Holding Space

On today’s episode, I’m joined by mindfulness mentor, meditation teacher, and host of the Mindful Mama Podcast, Hunter Clarke-Fields. Hunter is the author of Raising Good Humans and Raising Good Humans Every Day, and for years she’s been supporting parents in moving out of reactivity and into more present, connected relationships with their kids.

As a therapist and parent, I know how easy it is to feel like we’re “messing it all up,” especially in the early years when we’re exhausted, triggered, and trying to break cycles in real time. In this conversation, Hunter reflects on parenting her oldest, now 18, and shares what only time can teach: repair matters more than perfection, and it’s never too late to shift a relationship.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why parenting is a long game, and why you don’t always get immediate feedback that it’s “working”
• How repair builds safety and connection, even after reactivity
• The power of delighting in your child, and practicing real listening
• Why boundaries and self-care are essential, not selfish
• Hunter’s message for parents in the thick of the toddler years

My hope is that this episode offers you a deep exhale: you don’t have to be perfect to be a safe, steady parent. What matters is your willingness to keep coming back.

Connect with Hunter

• Listen to her podcast: Mindful Mama Podcast
• Get her books: Raising Good Humans and Raising Good Humans Every Day
• Find her online: mindfulmamamentor.com

If you loved this episode

• Share it with a parent who’s in the thick of it right now
• Support the podcast with a rating or review
• Subscribe to my Substack, A Little Space, Please, for the post that goes with this episode
• Learn more about Dr. Cassidy and Co's therapy practice at www.drcassidymft.com

In this episode of Holding Space, Dr. Cassidy is joined by Dr. Sumi Raghavan for a grounded, human conversation about parenting during a moment of real fear and moral injury.

ICE violence in Minnesota and across the country has left many parents feeling dysregulated, overwhelmed, and unsure how to show up for their kids while their own nervous systems are on high alert. This conversation isn’t happening from a distance. We're two moms, two therapists, sitting inside the same world you are, trying to figure out how to keep showing up without collapsing.

Together, we explore what’s happening in parents’ nervous systems right now, why overwhelm is a reasonable response to real threat, and how regulation is not disengagement, but the foundation for sustained action and care.

We aim to offer concrete guidance for how to talk to kids across different ages, from young children to teens, while protecting their sense of safety without pretending nothing is happening.

This episode is meant to be a place of containment, not more flooding.

Resources & Next Steps

A written companion to this episode, with key takeaways and language you can return to, is available on Substack here.

Links to grounding tools, community resources, and organizations supporting immigrant families are included there as well.

To connect with Dr. Sumi Raghavan and learn more about her New York-based private practice, you can find her on instagram @drsumiphd and her private practice website here!

On today’s episode I’m joined by holistic decluttering expert and host of the top-rated podcast The Maximized Minimalist, Katy Joy Wells.

As a therapist and parent, I know how often our homes can feel like one more place we’re “falling behind.” In this conversation, we explore how clutter impacts our nervous systems, our relationships, and our sense of enoughness. Katy offers a shame-free, deeply human approach that looks at the emotions, beliefs, and habits under the piles.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why clutter isn’t neutral...how visual chaos pulls on our time, energy, and attention
• The difference between clutter and expected mess...and why that distinction can instantly lower your shame
• Katy’s idea of a “good enough home” and how it connects to good enough parenting
• Why traditional decluttering methods (bins, labels, marathon purges, “spark joy”) often backfire for busy, emotionally-connected humans
• How we can model softening, self-compassion, and boundaries with stuff for our kids

My hope is that this episode offers you something Katy and I kept coming back to: hope for a lighter, calmer home that supports presence with the people you love...without having to become a different person or maintain a Pinterest-perfect house.

Connect with Katy

• Listen to Katy’s podcast: The Maximized Minimalist
• Get her book: Making Home Your Happy Place: A Real-Life Guide to Decluttering Without the Overwhelm
• Find her on Instagram: @katyjoywells

• Share it with a friend whose home feels “loud” right now
• Support the podcast and leave a rating or review!
• Subscribe to my Substack, A Little Space, Please, and check out the post that goes with this episode!

