Mental Note

Have you ever noticed that you simply notice more? Therapist, author, consultant, and Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) April Snow wants you to know that you are not alone.

In fact, the genetic trait responsible for Sensory Processing Sensitivity - aka what makes HSPs more attuned to the world around them - is present in 20% of individuals, regardless of gender. It can be both a superpower and an Achilles heel. And that’s why we are so...

Have you ever felt like the real you - the one that exists deep, deep down - is not aligned with how you live your life? What would it be like to let the true you break free?

That’s why we created today’s podcast. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Moe Ari Brown has spent his career helping others live their most authentic lives. He is one of the leading mental health experts in the realm of Transge...

Mario Gonzalez moved to the United States when he was only three years old as the son of undocumented immigrants who followed seasonal harvests up and down the West Coast. As a result, his childhood was filled with constant change, insecurity, & financial stress. 

Determined to build a life of greater stability, Mario chose to focus on school and finding a lega...

Dave Vrablik’s lifelong habit of emotional eating never felt like a serious problem. That is, until one heartbreaking phone call five years ago…

Upon receiving news about the death of his beloved older brother, Dave’s occasional compulsive eating quickly morphed into uncontrolled binging. All of a sudden he was enveloped by Binge Eating Disorder.

Dave’s discovery and treatment of the eating disorder sent him on a five-year journey ...

For more than 10 years Kaylee Kron has walked alongside the bereaved, companioning them and honoring the memory of their lost loved ones. In a culture that treats death and grief like they are contagious, she is a wise guide prompting us to reevaluate that fear.  

This compassion and insight did not come easy. It grew out of personal tragedy - the unexpected death of a partner and a tumultuous path back ...

Right as therapist KC Davis gave birth to her second baby, Covid-19 began shutting down normal life. Not only that, but KC had just moved to a new city, her husband began a demanding new job, and pandemic restrictions caused their carefully planned support system to crumble.  All of a sudden it was just her - and her two babies - home alone. Everyday. 

In the chaos that ensued, KC began an unexpected new journey. From grappling wit...

American culture praises weight loss. A quick scroll of social media, magazine racks, or even the news will yield numerous “transformation” stories documenting how a fat person turned their life around by shedding pounds. 

But at what cost?

Today, we’re exploring an eating disorde...

Beyond the rush and noise of the Holiday Season, hides an amazing treasure - the passing of stories and wisdom from our elders. And we're not just talking about tales of the good ol' days from grandparents! Because an elder is simply someone who’s gone before you, no matter their age.

So, to celebrate this special time of year, we are featuring short stories from some of you - the elders in our community who have already walked the...

As a teenager, Kea Yamamoto’s behaviors transformed from being respectful, creative, and empathetic to ones that alienated the people she cared most about. Not only did she lash out, but she also stopped sleeping, began hallucinating, and felt immune to consequences. 

Kea’s eventual diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder proved to be both a relief and a frightening lo...

Discover how your personality can be both your biggest asset and greatest stumbling block on today’s fascinating episode. 

When Dr. Laura Hill first encountered research showing that a person’s temperament - the baked-in personality traits dictated by their genes - dramatically influences the type and expression of their eating disorder, she was thrilled. For decades, she had felt that eating disorder treatment only focused on exte...

Suicide is one of those words that stops us in our tracks. Often, we treat it tenderly — acting like saying it too loudly will inspire someone to do something awful. But the truth is that not talking about suicide is what actually increases the chance a person with suicidal thoughts will act on them. 

So how do you have such a loaded conversation? Well, it helps to get advice from people who’ve been ther...

Researching anxiety and mood disorders can be daunting - and deciding who is credible and what research holds up under scrutiny is even harder.

That’s why we made today’s episode!

Welcome to our little one-stop-shop-overview of the basics for anxiety and mood disorders. We’ll spend this episode asking an expert in the field the most common questions about anxiety disorders, mood disorders, ...

Four years ago Jayne Mattingly discovered something was seriously wrong with her health. Not only was she starting to see a loss of mobility, but physicians told her these physical limitations would only progress for the rest of her life.

For this former dancer and self-described “doer,” losing mobility was devastating news. Jayne leaned heavily on the wisdom she'd cultivated earlier in life when recovering from anorexia to cope wi...

Lor Sabourin knows a thing or two about resilience and the power of thoughtfully approaching a relationship - be it with a sport or gender.

A professional rock climber who grew up in Detroit, they spent years figuring out how to not hide their queer identity in a very male, heteronormative, and competitive world. Lor now works to spread the wisdom they’ve gathered by creating affirming spaces in outdoor communities a...

Growing up, Carrie Zhang - the founder of The Asian Mental Health Project - felt as though she had no right to talk about her mounting struggles with sadness and anxiety.


You see, her parents - two immigrants from China and Taiwan - could simply not understand why their child might be unhappy. After all, they had sacrificed so much in order to give her a chance at prosperity and success.

As a result, Carrie did not find help proc...

At the beginning of 2020 Mackenzie Carmichael flew to Eating Recovery Center in Denver, Colorado determined to finally overcome a persistent eating disorder. The plan was to slowly step down from residential treatment to an outpatient program where she would commute to therapy and meals several times a week as her healing progressed. 

However, the growing pande...

As he stood on an exposed pipe - with only the wind holding him up from plunging into the waters below San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge - a photographer captured Kevin discussing his desire to attempt suicide with Sergeant Briggs of the California Highway Patrol. That ph...

That's why we made today's episode. It's an introduction to one of the least understood eating disorders - ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). ARFID remains und...

Picture this: a warm July breeze stirs my hair as I sit on the back porch. My toddler, illuminated by moonlight and the twinkle of fireflies, gently spins in circles, hands waving in the air as she moves to the strumming of a guitar mixed with the call of cicadas in the trees. It’s the sort of moment that feels infinitely removed from the typical noise of daily life. Here, there are no email alerts, traffic jams, or c...