A Healthy Push

Would anyone be anxious in this situation? It's a question Brittany and I keep coming back to, and it's the thread running through this whole episode. I'm four and a half months into life with Colin and running on pure caffeine and love, so please have grace with me if I'm not making sense. Brittany's been through a lot herself, including a scary week in the hospital with her daughter, and we talk...

Have you ever felt a sudden wave of dizziness, a strange skip in your heart, or a bizarre sense that you’re "floating" outside of your body and immediately thought, Something is seriously wrong with me ? If you have, I want you to know you aren’t alone. I spent a decade convinced my body was broken and working against me. These sensations are incredibly loud, chaotic, and terrifying in the moment,...

Have you ever Googled a symptom and convinced yourself something was seriously wrong, even after a doctor told you everything was fine? Trust me, I get it. And so does today's guest. I'm joined by Leeor Gal, therapist and anxiety coach, and owner of The Therapy Gal group practice in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Leeor specializes in health anxiety, burnout, ADHD, and relational issues and she bri...

Why do we think recovery has to be forced ? In this week's Recovered & Rambling, Brittany and I catch up on everything: her totally unplanned (and so relaxing) trip, my almost-four-month-old and my urge to control every part of his sleep, and my full-circle caffeine moment from drive-thru avoider to drive-thru regular. We also get into the real stuff. How do you know you're actually healing? W...

Do you ever feel like you're living inside a "safety bubble"—where you can do the things you have to do, but everything else feels like a monumental risk? For a long time, I thought agoraphobia meant you never left your house. Because I was going to work and seeing friends, I didn't think the label applied to me. But internally? I was in constant chaos. I was scanning for exits, negotiating with m...

What if I'm the exception? That's one of the questions I hear the most, and it's exactly why I'm jumping on for this quick, impromptu episode. I've been getting so many questions about Panic to Peace, and instead of answering them one by one, I figured it'd be easiest, and most helpful, to just answer them all here. Quick disclaimer: Colin is asleep in the next room and Marbles is doing his own th...

What if the story you've been telling yourself isn't actually true? For years, Shannon was convinced she was the exception and that her anxiety was different, that she'd tried everything and nothing was ever going to work, and that panic and agoraphobia were just going to be part of her life forever. Sound familiar? In this episode, Shannon breaks down why "what if I can't recover" is a story anxi...

What if no recovery is ever perfect and whatever you're feeling right now is actually normal? It's been a few months since our last Recovered & Rambling, and we're catching up on everything: the postpartum ups and downs nobody prepares you for, the hormone rollercoaster, feeling alone even when you're surrounded, and the realization that "high-functioning" can quietly hide a lot of struggle. W...

Have you ever had a thought pop into your head that felt so disturbing, so out of character, that you immediately wondered what it says about you? You are not broken. And you are not alone. Shannon sits down with OCD and anxiety therapist Katey Olson to finally break down intrusive thoughts in a way that actually makes sense. They cover what intrusive thoughts are, why some people get so stuck in...

What does real recovery from panic disorder actually look like? Today I'm joined by Tom: a musician, Panic to Peace student, and one of the most genuine humans I've had on this podcast. Tom's story isn't a cinematic highlight reel of overnight transformation. It's honest, messy, and exactly what recovery actually looks like. At 28, Tom had a near death experience that triggered debilitating panic...

Have you ever been told to "just face your fears" or "regulate your nervous system," only to feel more dysregulated and more like a failure when it didn't work? I spent 15 years in the trenches of panic disorder and agoraphobia, and I heard it all. Now, I’m sitting down to share the "hills I would die on," the non-negotiable truths about recovery that I’ve learned from my own life and from working...

If you feel like you can’t go into grocery stores, drive on the highway, or sit in a restaurant without spiraling, you probably think those places are the problem. For years, I was convinced that traffic was my enemy and being far from home was "dangerous." But in this episode, I’m sharing the realization that changed everything for me: Panic disorder and agoraphobia aren't actually about places,...

