How To Relate

Caleb Birkhoff, LMFT, is a couples therapist based in the San Francisco Bay Area who also works extensively with men and with people navigating their relationship to drugs and alcohol. With over a decade in recovery work, Caleb brings the goal-setting and accountability of treatment into the couples room. In this episode, we talk about: How recovery work shaped his approach to couples therapy Why...

Brittani and Drew take an honest look at what goes on beyond the therapist’s chair: the business side, the emotional side and the parts no one talks about. Paternity and maternity leave when you’re a therapist at a small practice (no FMLA, no disability, paying your own insurance) Why the fee-for-service model breaks down when the therapist is the product Insurance, AI therapy bots and where the f...

Bridgett is a sexual storywork coach, speaker, and cohost of the Dating and Desire Podcast. She helps Christian singles, dating, and engaged couples engage their sexual desire in a way that aligns with their values and cultivates deep self-trust—proving you can live a life that’s both hot and holy. In this episode, we cover: Bridgett's journey from a conservative Christian upbringing to becoming a...

Welcome to How to Relate! This episode is all about money with financial therapist Nathan Astle. Nathan Astle is based in Kansas City, with a background in couples and family therapy. He founded the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute, where financial therapists, counselors, and planners work together in a collaborative care model. Nathan has been featured in numerous outlets like The New York Ti...

Too good to stay, too bad to leave is a scenario many people find themselves in. When the relationship could be better, when do you know it's time to leave or love the one you're with? We're here to answer. Katherine Cullen, LCSW, is a therapist in Nashville, Tennessee. Katherine co-authored The Truth About Exercise Addiction, and was an editor at Psychology Today before she became a therapist. Ch...

Dr. Brian J. Dixon, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist based in Fort Worth, TX, and founder of Field Guide, a referral and networking platform built by clinicians, for clinicians. Why mental health reimbursement is broken — and how a 1965 Medicare decision still shapes what therapists earn today The case for charging your worth, and how to get comfortable talking about money with clients Where A...

What if the question isn't whether your marriage will end, but when — and whether you'll remarry the same person? On this episode of How to Relate, Galit and Assael Romanelli — couple therapists, real-life partners, and the minds behind the Remarriage Roadmap — discuss how long-term relationships actually survive change. In this episode: The "ABCs" that signal a marriage is heading for a rupture:...

Erica Smith returns to How to Relate for a light conversation (haha) on the patriarchy, insidious trauma, and what oppression does to our closest relationships. Why "the patriarchy" surged in cultural vocabulary post-2020, and how it intersects with racism and the need to re-center attention away from marginalized communities Defining the patriarchy: from a "wealthy white men" lens to Terry Real's...

In this solo episode! Reflections on turning 34 — and what it actually takes to stop avoiding the feelings a birthday brings up. In this episode: Why avoidance gives power to the feelings we're trying to escape The quiet aggression of self-improvement culture Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks and "letting time use you" Why comparison steals our desires, not just our joy Making peace with — and...

Mary Beth Somich is the founder of Your Journey Through, a boutique group therapy practice in Raleigh (celebrating 10 years this fall) with nine clinicians specializing in family dynamics, enmeshment, and boundaries. She also mentors other practice owners through group coaching and masterminds. In this episode, we cover: Scaling from solo practice to group practice while pregnant during the 2020 p...

Blaise Harris, LCMHC, is a therapist, former firefighter, and founder of G Squared Consulting & Counseling Services — known online as The Dope Black Therapist. His practice focuses on trauma work with Black men and first responders, drawing on his own experience surviving a divorce, major depressive disorder, and suicide attempts before finding his way into the field. In this episode, Brittani...

Matthew Case turns the mic on Brittani for a rapid-fire AMA episode, unpacking what's missing from the current dating and relationship advice landscape — and why attachment styles and red-flag culture might be doing more harm than good. The attachment style hyperfixation: Why reducing every dating dynamic to "anxious vs. avoidant" strips away nuance — and Jack Morin's "erotic equation" (attraction...

