Struggle Care

By KC DavisEducation Self-Improvement

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Typical duration
36 min
per episode

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Struggle Care episodes

June 05, 202336: ADHD & Sex with Catie Osborn
As you can probably figure out from the title, this is NOT the show to listen to around children! I’m joined by Catie Osborn, better known as @catieosaurus on TikTok–with an average of 30-50 million monthly views. She is an actor, podcaster, sex educator, adult performer, and mental health and disability advocate based in Atlanta. We are diving into the interesting intersection of ADHD and sexuality. If you are curious to hear more, join us!

Show Highlights:
How growing up in a very conservative and religious household gave Catie an interesting perspective on sex that was based on shame
How Catie became interested in kink, received an ADHD diagnosis, and became a sex educator
Why sex is a “fragile moment”
Why sexual dysfunction and sexual disappointment are NOT the same things
How ADHD makes it difficult to stay focused during sex because of overthinking
How neurodivergent people struggle to articulate their needs–especially with intimacy
Why sex shouldn’t be in terms of obligation, duty, and service but in terms of being authentically ourselves in surrender to the experience
How our sex lives are influenced by layers of white supremacy, capitalism, trauma, and heteronormative values that need to be unpacked and investigated
What kink is at its core–and why it has saved Catie
Why conversations about sex and intimacy connect you to your partner, breed trust and vulnerability, and lead to better sex!
Why Catieosaurus’ TikTok series, “Burnt Out Gifted and Talented Submissive Brat with a Praise Kink,” has been hugely popular
How kink allowed Catie to be the one who calls the shots and feels safe and supported–for the first time

Resources and Links:
Connect with Catie: Website, Podcast, Instagram, and TikTok
Book mentioned: Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
1 hr 8 min
May 29, 202335: Discouraged with Self-Care with Taylor Elyse Morrison
Self-care is a term we hear EVERYWHERE right now, and you’ve heard me talk about it over and over again. Today’s discussion is around the disillusionment of the self-care industry that I’m feeling, along with many others. I’m joined by Taylor Elyse Morrison, the author of Inner Workout: Strengthening Self-Care Practices for Healing Body, Soul, and Mind. Taylor is a founder, facilitator, coach, and serial entrepreneur, and she uses her coaching, mindfulness, and movement training to meet people where they are and offer actionable steps toward avoiding burnout. I’m putting Taylor on the spot by asking questions and picking her brain about common self-care struggles, and she is up for the challenge! Let’s see how this turns out!

Show Highlights:
How the consumeristic quality of today’s self-care movement ignores the marginalizations and barriers that many people experience that bring distress and hopelessness
Why Taylor urges us to ask, “Is it the Self, or is it the System?”
Why Taylor created a self-care assessment to give people “practical starting points”
How Taylor’s self-care assessment is based on the five yogic dimensions
Why self-care is often confused with pleasure as the hard work of self-care is overlooked
Why part of self-care is holding onto yourself in the presence of other people
Why wisdom is a part of self-care, along with the components of presence, self-trust, and aligned action
How curiosity and self-compassion play into effective self-care
Why Taylor is satisfied with the feedback she is getting from her book

Resources and Links:
Connect with Taylor: Website, (Buy her book, take the free self-care assessment, and join her newsletter group.) TikTok, and Instagram.
Find Taylor’s book on Amazon: Inner Workout: Strengthening Self-Care Practices for Healing Body, Soul, and Mind.
Find Inner Workout on TikTok and Instagram.
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
33 min
May 22, 202334: The Problem with Professional Organizing with Professional Organizer Alison Lush
Can you afford the services of a professional organizer? Most people can’t, and that’s one of the big problems with the industry. Many professional organizers have come up with alternative ideas that allow them to reach more people with their services. Join us to learn more!
I’m happy to welcome back to the show Alison Lush, a Certified Professional Organizer who specializes in chronic disorganization. Alison last joined me for Episode 5 about Gentle Organizing. Today’s discussion is about the problems with professional organizing and how the industry is evolving to be accessible to more people. The good news is that there are different levels of help available more than ever before for organizing and decluttering your spaces!
Show Highlights:
Why a main problem with the professional organizing industry is that the services are not accessible for most people
How the pandemic massively impacted professional organizers in beneficial ways that are far more economical for clients
How Alison’s focus has changed to educating and empowering the individual to get unstuck
Why there is a spectrum of disorganization in which most people exist somewhere in the middle
Highlights of new gap-filling services that some innovative professional organizers are offering (See Resources and Links)
Why Accountability Groups and Body Doubling have become the cornerstone of Alison’s work with clients
Why the biggest question for professional organizers to ask regarding the client is, “What do they need?”
The difference between being unwilling and being overwhelmed in organizing and decluttering
Alison’s advice about finding a professional organizer

