Kate Speer is a New England writer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate. She has a popular Instagram account and Substack newsletter where she often talks about mental illness, recovery, and how her psychiatric service dogs Waffle and Tugboat have helped along her mental health journey. Kate’s loyal readers have also heard a lot about her friend Maura, how they met in an in-patient facility and became very close, and how Maura died due to her depression. But as we learn in this episode, you may not know Maura as well as you, or Kate, may have initially thought. Kate's story is rich, and a conversation with her covers a lot of ground. We discuss everything from Kate's journey starting in elementary school to going through college, hospitalizations, misdiagnoses, exposure therapy, the joy of dogs, and, of course, Maura.

Learn more about Kate by visiting her website, www.KateSpeer.com. Subscribe to her Substack, Probably Anxious, at www.katespeer.substack.com. Follow Kate on Instagram @kate_speer.

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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

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