On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen sit down with one of Jen’s best friends, Jason Abel. Jason starts by telling embarrassing stories about Jen from growing up, which you don't want to miss. Then, Jason shares his story of coming out as a gay man at age 24 to Jen - the first person that he told. He explains his thought process in telling Jen, how he told his parents, their reactions, and the expectations he - and many others - had/have before doing so. We hear about Jason's d...
Dec 06, 2021•54 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen dive into the topic of forgiveness by explaining the definition of forgiveness and the stages that come along with it. They discuss why forgiveness is for us and not for the other person, the parts of forgiveness that they struggle with, the difference between anger and resentment, and how that resentment can build up (and sometimes explode) if not addressed. Dear Em & Jen is back with a question about how to handle a friend who always has it worse. Tun...
Nov 29, 2021•41 min•Season 3Ep. 31
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are joined by one of their amazing clinicians from The Therapy Group, Dr. Lindsay Haston. Lindsay is a licensed psychologist dedicated to helping others feel more comfortable being themselves. She strives to assist clients in leading a more full and meaningful life while also managing the pain that inevitably comes with it. Aside from being a wonderful therapist, she is also quite skilled at saying no, hence the title NOvember! Lindsay take...
Nov 22, 2021•48 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen explain what enmeshment is. You might have heard similar terms used like codependency or fusion, as they can look incredibly similar. They go into what enmeshed relationships look like in families, in romantic partnerships, and even at work. Enmeshment and boundaries go hand in hand, and Emmalee and Jen walk us through how to start setting specific boundaries within enmeshed relationships and how to create consciousness around it. If you want to watch Shrin...
Nov 15, 2021•41 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Q & A part two! This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen continue to answer your questions, this time about setting boundaries in relationships and at work. Em and Jen give their insight about guilt trips and the functions behind them, highly critical parents, how to continue to set boundaries when receiving pushback, what to do when a loved one is in a bad relationship, anxiety regarding leaving a job, tying worth to our career path, and so much more! If you want to watch ShrinkChicks epi...
Nov 08, 2021•51 min•Season 3Ep. 28
The Q & A episodes are back! This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen bring back their question and answer format episode. The theme today is life transitions and how to navigate them. Emmalee and Jen answer your questions about marriage and wedding advice, what to do when you have a lot on your plate (think: new job, new city, new relationship status), the identity crisis that many women experience when having their first child, society's expectations surrounding grief, being single in your mi...
Nov 01, 2021•44 min•Season 3Ep. 27
This week on ShrinkChicks we give you some much needed comic relief from our guest: comedian Jared Freid! Jared is co-host of the U Up? Podcast, co-host of The Betchelor Podcast, host of the JTrain Podcast, and has a hysterical and relatable Instagram presence (@jaredfreid). Emmalee and Jen talk with Jared all about dating and relationships from a male's perspective. They ask Jared your questions re: ghosting, first dates, expectations in relationships, dating app fatigue, and sex. Tune in to ha...
Oct 25, 2021•59 min•Season 3Ep. 26
On today’s episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen introduce you all to Nikki, their ShrinkChicks producer and Head of Operations of The Therapy Group! She talks about how she got her job (hint: she was a listener who DM’ed Em and Jen), the steps she took to make a major career shift, the biggest surprise about working for Emmalee and Jen, imposter syndrome, her fear of public speaking, what she’s calling BS on, and so much more! Tune in to hear her story! Thanks to this week's sponsors for sup...
Oct 18, 2021•56 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen have the pleasure of sitting down with Terry Real, an internationally recognized Couples & Family Therapist, speaker, and best selling author. Terry has worked with thousands of women and men, parents and non-parents, to help them create the connection they desire in their relationships. Emmalee and Jen talk with Terry about honesty and how important it is to speak up in our romantic relationships, vulnerability and how to encourage our husbands, boyfri...
Oct 11, 2021•54 min•Season 3Ep. 24
This week on ShrinkChicks, we cover one of our most requested topics: Emmalee interviews Jen about her decision to be childfree. She asks Jen all of your questions including how she knew she didn't want kids, the way she brought it up to her now husband, the initial reactions of her family, in-laws and friends, and how she plans to handle things when she's elderly. They discuss why having doubts is okay and inevitable, the fear of regret, society's expectations of women, and the different storie...
