Therapy in a Nutshell - podcast cover

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdamtinpodcast.podbean.com
I’m Emma McAdam, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and my mission is to make mental health resources more easy to access. I take therapy skills and psychological research and condense them down into bite-sized nuggets of help. I’m here to spread the message that while mental illness is real, it’s common, it’s debilitating, it’s also treatable. There are dozens of research-backed approaches to treating depression, anxiety, and other mental illness. Change, growth, and healing are possible. Please keep courage! Try one little thing every day to improve your life and health and things can get so much better! Therapy in a Nutshell, and the information provided by Emma McAdam, is solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. Therapy in a Nutshell and it’s logo are Registered Trademarks of Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC
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Episodes

Keto and Metabolic Treatments for Mental Health w/Dr. Chris Palmer

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership The speaker discusses the metabolic theory of mental health, suggesting that brain disorders classified as mental illnesses are largely metabolic conditions. Traditional treatments—like therapy and medication—can benefit from an understanding of brain metabolism, potentially leading to new strategies, including weight loss drugs, dietary changes, exercise, and sleep improvements. Th...

Jun 30, 202529 minEp. 204

Pro Climber Talks about Facing Fear and Managing Risk- Hazel Findlay

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Check out Hazel's Program here: https://www.strongmindclimbing.com/ I love climbing because there's an amazing intersection of mental and physical skills, and it pushes me every time I go out. Today I get the incredible blessing to interview one of my favorite climbers- Hazel Findlay! I've been watching Hazel in climbing films for at least a decade, she's an incredibly strong, but a...

Jun 27, 202533 minEp. 202

How to Stop an Anxiety Attack - Guided Walkthrough of The Activate Method

Free mini-course on How to Stop Panic Attacks and Anxiety Attacks: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/ending-panic-attacks-and-anxiety-attacks Are you in the middle of an anxiety attack or feeling that rising wave of panic? Your body’s going haywire—shaky hands, racing heart, dizziness, nausea—and it feels like there’s no way out. In this video, I guide you step-by-step through my favorite way to stop an anxiety attack in its tracks. It’s called The Activate Method, and it’s more than just d...

Jun 20, 202513 minEp. 195

How to Set Boundaries with Emotionally Immature People - The CLEAR Method w/ Jess Miller

Jess's Free download- T he CLEAR Method for setting boundaries with Emotionally Immature People Join Therapy in a Nutshell’s membership and get instant access to all 10 life-changing courses, live weekly Q&As, and a supportive community for just $27/month. Learn how to manage anxiety, process trauma, regulate emotions, and build lasting resilience. Take small, powerful steps toward healing and a richer, more meaningful life. Start your journey today! https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/me...

Jun 17, 202547 minEp. 194

Yellow Flags in a Therapist

Therapy in a Nutshell membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Every therapist upholds the professional and ethical standards required in their role. Knowing what signs to look for can help you protect your mental health and ensure you receive the care you deserve. In this video, we’ll discuss the subtle yellow flags in therapy—small warning signs that something might be off—as well as the more obvious red flags, which may indicate your therapist is not just a poor fit but c...

Jun 14, 202546 minEp. 177

Super Duper Gentle Exposure Therapy

You can learn to face your fears slowly and gently with exposure therapy, it's great for anxiety and PTSD. Join Therapy in a Nutshell’s membership and get instant access to all 10 life-changing courses, live weekly Q&As, and a supportive community for just $27/month. Learn how to manage anxiety, process trauma, regulate emotions, and build lasting resilience. Take small, powerful steps toward healing and a richer, more meaningful life. Start your journey today! https://courses.therapyinanuts...

Jun 02, 202512 minEp. 193

Micro Habits that Fuel Depression

Join Therapy in a Nutshell’s membership and get instant access to all 10 life-changing courses, live weekly Q&As, and a supportive community for just $27/month. Learn how to manage anxiety, process trauma, regulate emotions, and build lasting resilience. Take small, powerful steps toward healing and a richer, more meaningful life. Start your journey today! https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership A lot of people who end up with Major Depressive Disorder have no idea why they feel th...

May 26, 202512 minEp. 190

How to Stop Fighting Intrusive or Negative Thoughts-Passengers on a Bus Exercise from ACT

Learn to Regulate your Emotions: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Intrusive Thoughts, Overthinking, ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Passengers on the Bus, Negative Thoughts Have you ever felt like your negative thoughts are running the show? Like no matter how hard you try to push them away, they keep coming back, louder than ever? Maybe you deal with intrusive thoughts that feel terrifying, or you constantly overthink every decision. These thoughts can feel really overw...

May 19, 202515 minEp. 192

My 7 Favorite Free Apps to Improve Mental Health

Join Therapy in a Nutshell’s membership and get instant access to all 10 life-changing courses, live weekly Q&As, and a supportive community for just $27/month. Learn how to manage anxiety, process trauma, regulate emotions, and build lasting resilience. Take small, powerful steps toward healing and a richer, more meaningful life. Start your journey today! https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Check out the Therapy in a Nutshell App: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/app Sma...

