Trust and Thrive

Shahem McLaurin is a licensed therapist, founder of an independent mental health agency, and public mental health educator whose work bridges clinical expertise with large-scale public engagement. They have led and participated in national mental health awareness campaigns in collaboration with institutions such as Harvard University and the National Ad Agency, and have partnered with brands and organizations to develop ethical, evidence-informed mental health messaging. 

As the founder of their own agency, Shahem provides clinical leadership, strategic direction, and oversight of mental health programming rooted in trauma-informed and culturally responsive care. They are a sought-after speaker and keynote presenter, having delivered talks and trainings at universities including NYU and SUNY. Their work centers on making mental health education accessible, reducing stigma, and expanding equitable access to care through media, storytelling, and community-based dialogue. 

In this episode, we explore what it looks like to show up authentically as a therapist, different career paths (including community mental health), and how these experiences can shape the way we understand care, access, and equity. 

We also talk about the importance of advocating for clients not just within the therapy room, but outside of it as well. Shahem shares more about the importance of working toward more accessible and inclusive mental health care, and how there is no one-size-fits-all way to show up as a therapist.

FOLLOW SHAHEM:

INSTA: @5hahem; @freedomcollectivepod
TIKTOK: @5hahem
PODCAST: Freedom Collective Podcast

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
THREADS: @trustandthrive
FACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramont
EMAIL: [email protected]

In this solo episode, I talk about Moral OCD (also known as scrupulosity), a subtype of OCD that can make everyday decisions feel heavy and high-stakes. I discuss how thoughts related to this subtype can show up as intense guilt, fear of being a "bad" person, perfectionism, people pleasing tendencies, and feeling responsible for doing the "right" thing at all times.

In addition, I explore examples of compulsions that can show up, including mental reviewing, reassurance seeking, confessing, or trying to achieve certainty about what is morally “correct.” I share how social media, activism spaces, and being constantly exposed to information can intensify feelings of urgency and responsibility, and why this can feel so distressing. 

As always, this episode is not one-size-fits-all and simply reflects a few ways OCD-thoughts related to morality can show up. I hope to bring language to an experience that can feel incredibly isolating, and to remind you that you are not alone if your mind makes morality feel urgent, overwhelming, or impossible to "get right."

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
EMAIL: [email protected]

Jennifer Bohle, MS, LPC, is a trauma-informed therapist, content creator, and high-achieving creative based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She works with perfectionistic women to build self-trust, confidence, and worthiness while learning to relate to perfectionism as a strength. Through content creation, Jennifer blends humor, education, and real life - using creativity as a way to make therapy more human and accessible, and to stay connected to the playful, curious part of herself that still feels like a kid at heart.

In this episode, we explore the intersection of therapy, social media, and authenticity. We discuss EMDR as a therapeutic modality that helps the brain process difficult experiences through bilateral stimulation, and how trauma-informed care emphasizes pacing, flexibility, and client choice. We also talk about how EMDR can be adapted to meet individual needs and isn’t limited to major traumatic events. 

We explore common misconceptions about therapy modalities, the pressure clients can feel to do therapy a certain “right” way, and what it can look to humanize therapy online through the use of humor and play. We also have an open conversation about being therapists on social media, navigating boundaries online, and embracing authenticity both professionally and personally. 

FOLLOW JENNIFER:

INSTA: @jenniferanncounseling
TIKTOK: @jenniferanncounseling
WEBSITE: www.jenniferanncounseling.com

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
THREADS: @trustandthrive
FACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramont
EMAIL: [email protected]

Milestones like anniversaries, engagements, and other "big" moments can bring up pressure, doubt, and intrusive thoughts for those navigating relationship OCD. When there's a pressure of how a day "should" feel or look like, this can create an extra layer of meaning, making thoughts feel more urgent and significant than they really are. 

In this episode, I reflect on recently celebrating my wedding anniversary and how my relationship to my intrusive thoughts has shifted over time. I share how I used to respond out of urgency and how I have been able to enjoy celebrations, trips, and other special moments without feeling overpowered by the thoughts. 

That said, I also normalize the ups and downs of living with OCD, the grief that can come with recognizing how much space OCD can take up, and compassion for oneself as we navigate our personal experience. 

If you've ever felt like you "should" feel "more" happy or joyful, you're not alone. There is hope, while remembering that progress can seem more subtle and gradual than we expect.

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
EMAIL: [email protected]

Natasha Daniels has been an anxiety & OCD therapist for over two decades. She combines both her clinical expertise with her lived experience, raising her own three kids with anxiety and OCD. She is the creator of the website, Child OCD Therapist. She gives in-depth support to parents raising kids with anxiety or OCD through her books, courses in the AT Parenting Survival Online School and in her online membership AT Parenting Community. Her latest books include Crushing OCD Workbook for Kids and her memoir, Out of My Shell: Overcoming Social Anxiety from Childhood to Adulthood.

In this episode, we talk about how OCD and anxiety may present in children, including behaviors that can sometimes be misunderstood as personality traits or "difficult" behavior. We explore the emotional experience of parenting a child who is struggling, including feelings of responsibility, guilt, comparison, and uncertainty.

We discuss how parents can support their child’s wellbeing while being mindful of not unintentionally reinforcing OCD patterns, as well as the importance of parents receiving support themselves.

We also acknowledge grief that can arise for adults who are diagnosed later in life and begin to recognize OCD patterns that may have been present in childhood.

This episode aims to increase awareness, while providing compassion and reducing shame for parents and children navigating OCD and/or anxiety.