Have you ever noticed how much harder parenting feels when things are tense between you and your partner? Maybe you start off trying to calm your kids in the back seat… and somehow end up arguing about the volume of the music. Or one of you sets a boundary with your child, the other undermines it, and suddenly you’re in a standoff that feels way bigger than it should.

In this episode, Dr. Cassidy explores how the stress of parenting can shake the foundation of even the strongest relationships, and what you can do to reconnect when the patience runs thin and the reactions run hot.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

• Recognize why parenting amplifies relational stress
• Use “reserves check-ins” to communicate needs and prevent resentment
• Shift from “me vs. you” to “us vs. the cycle”
• Bring repair, rest, and appreciation back into your partnership

You’ll also hear simple ways to rebuild connection that don’t require date nights, fancy plans, or extra childcare - just small, intentional moments that help you remember you’re on the same team.

Would you love to have this episode written out for you? Check out this substack post!

Interested in learning more about my therapy practice? Click here!

In this conversation, I’m joined by my dear friend and fellow therapist Dr. Tracy Dalgleish to explore the tender, complex space between partnership and extended family...where love, loyalty, and old patterns can collide.

We talk about why these dynamics feel especially charged for so many of us right now, what it means to navigate guilt and control in family systems, and how we can stay connected to our partners (and ourselves) when generational patterns start to resurface.

Dr. Tracy shares insights from her new book You, Your Husband, and His Mother - a compassionate guide to understanding in-law dynamics, communicating as a united front, and finding your footing as a couple when family expectations run high.

We also talk about:

• The cultural shifts that are reshaping how couples and families relate across generations
• Common patterns like guilt-tripping, control, and codependency
• Why boundaries rooted in core needs (not blame) lead to deeper connection
• How aging, identity, and relevance show up in these transitions
• And the hope in becoming the kind of mother-in-law or grandparent we want to be someday

This episode is for anyone standing in that middle place...between the family you came from and the one you’re creating while trying to honor both love and autonomy along the way.

Learn more about Tracy’s work and her book at drtracyd.com.

Connect with Tracy on Instagram @drtracyd.

Connect with me on Instagram @drcassidy and learn more about my private practice at www.drcassidymft.com

When our teen's worry sets off our own, it can feel like two nervous systems locked in the same storm. In this heartfelt conversation, I sit down with my friend and colleague Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart to unpack what’s really happening beneath those moments of reactivity and how parents can shift from fear-based reacting to compassionate, grounded responding.

We talk about:

• Why our teens’ anxiety activates our own nervous system
• Practical tools to create space between trigger and response (hello, rage walks!)
• How repair and connection help rebuild trust after we come in hot
• Loving (and respecting) the teen you have, while holding boundaries, even when it’s hard

Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart is a pediatric psychologist, parent coach, and author of Love the Teen You Have: A Practical Guide to Transforming Conflict into Connection (out October 28). Find her at https://drannlouiselockhart.com and on Instagram @dr.annlouise.lockhart.

Links + Resources:

• Love the Teen You Have
• Learn more about my private practice for California and New York parents at www.drcassidymft.com

In this episode we're exploring the relationship between breastfeeding and a new mom's mental health. To help us really go deep (and practical) on this topic, I had the absolute joy of sitting down with Dawnita Wicks, a registered nurse, public health nurse, and internationally board-certified lactation consultant.

I first connected with Dawnita because I had clients who were struggling not just with feeding, but also with their mental health. When they worked with her, they came back to me saying: “She really saw all of me - the feeding goals AND my mental health.” I knew I had to meet this unicorn of a provider.

In our conversation, we talk about what it’s like to sit at the intersection of infant feeding and maternal mental health. We share our own postpartum stories (including my first experience of birth trauma, breastfeeding challenges, and postpartum anxiety), the shame that so often convinces us to stay silent, and the power of support that honors both our goals and our needs.

