When Renée asked Torie what she does for work, Torie responded, "Ugh. You're going to hate this. I'm a lawyer." This was only one of many times that Torie made Renée laugh out loud. Hilarious and whip-smart, Torie grew up in an "enmeshed" family that survived both her mother's brain tumors and her father's catastrophic car accident. She navigated severe anxiety as a child, postpartum depression as a new mom, and, most recently, an existential crisis. She comes to the show hoping Renée can help her map out a path to the life satisfaction that has so far eluded her. Along the way, they talk about parenting challenges, mental health care, family boundaries, and a lot of other things that help Renée identify the different forces that conspire to keep Torie frustrated. And, for the record, this is the podcast's 100th episode! Torie's openness and quick wit make for an episode well-deserving of the honor.

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"I'm the mediator...I'm the oldest everything," Layla told Renée. While she is the oldest child in her immediate family and the oldest cousin in her extended family, Layla is the youngest guest we have ever had on the show. You'd never guess that from listening to her, though; she is wise beyond her years and lovely in every way. She is also carrying a timeless burden, one that most of us unpack much later in life. Layla brings all the podcast favorites to this episode - fragile ego responses, enmeshment, codependency, complex trauma - and she asks some familiar questions, including, "Why am I attracted to this jerk?" and "How to do I set boundaries with my mom without hurting her?" Renée answers these questions and more, and Layla makes us all look bad with her stunning maturity.

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Christy reached out to Renée in a Q&A with this question: "My skin gets red and blotchy whenever I'm around cis men. What's going on?" Since Renée needed a lot more information before she could formulate an answer, she and Christy and decided to sort it out on the show. They look at Christy's childhood, her marriage, her experience as a parent - all of it - ultimately arriving at a fascinating explanation, one that both Renée and Christy are quite excited about. And get this: it's NOT trauma! What is it, then? Well, the answer is complex, so you'll just have to listen to find out. Fortunately, the path to it is juicy - anger, relationships, politics, psychosomatics, astrology, martyrdom, and more. It's also a lot of fun, thanks largely to Christy's infectious energy, beautiful openness, and intelligent insight. 

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"I don't really want to talk about this at all, but let's do it," Deena told Renée when they started talking. Deena, a performing artist, has a brilliant dry wit - but in this case she was only half-joking. She has a bunch of painful content that she'd rather ignore; fortunately, she's too smart for that, so she has come to the show for help unpacking the knot of depression and trauma she has been carrying for years. And that's not all: she and Renée talk about ADHD and how it can complicate friendships, people-pleasing behaviors, what "healed" really means, and more. Deena's humor, intelligence, honesty, and eloquence make for a brilliant conversation, so much so that Renée stops mid-conversation to tell her so. This one is fast-paced, rich in content, and ends with a path to personal peace.

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Our first guest of the year is here to blow your mind. Haley was sex trafficked as a young child - by her mother. Now 31 years old and a mother herself, Haley comes to the show to tell her story and deepen her healing. She has done so much work already to break the many cycles of dysfunction into which she was born, but, as any cycle breaker will tell you, the work can feel endless. Renée gives Haley potent supports to keep her life force spinning as she finds leaves behind the deeper trauma scars and practices new boundaries with others and new love for herself. Haley's story is gutting, but Haley herself is a lovely wonder whose honesty and strength will astound you. 

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Renée is back with one more episode of storytelling and psycho-education to kick off the new year. This week, she narrates the series of disasters that hit just as she was leaving Italy and makes meaning from the madness. Then, she answers listeners' questions about domestic violence, the ego, and defense mechanisms. Next week, we return to our usual format with some amazing guests. Until then, sink your teeth into some meaty content delivered with Renée's characteristic unfiltered, unedited, unchecked energy.

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Renée continues last week's series of episodes from Italy in trademark style: unplanned, unedited, and with a lot of words. This week, she talks about being a gluten-free vegan in the land of pizza and pasta before answering a few particularly interesting listener questions. Topics include why so many married couples are breaking up, how to tell your partner you're upset without causing a fight, and the best ways to intervene on panic and anxiety attacks. Plus, there's a bonus section at the very end that was recorded only moments before the episode aired in which Renée serves a little extra honesty. From her makeshift studio in Messina, Italy, Renée closes out the year with some hardcore content and some softcore ramblings. There's a little something for everyone: Happy Holidays!

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We take a break from our regular programming this week so that Renée can catch up on some juicy questions from listeners. Topics include fractured relationships, EMDR, phobias, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. And as always with Renée-only episodes, it's raw! No editing, no breath work breaks, just a whole lot of information. If you have a question for Renée that didn't make it to this episode, don't despair. There will be another, longer Q&A episode coming very soon, so keep those questions coming!

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Mickayla is a stand-up comedian, which makes her an excellent storyteller, and she has quite the story to tell -  one she has never told before. She decided to come to the show after realizing that the trauma of her marriage is interfering with her new single life; she is constantly triggered in her new relationships, and she feels her depression creeping back to full strength. To make it more complicated, Mickayla does not currently have access to therapy or EMDR, though she has done both in the past. Fortunately, Renée picks up where Mickayla's past work in therapy left off. The two of them do quite a lot of laughing despite the intensity of Mickayla's narrative, and even Mickayla's dog weighs in a few times. Ultimately, Renée maps out a path for Mickalya that leads her farther away from her trauma and nearer to the closeness and wholeness she craves.

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"I call it my 'splat from grace!'" Michelle told Renée. "My entire life turned upside down with my divorce." She isn't kidding. Michelle's marriage started out "fairy tale-esque" and devolved into an abusive nightmare over the course of 18 years. She comes to the podcast hoping Renée can help her deal with the worst consequence of her family's fracture: her broken relationship with her adult son. In order to get it sorted, Renée follows Michelle through the dramatic narrative that begins with Michelle's dream family and ends with her son refusing to speak to her. Fortunately for us, Michelle is a live wire, which makes the story extra compelling. Her family situation is indeed rather tricky, but it starts to come into focus once Renée unearths Michelle's older, unresolved pain. In the end, they get it all sorted: Michelle has a plan for moving forward, and she clearly has the energy to put that plan into action!

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