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
September 20, 2021 • 48 min
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, hop...
Share
Mark as Played
September 13, 2021 • 56 min
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 on...
Share
Mark as Played
September 6, 2021 • 44 min
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, an...
Share
Mark as Played
August 30, 2021 • 60 min
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 anyt...
Share
Mark as Played
August 23, 2021 • 59 min
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 f...
Share
Mark as Played
August 16, 2021 • 45 min
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 tell...
Share
Mark as Played
August 9, 2021 • 41 min
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,...
Share
Mark as Played
August 2, 2021 • 42 min
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 ...
Share
Mark as Played
July 26, 2021 • 44 min
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 a...
Share
Mark as Played
July 19, 2021 • 46 min
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...
Share
Mark as Played
July 12, 2021 • 42 min
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 destin...
Share
Mark as Played
July 5, 2021 • 50 min
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 abo...
Share
Mark as Played
June 28, 2021 • 47 min
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 s...
Share
Mark as Played
June 21, 2021 • 48 min
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...
Share
Mark as Played
June 14, 2021 • 47 min
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 who...
Share
Mark as Played
June 7, 2021 • 42 min
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 tes...
Share
Mark as Played
May 31, 2021 • 42 min
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' di...
Share
Mark as Played
May 24, 2021 • 48 min
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...
Share
Mark as Played
May 17, 2021 • 45 min
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 SHRINK...
Share
Mark as Played
May 10, 2021 • 43 min
This week, Emmalee and Jen are joined by one of their wonderful @thetherapygrp therapists, Nicole Lewis, LMFT to demystify couples therapy. Nicole works primarily with couples and gives us insight into what really goes on in the room. Does the therapist take sides? Can the therapist keep one partner's secret from the other? Can they give direct advice like: "you should break-up"? Tune in to find out!
Thanks to Dew ...
Share
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
This is what the news should sound like. The biggest stories of our time, told by the best journalists in the world. Hosted by Michael Barbaro. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, ready by 6 a.m.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
It’s a lighthearted nightmare in here, weirdos! Morbid is a true crime, creepy history and all things spooky podcast hosted by an autopsy technician and a hairstylist. Join us for a heavy dose of research with a dash of comedy thrown in for flavor.
You know what's long, tedious and boring? Surgery. You know what isn't? This new podcast! Join Scrubs co-stars and real-life best friends Zach Braff and Donald Faison for a weekly comedy podcast where they relive the hit TV show, one episode at a time. Each week, these BFFs will discuss an episode of Scrubs, sharing behind-the-scenes stories and reminiscing on some of their favorite memories from filming. They’ll also connect with Scrubs super fans and feature beloved show cast members for exclusive interviews.