Kristal DeSantis is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional with specializations in sex therapy, couples, and men's mental health issues. She is the creator of the STRONG Relationship Therapy Model of trauma-informed attachment-based couples therapy. She is joining us in the SMA today to talk about boys' mental health, the importance of healthy masculinity, and the impact of seeing healthy relationships on children's mental, emotional, and relational well-being.
This was an incredibly powerful and critical conversation about teen boys and mental health. Please listen and share with the moms of boys in your life.  
Listen in to hear Kristal share:

How the socialization of male masculinity impacts boys’ mental health

How our current tropes of masculinity are harmful to young boys

Positive coping mechanisms for teen boys to reduce stress and build resilience

The significance of validating your child as a human with inherent worth - not worth they have to earn

The 4 Positions of Conversation that can positively impact parent/child communication

Tips on how we can reduce the stigma around mental illness and help teen boys feel more comfortable talking about their struggles and seeking help

Why we are seeing staggering rates to suicide in boys


Links mentioned:


Connect with Kristal: www.strong.love



Get Kristal’s Book: STRONG: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man


Kristal on Twitter

Kristal on IG

Kristal on Threads

Kristal on FB

Kristal on TikTok


We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com

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815: Kristal DeSantis: Raising Boys Within a Model of Healthy Masculinity

Hosted by the notoriously real and raw Sara Dean, The Shameless Mom Academy is a top-rated podcast for moms who are looking to gain confidence, improve relationships, build better boundaries, cultivate resilience, create joy, and position themselves as a leader in their households, communities, workplaces, and businesses. The Shameless Mom Academy provides inspiration, learning, and stories that guide moms to become more confident and courageous decision-makers and action-takers.  With a deep commitment to truth-telling, Sara and her guests share vulnerable stories that are not often shared between mothers.  You can expect your head and your heart to expand a little with every episode. If you’re ready to overcome mom guilt, reject imposter syndrome, and quit perfectionism, you’re in the right place.  You can count on The Shameless Mom Academy to provide practical advice and simple strategies to make your life a little better starting today. Warning: Sara is known to make listeners laugh and cry and walk away feeling like you just spent time with a new best friend.

Kids & Family

Parenting

Health & Fitness

Mental Health

Katie Krimitsos is the creator of the Women’s Meditation Network, a collection of 20 guided meditation podcasts that help listeners feel calmer, sleep easier, release anxiety, and consciously create their lives. Her meditations have been listened to over 140 million times by women all around the world. She’s a writer at heart, has a soft spot for animals, adores her Greek hubby, loves a good margarita, and treasures the job of raising her two girls.
Katie has become a dear friend as we have navigated podcasting and entrepreneurship together. She has been a guest on the SMA multiple times. Our conversations are always fire and magic. We were video messaging back and forth recently about our childhoods and parenting and it got deep fast. After a bit, we both said, “We really should record this conversation!” So, here it is…  

Listen in to hear Katie share:

The red flags that alert you to the fact that you're disconnected from your sense of self

Why it can be so difficult to answer the question, “What do I want?”

How we are personally and professionally impacted by what our parents modeled throughout our childhood

The power of recognizing what was missing from your childhood - even if your childhood was really great

How to unpack your childhood a bit to acknowledge what you might need to release

Easily accessible tools that can help you begin to listen inward

Permission to not know what you want and how to start connecting to what you want


Links mentioned:

Find all of Katie’s Meditation Podcasts on Apple Podcasts:  Womens Meditation Network 

Connect with Katie or WMN resources: womensmeditationnetwork.com


Meditation for Moms: I See You, Mama with Sara Dean



We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

874: Katie Krimitsos: How to Rediscover “What Do I Want For Myself?”

