PSYCHO THERAPIST

Vivian and her story are both so compelling that they defy summary. She is hilarious and engaging - and she has been through unthinkable trauma. Fortunately, she has a brilliant therapist and a seemingly bottomless well of resilience. What she  doesn't  have, however, is a way out of her current emotional predicament. She comes to the podcast hoping Renée has some advice to offer where this p...

Matt "had no idea" what he wanted or was expecting from being on the show, but he did know that he had a story to tell. He is 41 years old, funny, whip smart, stunningly resilient, and he has never been in a relationship or on a date. This will make sense when you hear what he has survived. Renée and Matt discuss the terrorizing abuse he endured at two different Catholic schools and the...

Back by popular demand! Renée returns this week as the guest on her own show to follow up on Episode 60 and answer listener questions - this time, she traces the development and resolution of both her eating disorder and her chronic illness and explains how the two intersect. This is a raw, rogue, really Renée episode: no planning, no editing, no breaks, no outro - just a whole lot of content. Nex...

When Kaila was a 16 year-old runaway, she was tricked into coming home only to be virtually kidnapped and taken to residential treatment. Her experiences that followed were so intense that she has written a book about them. But now, just as the book is about to be released, Kaila is panicking. Why is she suddenly riddled with fear about sharing her truth? She comes to the show hoping Renée can hel...

"Feelings really aren't me," Dalton told Renée about halfway through their conversation. In addition to making Renée laugh, his sentence sums up the problem he brings to the podcast. Dalton has suffered more than a few tragic losses in the 28 years he has been alive, and the experiences have left him less than friendly with his emotions. It is often said that comedy comes from trage...

In the three decades they have been alive, Kaeden has survived some profoundly traumatic events, including their mother's suicide and their own nervous breakdown. Despite a childhood they describe as "terrorizing," Kaeden astonishingly emerged with a beautifully tender heart. Likewise, after years spent recreating their childhood dynamics with problematic partners and self-defeating...

Makensi and Mick are artistic, articulate Aussies. Parents to a 3 year-old daughter, they share the desire to have a more harmonious relationship, and they come to the show hoping Renée can help them get there. Renée talks first to Makensi and then to Mick, exploring their childhoods, their current emotional landscapes, and the fights they hope to extinguish. As the conversation unfolds, clear pat...

What do you get when you mix a traumatized nervous system and a new relationship? For Love, a 37 year-old single mom with an uber-social boyfriend, it's a whole lot of anxiety. So much anxiety, in fact, that she and her new man are fighting almost every weekend. She comes to the podcast hoping Renee can help her figure out how to build intimacy while navigating the many triggers associated wi...

Yes, that Renée. The host of the show. She's the guest. What's going on? Well, a whole bunch of stuff! This episode is something a little different. Rather than get into it here, We'll just let you listen. Support the show

"I honestly don't think you could give me any therapy," Rob wrote to Renee when she asked if he wanted to be on the show. He agreed to appear nonetheless, and Renee took his hopelessness as a challenge. Once Rob's story unfolded, it was clear that he had come to his hopelessness honestly, as his biography is punctuated by bullying, chaos at home, addiction, and isolation. Despi...

Alyson, an artist who attended the renowned "Fame" school in New York City, was 14 the first time she met with a therapist. Despite some prickly family dynamics that would have been perfect therapy content, Alyson had had a different agenda. "I was afraid I was going to die a virgin!" Spoiler alert: she didn't. This theme of longing, however, became a constant presence in...

Tyler describes his  childhood home as an "active war zone." After years of physical and emotional abuse by his parents, he married young in the hopes that he could create the harmonious family for which he longed as a child. Unfortunately, he once again found himself in an abusive relationship, this time with his ex-wife, who is now colluding with Tyler's mother in a grueling custo...

Yvonne is a firecracker! An actor, writer, and comedian who has been sober for 31 years, Yvonne has done a lot of therapy to unburden herself of the codependent behaviors she developed while growing up with an emotionally withholding, narcissistic father and hypercritical, dysregulated mother. But despite her hard-won confidence, compelling personality, and many tries at dating, Yvonne hasn't...