Resources and Links:
Connect with Alison: Website and TikTok

JUDITH KOLBERG
Conquering Chronic Disorganization book – emotion-based decluttering and organizing strategies
https://www.judithkolberg.com/
HAZEL THORNTON
Go With the Flow!: The clutter flow chart workbook https://www.org4life.com/
SUSAN GARDNER
The Focus Project “If your possessions interfere with your quality of life, The Focus Project is a way to look at them through a different lens.” Frame, Value, Edit. Exercises that promote looking at your belongings from a different angle. Reflection, partnering, creativity are encouraged, along with curiosity about the root causes of clutter. – Self-directed
LYNNE POULTON
Declutter GO! by Lynne Poulton - Once you start, you’re on a roll. Declutter GO! GAME NIGHTS – Group body doubling – weekly guided activities, prompts – group body doubling or autonomous -
JONDA BEATTIE AND DIANE QUINTANA
Release-Repurpose-Reorganize CARDS
https://releaserepurpose.com/?fbclid=IwAR3UkkdN6FdroVrQ260VV17XqvA2MnuMl5Hf9DHfzdMD_OaiYLz8tFbyYag - Self-directed – focused areas – systematic
VICKIE DELLAQUILA
Ophelia the Organizer – Follow her adventures and hear her organizing advice
https://www.opheliatheorganizer.com/
JULIET LANDAU-POPE
Organizing Bootcamp (5x15 minute sessions over weekdays) https://jlpcoach.com/
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website

Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
30 min
May 15, 202333: What Stress Animal are You? with Dr Lindsey Cooley
**Content Warning: This episode references school shootings and the murder of George Floyd.
Stress is a word we throw around regarding many aspects of life, and we all know what it is to feel stress, but how much do we truly understand about it? Stress can take any able-bodied, able-minded person and bring them to a whole new level, whether or not they have a diagnosed condition. As we break down the topic of stress, each person has different responses, personality styles, and primary goals. Join us to find out which stress animal you are!
I’m joined by Dr. Lindsey Cooley, who posted a TikTok about stress, and I knew we had to have this conversation on the podcast. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in school-aged children/teens, emotional and behavioral disorders, LGBTQ youth, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder.
Show Highlights:
Why we should be kind to ourselves–even if we don’t have a diagnosis
What is stress? (THE million-dollar question!)
The phases of stress (alarm, resistance, and exhaustion) and how prolonged stress can cause diseases of adaptation
How our culture normalizes “too much stress”
How stressful life events can affect executive functioning, relationships, energy, and more (The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale and Adverse Childhood Experience are well-known measurement tools.)
Why we need to legitimize that most of our stress is caused by normal reactions to dysfunctional systems
The medical model of disease vs. the social model of disease
Common symptoms of being in a prolonged stress cycle
Differences in acute stress, chronic stress, and traumatic stress
How traumatic stress occurs when we watch something like the murder of George Floyd and school shootings
How the “stress animals” (eagle, turtle, chameleon, and lion) concept came from Lynn Lott's Top Card Activity
How your personality style and stress response help determine your stress animal
How we can learn to care for ourselves in the middle of stress

