LiveFree with T1D

When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 23 years ago, I had a lot of challenges and had no clue what I was doing!

I was scared and overwhelmed.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist podcast, I tell you about 5 things I wish I would have done earlier in my diagnosis for my mental health. No matter how long you have been living with diabetes, I hope my experiences can help you on your journey.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership. Use code COMMUNITY to get your first month for $10.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

Being a teenager is tough.

Being a teen with T1D is extremely challenging. 

From navigating relationships with family, friends, and teachers to gaining independence and eventually moving out on their own, diabetes can put a wrench in the already landmine-ridden world of adolescence.

But this doesn't mean that all hope is lost!

My guest on this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast is Dr. Kenneth Gorfinke. Dr. Ken is a psychologist who works with teens and their parents to help them improve their relationship when it comes to living with type 1 diabetes. In this episode, Dr. Ken talks about how he approaches this work and gives some tips on how parents and teens can put these skills into action.

Click HERE to find out more about Dr. Ken.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership. Use code COMMUNITY to get your first month for $10.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

Do you blame T1D for all the problems in your life? 

You had a bad day at work...diabetes is to blame.

You got in a fight with your wife...it's T1D's fault!

Your kids aren't behaving...diabetes is responsible.

We all scapegoat diabetes to some extent, and sometimes, we don't even realize we are doing it.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast, I talk about what it means to scapegoat T1D and give you the four most common reasons why people do it. Then, I give you three steps you can take to make sure you are not passing the blame to diabetes for the challenges in your life that it's not responsible for.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership. Use code COMMUNITY to get your first month for $10.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

The diabetes community has many faces. We come from diverse backgrounds, and each of us is unique. However, we are all united by the common bond of type 1 diabetes.

The diabetes community comes together in different ways. Sometimes it's through diabetes camps and in-person events, and other times it's running into another T1D in the wild. The T1D community also comes together through social media, podcasts, and even photography.

My guest on this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast is Laura Pavlakovich. Laura is the founder of You're Just My Type, an organization that works to create a lasting community around Type 1 Diabetes. Laura started You're Just My Type to use her background in photojournalism to support her passion for building community for people with T1D. In our conversation, we talk about why community, in whatever form it takes, is a critical piece of the T1D + mental health puzzle.

You can find out more about You're Just My Type at https://www.yourejustmytype.com and on Instagram at @yourjustmytype1.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership. Use code MYTYPE to get your first month for $10.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

This episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast is dedicated to answering your questions.

In this episode of my podcast, I answer questions about:

✔️ How to make T1D less annoying

✔️ How to combat decision fatigue

✔️ How to learn to trust diabetes technology

✔️ Whether T1D ever gets any easier

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

Raise your hand if you've even been self-critical about T1D.

People with T1D tend to be hard on themselves. We beat ourselves up when our blood sugars are out of range, when we don't make the healthiest choices, or when the emotional burden of T1D weighs us down.
Self-compassion with T1D is possible, and I want to tell you how.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast, I talk about self-compassion and give you a step-by-step guide on how you can be more compassionate with yourself around the struggles of T1D. I also give you two challenges to help you put these tools into practice starting today!

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

You are probably focusing your time and energy with T1D in the wrong place!

You most likely focus your attention on things you don't have complete control over. You focus on your blood sugars and how you feel physically and emotionally. You try to control these variables, sometimes with limited success. And when you can't control them, you double down and try even harder.

What if I told you there was a better place to focus your energy with T1D?

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast, I discuss why you shouldn't focus your efforts on your diabetes output. Instead, you should focus your time and energy on what you have complete control over--your input. When you focus on your diabetes management behavior, not only do you see what you can control, but the output follows. You feel more confident, and your blood sugar and stress levels will thank you. In this episode, I give you four steps you can take to focus on your input with T1D.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

I don't know about you, but I fail with T1D all the time. Things don't always go as planned. It's just part of life.

We need to change the way we think about failure with T1D. I want to encourage you to lean in and be open to the possibility of failure in your life with T1D. When you try to avoid failing, you stay stuck and deny yourself the opportunity to grow.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast, I discuss why failure with T1D can be a good thing. You'll hear how being open to failure can bring freedom and flexibility into your life. At the end of this episode, I give you three steps you can take to allow yourself to fail with T1D and improve your mental health in the process.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

I have some exciting news!

My book, Diabetes Sucks and You Can Handle It is coming soon. 

Last year, I came to a realization. T1D gets a lot more challenging when you start believing you can’t handle this stress. When you accept that T1D sucks AND believe you can handle it, life with T1D gets a lot easier. And from there, this book was born.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast I talk about what you're going to learn when you read the book, as well as what the process of writing the book taught me about managing the stress of T1D. I also give you a sneak peak into what I hope are your biggest takeaways from the book.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

Have you ever felt embarrassed by your diabetes supplies? If so, you're not alone!

The good news is, it doesn't have to be this way!

My guest on this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast is Kyrra Richards, founder of Myabetic. A professional dancer, Kyrra was diagnosed with T1D when she was 24 years old, and like many people, felt embarrassed by her diabetes supplies. An artist at heart, she started thinking about how she could make her diabetes gear better reflect her personality. Kyrra started designing stylish medical products to help herself and others feel less self-conscious about their diabetes without knowing anything about fashion. In our conversation, Kyrra talks about how Myabetic's products and the Myabetic community help empower people to manage their diabetes without shame.

Click HERE to join The Diabetes Psychologist Membership.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.