Women often find themselves grappling with a complex and sometimes sticky relationship with self-trust. From a young age, we are subtly conditioned to doubt our own instincts and inner knowing. This societal conditioning seeps into our subconscious, creating a disconnect from our innate self-trust and inner knowing that persists throughout our lives.
The erosion of self-trust often sets off a cascade of detrimental effects on our well-being. We find ourselves trapped in internal feedback loops that echo with damaging self-talk:
“I’m not good enough.”
“I’m not worthy of success or love.”
“I must not be trying hard enough.”
"Everyone else seems to have it all figured out, why can't I?"
“No one really cares about what I think or feel.”
These thoughts become our default narrative, undermining our confidence and distorting our perceptions of reality. The cycle perpetuates, reinforcing the belief that we are inherently flawed or inadequate.
Do any of these sentiments resonate with you?
In this episode, I aim to guide you through a common dysfunctional feedback loop, shedding light on its mechanisms and implications. Then I will walk you through a more healthy and productive feedback loop—one rooted in self-compassion, empowerment, and trust.
My hope is that by unraveling the patterns of self-doubt and negative social narratives, you can begin to reclaim your inherent self-trust and rewrite the script of your self-narrative, allowing you to embrace your worthiness and reshape the way you perceive yourself and your capabilities.

Link mentioned:
SMA Ep 391: Why Moms Lack Self-Trust https://shamelessmom.com/episode/why-moms-lack-self-trust/


We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

873: Change This Internal Feedback Loop to Gain Self-Trust

As a busy mom, time becomes your most precious resource, but it often feels like there's never enough. Effective time management is crucial for achieving your goals and avoiding the overwhelm that comes with motherhood.
There are some simple strategies that you can put in place immediately to help you protect your time and energy. Additionally, I want to provide you with some mindset resets around time management that will help you see time and how you use it in new ways.  
In this episode, we'll explore practical strategies to help you reclaim your time and find a sense of balance amidst the chaos of family life. From reevaluating your schedule to embracing the concept of unscheduling, you'll discover how to create more mental space and carve out time for self-care and pursuing your dreams.
By gaining a few new time management skills, you'll build the confidence you need to make the most of your time and create a life that aligns with your priorities. Whether you're craving more time for yourself, more quality time with your family, or wanting to pursue a big goal, this episode offers actionable tips to help you navigate the challenges of being a busy mom while still making room for what truly matters.
Links mentioned:

SMA Ep 105: 7 Secrets To Slow Down & Simplify 


SMA Ep 397: 4 Time Management Mindset Shifts For Moms



We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

872: Take Back Your Time: Time Management Tips for Busy Moms

The title of this episode might have some of you judging me. I get it. Before you judge, hear me out… 
A few years ago, I listened to the book FINISH by Jon Acuff. Then, I read the hard copy. Then, I chose the book for the book club inside our SMA membership community. I loved (and still love) this book. The book is all about how to finish the things you start. One of Jon’s tools in finishing your top priority goals or action items is to simultaneously “choose what to bomb”. Sometimes, if you need to get the big, important things done you have to let yourself completely fail in other areas. 
 As I find myself in this season of working full time while, navigating month 11 of my husband’s unemployment, being a grad school student, and intense parenting (friends… nobody warned me about 11!), I’m having to choose to bomb some things. And, being a social butterfly is one of them. I am saying no to things I really want to do with people I really want to spend time with because this is the only way to protect my time and sanity. It’s hard to set and hold these boundaries, but it’s really necessary in this season of life.  
In this episode, I talk through how to choose what to bomb when life is a lot and something’s got to give. I also talk you through how to bomb things in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re being a horrible person. I know the truth is that I’m a very good friend - even if I’m not the greatest friend right now. I’m guessing the same is true for you. 
Link mentioned:
Book: FINISH by Jon Acuff
We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

871: I’m A Really Bad Friend Right Now

Hi Perfectionist Friend,
I SEE you. I know you. Sometimes, I am you.
You likely find yourself often feeling stuck. You’re tightly holding onto dreams, but unable to take steps toward them. You feel the weight of chronic decision fatigue as you try to determine what the next “best” or “right” step is. So you find yourself waiting. Waiting until the time and conditions are juuuust right. Yet, somehow that time never comes.
I know you want more - but with less worry, nervousness, and anxiety.  
I see you worrying about what others might think if you flop.
I see you anxiously stuffing your dreams into deep hiding places because you think you might fail.
Perhaps you desire perfection so deeply you cannot make a decision or take any action because… FEAR.
Perhaps you spend inordinate amounts of mental energy on a decision because you think making the wrong decision could ruin everything.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in motherhood and entrepreneurship is that perfect sucks. In fact, perfect stops me in my tracks and keeps me stuck for far too long. And, imperfect action is ridiculously liberating.
We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

815: Kristal DeSantis: Raising Boys Within a Model of Healthy Masculinity

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