ShrinkChicks

ShrinkChicks

Emmalee Bierly, LMFT and Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT, owners and co-founders of The Therapy Group (@thetherapygrp), bring you the ShrinkChicks Podcast. ShrinkChicks is on a mission to make therapy and therapeutic topics more relatable and accessible. Each Monday, Emmalee and Jen will explore different mental health topics and invite you to sit in on their insight, humor, and knowledge, leaving the psychobabble behind.

Episodes

Meeting New Versions of Ourselves

May 19, 2025 • 43 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking about the many versions of ourselves that evolve over time. They discuss comparing our past selves to our present selves, how to release old parts of ourselves while greeting new ones, the emotions of grief & loss occurring simultaneously with excitement & anticipation, radical acceptance and how it ties into meeting new versions of yourself, what happens if the new you doesn't...
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The Comparison Trap: Why Do We Do It?

May 12, 2025 • 46 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are exploring the topic of comparing ourselves to others. They discuss why we engage in comparison, two different types of comparison, insecurity and comparison, the role social media plays (hint: it's a big one), how to be intentional with social media consumption, using comparison as helpful information to understand what you want, comparing grief, struggles, societal timeli...
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Why Is It So Hard to Say No?

May 5, 2025 • 42 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are back to recording in person at West Chester Studios and unpacking the difficulty behind saying no. They discuss our fears about saying no, why we tend to believe others are going to react negatively to our “no," the resentment that arises when we ignore our boundaries, preferring internal distress over external distress, what we get wrong about boundaries, pausing before saying yes, wh...
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Navigating Differences Within Your Relationship

April 28, 2025 • 40 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking about the ways in which we're all different from our partners - from attachment styles, to conflict/resolution styles, to love languages, and political views. They discuss the various ways these differences show up in relationships, how to communicate through the differences for a deeper understanding of one another, conflict style differences: needing space vs. th...
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Sometimes The Goal is Just Survival

April 21, 2025 • 42 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee shares a recent experience that reminded her that we are allowed to just survive and that we don’t have to constantly work toward "healing" or "growing." Em and Jen talk about radical acceptance, burnout, living in the present moment, shame spirals, control, and so much more. Tune in to hear their humanity and for permission that we're all allowed to take breaks from progressing and doing "better"...
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Who You Think You “Should” Be vs. Who You Are

April 14, 2025 • 43 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking all about the "shoulds." They discuss how the "shoulds" or certain, specific expectations of ourselves connect to control, anxiety, and depression, battling the "shoulds" when other people are in a phase of life you envy, why comparison is so innate, what to do when others have expectations for you or of you, what it actually means to "be ready" for something, the ...
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Why Do We Get Authenticity Hangovers?

April 7, 2025 • 41 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking all about vulnerability and why being vulnerable can feel so good...until it doesn’t. They discuss vulnerability, rejection, and self-protection, where the fear of being seen can stem from, authenticity and the fear of judgment, corrective experiences to regain trust, how to work on vulnerability in therapy, real vulnerability vs. unbridled self-expression, how to discern who i...
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Avoidance Does Not Equal Healing

March 31, 2025 • 45 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are dissecting the difference between avoidance and healing. They start the episode off by explaining how to recognize the difference in your own life and how they can tell the difference in theirs. Emmalee and Jen discuss when saying "no" is a boundary and when it is avoidance, the ability to call out your avoidance as the first step of healing, avoidance/staying busy as copi...
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What Do We Do About Burnout?

March 24, 2025 • 50 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Mercury is in retrograde, so naturally, Emmalee's flight got canceled. Nikki, Emmalee and Jen's producer, is filling in and joining Jen to talk about all things burnout. Jen and Nikki discuss the early signs of burnout & how to recognize it, the personality types that are prone to burnout, the various professions at risk of ignoring burnout, and two different kinds of burnout to pay attention to. They ans...
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The Fear of Being "Too Much"

March 17, 2025 • 42 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are diving into the fear of being "too much." They start the episode by sharing what "too much" means to both of them and where the feeling/fear can stem from. Emmalee and Jen talk about how we, as a society, feel about authenticity and how that plays a role in the label of "too much." They discuss shame, societal expectations as women, how this fear can show up in one context...
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Why Is Dating So Terrible?

