Adjusting Podcast

In this episode, we're talking about access: the difference between who has a right to your time, your energy, and your inner world, and who's simply been given it out of habit, guilt, or fear. You'll learn what access actually means and how it's different from love, where your unrestricted access habits come from (family conditioning, the fawn response, people-pleasing, social...

There's an invisible schedule most of us have been running without ever questioning it — married by this age, career figured out by that one, house, kids, stability, all in the right order. Nobody handed it to us directly. We absorbed it. From tradition, from capitalism, from a culture that celebrates certain milestones loudly and lets others go quietly unremarked. In this episode, we're...

Welcome to Part 3, bestie. We made it. We spent Part 1 learning to name the lies — the cognitive distortions, the "should" statements, the thought patterns that kept us shrinking. In Part 2, we walked through the fear and started choosing freedom anyway. And now we're here. Adjusting to Center. The part where we stop surviving and start building a life that's actually ours. Thi...

You're not who you were. And you're not yet who you're becoming. So who are you right now? You're in the in-between — and in this series finale, we're giving that space the love letter it deserves. We close out Season 3: From Fear to Freedom by exploring what it actually means to be a work in progress, and why our culture has convinced us that "unfinished" is the...

This is the one everything has been building toward, bestie. All season we've been sitting with fear — where it lives in the body, where it started, how it shapes the way we love, create, and heal. Today we're asking the question that started it all: what if it all works out? Not as a cute affirmation. Not as toxic positivity. As a real, deliberate, daily practice of choosing possibility...

Let's be honest, avoidance rarely looks like hiding under the covers. Most of the time it looks like staying busy, saying "I'm not ready yet," keeping your distance in relationships, not having the conversation, and never quite letting yourself explore what else might be possible for your life. And here's the thing nobody says out loud: avoidance isn't the opposite of...

What if the most powerful thing you could do when fear shows up… is just get curious? In this episode, we're trading "what if it goes wrong" for "I wonder what this will teach me" — and exploring why that shift is so much harder than it sounds. Curiosity isn't toxic positivity. It's a deliberate, nervous-system-level practice that can change the way you move thro...

Most of us aren't just afraid of bad things happening, we're afraid of not knowing. In this episode we explore what it actually means to live in the grey, why certainty feels so necessary and what it costs us when we demand it, and how black and white thinking keeps us stuck in our relationships, our creative work, and our healing journey. We talk about how to expand your tolerance for u...

How do you know when your anxiety is lying to you and when your gut is actually telling you the truth? In this episode we kick off the second phase of Season 3 with the series, From Fear to Freedom: What If It All Works Out?. We begin by exploring one of the most important distinctions in your healing journey: the difference between fear and intuition. We talk about what it means to live from scar...

We're closing out the season with the one that started it all — the quiet rulebook most of us have been living by without realizing it. Should/Must Statements are the cognitive distortion underneath almost every other pattern we've covered this season, and today we're getting into all of it: why getting back to a routine after a gap feels so hard, the guilt spiral that follows every...

Have you ever walked into a room and immediately decided something was off — and that you were the reason? That is personalization. It is one of the quietest cognitive distortions there is, and one of the most exhausting — because it puts you at the center of things you were never actually responsible for. In this episode, we are breaking down what personalization really is, where it comes from, h...

Have you ever convinced yourself something was wrong — with a friendship, your work, your worth — not because of anything that actually happened, but because it just felt that way? That's emotional reasoning, and it might be the sneakiest cognitive distortion of them all. In this episode, we're breaking down why your brain treats feelings like facts, where that pattern started, and what...

Have you ever had one hard week and convinced yourself it was proof of a permanent pattern? That's overgeneralization and it might be the most quietly devastating thought distortion you've never heard named. In this episode, we're breaking down exactly how overgeneralization works, where it started (hint: usually not in adulthood), and why so many high-achieving, deeply self-aware p...

Have you ever crushed something and still found a way to convince yourself it didn't count? Or made one small mistake and felt like your whole world was caving in? That's Magnification and Minimization — and it might be the sneakiest cognitive distortion of them all, because it doesn't feel like a distortion. It just feels like being honest with yourself. In this episode, we're...

You messed something up and before you could even process what happened, your brain handed you a verdict: I'm such a failure. I'm so lazy. I'm too much. That move — taking one moment and turning it into a permanent identity — is called Labeling, and it might be the most quietly destructive cognitive distortion there is. Because it doesn't just tell you that you did something wr...

Do you ever assume you know exactly what someone's thinking—and it's always something bad? Your partner's quiet, so obviously they're pulling away. Your friend doesn't text back, so clearly they don't want to hang out. Your boss sends a short email, so you must be getting fired. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. You're mind reading—and it's one...

Ever convinced yourself you're going to fail before you've even tried? Predict every conversation will be a disaster? Decide the relationship is doomed before it's even had a chance? You're not psychic—you're fortune telling, and it's a cognitive distortion that's keeping you stuck in imaginary futures that don't exist yet. In this episode, we're breaki...

Ever catch yourself dismissing compliments or minimizing your wins? Someone tells you that you did an amazing job, and instead of feeling proud, you immediately think, "Well, anyone could have done that" or "They're just being nice." You book the audition, land the promotion, or have a genuinely good day—and your brain finds a way to explain it away. In this episode, we&ap...

Have you ever had an amazing day—got compliments, nailed a project, connected with friends—but all you can think about on the drive home is that one awkward thing you said? Or walked out of an electric audition only to spiral about whether you picked the right song? Welcome to mental filtering: the cognitive distortion that zooms in on the negative and filters out everything else. In this episode,...

Does your brain turn minor inconveniences into total life ruination? Welcome to catastrophizing, bestie. This week we're diving into that special cognitive distortion where your mind becomes a disaster movie director. From creatives convinced one critique means career death, to daters planning breakup speeches after awkward pauses, to therapy beginners sure their therapist thinks they're...

Struggling with perfectionism and catastrophic thinking? In this 30-minute episode, host Justin G. Nelson breaks down all-or-nothing thinking—the cognitive distortion that keeps you stuck in anxiety loops. You'll learn what black-and-white thinking really is and why your brain defaults to extremes, how this pattern shows up in creativity, dating, and healing from trauma, why one mistake feels...

In this powerful season 2 finale, we explore how to transform your relationship with fear from enemy to ally. Dive deep into addressing imposter syndrome, letting go of perfectionism as a safety strategy, and discovering how fear keeps you trapped in trends when your gifts are meant to be free. Learn to embrace the curiosity that comes with fear and apply a fearless mindset by living from the pers...

Discover how your five senses can become powerful tools for mental health healing and trauma recovery. In this episode, you'll learn practical ways to use essential oils, aromatherapy, sound baths, and sensory practices to regulate your nervous system and support your healing journey. We explore how trauma affects your senses and nervous system, which essential oils actually work for anxiety,...

Feeling overwhelmed by clutter? Your physical space might be affecting your mental health more than you realize. In this episode, we explore the powerful connection between our environment and emotional well-being, diving into Marie Kondo's life-changing concepts through a mental health lens. Whether you're a creative drowning in supplies, a parent managing constant chaos, new to therapy...

In this vulnerable and honest conversation, we're diving deep into the connection between sexual energy, creativity, and mental health. Whether you're choosing to abstain, focus on yourself, or simply trying to understand why your creative output feels tied to your sexual energy, this episode is for you. We explore how sexual and creative energy share the same brain pathways, where you m...