Everyone can see when you're physically tired.

What they don't see is the mental load you're carrying every single day.

The appointments. The deadlines. The worries. The emotional labor. The constant responsibility of being the one everyone depends on.

In this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores the invisible weight so many people carry while still showing up, smiling, and functioning. We'll discuss what the mental load really is, how it impacts mental health, why so many women find themselves emotionally exhausted, and what healing looks like when you've spent years carrying everybody else's burdens.

You'll also receive guided journaling prompts to help you identify what's weighing on you and practical steps to begin putting some of that weight down.

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Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

Healing isn’t aesthetic. It’s uncomfortable, messy, emotional, and deeply personal.

In this episode, Shawnti Refuge closes out Mental Health Awareness Month with a raw conversation about what healing actually requires: accountability, honesty, boundaries, grief, and the willingness to stop romanticizing survival mode.

If you’ve been saying you want peace, growth, or healing—but keep repeating the same cycles. This episode is your wake-up call.

Because healing isn’t always pretty… but staying stuck will cost you your peace.

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Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

Not every mother-daughter relationship feels safe, and that’s a truth many people struggle to say out loud.

In this episode, Shawnti Refuge unpacks the complexity of loving your mother while still needing healing, boundaries, or distance. From emotional neglect to generational trauma, this conversation explores the “mother wound” and the silent guilt that often comes with it.

If you’ve ever felt conflicted, hurt, or unsure how to navigate your relationship with your mother—this episode will help you make sense of it.

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Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

Motherhood is praised publicly… and suffered through privately.

In this episode, Shawnti Refuge gets real about the emotional weight of being “a good mother” and how unrealistic expectations, silent pressure, and unprocessed trauma can slowly break you down.

Backed by research and lived experience, this conversation dives into mom guilt, burnout, identity loss, and the mental load that nobody talks about—especially in communities where strength is expected and struggle is hidden.

If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re doing enough… while running on empty—this episode is for you.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

Everybody keeps saying they’re “fine.”
 But anxiety is loud. Burnout is real. And functioning doesn’t mean you’re okay.

In this episode, I’m breaking down what mental health actually looks like when you’re the one everybody depends on. The strong one. The reliable one. The one who “got it.”

Because just because you’re showing up doesn’t mean you’re not silently drowning.

We’re talking high-functioning anxiety, emotional suppression, survival mode, and what your body starts doing when your mind keeps ignoring what’s real.

If you’ve been pushing through instead of healing… this episode is for you.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

You’ve acknowledged it.
 You’ve faced it.
 Now it’s time to release it.

In this final episode of the Emotional Spring Cleaning series, we’re talking about what it actually means to let go—for real. Not just saying “I’m done,” but emotionally detaching, reclaiming your power, and choosing yourself without guilt.

Because closure doesn’t always come from them.
 Sometimes it comes from you deciding you’re no longer carrying what hurt you.

If you’ve been holding on to people, pain, memories, or versions of yourself that no longer align… this is your moment.

You’re not starting over.
 You’re starting lighter.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

Let’s be honest… you already know.

You know what hurt you.
 You know what didn’t sit right.
 You know what you should’ve walked away from.

But instead of facing it… you stayed busy, distracted, and “focused on other things.”

In this episode, we’re unpacking emotional avoidance—the habits, distractions, and behaviors that keep you from actually dealing with what’s real. Because staying busy is not the same as healing.

If you’ve been saying “I’m just trying not to think about it,” this is your sign that it’s time to stop running and start processing.

You’re not confused.
 You’re avoiding the truth that requires you to change.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

You keep saying it’s different this time… but it keeps ending the same way.

Different person. Same outcome. Same feelings. Same frustration.

In this episode, we’re breaking down the emotional patterns you keep repeating in your relationships—whether that’s romantic, friendships, or even family. Because it’s not always about who you’re choosing… it’s about what you haven’t healed.

We’re talking about attachment, emotional habits, unconscious cycles, and why your nervous system keeps choosing what feels familiar—even when it hurts.

This is the episode that’s going to make you stop blaming “them”… and start asking yourself better questions.

Because healing isn’t just about letting go of people.
 It’s about breaking the patterns that keep bringing them back in different forms.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

You’ve been holding it together for everybody… but who’s holding space for you?

In this episode, we’re unpacking what it really looks like to carry unprocessed emotions, unresolved pain, and old survival habits that no longer serve you. Just because you’ve learned how to function through it doesn’t mean you’ve healed from it.

This is your wake-up call to stop romanticizing your resilience and start releasing what’s been weighing you down.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, easily triggered, emotionally tired, or disconnected… this episode is for you.

We’re not organizing the mess this month.
 We’re clearing it out.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals

High-Functioning but Highly Unhealed

In this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores the emotional reality many high-achieving women face — appearing successful on the outside while quietly carrying emotional exhaustion on the inside.

This conversation addresses high-functioning depression, burnout, emotional suppression, and the pressure women feel to keep everything together. Shawnti also discusses the importance of slowing down, self-awareness, and creating space for healing.

Subscribe to the podcast and explore Shawnti’s guided journals and resources at ShawntiRefuge.com.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Shawnti Refuge is an Award Winning Master Certified Mental Health Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author of the best-selling book, “Quiet As Kept”, specializing in guided journaling for mental wellness. After overcoming severe depression and anxiety through journaling, Shawnti developed her own program, empowering individuals to heal and thrive without medication. She is the creator of Shawnti Refuge Journals, which carries a series of guided journals designed to help others release past traumas. With her relatable, no-nonsense approach, Shawnti's mission is to inspire personal growth and self-awareness. She is the founder of Stayin' Stuck Ain't Cute Coaching and a passionate advocate for mental health in both business and community settings.

Website:

ShawntiRefuge.com

Social media:

IG: @shawntirefugejournals

FB: Shawnti Refuge Journals

TikTok: @shawntijournalbae

YouTube:  @shawntirefugejournals