ShrinkChicks

On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen explore the topic of shifting family dynamics in adulthood and the complexities that exist within this change. When we grow into adults, our family dynamics often do not grow at the same rate. Em and Jen discuss family roles from our childhood staying present in adulthood, why it's so hard for parents to see their kids as adults, shifting dyn...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are discussing the highly requested topic of being a highly sensitive person (a.k.a. an HSP). They help us understand what it means to be an HSP and the difference between being an HSP and an empath by sharing examples. The conversation gives insight into your own sensitivity, as well as insight into the people in your life who consider themselves highly...

In today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are examining passive-aggressive behavior. They start the episode by sharing the different types of passive-aggressive behavior and examples to accompany each type. Emmalee and Jen explain where passive-aggressive behavior might stem from, and how to better understand it if we're engaging in it or if someone is being passive-aggressive with us. T...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking about establishing and upholding the boundaries you set with yourself, for yourself. They answer your questions surrounding: why boundaries with ourselves are often harder to keep, what the line is between having boundaries for yourself and being “selfish," how to work on the emotional boundary of not managing other people’s emotions, breaking...

Welcome to Season 5 of ShrinkChicks! Emmalee and Jen are back for the first episode of the New Year with another episode dedicated to Dear Em & Jen questions! The first question asks: how do you help someone who is not ready to be helped? Emmalee and Jen discuss the challenges of watching a friend or loved one stay in an unhealthy relationship, providing support while also upholding boundaries...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are giving you a holiday pep talk! They answer your questions about all of the curveballs that the holiday season can throw us such as financial pressure, anxiety, grief, and loss surrounding this time of year, losing that childhood joy as an adult, combining traditions when you enter into a romantic relationship, how to handle fake family members, the aw...

On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are dedicating the full episode to answering multiple Dear Em & Jen questions! The first question is from a listener who is extremely frustrated with her current relationship dynamic. Her partner is not willing to do the work and she feels lost on how to reach him after trying for so long. They discuss defensiveness, the pursuer-withdrawe...

Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking all about long-term friendships and how they evolve over time. They discuss whether it's possible to stay friends if you're in different life stages by sharing their personal experiences of being childfree (Jen) and a parent (Em), and how that affects their friendship. They cover topics such as: why friendship breakups are so painful, the limits o...

On today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are joined by Hilary Truong, one of their wonderful clinicians, who is a Mother-Daughter relationship expert and coach! Hilary shares her expertise around this unique relational dynamic. She answers your questions about the guilt around setting boundaries with your Mom, why Mom might be competitive/jealous of daughter, healing without the possibi...

This week, ahead of Thanksgiving, Emmalee and Jen are re-releasing their most downloaded episode: Why Are In-Laws So Triggering? They know that the start of the Holiday season can be activating, overwhelming, and bring up a lot of emotion, which is why they picked this particular episode to remind you that you're not alone. Emmalee and Jen answer your questions like: why are mothers-in-law, specif...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are helping you to answer the question: should I stay or should I go? They talk about how to know when something is no longer serving you and the nuances that exist around that, how to decipher between needing to give something more time vs. knowing it's time, and working through the guilt of making the decision to leave. Emmalee and Jen answer your quest...

On today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen have the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Tracy Dalgleish! Dr. Tracy is a clinical psychologist, couples therapist, and author who specializes in the topics of resentment, the mental load, and other challenges that can show up in our partnerships. They start the episode off by diving into the complicated emotion of resentment and how resentment...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen sit down with Jenny Wise Black, LMFT, who specializes in how our phones affect our mental health. Jenny shares her personal journey of being without a phone for FOUR years and how it changed her life and informed her work. Emmalee, Jen, and Jenny discuss social media breaks and FOMO, living in our daily reality vs. our social media reality, the addiction ...

Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are covering the highly requested topic of hyper-independence! They start the discussion off by defining hyper-independence, also known as ultra-independence, and where it can originate from. They talk about the relationship between hyper-independence and parentification and birth order, the societal praise hyper-independence receives, and how hyper-independe...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are answering your questions about childhood wounds. They start the episode with a question about what a healed person looks like and what their own healing journeys have looked like. Then they discuss how our childhood wounds do not always originate from our families; that some of us have deep wounds from friendships or other formative relationships. Emm...

On today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are covering the highly requested topic of shame. They start the episode off by distinguishing between the emotions of guilt and shame as they can feel quite similar but are very different. Then they share some of Brene Brown's research including the 3 things shame needs to survive and how to get out of a shame spiral with tangible steps. Emmalee...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking all about decisions and why decision-making can be so challenging. They share what they each do when struggling to make a decision, a tangible exercise to help you with decision-making, and answer your questions about feeling stuck in a decision. They discuss their thoughts on "the one," making "the right" decisions, managing other people's/so...

On today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are revisiting the topic: how to stop taking sh*t personally! You can listen to this one on its own, and for more check out the episode: How to Stop Taking Sh*t Personally. Emmalee and Jen pick the topic back up by answering a question about rejection sensitivity and explaining what it looks like. They then discuss how taking things personally ca...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are covering a highly requested topic: confrontation and how to get more comfortable with it! They start by normalizing how challenging confrontation can be. They share questions to ask yourself like what does confrontation mean to you and what does it look like for you, historically? Then they answer your questions about why confrontation can be so scary...

Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking about chosen family. They discuss popular sayings like "blood is thicker than water" and "you only get one (insert family member here)" and why these don't apply to everyone. They explain that it's not all or nothing; a chosen family doesn't require the absence of a biological family. Emmalee and Jen answer your questions about finding and creatin...

Today on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are practicing what they preach by resting and taking the week off from a new episode. They don't want to leave you all hanging of course, so they're re-releasing one of their most listened-to episodes: Carrying The Mental Load. Emmalee and Jen break down the term "mental load," which is also known as cognitive labor. They discuss gender roles and how the mental l...

On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are honored to be joined by Juliane Taylor Shore, LMFT, LPC, SEP. Jules is a therapist specializing in trauma recovery, interpersonal neurobiology, and couples work and she shares her incredible knowledge with us all today! The episode begins with Jules explaining how to use neurobiology as a basis to understand ourselves and our triggers. Sh...

Today on ShrinkChicks Emmalee and Jen are communicating about communicating! They discuss how to improve communication in your relationship(s), identifying your specific pain points when communicating, being the external processor or the internal processor, the difference between honesty and being harsh, asserting your needs vs. being controlling, what to do when you're having the same fight or di...

This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are answering all of your questions about therapy! They discuss why they each chose this career, where to start when looking for a therapist, how to break up with your therapist & find a new one, how to know if you've found the right therapist, how to make the most of your sessions, and why it can be hard to be fully honest with your therapist. Emmale...

Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are covering one of the most requested topics: taking things personally. The episode kicks off with the new intro segment question: how did Em and Jen meet their partners? They then get into the topic and explain where taking things personally may stem from, times when we are more prone to taking things personally, sensitivity to rejection, and how to work to...