Are you doing nervous system regulation wrong or have you just been sold the wrong version of it? I sat down with somatic therapist and nervous system regulation coach Sarah Levy to finally break this down in a way that actually makes sense. We're talking about what regulation really means, why the goal was never to feel calm all the time, and why so many people feel like they're failing at this w...

Have you ever felt like you’re working harder at recovery than anyone else, yet you’re still not getting anywhere? In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the mistakes I made during my own journey. For a long time, I thought that if I just "tried harder," I’d get better faster. But I eventually learned that anxiety recovery isn't about effort—it’s about the approach . I’m sharing these pi...

Do you ever feel like you’re working at 110% capacity, yet you still end your day feeling like a failure because you didn't check every single box on your list? I know that feeling of being "stuck in the do" all too well. It’s a relentless cycle where we try to out-perform our insecurities, only to end up emotionally and physically exhausted. In this episode, I sit down with Shailyn Waites to deco...

Have you ever found yourself taking a 20-minute detour just to avoid a single bridge, or white-knuckling the steering wheel at a red light, convinced you won’t "make it" until it turns green? I spent years in that exact cycle. Living in Maine, I was surrounded by highway exits that were only two miles apart—yet even those two minutes felt like absolute torture. I would obsessively tell myself, "I...

How is he a month old already?! I genuinely don't know. It has been over a month since I've sat down at this mic, and even longer since I've sat down with Brittany, and in this episode we're finally catching up on everything, my labor and delivery with Colin, the scary shoulder dystocia moment that I will genuinely never get out of my head, and what this last month of postpartum has actually been...

Do you pride yourself on being the capable one? The one who handles the house, the kids, and the career without ever asking for a hand? For a long time, I wore my independence like a badge of honor. But as I’ve learned through my own journey and therapy, there is a big difference between being independent and being hyper-independent. In today’s episode, I’m joined by therapist Kelsey Wood . Kelsey...

Have you ever looked at your life and wondered, "How did things get so small?" I know that feeling all too well. I know the sting of looking at the calendar and seeing all the weddings, vacations, and job opportunities you’ve said "no" to. It feels like anxiety hasn't just been a struggle; it feels like it has robbed you. Robbed you of years, of confidence, and of the version of yourself that used...

Have you ever sat there analyzing your own brain, wondering, "Why is this happening to me? Why does my anxiety feel so much more intense than everyone else's?" I know that spiral all too well. It’s easy to feel like you’re just "broken" or genetically "screwed," but the truth is usually much more complex—and much more compassionate—than that. In today’s episode, I’m joined by therapist Debbie Miss...

Have you ever spent money on something that promised to stop a panic attack in its tracks and felt completely let down when it didn't? Same. We are back for another Recovered and Rambling, and this one is equal parts comical and genuinely helpful. We are rating the most popular anxiety tools from our own recoveries — what actually helped, what was a total waste of money, and what the wellness indu...

Have you ever felt like your brain is just fundamentally "broken "and like everyone else can recover from anxiety, but you’re the one glitch in the system? I’ve been there. For over a decade, my mindset was absolute garbage. I didn't just have anxiety; I believed I was anxiety. I thought I was born this way, doomed by genetics, and that recovery simply wasn’t an option for me. In this episode, we’...

What does it actually look like to spend 30 years hiding panic disorder and agoraphobia from everyone around you and then finally decide you're done? In this episode, I sit down with Lauri, a former Panic to Peace student and current community member, for one of the most honest and moving recovery conversations yet. Lauri's story started with a panic attack at a client dinner that she didn't even...

What if the biggest thing you could do to prepare for birth and postpartum was to stop trying to prepare for everything? After everything I've shared about this pregnancy, I'm finally getting into the details: what I'm actually planning for labor, delivery, and postpartum, and more importantly, how I'm thinking about all of it. Because the mindset going in? That part matters just as much as any pl...

What does recovery actually look like when life throws you the biggest curveball of all? Brittany and I are back, and this one has been a long time coming. After months of keeping my pregnancy a secret, I'm finally sitting down to answer your questions — the real ones. Labor, postpartum, depression, mom guilt, hyper-independence, and what it actually looks like to hold yourself together when you c...