Andrew grew up in a small town that left his voracious, neurodivergent mind profoundly bored. As a teen, this boredom bred criminal behavior and depression. As an adult, however, his energy found outlets in tremendously successful entrepreneurial endeavors. His peripatetic lifestyle and demanding career kept Andrew safely away from his deeper emotions until a recent breakup cracked him open. He ha...

Morgan is a former Olympic athlete who can't stop moving - moving homes, moving her body, moving away from pain. She comes to the podcast hoping Renee can help her move from self-criticism to compassion and from distraction to contentment. And since Morgan has recently pivoted from sports to psychology as she studies to become a therapist herself, she deftly unrolls her trauma stories, from h...

Maya comes to us from New Zealand hoping Renee can get her unstuck. She suffered an emotional trauma during the birth of her second child for which she holds her husband responsible. Now, three years later, Maya still hasn't been able to let go - she hasn't forgiven her husband, and she doesn't understand why. Renee doesn't understand why either, at first! But she realizes Maya...

Adam C. comes to the podcast with a whole bunch of juicy content to discuss: his recent diagnoses of borderline personality disorder and type 2 diabetes; self-destructive romantic relationships; and the internet's favorite topic...narcissists! And these are only a few of the stops Renee and Adam make as they endeavor to break Adam out of the relational patterns that keep him from healthy atta...

"I feel like I just got off Dr. Phil. I don't even know what just happened!" So said Shana towards the end of her conversation with Renee. Shana had come to the podcast without ever having listened to it; she had no expectations. Having noticed from Renee's Instagram bio that she is a nutritionist as well as a therapist, Shana figured they could discuss her recent weight gain....

Amy has gone from a controlling mother to controlling girlfriends to controlling partners. She comes to the podcast looking to better understand this pattern and, ultimately, to break it. Renee traces through Amy's history - with stops for closer looks at issues from abandonment fear to toxic masculinity- as she helps Amy develop a plan to break the pattern deepen her trust in herself. Plus,...

This week's guest brings a different type of problem to the show.  Malin comes to the podcast with a puzzle. She's had some persistent physical symptoms for a while now, and she has started to wonder if they aren't all in her head - or maybe because of her head? She comes to the podcast hoping Renee can help her figure it out. Is she making herself sick with her mind? And, if she is...

Mars has endured a volatile and chaotic childhood, the violent death of her brother, and her own substance abuse battle. And that's not all. Still, it is only now, in her 40s, when she finds herself immobilized by the trauma. She was particularly eager to come on the podcast, hoping Renee can help her out of the social isolation she has created. Renee realizes early that what Mars needs most...

Patty has suffered and healed from the worst pain possible: her newborn baby died in her arms. And this was not the first major trauma she endured. Despite a serious of abusive experiences punctuated by this massive tragedy, Patty has not only survived but  has legitimately thrived: she worked hard to heal the wounds she accumulated through the first 4 decades of her life and has built a career th...

After marrying at a very young age, Sidney (who is still at a very young age!) has found herself in constant movement. When she isn't working, she is running; when she isn't literally running, she is figuratively running. In her own words, Sidney finds it "such a struggle" just to breathe. Renée helps Sidney understand what is happening in her body and mind and designs practice...

Kelvette's last partner cited some rather dubious reasons for ending their relationship. And despite the fact that he told her directly that he does not want to spend his life with her, Kelvette cannot let go. This is even more surprising once you get to know Kelvette: she is an absolutely hilarious, delightful, intelligent, insightful, no-BS firecracker. So what the heck is going on? This is...

Vanessa left home at 17 after a traumatic childhood that positioned her as a parentified child - one who watched her father die of a drug overdose - and that is only the tip of her trauma iceberg. Despite the fact that she "feels good most days," Vanessa still suffers the fragmentation and self doubt that rooted so early in her tumultuous life. Vanessa and her remarkble, inspiring spirit...