ShrinkChicks

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about how to take things less personally…and why that’s harder than it sounds. After one of their posts went viral, they unpack why giving people the benefit of the doubt isn’t the same as abandoning boundaries, and how expectations, context, and insecurity shape what hits us the hardest. They explore how self-knowledge makes it easier to stop internalizi...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen delve into a question that many people struggle with: How do I distinguish between anxiety and intuition? They break down how each shows up (urgency versus steadiness, fear versus values, repetitive spirals versus one-time clarity) and how anxiety and intuition can sometimes be linked. Listener questions explore whether it gets easier to tell the two apart, ho...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em & Jen wrap up 2025 with a topic that might just be on all of our minds: Do I need therapy going into the new year? They talk about how tough this year felt for many people, how finances and burnout impact mental health care, and what “needing” therapy even means. They answer questions about feeling lost professionally, the fear of crying in therapy, worrying that...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em & Jen break down the pressure, guilt, and expectations that can make the holidays feel so overwhelming. Jen shares what it was like growing up without big holiday pressure, while Em talks about navigating the mental load of parenting and splitting time between families. They delve into why holidays affect everyone differently, how media influences expectations, an...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dig into a topic that’s becoming impossible to ignore: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in therapy, including how it’s showing up in clinical work, where it can help, and where it crosses the line. They discuss AI’s usefulness for administrative tasks or late-night coping support, while exploring the risks of replacing human connection, losing touch with a client’...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen plug into the world of social battery: how much emotional energy we have for connection before we start feeling depleted. They talk through why some people can socialize endlessly while others need significant downtime, and how much factors like temperament, stress load, and basic needs (sleep, food, overstimulation) shape our capacity. Em shares how her batte...

This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re rewinding to one of our most beloved episodes: Improving Communication. Em and Jen revisit what it really means to communicate and how to do it better. From meta-communication (talking about how you talk) to learning the difference between honesty and harshness, they unpack the tools that make conversations actually productive. They answer listener questions about...

This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re talking all about that very exciting (and stressful) holiday coming up … Thanksgiving! Em and Jen are unpacking the messy mix of gratitude, giving, receiving, and toxic positivity that tends to come with the holidays. From the anxiety of picking the perfect present to the vulnerability of accepting gifts (or help and compliments), they explore why balance and authe...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by a very special guest, Carol DeMarco, a longtime friend, mentor, and one of the first people to believe in them when they opened The Therapy Group back in 2014. Carol is a dynamic speaker with more than 30 years of experience in counseling, education, and HR. Through her signature Pearls of Wisdom approach, she helps people strengthen their mindse...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into the topic of people-pleasing, AKA the quiet, exhausting habit of keeping everyone else comfortable. They talk about what happens when your identity is built around being the “easy one,” how helping can actually double as control, and why peacekeeping could be affecting your own peace.  They answer listener questions about learning to tolerate ot...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into self-esteem and self-confidence: where they come from, how they differ, and what gets in the way of both. They explore how early experiences and family dynamics shape our sense of worth, how mastery and self-trust build confidence, and why rewriting old beliefs about ourselves is possible at any age. Listener questions touch on healing from childhood...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen explore why it’s so hard to let people in. We all crave connection, yet vulnerability can feel terrifying, especially when it wasn’t modeled for us or didn’t feel safe growing up. They unpack why talking isn’t the same as being vulnerable, how to build tolerance for openness, and why it’s okay to keep some relationships more surface-level. Listener questions c...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are taking on the topic of friendship, from making new ones to grieving breakups and navigating the complicated in-betweens. They share why effort matters in adult friendships, how to handle loneliness, and why friendship breakups can hurt just as much as romantic ones. Listener questions cover everything from reconnecting with old friends, financial differenc...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dig into the topic of breaking intergenerational patterns and the ways in which we end up just like our parents, for good and for bad. From inherited quirks and “mental health heirlooms” to subconscious habits we don’t notice until a third party points them out, they explore what to carry forward and what to leave behind. Listener questions include how to cope...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen tackle one of their most requested topics: marriage advice! And as two Marriage and Family Therapists who are married themselves, they definitely have a lot to say on the topic.  From the best (and worst) advice they’ve gotten themselves, to questions like “How do you know if they’re the one?” and “What should we talk about before getting married?”, Em an...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are reunited on the pod after baby Birdie’s birth, who is already showing off by sleeping through the night and sending her sister Millie into a slight spiral. In this episode, the two tackle one of the toughest topics in relationships: repairing after infidelity. From the shame and secrecy surrounding affairs to the consistent behaviors that rebuild trust, th...

This week on ShrinkChicks, it’s a special takeover with Em and Nikki — producer, head of operations, and soon-to-be mom (hard launch alert 🚨). Nikki opens up about her journey to pregnancy, sharing what it’s been like to face the uncertainty of not being “100% sure” about having kids, navigating anxiety, and learning to get comfortable with the unknown. Nikki is given full rein to ask Em anything...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into the messy, complicated, and oh-so-human world of duality: how two things can be true at once. From being grateful but still wanting more, to setting boundaries and feeling both relief and grief, they explore why holding contradictions feels so uncomfortable, and why it can also be a sign of growth. They answer listener questions on everything from na...

On this week’s rewind episode of ShrinkChicks, we’re revisiting one of our most-loved conversations: what does it really mean to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)? Em and Jen unpack the difference between HSPs and empaths, why sensitivity can sometimes feel like social anxiety, and how to move through a world that often labels sensitivity as a weakness. They explore what overstimulation looks lik...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive headfirst into the murky waters of regret —why we feel it, how it shows up, and what it does (and doesn’t) mean about the choices we’ve made. From big life decisions to parenting fears and the spiral of overthinking in the shower, they explore why the fear of regret can be more paralyzing than regret itself, and how to move through it with compassion and...

On this week’s episode of ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are diving deep into inner child work —what it is, why it matters, and how to know when it’s your adult self making a choice… or your 5-year-old self running the show. They explore how childhood wounds shape big emotions and disproportionate reactions, what it means to reparent yourself, and how to move from autopilot to awareness. They also break...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about how to grow together , even as life throws you curveballs like new babies, career shifts, mismatched speeds of change, and navigating personal growth when your partner isn’t quite there (or isn’t trying). They explore what it means to walk in the same direction (even if at different paces), how to reconnect after disconnection, and the moments that...

On this week’s episode of ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into the murky waters of when therapy isn’t working—and how to tell if the problem is the process, the therapist, or your own discomfort with growth. They talk about red flags and realistic timelines, the importance of therapeutic fit, and why sometimes therapy feels worse before it feels better. They also mythbust common misconceptions (no,...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking all about the pressure we can feel to be "the chill one" in our relationships. They discuss minimizing your needs and where that may stem from, the socialization of "the cool girl," how to slowly start expressing your needs if you're not used to doing so, why we can't expect others to read our minds, the difference between actually not caring...

On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking about all things boundaries and their effect on relationships. They discuss when others prefer the version of you that has less boundaries, why discomfort doesn’t always equal “danger” or “bad," resentment stemming from a lack of boundaries, guilt as a natural reaction to setting a boundary, getting pushback on boundaries and why...