Resources:
Connect with Dr. Lindsey Cooley: TikTok
Mentioned in this episode: Lynn Lott's Top Card Activity, the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, the ACE Scale, and "Kids Are Suffering from Toxic Stress" LA Times article
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
49 min
May 08, 202332: Book Chat: Real Self Care with Dr Pooja Lakshmin
If you follow me at all, you know that I really don’t like the word self-care. But today, I’m giving you an entire episode about Real Self Care!
My guest today is Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a perinatal psychiatrist, writer, and CEO of Gemma, a women's mental health community, has a fresh perspective on self-care. In her debut nonfiction book, Real Self Care, Dr. Lakshmin challenges the conventional concept of self-care, which is largely full of empty calories and devoid of substance. She argues that the game is rigged, and faux self-care only keeps us looking outward, comparing ourselves with others or striving for a certain type of perfection, which means it's incapable of truly nourishing us in the long run. Her insights on self-care are particularly relevant in the current times, when many people feel overwhelmed, overburdened, and burnt out.

Show Highlights:
The difference between a “system” and “philosophy”.
There is no one right answer, there are hundreds of answers.
Hope as a skill, not a new concept.
A boundary is the process you went through where you decided that you were worthy of standing up for what you want.
You know how to practice real self-care when you suffer from a mental health condition.
There is no one answer for recovery from religious trauma.

Links and Resources:
Connect with Dr. Pooja Lakshmin: Instagram, Twitter
Real Self Care, Dr. Pooja Lakshmin
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning

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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
44 min
May 01, 202331: Wait. Am I ADHD? with Dr. Sasha Hamdani
Many adults, like me, are diagnosed with ADHD later in life. It is fascinating to hear the stories of how this diagnosis is missed in their childhood years. I’m joined by Dr. Sasha Hamdani, a board-certified psychiatrist and ADHD clinical specialist who just happens to spend some of her spare time on TikTok. Let’s get the facts from an expert! Join us for this interesting conversation!
Show Highlights:
The basics: What is ADHD?
Why reframing is helpful for adults diagnosed with ADHD
Why many of us do self-diagnosis, especially in today’s social media-driven world
Factors that can cause a child to fly under the radar and go undiagnosed
Why ADHD can be described as “an interest-based nervous system”
How most people with ADHD have an “I’m dumb” moment because of how their brains process information and overlook details
Why ADHD diagnosis is overlooked in so many people because of the ways they learn to compensate for symptoms
Why people with ADHD mask their internal symptoms by learning to respond to their external environment
Dr. Sasha’s advice about educating yourself and learning more about ADHD
How to decide whether or not to take ADHD medication as an adult
Dr. Sasha’s advice about noticing red flags in dealing with your healthcare provider

Resources:
Connect with Dr. Sasha: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Book, Self-Care for People with ADHD, and the Focus Genie App
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
52 min
April 24, 202330: Fat Talk with Virginia Sole-Smith
Do you agree that we live in a world that equates body size with a person’s value? What is our society teaching our kids about fat, body size, and a person’s worth? If you experienced body-size shaming as you grew up, don’t you want to do a better job with your children? Parenting around these topics is not easy, and my guest today wrote a book to help us understand more. I’m excited for this conversation with Virginia Sole-Smith, author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture and host of the Burnt Toast podcast. Join us to learn more!
Show Highlights:
Why parents struggle with fears and concerns around their kids’ body sizes
Why the goal is to have kids who don’t feel anxious about their relationship with food
Why we need to think about health as MUCH more than a number on the scale
Why, to embrace body diversity, we need to challenge what we’ve been trained to think about health, beauty, and morality
How weight distribution matches up with “thin privilege” and anti-fat bias
How focusing too closely on our personal weight struggles causes us to reinforce and perpetuate fat bias in the world
How our children receive messaging around body types and sizes from healthcare providers, sports coaches, etc.
How to have healthy conversations with kids about bodies, fat, diets, etc.
Why parents need to give counter programming to the default settings our kids receive from society about topics such as body shaming and racism
Why Virginia included in her book a chapter called “Straight White Dads on Diets”

