, anxiety and guilt around how we look and...

Have you ever been curious about the difference between life coaching and therapy? Or wanted a peek behind the curtain with either one? If you just read an Instagram or blog post on “coaching vs therapy,” there’s a very strong chance it’s ridiculously oversimplified. “Therapists work on ‘problems’ rooted in the past, coaches work on goals for the future!” COOL. Except it ain’t that simple. Thankfu...

How many times have you said to yourself or someone else, “OMG, I’m SO overwhelmed”?  Like… 10 times in the last week alone?! I get it, and I’ve absolutely been there— but it’s also something I’ve worked really hard to shift out of and into a more helpful, empowered mindset. And it’s a challenge my clients come to me with all the time: How can I stop feeling so overwhelmed??

It’s pretty cool that we’re living at a time when our culture is least *starting* to recognize that people (especially women) don’t cease to have value and worth as soon as they hit middle age. Of course, we still have a HELLUVA long way to go toward eliminating  ageism— but thanks to people like Jen Vertanen, we’re making progress.

As much as there arguably shouldn’t be such a thing as a #trendingdiagnosis 😂, we all know the internet has been BLOWING the F up with all things ADHD. And hey— if it helps people get the tools and support they need, I’m for it.

What comes up for you when you see these words? Bitch. Whore. Slut. Pussy. Are these words inherently bad, or do they only feel “bad” because they’ve been weaponized against women and used to control us?

In this episode, we’re diving into the 3 Qualities You Need to Cultivate to Saunter into Your Bad Bitch Era. I’ll also give you a clear action step for each that you can realistically do in the next 24 hours—or okay, take a few days… but the key is your actions should be small and simple enough that they could be done in the next 24 hours!

Welcome to the Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast! What does it actually mean to be a "Bad Bitch"? I’m Valerie Martin, licensed therapist, coach and your host— and if you’re asking me, it means being fully alive, unstoppable, kicking ass at the things that light you up, and being permanently unavailable for the things that make you feel like shit. In this podcast, we’ll explore mental & emotional wel...

Brief note from Val before we dive into today's episode:In bittersweet news, this is the FINAL episode episode of Bodyful— but I'm not going anywhere, and neither are these episodes! Stay subscribed to this feed, and you'll get episodes of Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast, which will be launching January 24, 2023.And for now— a wonderful final Bodyful conversation with our guest, personal stylist Dacy...

The Creatures of Change podcast ended up being way more meta for me than I’d planned…After recording a season of 6 episodes with incredible guests, I landed on clarity about MY next big change professionally— which measns hanging up my hat with this iteration of podcasting to make room for the next thing. But these episodes will live on as a mini-season within my main podcast feed, because the con...

*Announcement*Creatures of Change podcast is no longer releasing new episodes. The episode archives will remain available in the same podcast feed as Valerie’s new show, Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast. Happy listening! You never know when an old acquaintance will chance to cross your path again. In this case, Melanie Reese— a therapist I worked down the hall from for over a year— saw the news about t...

*Announcement*Creatures of Change podcast is no longer releasing new episodes. The episode archives will remain available in the same podcast feed as Valerie’s new show, Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast. Happy listening! I found Jenny Blake online way back in 2015— I don’t recall exactly how, but probably after hearing her on someone else’s podcast. I resonated immediately with her message, her love of...

*Announcement*Creatures of Change podcast is no longer releasing new episodes. The episode archives will remain available in the same podcast feed as Valerie’s new show, Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast. Happy listening! Ray Holloman (often at his most hilarious in tandem with his wife Alicia) is one of those people whose posts cause you to actually cackle. He’s witty, kind, silly, freakishly productiv...

*Announcement*Creatures of Change podcast is no longer releasing new episodes. The episode archives will remain available in the same podcast feed as Valerie’s new show, Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast. Happy listening! Welp, not to make it ~aLL aBoUt Me~ 😝 but for the first episode of Creatures of Change, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the changes I’ve made or experienced throughout...

Hi y'all! I am popping in. In the podcast feed over here for a moment to share. Share an exciting update. You may have heard this if you listened to Bodyful episode 24 with Mary Reynolds Thompson that recently aired: the podcast is relaunching in the new year! It will still live in this same feed, but will be revamped as Bad Bitch Therapist Podcast.  More to come on that with a trailer soon, but f...

Every now and then you come across a writer whose words and ideas just hit you bone-deep. For me, most of them have been people whose words make me feel more intimately connected with the world around me: Mary Oliver, Robin Wall-Kimmerer, Richard Powers, Bill Plotkin— and most recently, Mary Reynolds Thompson. When I started digging into Mary’s work in preparation for this conversation, I felt tha...

As a person who’s never been into sports, the thought of walking into a boxing ring is more than a little intimidating— but that’s exactly what I did yesterday with the support of trauma-informed boxing coach Cleveland Hughes. Not 10 minutes prior, I called it a “boxing rink” 🤡 😂 — so suffice to say, I don’t know much about boxing. But even with just a few minutes of instruction, it was so clear...

In 2018, I went to a hypnotherapy training near Seattle. It was not your traditional therapy training— there were maybe about 30 of us staying at essentially a large cabin in the woods for about 6 days, sharing a room with 3 random strangers. One of my roommates, Jasmin Cage, happened to be from Memphis, just a couple hours down the road from me in Nashville— and we hit it off instantly. Both yoga...

I recently had a student in a yoga class ask me “what exactly is trauma-informed yoga?” For the long answer, see the research paper I wrote back in 2016— but for a shorter answer, I created this solo episode that’s relevant for students and teachers alike. Also, the subject of cultural humility (vs cultural appropriation) in yoga has become so intertwined for me with trauma-informed principles, be...