Unless you've been living under a rock the last few years (and really, who could blame you), you know that everyone's very concerned about the risks social media poses to children: low self-esteem and anxiety, poor reading scores, exposure to content about eating disorders, drug use, and sexual exploitation–and those are just the biggest ones.

But what you're not hearing much about is how social media negatively impacts adults, too. Whether you're using social media for fun or for your business, you're not immune to the same negative impacts of social media use.

In this episode, I chat with licensed psychotherapist and mindfulness practitioner Maris Pasquale Doran about how social media and smartphones can become unhealthy coping mechanisms, what our distractedness can signal to kids, and how to regulate our nervous systems without reaching for the screen. 

About Maris:

Maris Pasquale Doran, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, midlife specialist, speaker, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Piper Chen Sings. She brings 20 years of experience to her private psychotherapy practice, her program Midlife Mothers: Pause. Reset. Reclaim., and her work with individuals, organizations, and communities.

Across all of her work, Maris shares a foundational methodology rooted in nervous system regulation. To learn more, visit marispd.com.

Want more from me and Social Reject? 

Music  

Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My

Composed by: Mondays

Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

I know you’ve seen headlines like these: “I started a TikTok account with nothing and now I’m a millionaire” or “How I make six figures with Instagram Reels.” Positive press of social media success stories isn’t hard to come by, and it makes it seem like the smart marketing play that promises the fastest financial success is to build your business around social media.

What you hear much less about are the women who followed that advice and lost big time. But it’s much more common than you'd think.

In this episode, I talk to Ali Prato, journalist, author, and the host of the InfertileAF podcast, about what happened when her Instagram account got hacked, how it jeopardized her business, put her sponsorship deals at risk, and cost her years worth of personal memories. 

About Ali Prato:

As the host of the Infertile AF podcast, Ali helps families break the stigma around infertility. Her newest children’s book, Petri Dish Princess, is available for preorder at https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books.

Music  

Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My

Composed by: Mondays

Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

It’s finally here! In this, the first ever episode of the Social Reject podcast, I pull back the curtain on how I’m designing this show to be different from most of the podcast market these days, what you’ll find in future episodes, and why this show almost didn’t happen in the first place. It’s unpolished, I have no idea what I’m doing, and I can’t wait to make more mistakes as I go. 

Music  

Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My

Composed by: Mondays

Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

When Megan launched her own business in 2025, she made an unpopular choice: to build her brand without social media. Because after a career in digital marketing, she knew the hype around social media was riddled with holes. But nobody else was asking the same questions she was, or talking about how Big Tech puts women at risk. So she set out to challenge the narrative. Social Reject explores what it means to build a business that's visible, stable, and profitable without social media.

Music  

Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My

Composed by: Mondays

Licensed via: Epidemic Sound