Licensed Therapist Ashley Hudson joins Kristie and Felicia to explore the complex and heavy topic of parental emotional abuse. They discuss why this form of abuse is so difficult to identify, why parents engage in it (often unconsciously), and the long-term impact it has on children as they transition into adulthood.

Some takeaways:

• Why emotional abuse is harder to spot than physical abuse
• The "good kid": How fear of a parent's reaction creates anxious compliance
• Strategies for coping like setting "quiet boundaries"
• Letting go of the "good kid" identity and accepting being labeled as the "bad guy"

For sponsorships, please reach out to [email protected]

Be the first to join the upcoming WYTT Substack

Follow Felicia on Instagram

Follow WYTT on Instagram

Connect with Ashley: https://www.ashleyhudsontherapy.com/

Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/

*Hosts: Kristie Plantinga and Felicia Keller Boyle

*Watch full episodes on YouTube: What Your Therapist Thinks

*Brought to you by BestTherapists.com

*Produced by PodVision.

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review, or share it with a friend who might need it!

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a licensed therapist or call your local crisis line for support.

Drama Therapist Arianna Wheat joins Kristie and Felicia to explore emotional numbness as a coping mechanism for when we feel overwhelmed by intense emotions or past trauma. Arianna believes healing begins with connection—to one’s past, present, and with someone who sees them fully.

Some takeaways:

• How to regulate your nervous system
• Hyper and hypo-arousal: what are they and why are they relevant?
• Challenging the “shoulds”
• Radical acceptance of your emotions

For sponsorships, please reach out to [email protected]

Be the first to join the upcoming WYTT Substack

Follow Felicia on Instagram

Follow WYTT on Instagram

Connect with Arianna:

• https://www.soulinsession.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/soulinsession

*Hosts: Kristie Plantinga and Felicia Keller Boyle

*Watch full episodes on YouTube: What Your Therapist Thinks

*Brought to you by BestTherapists.com

*Produced by PodVision.

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review, or share it with a friend who might need it!

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a licensed therapist or call your local crisis line for support.

Therapist Halle Thomas joins Kristie and Felicia to unpack the exhausting reality of hypervigilance, a.k.a the survival mechanism rooted in trauma that has no "off switch." Through conversation and Reddit stories, they expose how hypervigilance manifests and leads to self-fulfilling prophecies in relationships. You’ll also hear validating, practical strategies for healing and why making mistakes is a crucial part of recovery.

Some takeaways:

• Healthy vigilance vs hypervigilance originating from trauma
• Hypervigilance as social anxiety or shutting down curiosity
• Why your nervous system is stuck in "always-on" mode
• Strategies for healing, such as "dosing safety"

For sponsorships, please reach out to [email protected]

Be the first to join the upcoming WYTT Substack

Follow Felicia on Instagram

Follow WYTT on Instagram

Connect with Halle:

• https://www.besttherapists.com/profile/halle-thomas-lpc
• https://www.chicorycounseling.com/

*Hosts: Kristie Plantinga and Felicia Keller Boyle

*Watch full episodes on YouTube: What Your Therapist Thinks

*Brought to you by BestTherapists.com

*Produced by PodVision.

If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review, or share it with a friend who might need it!

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a licensed therapist or call your local crisis line for support.

Coming soon to your headphones! A mental health show where actual, licensed therapists open up about what they’re really thinking, while answering the internet’s most burning mental health questions. And by burning mental health questions, we mean the stuff you’re posting about anonymously on Reddit in the middle of the night.

Each week, you’ll hear from expert therapists to break it all down: from emotional numbness and trauma to self-worth and healing. First episodes drop September 10.

*Watch full episodes on youtube.com/@WhatYourTherapistThinks

*Connect with us on Instagram: @wytt_podcast

*Hosts: Kristie Plantinga and Felicia Keller Boyle

*Brought to you by BestTherapists.com

*Produced by PodVision.

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a licensed therapist or call your local crisis line for support.