March 10, 2025 • 45 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are joined by the ever-insightful author, dating coach, screenwriter, and fellow podcaster Allison Raskin to talk all things dating and relationships! The episode begins with Emmalee and Jen learning about Allison's own personal journey and how it led her to help others navigate romantic relationships. They discuss how dating has changed over time, the reality of dating apps, dating intent...
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Just Two Therapists with ADHD

March 3, 2025 • 46 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are covering a long awaited episode topic: ADHD. They share about their ADHD diagnoses, when they were diagnosed, and their different experiences living with ADHD. Emmalee and Jen discuss the difference between men and women with ADHD including the age of diagnosis and presentation, shame that can arise from ADHD, what masking is and why we do it, emotional dysregulation, rejection sensiti...
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Green Flags: The Underrated Signs of a Healthy Partnership

February 24, 2025 • 44 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are sharing their thoughts on green flags in relationships and the signs of a healthy partnership. They discuss both green flags when first dating and green flags within the relationship once it is established. Em and Jen answer your questions about the feeling of unfamiliarity that can occur when dating someone with green flags, how to tell if someone is on their “best behavi...
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Balancing Family Dynamics AND Your Relationship

February 17, 2025 • 45 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking all about balancing family dynamics along with your relationship with your significant other. They're also discussing this from YOUR perspective and the balance that your significant other strikes between you and their family of origin. They cover topics like the natural insecurity in the in-law relationship and why it can be harder to set boundaries, speak up, etc., expectatio...
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Is it Me? Recognizing Your Patterns in Your Relationship

February 10, 2025 • 44 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are answering your questions about how to recognize your own patterns in your relationships. The episode starts off with some big news from Emmalee! Then, Em and Jen talk about the insight, awareness, and action needed in order to understand the patterns within your relationship. They discuss why we seek familiarity from our childhood in romantic relationships, the connection ...
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Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

February 3, 2025 • 48 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are so excited to sit down with Alegra Kastens, LMFT! Alegra is the founder of the Center for OCD, Anxiety, and Eating Disorders. She specializes both in the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) AND has her own lived experience with OCD. Alegra gives us all a greater understanding of what OCD looks like and the different ways it can present. The episode begins with Alegra's sto...
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What is High Functioning Codependency?

January 27, 2025 • 56 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are thrilled to be joined by the one and only Terri Cole, licensed psychotherapist, author, speaker, and global expert in relationships and empowerment! Terri is here to share her infinite wisdom and tell us all about her new book Too Much. Too Much focuses on the concept that Terri coined called High Functioning Codependency (HFC). Terri explains what HFC looks like, where it...
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How Do I Build Self-Trust?

January 20, 2025 • 41 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are answering your questions about self-trust and holding yourself accountable in a compassionate way. The episode begins by addressing the "shoulds" that can come with the start of the New Year and shame vs. self-compassion when it comes to setting goals. Em and Jen discuss self-trust, where it stems from, and how to work on strengthening it. They answer questions about decision making & ...
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When Birth Doesn't Go as Planned

January 13, 2025 • 52 mins
On this week's episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen sit down with one of their dear friends, Kayleigh Summers, LCSW. Kayleigh, aka The Birth Trauma Mama, shares her vulnerable birth trauma story and details how the experience led her to where she is today. Kayleigh discusses topics like toxic positivity when it comes to trauma, why “getting over it” is not the goal, others invalidating birth trauma, mistreatment from providers,...
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Questions You’re Too Scared To Ask Your Therapist

January 6, 2025 • 47 mins
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are talking through your questions and confessions that you're too scared to ask and tell your therapist! They cover topics like asking your therapist what your diagnosis is, processing the fear of judgment in therapy, and what is "too personal" of a question to ask your therapist (such as, do they have a toxic MIL, too?). Em and Jen discuss looking up your therapist online and share the m...
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