The Curious Empath (Formerly: Who We Are & What We Need)

In this episode, Catherine sits down with Teda Kokoneshi, a licensed mental health counselor and self-published memoirist, to trace her winding path from immigrating to the United States at 18 through a green card lottery, to studying continental philosophy in Boston, chasing a publishing career in New York City, and ultimately finding her calling in clinical mental health counseling. Teda opens up about the disorientation of adapt...

"You can't change your voice without your life coming along for the ride." — Barbara McAfee

What if your voice already knows what part of you needs attention — you just have to make the sound and listen? In this episode of The Curious Empath, I sit down with Barbara McAfee: singer, songwriter, voice teacher, author of two books on voice work, and the leader of a "comfort choir" of volunteers who sing for people who are d...

Catherine sits down with Cristine Hull, PhD — founder of the Zero Point Meridian Technique and creator of Frequency Formulas — for a wide-ranging conversation about the road from living entirely "in her head" to becoming a practitioner of energy psychology and quantum healing. She and Catherine dig into brain integration and heart rate coherence, the neuroscience of different neurodivergent minds, Gretchen Rubin's Four ...

What is divination really for — predicting the future, or understanding the energy you're working with right now? In this episode, investigative metaphysician and certified Monroe Institute trainer Demi Pietchell joins me to unpack her eclectic toolkit (tarot, runes, shufflemancy, sound medicine) and the throughline beneath all of it: intention. We talk about how she tunes into collective energy from a distance, the discernme...

In this conversation, Katherine Spearing discusses her new book, 'A Thousand Tiny Papercuts,' which explores the complexities of spiritual abuse and the journey to reclaim autonomy after leaving high-control religious environments. The discussion delves into the insidious nature of spiritual abuse, the confusion experienced by individuals trying to navigate their faith, and the emotional turmoil that often follows leaving such syst...

Join Catherine Quiring in conversation with Megan Griffith, autistic and ADHD life coach, content creator, and author of Welcome to AuDHD: How to Survive and Thrive as an Adult with Autism and ADHD. This wide-ranging discussion explores what it means to live at the intersection of autism and ADHD, from communication differences and alexithymia to masking, self-trust, and disability identity.

Megan shares her diagnostic journey throu...

Have you ever caught yourself in cycles of self-sabotage, then felt like this proved you were fundamentally flawed? For years, many of us were told this was evidence of our “sinful nature.” But what if that explanation isn’t just wrong—what if it’s creating the very problems it claims to solve?

This episode explores religious trauma through Internal Family Systems therapy, revealing how “dying to ...

Description: ⚠️ Content Warning: This episode discusses psychological abuse and trauma. Please prioritize your safety. Crisis resources in description.

If you’ve escaped a narcissistic or abusive relationship but still hear your abuser’s voice saying “you’re worthless,” “you’re stupid,” or “you’ll never amount to anything”—you’re not going crazy. That...

If you’re neurodivergent, highly sensitive, or creative, your inner critic probably attacks who you are, not just what you do. It whispers “you’re too much,” “you’re too weird,” or “you’ll never fit in.” This isn’t random self-doubt—it’s the Inner Underminer, carrying years of messages about being “different.”

This episode explores why sensitiv...

If you’re neurodivergent and traditional perfectionism advice like “just lower your standards” feels impossible, this episode explains why. Perfectionism works differently in ADHD, autistic, and other neurodivergent brains—and requires different solutions.

This episode explores the unique intersection of perfectionism and neurodivergence, how masking trauma creates impossible internal standards, and neuroaffi...

Do you feel guilty when you rest? Does a relentless voice tell you “there’s always more you should be doing”? Meet your Inner Taskmaster—the critic that measures your worth by your productivity and keeps you trapped in the hustle culture hamster wheel.

This episode explores the most common inner critic many of us carry: the voice convinced your value equals your output. Learn why this protective part develope...

That harsh voice in your head isn't going anywhere—and that's actually not the problem. The real issue is trying to fight or eliminate your inner critic instead of understanding what it's trying to do for you.What you'll learn:✓ Why your inner critic exists (hint: it's trying to protect you)✓ practical steps to befriend rather than battle your internal voice✓ What changes when you stop fighting yourself and start working with...

In this follow-up episode, Catherine Quiring continues her story—this time focusing on the turning points that led her back to herself. Through self-compassion, somatic healing, and IFS, she learned to listen inward with curiosity instead of shame.

Catherine invites us into the beauty of emotions as messengers, the wisdom of the body, and the medicine of Indigenous perspectives that remind us: everything is alive, everything i...

In this episode of Who We Are & What We Need, Catherine Quiring shares the raw and tender story of her early years—growing up within authoritarian Christianity and the pressures of ableist meritocracy. These systems taught her to silence her desires, distrust her emotions, and hollow herself out to fit expectations of holiness and success.

Through honest storytelling, Catherine explores how these environments shape ou...

Every healing path has a rhythm, a shape, a pattern of descent and return. In this episode of Who We Are & What We Need, Catherine Quiring explores the archetypal forms of transformation—from labyrinths to the Eco-Heroine’s path.

Through story and reflection, she begins to trace the contours of her own journey: moving through the harm of authoritarian systems, shedding what no longer served her, finding her cent...

What happens when caring for everyone else means losing sight of yourself? In this episode, Catherine Quiring explores the hidden costs of people-pleasing and the journey of learning to trust yourself again. She shares why people-pleasing begins as a survival strategy, how hyper-empathy intensifies the pull to silence your own needs, and what it looks like to come home to your body, your emotions, and your inner compass.

Together, w...

This episode with Catherine Quiring examines self-trust as the cornerstone of psychological well-being and authentic living. Grounded in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and research on interoception and self-compassion, Catherine explains how people lose trust in themselves under authoritarian systems or through people-pleasing patterns, and how to rebuild it step by step. Catherine delves into the developmental stages of self-trust ...

In this episode, we explore the science, psychology, and spirituality of hyper-empathy—a rare gift that allows us to feel deeply and connect profoundly, but that can also overwhelm without the right tools.

You’ll learn:

• The neuroscience of empathy—how the insula, ACC, amygdala, and mirror neurons shape emotional sensitivity

• The spiritual perspective of clairsentience—“clear feeling&rdqu...

Join host Catherine Quiring for a deeply insightful conversation with Kristi Williams, a religious trauma coach, as they explore the intricate ways attachment patterns shape our spiritual lives. In this episode of Who We Are and What We Need, they delve into how early relationships lay the foundation for how we connect—to ourselves, to others, and to the divine. Kristi vulnerably shares her own path of healing from religious ...