Resources:
Connect with Virginia Sole-Smith: Website, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Burnt Toast podcast, and Fat Talk book
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
39 min
April 17, 202329: How to Get Dope Therapy with Shani Tran
Getting therapy and finding the right therapist is super intimidating! Most people aren’t even sure how to begin the process. Besides the fear and stigma associated with seeking help for mental health, therapy can be scary when you don’t know what to expect. One of my friends from TikTok has written a book with tons of practical information and advice about the basics of therapy. Join us to learn more!
Shani Tran is a licensed therapist in Minnesota and Arizona. She wrote the book, Dope Therapy: A Radical Guide to Owning Your Therapy, to validate the anxiety that can arise around seeking counseling. Through her book, she offers guidance for navigating the uncomfortable conversations that can come up in therapy. In her professional work and on TikTok, Shani focuses on education around cultural humility and helping people of color, who have historically been underserved by the mental health community.
Show Highlights:
Why Shani wanted to write her book to make the therapy process less intimidating
How Shani’s book breaks down the therapy process, including all the financial information that people need to know
Why it is important to be direct in your questions to a therapist
How to reframe your thinking around, “Therapy didn’t work for me.”
Why it’s OK to tell your therapist how you really feel (they WANT you to advocate for yourself!)
Shani’s advice about firing a therapist (Hint: Ghosting them is OK!)
Why the therapy room is a great place to practice new communication skills in a safe place
Why your relationship with your therapist is different from every other human relationship
How teletherapy brings new elements to the therapy process to improve accessibility
Why Shani wants to be noticed for her diverse skills as a clinician and not just her work with the BIPOC community
The difference in cultural competency and cultural humility

Resources:
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: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes

Connect with Shani: Dope Therapy book (also available at other booksellers), TikTok, and Instagram

Mentioned by Shani: The Gift of Therapy by Irvin D. Yalom

Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website

Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
50 min
April 10, 202328: The Magic of the Wash & Set with Heidi Smith, LPCS
Small things can make all the difference, and each person gets to decide for themselves what those little steps are that uplift our spirits and lighten our load. These little things are NOT the same for everyone! A simple thing, like having her hair washed and styled twice weekly, helps energize today’s guest and makes her feel that she can take on the world–and she doesn’t need to make excuses for it. Join us to hear my conversation with Heidi Smith.
Show Highlights:
How Heidi decided that having someone “do her hair” twice each week is a BIG deal for her mental health
Why we have to decide for ourselves how to spend our emotional energy, which is in limited supply
Why it is ridiculous that women put so much pressure on themselves to be presentable because of external motivation
Why our self-care routines should serve us and have a place in our functionality
How parenting responsibilities evolved for Heidi to finally allow her to take time for yourself
Why the best advice around self-care tasks is to find what works best for YOU

Resources:
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
18 min
April 03, 202327: The Sex Ed You Should Have Gotten with Rachel Coler Mulholland
Today, we are covering an important topic today, but maybe not in the way you expect. I’m joined by Rachel Mulholland (aka Shug CM), a therapist whom I met on TikTok because of her incredible content around sex education for children. Today’s focus is on how our lives as adults are impacted if we don’t get comprehensive sex education as children. Join us for the conversation!
Show Highlights:
How KC’s story from her teenage years illustrates the gaps that most people have in their education about sex and the fact that sex ed is NOT a one-time conversation
How “purity culture” is impacting teenagers in certain places in the US in damaging ways
How even most comprehensive sex ed doesn’t address the pleasurable side of sex–and (for females) that the pleasure doesn’t have to come from another person
How sexual predators take advantage of the lack of information in sex ed from SAFE places
Why parents have real fear about talking to their kids about sex ed
The effects of NOT educating kids that sex and pleasure don’t always go together
Rachel’s Four Pillars of Safe Sex: confirmation, communication, lubrication, and enthusiastic participation
Why parents should be aware when their kids are ready to hear and learn–and begin at the most basic level appropriate for their age
How to answer those first little-kid questions around, “Where do babies come from?”
Why curiosity is a foundational part of body talk for kids–not just around sexuality
How parents can work through their own feelings around sex ed with their children
Why Rachel’s next project is a book about body talk

Resources:
Connect with Rachel: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Website (coming soon!)
Recommended by Rachel: How Do You Make A Baby by Anna Fiske
Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website
Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
41 min

About Struggle Care

From the publisher's feed

A podcast about self-care by a host that hates the term self-care. Therapist KC Davis, author of the book How to Keep House While Drowning talks about mental health, care tasks, and more.