The Strong-but-Struggling Podcast

How are you feeling right now? Not the reflex answer. Not "good" or "fine" or "just really overwhelmed." If you had to put something more specific than that — what would you actually say? For most of us, the answer is: I don't know. Not because we aren't feeling anything. But because somewhere between being a toddler who cried in Target without apologizing for it and being the woman who holds it a...

Ten episodes in. And before we go any further — thank you. For getting in the car with me. For doing the dishes with me. For showing up week after week, even when the topics hit places you weren't totally ready to look at. That means something. This episode is a little different. Alyssa is closing out season one with the seven truths that have made the biggest difference in her own life — not the...

You hear yourself mid-sentence with your kid and stop. The tone, the wording, the way it came out — it doesn't sound like you. It sounds like someone else. Someone you grew up with. You repair it. You apologize. You do the thing you never got. And it's real, and it matters. But there's another voice. She doesn't care about the repair. She wants to know why you keep doing this, why you need so many...

If you broke your leg and sat down in the ER, and someone walked in who had lost their leg entirely — would you get up and leave? Would you decide your fracture didn't count anymore and walk out to figure it on your own? Of course not. Their worse injury doesn't fix yours. And yet that's exactly what you do with your own pain. If someone else has it worse, you don't bring it up. If someone else ha...

There's a conversation happening in your head right now. Maybe it's the one from three days ago that you've been editing ever since — what you should have said, what they probably thought, whether you overshared. Maybe it's the one you haven't had yet, the one you've already rehearsed six different ways, including the part where he misunderstands you and how you'll clarify. Maybe it's the argument...

You've seen the posts. No is a complete sentence. You don't owe anyone an explanation. Protect your peace. And you want to be that woman. You really do. So you walk into the conversation with your talking points ready. You know exactly what you're going to say. And somehow — you don't even know how it happens so fast — you walk out having agreed to the thing, comforted the person, and completely a...

Discover why knowing what to do isn't enough for lasting change and how to bridge the invisible gap in your healing journey using body-based strategies and insights.  Main Topics: The difference between awareness and embodiment in change How patterns are stored in the body, not just in thoughts The myth of discipline and the role of nervous system regulation The impact of watching and modelin...

In this episode, Alyssa Booth shares a powerful story about how neglecting her own physical and emotional health led to burnout, and how recognizing the cycle can empower women to choose themselves first. Welcome to the go-go-go crash cycle. The one where you run yourself completely into the ground, hit the wall, feel guilty about hitting the wall, get back up, and do it all over again. The one th...

You post the photo. Everyone comments "you're such a good mom." And all you can think is — if they only knew. If they only knew what happened three minutes before that photo. If they only knew the version of you that exists when nobody is watching — the one in the car, the one at 10pm, the one that is barely holding it together on a Tuesday and performing fine in every room. That gap — between who...

Your life looks good on paper. Safe relationship. Decent house. You've done the therapy. You know your patterns. You are, by every external measure, okay. And you still cannot fully exhale. You're on the couch but not really landing. You're on vacation but mentally still at home. Something good happens and instead of just feeling it there's this flicker — like it's too good, like there's a catch,...

You say it all the time. "I don't really ask for much." "I don't want to be a burden." "I'm just low maintenance." And you say it like it's a personality trait. Like it's just who you are. It's not who you are. It's what you learned. In this episode, Alyssa introduces the question that has stopped women in their tracks more than any other in her years of clinical work: why not? Why don't you ask f...

Licensed Therapist and Nervous System Coach, Alyssa Booth, shares her personal journey from trauma and shame to healing and self-empowerment. This episode explores the importance of recognizing the difference between being strong and being okay, and offers insights into healing the nervous system and breaking cycles of self-sacrifice. Alyssa will discuss: The difference between being strong and be...