Oct 04, 2021•45 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen explore the differences between our personal and professional selves. They talk about starting their business, imposter syndrome, authenticity in the workplace, different work environments, and how therapists are taught to be a blank slate. Emmalee and Jen share the fears they both had when deciding to start The Therapy Group and the story of when they got their first call from a potential client. Dear Em & Jen answers the question: Any tips on dealing ...
Sep 27, 2021•44 min•Season 3Ep. 22
On this week’s episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen give us a glimpse into the communication skills we didn’t learn in school. We are ALL sometimes bad communicators, even two couples therapists. They highlight a portion of their Making The Most Of Your Marriage e-course: communication. Em and Jen take us through 15 different types of “bad” communication tactics that can appear in our relationships like: passive aggression, hopelessness, denial, and sarcasm. They give us real life examples o...
Sep 20, 2021•50 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are joined by the amazing Erica Smith, M.Ed., sex educator and creator of the Purity Culture Dropout Program. Erica educates us all on purity culture and what it looks like in our world today. They discuss Erica's path to becoming a sex educator and the work she does to help her clients recover from the effects of purity culture. They cover topics like dress codes in schools, abstinence only sex education and why it doesn't work, how abortion became a centr...
Sep 13, 2021•57 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Spoiler alert: there’s no magic trick. After a few weeks of guests, today's episode of ShrinkChicks is just with Em and Jen! They give us an update on their lives and some things they've been facing, personally. They discuss how the world is on fire! And with that, the false sense of control that we can feel when we take in information, the emotion of fear and how it's been ever present over the past year and a half, and how to cope with the uncertainty. Dear Em & Jen asks the question: how ...
Sep 06, 2021•45 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Welcome to Pelvic Floor Health 101! This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are joined by Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, Gina Cunningham. She clues us in to what a pelvic floor actually is and why pelvic floor health matters. Gina explains the reasons why someone might need pelvic floor physical therapy and takes us through what a typical evaluation looks like. She answers some of your questions like: is it possible to do anything to prepare your pelvic floor for childbirth? What is diastas...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Trigger Warning: death and serious illness. Healthcare workers are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and the stories shared in this episode, from an inside, firsthand perspective, are heavy and potentially triggering. On today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen have a powerful conversation with Katie Duke, who worked on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis as a Nurse Practitioner. They discuss Katie's first hand experiences from a New York Hospital (right after a major break-u...
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 17
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen sit down with Scout Sobel (@scoutsobel): co-host of the Okay Sis Podcast, host of SCOUT Podcast, founder of Scout's Agency and most recently an author! They discuss Scout's diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, why the diagnosis felt so isolating, and how it impacted her especially as it related to a career. Scout explains the importance of finding the right therapist for YOU and tells Em & Jen her favorite story from her therapeutic journey, which you don...
Aug 16, 2021•46 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen discuss a type of therapy called Narrative Therapy. They explain what Narrative Therapy is, how it's used with clients, and how we can begin to challenge the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. They talk about where these stories can originate, the roles we take on in our families of origin such as "the shy one," the narratives Em and Jen learned to believe about themselves, personally, and how the two of them challenge those stories now. We also mee...
Aug 09, 2021•43 min•Season 3Ep. 15
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen dive into the topic of social media and the apps we spend so much time on. They discuss the positives and negatives of social media, comparing ourselves to someone else's highlight reel, the things that exist beyond the highlight reel, why Jen is struggling with the idea of posting pictures of her summer so far, and being conscious of our feelings when we scroll. They also touch on taking social media breaks and the fear that can come along...
Aug 02, 2021•43 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee tells Jen two stories from her weekend that Jen is hearing for the first time on air. Hint: you won't believe them, either! In processing these stories, Emmalee and Jen discuss how some parts of ourselves can feel healed while others can feel like a work in progress. They talk Mom shaming, society's expectations of Mom's and women and how those expectations are wildly different than they are for Dad's and men, and why on Earth people feel that they can make comment...
Jul 26, 2021•46 min•Season 3Ep. 13
In this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen answer the question: what do you do when your friends are in a different stage of life than you? Such as being the only mom in your group of friends, the only single friend, the only married friend, the only childfree friend, or in financially different places than your friends, the list goes on. They discuss the grief process that comes along with missing a former version of your friendship and/or yourself and how to cope with that grief. ...
