Explore every episode of the podcast S* Your Therapist Reads

For this week's episode, we discuss Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul, and talk about who our stories belong to, why stories resonate with one person and not another, and...the family that fights together stays together?

For this week's episode, we're discussing Ada Calhoun's Crush. We talk about open marriage; what makes for a healthy marriage (and how marriages fall apart); and the power of the stories we tell ourselves.

In this week's episode, we discuss No One Gets to Fall Apart by Sarah LaBrie. We talk about how families navigate mental illness and trauma, how it impacts us when our pain is not seen or recognized, and how there's more to avoidant attachment than what meets the eye. Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments! 

This week, we are unfortunately without our fearless friend Christina, but May and I soldier on! In this episode, we discuss Self-Help by Gabrielle Bernstein--we talk about Internal Family Systems (IFS), taking your inner child out for ice cream, why particular clients gravitate towards different therapists (and vice versa), and why therapists should be, you know, therapists.   Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments!

For this week's episode, we discuss Good Morning Monster. We talk about how trauma makes it hard to receive love, how therapy actually works (including why it's a bit like the Wizard of Oz), and the rise of robot therapy.

Take a listen and let us know what you think of the episode in the comments! 

  In this episode, we tackle Esther Perel's State of Affairs. We discuss the causes and treatment of infidelity, compare sex and love here and in other countries, and debate the merits of couples therapists' "no secrets policy" Take a listen and let us know what you think! 

Valentine's Day is approaching, and being couples therapists, we decided to kick off the month by discussing Polysecure. We talk about what it takes to make ethical non-monogamy work (and how monogamists could learn a lot from their ENM peers); we debate the use of the term co-dependent; and Erica makes the case for gatekeeping the mental health profession. 

In our first episode of the new year, we discuss More: A Memoir of Open Marriage. We talk about how open marriage is...not quite what folks think it is, and the challenges of being a mom while being a whole person. 

In our final episode of the year, we're joined by friend of the pod, Jillian Knight, to talk about the Art of Money. We discuss the new-ish field of financial therapy, how different cultures talk (or don't talk) about money, and how your finances do actually care about your feelings.

In this episode, we are thankful to have friend of the pod, Meagan Chevalier, MS, LMFT to talk about Prentis Hemphill's book, What it Takes to Heal. Not that we're biased or anything but Meagan is like, the therapist we all want to be our therapist??? In our conversation, we discuss when therapy meets the body (somatic therapy), getting comfortable with being afraid, and how therapy can play an important role in community and activist spaces. 

For this spooky edition of the podcast, we're discussing motherhood (I mean, really, what could be scarier?)

We discuss 3 books about being a mom in our time: the Mamas by Helena Andrews-Dyer, the School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, and Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose. We talk about how the role of motherhood has shifted over time, the impossible and contradictory standards mothers are held to, and mothering as a woman of color. 

Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments! 

We are so excited to have our first guest author on the podcast! Dr. Jessi Gold joined us to talk about her new book, How Do You Feel, that just came out this month. We discuss core themes from her book including burnout, being a mental health professional navigating your own mental health, and the unreasonable demands made of those who work in the medical and mental health fields. 

Oh boy. So in this week's episode, we tackle the book Bad Therapy, and discuss what this book claims is bad therapy, what we wish it actually addressed about the failures of mental health treatment, and make a case for why telling kids to just "man up" is not the move.

You know, in each episode of our podcast we talk about who a book is for, and for this particular book our answer is...no one. 

We are unfortunately without our fearless friend Christina in this episode  but May and I hold down the fort. We discuss the recently published book, Borderline, and talk about the common (mis-)understandings of this disorder in our field and in popular culture, including its reputation for being 'untreatable.' Finally, May and I debate the role and value of diagnosis and discuss its origins in the psychoanalytic tradition. 

In this episode we discuss Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, and talk about the complexities of Asian American identity, having vulnerable conversations about race, and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. 

For this episode, we read two books about grief: Grief is Love by Marisa Renee Lee and Grief is for People by Sloan Crosley. These books approach the topic from wildly different angles, but each offers a clear window into the experience of grief. In our conversation, we talk about what grief is "supposed" to look like versus what it actually looks like, the vulnerability inherent in grieving, and about who is permitted to grieve. We also talk about why finding a new therapist sucks, and ponder if our podcast is "poo." 

For the podcast this week, we tackled It's Not You with special guest, Maureen Bethea! We're happy to have Maureen join us as we wade into the narcissism discourse. Of course, according to social media, everybody and their mama is a narcissist, but the reality is a bit more complicated.

We talk about why narcissism can actually be hard to spot, what to do if you're in a relationship with a person with narcissistic traits, and the merits and pitfalls of diagnosing personality disorders.   

We discuss whether the solution to kids' rising mental health issues is decreased screen time and more outdoor play, talk about why parenting in this day and age feels particularly hard, and one of us shares how this book has already directly impacted her own parenting. 

For this episode, we read our first memoir for the podcast, Anna Gazmarian's Devout. We discuss the role of religion in mental health education and treatment, and why both therapist fit and timing matter. 

In this episode, we talk about the book Fat Talk, and discuss fatphobia and the worship of thinness, diet culture, the food industry's efforts to hijack our brains, and the merits of letting your kid eat a stick of butter. 

In this episode we discuss the book How We Heal and talk about why healing is a team sport, and the ethics of mental health professionals using their credentials to sell stuff (Marriage & Family Therapist Condoms, anyone?). Erica also shares her not-so-guilty pleasure. 

In this episode, we discuss Fair Play, and discuss what it means to gamify the mental load, whether you can solve the patriarchy in your own home, and why arguments about the dishes are not (usually) about the dishes at all.

In this episode, we discuss the recently published book, Heal Your Nervous System. We talk about recognizing and healing a dysregulated nervous system, how to spot a grift, and the merits of taking advice from people simply because they're hot. 

We do something a little different with this episode--we put two books into conversation with each other. Break the Cycle and Where I Belong both discuss intergenerational trauma, and we discuss the merits (and struggles) of healing your trauma on your own, representation and the myth of the model minority, and which book we felt was like a warm hug :) Also, if you're an MFT listening to this episode, you will also appreciate the shoutout to the genogram! 

In Episode 2 of SYTR, we discuss how Becoming a Citizen Therapist provides a framework for therapists who want to use their skills to help their communities outside the therapy room. *And* we talk about why everyone should read this book, not just therapists :) 

For our first episode, we're reading Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents. We discuss if this book does what it sets out to do, talk about who we think it's for, and the nuances of healing parent-adult child relationships.