Austin Hatch is a certified sex addiction therapist and founder of Phase Your Recovery. In this episode, he and Brittani talk about the difference between honesty and transparency, how shame gets weaponized in relationships, and why community — not just insight — is often the missing piece in real change.   Topics Covered: Why most clients arrive in the middle of a self-made crisis The "hidden lan...

Sex therapist and psychologist Dr. Marianne Brandon is here to energize the conversation about sex. Marianne shares what she discovered after years of working with highly educated, sexually confident women who still struggled with low libido — and why the standard interventions weren't working. The conversation gets into evolutionary biology, the "10 seeds" framework for understanding desire diffe...

Devyn Lowry joins Brittani to talk about life as a startup founder, why empathy is a non-negotiable skill in tech, and the broken systems that led him to build Ocean Labs — a mental health platform designed to actually match people with the right therapist. Topics Covered: What it's really like working in startups (spoiler: a lot of hats) Why empathy belongs on every team, not just in design The r...

What is purpose, and how do you find it when life feels uncertain, overwhelming, or directionless? In this episode, Brittani and Drew explore the relationship between purpose, passion, responsibility, freedom, and meaning. They unpack why purpose isn't always about feeling inspired or excited—it often emerges through commitment, curiosity, relationships, and even irritation. From childhood report...

Taylor is a LCSW and founder of Social Work to Wealth- a finance education platform for social workers. Taylor shares how a tip about high-yield savings accounts sent her down a personal finance rabbit hole that reshaped her finances, her marriage, and her mission. She and her husband tackled $277,000 in debt — and she's been sharing that journey publicly ever since to normalize the money conversa...

We plan births. We register for gear. We don't plan for what happens to the people becoming parents. Veronica Kemeny, co-founder of Anchor Perinatal Wellness in Raleigh, joins Brittani to talk about matrescence, the neuroscience of new parenthood, why couples hit their hardest stretch right when baby arrives — and what support actually looks like across a full continuum of care. Veronica Kemeny, L...

What happens when everything you thought was true about your relationship turns out to be built on secrets? Heather Heide, founder of Uplifted Therapy in Minnesota, a practice specializing in betrayal trauma. Heather works with couples and individuals navigating the aftermath of infidelity, sex addiction, and all the nuanced forms betrayal can take — and what healing actually looks like when your...

What separates great leaders from ones who quietly destroy their teams? And when you're the one burning out at the top — do you stay or go? Kealy Spring, licensed therapist and executive coach in the San Francisco Bay Area, breaks down the inner psychology of leadership, what executive coaching actually is, and why most people calling themselves coaches probably aren't.   In This Episode Therapy v...

What if the problem in your relationship isn’t the argument you keep having—but the pattern underneath it? Therapist Carole Cullen explores how couples can move from disconnection to deeper intimacy using a mix of structured tools, emotional processing, and experiential learning. Carole shares how she integrates the John Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), why traditional 50-minu...

What happens when artificial intelligence enters the therapy room—both with clinicians and clients? Ann Dypiangco, LCSW, is a therapist in private practice and co-creator of  Therapist Brief,  a newsletter for therapists navigating tech, research, and the changing landscape of mental health care. She also works at the intersection of clinical practice and emerging technology in her roles at Bluepr...

What if you stopped trying to make the perfect decision—and instead focused on making the best bet? In this episode, Brittani sits down with Daniel to explore how poker strategy—especially ideas from Thinking in Bets—can transform the way we think about relationships, career choices, and everyday decision-making. They break down concepts like probability thinking, emotional regulation, and “playin...

In this episode, we’re diving into modern dating—offline and online—from being pitched at a live singles event to unpacking the realities of situationships, emotional availability, and what it really means when someone says they “don’t know what they want.” Key Takeaways: What emotional availability actually looks like in real life The 4 C’s of dating: chemistry, connection, compatibility, and com...

If you feel like you’re having the same argument over and over again—this episode is for you. In this solo episode, we'll break down the hidden dynamics driving conflict in relationships, including core negative images, pursuer-withdrawer patterns, and the vulnerability underneath reactivity. You’ll learn how to understand your conflict cycle, take ownership without defensiveness, and repair in a...