We also unpack the cultural messages around feeding, why sleep is a critical piece of the puzzle, and how there are so many more options than the “all or nothing” plans we often think we have to follow.

If you’ve ever felt torn between wanting to meet your feeding goals and also desperately needing rest, connection, and mental health support...you are not alone. This episode is for you.

In This Episode, We Talk About:

• Why feeding goals and maternal mental health don’t have to compete
• My own story of postpartum anxiety, shame, and perfectionism after a traumatic birth
• The pressure to “do it all right” and how it keeps us from asking for help
• Why even a 4–6 hour block of sleep can change everything
• How to navigate shame and cultural messages like “breast is best”
• The importance of individualized, compassionate feeding plans

Resources and Links:

• Connect with Dawnita at www.womantwowoman.net
• Follow Dawnita on social: @dawnitawicks
• Learn more about my practice at www.drcassidymft.com
• Find notes from this episode on Substack

If this episode resonates with you:

Share it with a friend who might need this conversation, subscribe to Holding Space, and leave a review - it helps other parents find their way here!

In today’s solo episode, I open up about how I’m preparing for perimenopause at 40, and why I don’t want to walk into this transition as unprepared as I felt during postpartum.

We’ll talk about:

• What perimenopause and menopause actually mean
• The commonly known symptoms and the less-discussed symptoms that can feel really destabilizing too
• How perimenopause intersects with mental health, parenting, and relationships
• The protective practices I’m layering in now (yep, increasing protein is in there).

My goal is to help you feel less blindsided and more resourced, so you can move through this season informed, intentional, and supported!

Resources Mentioned

• The New Menopause by Dr. Mary Claire Haver (plus her provider directory)
• Melissa Wood Health for strength and functional movement
• Based in CA or NY and ready to start therapy? Learn more about my group practice at www.drcassidymft.com

For written takeaways, resource links, and updates on my journey, subscribe to my Substack: A Little Space, Please

If today’s episode resonated, share it with a friend who might need it too!

Subscribe to Holding Space wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss upcoming episodes.

If you’re in the postpartum season, you already know...sleep deprivation is A BEAST. It affects everything: your mood, your relationships, your health, and your ability to feel present with your baby.

In this episode I’m breaking down why protecting your rest matters, how to get restorative sleep (even if your baby is waking frequently), and how to navigate sleep conversations with your partner without spiraling into resentment.

We’ll cover:

• Why your sleep matters
• How to get consolidated rest when your baby’s not sleeping through the night
• Support strategies for breastfeeding parents
• How to share the load with your partner
• A framework/scripts for bringing up tough sleep conversations
• Practical ideas for splitting shifts, activating support, and improving sleep hygiene
• What to do when anxiety or hypervigilance keeps you awake

If you’re ready to start valuing your own rest without guilt, this episode will give you permission, strategies, and a plan to start tonight.

Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Read the written version of this episode on Substack here
• Find a therapist or learn more about my practice here



If you found this episode helpful:

💌 Subscribe to my Substack for written tools and strategies from new episodes.

🎧 Share this episode with a friend in the postpartum season.

⭐ Leave a review to help other parents find this resource!

Do you feel that familiar dread or restlessness in your body as the weekend winds down? You’re NOT alone! In this episode, we explore the Sunday Scaries through the lens of the nervous system, naming the hidden pressure so many women and moms carry into the week.

We’ll break down why this anticipatory anxiety happens, how it can activate survival responses and what your body is trying to tell you.

Then, I’ll guide you through a grounding visualization called The Sunday Sanctuary, a practice you can return to any time to feel more regulated, resourced, and ready for the week.

In this episode:

• What the Sunday Scaries actually are and why they show up
• How your nervous system reacts to the anticipation of the week ahead
• A new way to meet the pressure...with gentleness and self-trust
• A 7-minute visualization to help you reconnect with your values and feel ready to begin again

Mentioned in this episode:

• Substack companion post + full visualization script
• Learn more about becoming a client at www.drcassidymft.com

Visualization music credits: Take a moment to breathe- instrumental by normal the kid