May 12, 202510 minEp. 191

How to Heal from Shame, Guilt and Regret

Join Therapy in a Nutshell’s membership and get instant access to all 10 life-changing courses, live weekly Q&As, and a supportive community for just $27/month. Learn how to manage anxiety, process trauma, regulate emotions, and build lasting resilience. Take small, powerful steps toward healing and a richer, more meaningful life. Start your journey today! https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership View the Guilt, Shame, Regret Flowchart: Figma Flowchart Guilt, shame, and regret can e...

May 02, 202525 minEp. 189

The Sneaky Mental Rule that Lets your Emotions Control You

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership So many of us have picked up messaging that emotions are negative or embarrassing, that they need to be controlled, that crying is shameful. We’ve internalized a mental rule that says something like, “I don’t let myself feel so-called “negative” emotions, because that makes me weak.” And then, in trying to not have feelings, we accidentally let them control us. You can influence you...

Apr 24, 202511 minEp. 188

How to Stop Nightmares in Adults w/ PTSD - Rescripting Nightmares with CBT for Nightmares Protocol

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Nightmares are a common symptom of PTSD and can impact sleep, mood, energy, and contribute to more PTSD symptoms. Today I'm speaking with Dr. Joanne Davis, Clinical Psychologist on how to treat nightmares in adults with or without PTSD. You can find her nightmare training for clinicians here: https://cbtnightmares.org And her book on nightmare treatment here: https://a.co/d/9FLv4C9 ...

Apr 21, 202537 minEp. 187

How to Build an Internal Locus of Control

Get the FREE Locus of Control Exercise here: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/pl/2148648319 Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Locus of control refers to how much you believe you can influence what happens in your life. People who focus on what they can change, have an Internal locus of control. They believe that their efforts make a difference. They acknowledge what they can’t change and they focus their atten...

Apr 10, 202521 minEp. 186

How to Create a Crisis Safety Plan for Suicidal Thoughts

Get the Free Safety Plan Worksheet here: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/safety-plan Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership My wish for the world is that everyone who is in crisis can have someone in person to talk with them and help them create a safety plan- but I understand that isn’t reality. So in this podcast I’m going to walk you through the steps for creating a safety plan. We’re going to figure out some r...

Apr 04, 202511 minEp. 184

Talking about Trauma won't heal you

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Talking about trauma doesn’t heal trauma. For a lot of people, it makes them feel much worse especially if you have PTSD. This is one thing that sets human brains apart from animals. When we visualize something, whether it’s a past trauma or a worry about the future, we perceive danger. And our brain triggers the same physiological reaction to perceived danger as it does to real dan...

Mar 22, 202522 minEp. 183

The Hidden Root Cause of Anxiety and Depression- Codependency With Dr. Sarah Michaud

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Sometimes anxiety attacks and panic attacks are actually suppressed anger and caretaking that are showing up as Anxiety. In this conversation with Dr. Sarah Michaud, we explore how our anxiety around other people's feelings often shows up as caretaking, codependency, and unhealthy relationships. When we learn to be more assertive, more clear, and to allow other people to be responsi...

Mar 17, 202548 minEp. 185

9 Life Changing Treatments for Treatment Resistant Depression

Intensive treatments for Treatment Resistant Depression, Anxiety or PTSD When you’ve tried two or three or six treatments for your depression, anxiety, or PTSD and nothing helps, you might feel even more hopeless, like a fulfilling life is not possible for you. But I have good news for you. There are literally 500–five hundred treatments for depression. We’re talking treatments for severe forms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. And most of them are surprisingly effective. So let’s explore 9 inte...

Mar 13, 202524 minEp. 182

THIS Mental Habit Fuels Depression - The Cognitive Distortion of Discounting the Positive

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Depression isn’t just feeling sad, it’s actually not being able to feel much happiness. Good things happen and you feel nothing. Nothing excites you anymore, food doesn’t taste good, someone tells you they love you and you think, “Yeah, but you probably just said that because you’re family”. It’s hard to care about anything. Where does this come from? Today you’re going to learn abo...

Mar 10, 202517 minEp. 180

10 Quick Questions about OCD with Nathan Peterson

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership In this video I talk with Nathan Peterson, a licensed clinician and OCD specialist about various aspects of OCD. The host asks 10 quick-fire questions, covering topics such as how the neurotypical brain differs from the brain of someone with OCD, whether everyone has a bit of OCD, and the best treatments for the disorder. Peterson explains the role of genetics and life experiences, ...

Mar 07, 202533 minEp. 181

Lasting Treatments for Anxiety vs. Coping Skills - Is THIS why Therapy isn't working?

