Recovered-ish

I chat all about Taylor Swift this week! I start by doing a breakdown of my experience and thoughts about the eras tour, going into the lessons from it (how we can embrace our cringe, give up "looking cool", reclaiming girlhood and not waiting to do thinks you love. I then go into thoughts about why I think Taylor Swift's music has such staying power for us, why her lyrics seem to touch so many of...

Content warning- Suicidal thoughts, self-harm, discussions of violent and/or disturbing thoughts. I chat with OCD specialist and licensed therapist Alegra Kastens. Alegra shares about her own experience with OCD, what happened and how she got into recovery and now specializes in helping clients with OCD and intrusive thoughts. We discuss what an intrusive thought is, our pet peeves with therapy Ti...

Amanda chats with skincare coach Olena Beley to dive into the psychology of skincare and how our obsession with having perfect skin is wrecking our mental health. Olena debunks the skin care myths that we see on social media! We go into why we are all so obsessed with skincare, why the trend of showing your "empties" isn't good for us, what social media marketing is making us do to our skin, what...

I discuss all or nothing thinking, what it looks like, why we tend to struggle with it and how it is a cognitive distortion that can keep us stuck. I share how I have struggled with it in the past and my tips for how you can add more nuance to your life. I also discuss how social media and the internet has been making us more polarized in recent years, which is a contributing factor to all or noth...

I chat with friendship expert Danielle Jackson to answer all your burning questions about female friendship as an adult. Danielle and I discuss "therapy speak" in friendships and Danielle gives language and suggestions for what to use instead. We talk about why it's difficult to make friends as an adult, pros and cons of a "friend group", unhealthy friendship expectations, the importance...

I discuss the Barbie movie and my thoughts about what the Barbie movie themes, specifically how patriarchy impacts our mental health, how girls often are forced to grow up and give up dolls and their feminine interests in order to be taken seriously and fit in, how fangirls are demeaned and why I am hoping between Barbie and The Eras Tour we are reclaiming our feminine interests this summer a...

In response to the recent Barbie hype and movie coming out, Amanda breaks down the cultural icon that is Barbie and all the mess and nuance of how she has potentially impacted the mental health and body image of women and young girls. This episode has no spoilers as it is mostly based on Barbie as a doll and icon and what she represents rather than the movie. Amanda shares why she thinks Barbie is...

Amanda welcomes Emily Lynn Paulson to her podcast and we discuss how being in an MLM (multi-level marketing) company impacted her mental health and how she left. We discuss how it impacted her drinking behavior and how she ended up getting sober. She shares how she worked through the shame that came up for her after she realized how her behavior was affecting her friends and family. She shares abo...

Amanda discsusses the Jonah Hill texts that went viral this past weekend and how it demonstrates a broader issue with people not understanding what boundaries are and weaponizing therapy language. She gets into how we lack nuance and default to all or nothing thinking and how this hurts our close relationships. She breaks down what boundaries are and the differences between boundaries, demands and...

Amanda answers your questions and shares more insights! Topics include, what to do if you are truly 50/50, the grief of your choice (whether you have children or don't), what does it really mean to be selfish, how to decide between one and 2 children, how to deal with anxiety if you want kids and much more! Resources Mentioned: "The Baby Decision: How to make the most important choice of your life...

Amanda shares about how she decided if she wanted to have children and talks about how we need to recover from the idea that society tells women they must. She shares the fears, thoughts and concerns that she weighed when making the decision. She discusses how social media played a role for her and how the phrase "just you wait until you have kids" negatively impacted her. She breaks down how it i...

Welcome to the first episode! Amanda shares how she got to where she is today by sharing her long and windy story of recovery from an addiction and eating disorder. *TW* There are discussions of suicidal thoughts, alcohol, drug use and eating disorder behaviors. She discusses a bit about why she is starting this podcast and what you can expect weekly. To suggest a topic, buy my books, or get in to...

Amanda shares about both her fears and excitement about starting this podcast. She thought that it would be helpful for you to hear about how she is working through this. She shares what helps her take action when she is feeling anxious and how she built her business. She then shares about what she finds helpful when working with clients and how to tell the difference between self care and self sa...

I’m Amanda! I’m a therapist, author, business owner, mom, and most importantly, I am in recovery from an addiction and eating disorder. Or I guess I should say I am  recovered-ish . I believe we are all in recovery from something...and that mental health is a journey, not a destination. It’s a journey full of twists, turns, ups, downs, and a whole bunch of nuance. So, in this podcast, I will...