A Lot To Grow Through

Self-care has been sold to us as bubble baths and face masks. Buy this product. Light this candle. Treat yourself. And I'm not here to tell you those things don't matter. They do. Self-soothing is real and valid and necessary. But here's what nobody talks about: Self-care is more than just the soothing part. If you're only doing the things that feel good in the moment but avoiding the hard stuff—t...

I spent years saying yes when I meant no. Overextending myself. Resenting people for things I never told them bothered me. That's not kindness. That's self-abandonment. In this episode, we get real about boundaries. What they actually are (and what they're not), why they feel impossible to set, and how to communicate them clearly without drowning in guilt. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: - What boundaries actu...

There was a period in my life when I felt like I was going through the motions. Not sad, not happy, not anxious—just flat. Like there was a wall between me and everything I was supposed to feel. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. In this episode, we explore emotional numbness; What it is, why your nervous system shuts down, the difference between numbness and depression, and how to...

WHY IT'S SO HARD: LEARNING TO ACTUALLY FEEL YOUR FEELINGS Someone once told me to "just feel your feelings." And I remember thinking: I don't even know what that means. If you've spent your whole life avoiding emotions, that advice is useless. In this episode, we get real about why feeling your feelings is so hard, what happens when you avoid emotions for too long, and practical steps to start whe...

Mindfulness has become a buzzword. It's on apps, in corporate wellness programs, in every self-help book. But what does it actually mean? And why does it matter for healing? In this episode, we cut through the noise and get real about mindfulness; What it is beyond sitting on a meditation cushion, why it's essential for trauma recovery, and practical ways to practice presence in daily life. WHAT Y...

Change is constant. And yet, every time it happens, it feels destabilizing. Even good changes—getting married, having a baby, landing your dream job, moving to a new city—come with grief and uncertainty. Because change requires letting go. And most of us are terrible at letting go. In this episode, we get real about why life transitions feel so hard, what makes the in-between so uncomfortable, and...

GIVING YOURSELF WHAT YOU NEEDED: HOW TO REPARENT YOUR INNER CHILD Your parents aren't going to suddenly become the parents you needed. Your partner can't heal your childhood wounds. Your friends can't fill that void. You have to do it yourself. That's reparenting—the process of giving yourself the care, validation, boundaries, and emotional support you needed as a child but didn't receive. It's be...

THE COST OF APPROVAL-SEEKING: WHY YOU CAN'T SAY NO & HOW TO STOP PEOPLE-PLEASING You say yes when you mean no. You accommodate when you want to refuse. You bend yourself into shapes to keep others comfortable while your own needs go unmet. And you're exhausted. People-pleasing isn't a personality flaw—it's a survival strategy you learned when keeping others happy meant staying safe. But the st...

WHEN THE PAST INVADES THE PRESENT: UNDERSTANDING FLASHBACKS AND HOW TO GROUND YOURSELF You're sitting in your living room, completely safe, and suddenly you're not. Your heart is racing, your hands are shaking, and your brain is convinced you're back in that moment you've been trying to forget. Welcome to flashbacks where your nervous system collapses time and treats the past like it's happening r...

UNDERSTANDING WHAT SETS YOU OFF: HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS You're going about your day, and suddenly something shifts. Your chest tightens, your thoughts spiral, and you're in fight-or-flight mode over something that seems minor to everyone else. Sound familiar? In this episode, we break down exactly what emotional triggers are, why they happen, and most importantly how to identify y...

Episode 1: On Returning - Four Years Later After four years away, A Lot To Grow Through is back. In this episode, I share why I stopped podcasting, what I learned during my healing journey, and why I'm ready to return now with a completely different perspective on mental wellness. In this episode: Why I walked away from podcasting four years ago The healing work I did during my absence What I lear...