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Have you tried a bunch of stuff to manage anxiety and depression, but you’re still struggling? This might be why: Some strategies that work great for the short term, don’t help in the long run. They might make you feel better in the moment, but they do nothing to resolve your anxiety in the long run. A lot of articles, books, your friends, and even therapists recommend over and over...

Feb 20, 202516 minEp. 176

5 Lies Depression Tells You - Depression Motivation, it gets better

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Use coupon code with coupon code CYB-YT-FREE to get the Change Your Brain Course for FREE here: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/offers/u7KxQqAp Depression is a liar because it warps your perception of reality. It twists your thoughts, making you believe things that aren’t true, even though they feel real. Here are 5 of the biggest lies depression tells—and the truth behind th...

Feb 14, 202510 minEp. 179

Depression in the Nervous System

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Depression isn’t just in your mind—it’s in your nervous system. In this video, we take a somatic and polyvagal-informed approach to understanding depression as a state of nervous system dysregulation. Learn how shutdown, freeze, and dorsal vagal states keep you stuck and how somatic therapy can help you shift into safety, connection, and regulation. Using insights from polyvagal the...

Feb 07, 202520 minEp. 178

Setting a Boundary vs. Trying to Control Someone

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Learning how to set boundaries is an important part of mental health and relationships. One of the biggest problems I see people have when they’re learning to set boundaries is learning the difference between setting a boundary and trying to control someone. And I found this ridiculous video that shows some great examples of the difference. Now this video is a little intense, and i’...

Jan 30, 202513 minEp. 175

Hate Affirmations? How to Improve your Self-Esteem Anyway

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Today, we’re going to talk about what you can do to improve your self-esteem even if you hate positive affirmations. For me, and for many of my clients, it never works to just replace the negative self-talk with positive affirmations. The first step is to question all of this negative self-talk. Instead of trying to say something super duper positive, shift to more neutral language....

Jan 23, 202518 minEp. 174

The Body Keeps the Score - Book Summary by a Therapist w/o the Triggering Bits

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Download the PDF Workbook that goes with this video: Therapy Modalities for Healing Trauma https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/pl/2148622299 I think a lot of people are intimidated by “The Body Keeps the Score”, to be honest I was too. It’s pretty long, and it has a lot of triggering examples of real-life trauma. But it’s a great book for understanding how trauma affects the brai...

Jan 13, 202539 minEp. 173

The Keto Cure? Groundbreaking Research into Metabolic Treatments for Mental Health Conditions

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Can the Keto Diet Revolutionize Mental Health Treatment? Emerging research suggests that metabolic treatments like the ketogenic diet could be groundbreaking for mental health. Traditionally used to manage epilepsy, the keto diet—a high-fat, low-carb, moderate-protein approach—induces ketosis, a state where the body uses fat as its primary energy source. This metabolic shift may imp...

Jan 03, 202512 minEp. 172

Why Trauma and Stress Trigger Weight Gain and Diabetes (Hint, it's Cortisol)

Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Why are people who experienced more trauma in their childhood more likely to develop diabetes and obesity? One of the lasting impacts of trauma is that it damages our brain’s ability to regulate stress. So let’s talk about the stress cycle, and we’ll come back to how that impacts insulin and weight gain. When someone experiences repeated trauma or chronic stress, their nervous syste...

Dec 27, 202411 minEp. 167

Re-Regulating your Nervous System after CPTSD with Crappy Childhood Fairy Anna Runkle

Learn the skills to regulate your emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Check out Anna's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCZlDCbFTqHkzV_rUP4V5bg In this episode, we delve into the concept of complex PTSD and how dysregulation plays a key role in its manifestation. Highlighting the groundbreaking work by James Pennebaker, a psychology professor, we discuss a study where participants wrote about their traumatic experiences for 15 minutes ov...

Dec 19, 202443 minEp. 171

The Science Behind Morning Depression (And What to Do About It)

Learn the skills to regulate your emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Morning depression is a common experience where symptoms of depression, such as fatigue, hopelessness, brain fog, and difficulty getting out of bed, are at their worst upon waking. This is largely influenced by biological factors, including the cortisol awakening response, where stress hormones spike in the morning, causing a sense of overwhelm or shutdown. Misalignment of the circa...

Dec 16, 202418 minEp. 170

Setting Boundaries with Kindness

https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership Learn to Mind your Boundaries with Jess: https://www.youtube.com/@UCpFOiBujrj00OAxWnCpsX_g Free Guide to manage holiday boundaries: https://crafty-composer-5127.kit.com/55a7a3a7e9 Today, I'm super excited that we're going to be talking about boundaries with a boundaries expert, Jess Miller. We'll explore the nitty gritty of setting boundaries. Why do we feel anxious when we do it? Why do we feel guilty after we do it? Why do we maybe shake or cry...

Dec 13, 202442 minEp. 169
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