FOLLOW NATASHA:

INSTA: @childocdtherapist
WEBSITE: www.atparentingcommunity.com
BOOKS

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
THREADS: @trustandthrive
FACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramont
EMAIL: [email protected]

Dr. Kai Qiu, MD is an inner child healing guide who traded the path to psychiatry for something he believes the mental health space is missing. He’s the author of Emotionally Immature Parents: A Recovery Workbook and combines psychology, Buddhist practice, and his own lived experience as a second-generation Chinese-Canadian to help successful people heal the patterns they inherited but didn’t choose. 

His content reaches millions worldwide, and he works closely with high-achievers who look like they have it all together but still feel something quietly unresolved underneath. Dr. Kai helps them see those patterns were never personal failures. They were inherited programs. And they can be rewired.

In this episode, Kai shares his story, opening up about medical school and the internal conflict and growth that came with honoring what felt more aligned. 

We share a conversation on the topics of emotionally immature parents, childhood wounds, and the impact these experiences can have on our sense of self. We explore inner child work as a main theme, including common misconceptions, why this work can feel uncomfortable, and how reconnecting with younger parts of ourselves can support healing, self-trust, and authenticity. 

We also discuss the pressure many people feel to follow certain paths, how childhood experiences can shape our relationships and self-perception, and how inner child work can support us in moving toward a more authentic way of living.

Whether you’re navigating family dynamics, questioning expectations placed on you, or wanting to better understand your emotional patterns, we hope this conversation can offer a grounding and compassionate perspective.

FOLLOW DR. KAI:

INSTA: @hellodoctorkai
BOOK: Emotionally Immature Parents
WORKSHOPS AND MORE

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
THREADS: @trustandthrive
FACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramont
EMAIL: [email protected]

In this episode, I reflect on my identity as a child of immigrants during the week of Nowruz (Persian New Year). I share the range of emotions that have been coming up during this time, both personally and collectively. I also discuss the pressure that can exist to express or explain every single feeling one may be having, especially on social media.

This episode focuses on holding space for nuance, making space for mixed emotions, and trusting your own experience without needing to define it for others. I also explore the guilt that can show up, whether you're a child of immigrants or just being a part of this generation, and how to recognize it without feeling defined by it. 

This episode is hopefully a reminder that multiple things can be true at once and that we can staying informed, while also taking care of ourselves...and validating the heaviness we feel without needing to always pathologize our human experience.

I'm thinking of my fellow Iranians, those affected and hurt, the lives lost, and anyone who is experiencing the heaviness of the world. Wishing a comforting Nowruz and sending big hugs to all.

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
EMAIL: [email protected]

Lily was a school psychologist for 12 years and served as the lead school psychologist in her district in Los Angeles. During that time, she also struggled deeply with anxiety, panic, and OCD.

In 2018, Lily had a life-changing realization: she wasn’t broken and nothing needed to be fixed. She had been innocently overcomplicating her experience. She discovered it was safe to think less, that thoughts don’t need to be believed, and that feelings naturally settle on their own.

In 2020, Lily began coaching and now helps people reconnect with the peace that already exists beneath anxious thinking. She works with individuals and groups and shares simple, lighthearted, and transformative teachings on mental wellbeing.

In this episode, Lily shares about her mental health journey, her experience as a a school psychologist, and how anxiety impacted different areas of her life. 

We talk about experiences with driving anxiety, as well as examples of what derealization and depersonalization can look/feel like. We normalize how scary, isolating, and confusing it can feel when there's no understanding. In addition, we explore the role of patience, self-compassion, and learning to accept anxiety instead of constantly resisting or fighting it. 

If you’ve ever experienced driving anxiety, feelings of unreality, or the pressure to “fix” or "solve" anxiety quickly, we hope this conversation may help you feel less alone and offer a different perspective on moving forward.

FOLLOW LILY:

INSTA: @_peacefromwithin
TIKOK: @peacefromwithin
WEBSITE: www.peace-from-within.com

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
THREADS: @trustandthrive
FACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramont
EMAIL: [email protected]

Katie Pankonin is a mental health therapist out of Phoenix, Arizona specializing in grief and relationships. Katie is passionate about normalizing the grief experience and finding relatable ways to humanize the "grief club" we all inevitably join one day. Katie can be found on social media at @enkindle_mentalhealth where she enjoys creating community for those grieving and posting daily mental health content.

In this episode, we explore how grief can be more complex, personal, and nuanced than we're taught. We talk about the journey into grief therapy and importance of normalizing conversations around death and loss. 

We discuss what it can look like to grieve people who are still alive, mourning relationships that were complicated or harmful, exploring parasocial grief, and feeling unexpected emotions of confusion or relief around loss.

In the episode, we reflect on how to support someone who is grieving without unintentionally minimizing their experience, what helpful grief communication can look like, and how meaning can slowly emerge with grief (while not putting pressure for it to).

Whether you're navigating your own grief, supporting someone else through their experience, or simply wanting to understand the many forms grief can take, we hope this conversation can offer a compassionate and nuanced perspective.

FOLLOW KATIE:

INSTA: @enkindle_mentalhealth
TIKOK: @enkindle_mentalhealth
WEBSITE: www.enkindlementalhealth.org

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
THREADS: @trustandthrive
FACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramont
EMAIL: [email protected]

To wrap up this month's focus on relationships and OCD, I dive deep into how OCD and anxiety can show up in platonic relationships.

In this solo episode, I talk about common friendship-based compulsions (including reassurance seeking, mental reviewing, confessing, avoidance), the fear of being seen as "too much," recognizing patterns of rumination, and practicing self-compassion instead of self-shame.

As a reminder (as with every episode this month), you are deserving of friendship, connection, and community. 

STAY CONNECTED:

INSTA: @trustandthrive
TIKOK: @trustandthrive
EMAIL: [email protected]