Jul 19, 2021•47 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Today on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen catch up. They check in to see how each other is doing (hint: it's been a tough few weeks) and dive into the topic of magical thinking, which is one of many cognitive distortions. For instance: I will be happier once I get married. Or my life will magically improve once I lose X amount of weight. They discuss the myth of magical thinking, how happiness is an emotion, not an ultimate destination, and so much more. Tune in to gain insight and awareness! Thank...
Jul 12, 2021•43 min•Season 3Ep. 11
In today's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen have the privilege of sitting down with actress, author, and film producer India Oxenberg. They discuss India’s experience with the NXIVM cult, challenge the stigma associated with people who fall victim to predators and/or high control groups, the grooming and coercion that occured, and how she's been working to heal and find herself again since she left. To hear more about India's story, her book “Still Learning” is available on Audible and h...
Jul 05, 2021•52 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Today's episode is ALL about expectations. Emmalee and Jen discuss the expectations we have in different relationships: romantic, platonic, at work, and with our families. They share expectations they have in their own relationships, how to voice these expectations, and why we need to give ourselves space to grieve the expectations that may go unmet. They also talk wedding planning conflict and expectations on this week's segment of Dear Em & Jen! Tune in to gain insight, awareness, and acti...
Jun 28, 2021•48 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Emmalee and Jen sit down with the incredible Dr. Cassidy Freitas, fellow Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Podcaster. The three of them dig into boundaries, people pleasing, and how to set boundaries as a people pleaser. They discuss where people pleasing can originate, where to start when addressing our people pleasing tendencies, how to shift from being a perfectionist to a “good enough-ist”, the lessons that our anger can teach us, why convincing ourselves that a boundary feels rig...
Jun 21, 2021•50 min•Season 3Ep. 8
This week, Emmalee and Jen talk through the topics that can be hard to bring up in therapy. From our sex lives and sexual fantasies to depression, lying, or speaking negatively about our parents. They explain why we avoid sharing certain topics with our therapists and give their perspectives from both sides of the couch (hint: they’ve done the same in their own therapy). On Dear Em & Jen, they discuss what to do when your whole family doesn't like your sibling's new partner. Tune in to gain ...
Jun 14, 2021•48 min•Season 3Ep. 7
In today's episode, Emmalee and Jen are joined by one of The Therapy Group's wonderful clinicians, Callie Fraser, MSS, LSW. Callie (@calliefrasercounseling) shares her lived experience of growing up with the knowledge that her Moms used a sperm donor to bring her into this world. She recounts teaching her friends about sperm donors at a young age, explains the process of choosing a donor, discusses the role that DNA tests have played in connecting her to her half siblings, how they stay connecte...
Jun 07, 2021•44 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Emmalee & Jen challenge the idea of “never giving up” on this week’s episode. They address the topic of quitting and why it’s okay to leave relationships, jobs, mindsets, etc. when they're no longer serving you. They talk through the things that keep us from quitting, what happens to our identities once we do leave, how to listen to our bodies and ourselves to know when it’s time to move on, Bill & Melinda Gates' divorce, and so much more. Thanks to Dew Edit for sponsoring today's episod...
May 31, 2021•44 min•Season 3Ep. 5
This week, Emmalee and Jen are joined by the incredible Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH, CSE. Dr. Mark (@dr.kristen.mark) is a sex and relationship researcher, sex therapist, professor, and behavioral health scientist. She answers some of your most frequently asked questions like what is sex therapy? How to keep the spark alive, how to communicate about sex with your partner, and what IS the average amount of sex people are having. Tune in to hear all of her answers, research findings, and more! Thanks t...
May 24, 2021•51 min•Season 3Ep. 4
This week, Emmalee and Jen break down the term parentification with insight, awareness, and action. They discuss how one becomes parentified, common patterns it can lead to in adulthood, and what actions we can start to take to heal. They also introduce a new segment called "Dear Jen & Em" where they answer a listener question in depth! Thanks to Dew Edit for sponsoring today's episode! Use the one time code SHRINKCHICKS for 15% off your first purchase at DewEdit.com.
May 17, 2021•47 min•Season 3Ep. 3
