I was one of the most therapized people you've ever met.

I knew my triggers. I'd unpacked my daddy issues, my relationship with my mom, my insecurity, my eating disorders, problems in my marriage. I cognitively understood what triggered me and why I wanted to drink so much.

And that did fuck-all to reduce my cravings.

Which is how I know that awareness isn't enough. Understanding the pattern doesn't break the pattern. And talk therapy—as valuable as it is—didn't change how I felt in my body.

Today's guest is Dr. Amanda Hanson, a clinical psychologist who spent the first half of her 27-year career practicing traditional therapy—until she realized all that talking wasn't actually helping women change. What she discovered instead will completely transformed how you think about emotions, nervous system regulation, and why so many of us numb instead of feel.

We go deep in this conversation. We talk about why women are taught to source their safety outside of themselves—and what happens when you stop. We talk about the rage release practice that cracked me open at her retreat. We talk about aging, beauty, and the cultural scam that keeps women distracted from their real power. And we talk about what it actually takes to stop abandoning yourself.

If you've done the therapy, read the books, understand your patterns—and you're still stuck—this episode is going to show you what's missing.

In this episode, we cover:

→ Why traditional talk therapy often isn't enough to change behavior

→ The difference between being emotionally dysregulated and being fully alive

→ How self-abandonment leads to numbing (wine, food, scrolling)

→ What a rage release and grief release practices look like

→ How to give yourself the things you've been waiting for someone else to give you

→ Aging, beauty, and refusing to be complicit in a system designed to keep women small

Dr. Amanda Hanson is a clinical psychologist with 27 years of experience who now works with women in ways radically different from her traditional training. She is the host of the podcast Things Your Mother Never Told You and creator of the Magnetic retreat experience.

Find her on Instagram @midlife.muse or at AmandaHanson.com

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

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