What Your Therapist Thinks

In this special episode, hosts Kristie Plantinga and Felicia Keller Boyle share their own mental health journeys and what led them to create "What Your Therapist Thinks". Drawing from Felicia’s professional background as a somatic therapist and Kristie’s lived experience as a long-time therapy goer, they discuss navigating chronic illness, childhood isolation, the "good kid" trap and why breaking the stigma of silence is the first ...

In this special holiday episode, Katrina Mautner, a queer trauma-informed therapist, joins Kristie and Felicia to talk everything on setting boundaries with family. Drawing from Katrina’s anti-oppressive and harm reduction framework, they break down boundaries as a tool for connection—defining them as the distance at which you can love both yourself and the other person.

Some takeaways:

• How boundaries actually allow us to deepen ...

Shelly Qualter, an expert counselor, joins Kristie and Felicia to talk everything on performance anxiety. Drawing from Shelly’s experience as an expert counselor, they break down performance anxiety as a fear-based emotion arising from uncertainty, feeling threatened, or being out of control.

Some takeaways:

• The difference between helpful "nervous energy" and debilitating panic
• How externalizing anxiety (like giving it a name) fos...

Jon Lee LMFT, joins Kristie and Felicia to talk everything on trauma and recovery. Drawing from Jon’s specialized niche in dissociative disorders, they break down trauma as a lasting adaptation of the nervous system.

Some takeaways:

• The difference between a traumatic event and the physiological trauma response
• How healing is achieved through incremental progress and relational therapy
• Balancing traditional Western practices with c...

Certified sex therapist Amalia Miralrio joins Felicia and Kristie to talk everything cheating. Drawing from her psychoanalytic expertise, Amalia breaks down infidelity as an unconscious drive. She explains where it can originate from and why this inner conflict leads to a struggle for autonomy.

Some takeaways:

• How unconscious drives work as a motivation for cheating
• The connection between infidelity and early developmental issues
• H...

Somatic trauma therapist Chloe Bean joins Felicia and Kristie to talk everything people-pleasing. Drawing from her expertise in high-functioning anxiety, Chloe breaks down people-pleasing as a learned trauma response. She explains how it can originate from a childhood need for safety and why prioritizing others leads to resentment and losing yourself.

Some takeaways:

• How people-pleasing works as a survival habit
• The connection bet...

Licensed clinical social worker Kenny Levine joins Kristie and Felicia to explore the destructive power of contempt in relationships. Drawing from the Gottman method, Kenny breaks down the "Four Horsemen" of conflict, explaining how to identify warning signs like contempt and why addressing this early is a must for maintaining a healthy partnership.

Some takeaways:

• How contempt is a red flag for a relationship's health
• The differe...

Licensed marriage and family therapist Dr. Cassidy Freitas joins Kristie and Felicia to unpack everything on co-regulation in parenting. Dr. Freitas breaks down advice like how a parent's calm presence can regulate a child's nervous system, and the crucial difference between gentle parenting and permissiveness.

Some takeaways:

• What it means to be a calm anchor for your child's nervous system
• The crucial difference between gentle p...

Ketamine specialist Shannon York joins Kristie and Felicia to chat about the transformative world of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). Shannon breaks down how it’s different from purely medical ketamine treatment, debunks common myths, and explores how (KAP) can quiet the brain's default mode network to accelerate healing.

Some takeaways:

- Ketamine as a medical treatment vs. an assistant to psychotherapy

- Why setting a clear i...

Licensed and multi-certified therapist Kathryn Wood joins Kristie and Felicia to demystify Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and intrusive thoughts. They break down what OCD actually is (and isn’t) and differentiate reality from pop psychology stereotypes.

Some takeaways:

• The difference between a fleeting thought and a persistent, intrusive thought
• Why typical “advice” can actually make OCD worse
• How OCD can manifest: from perfe...

Licensed Therapist Mary Beth Somich joins Kristie and Felicia to demystify the concept of enmeshment in families, especially between mothers and sons. They look at what enmeshment actually means (hint: blurred boundaries and no space for individuality), where it comes from, and why it’s so tough to break free from.

Some takeaways:

• How enmeshment manifests in real life
• The effects of enmeshment on adult romantic and family relatio...

Licensed Therapist Ashley Hudson joins Kristie and Felicia to explore the complex and heavy topic of parental emotional abuse. They discuss why this form of abuse is so difficult to identify, why parents engage in it (often unconsciously), and the long-term impact it has on children as they transition into adulthood.

Some takeaways:

• Why emotional abuse is harder to spot than physical abuse
• The "good kid": How fear of a parent's r...

Drama Therapist Arianna Wheat joins Kristie and Felicia to explore emotional numbness as a coping mechanism for when we feel overwhelmed by intense emotions or past trauma. Arianna believes healing begins with connection—to one’s past, present, and with someone who sees them fully.

Some takeaways:

• How to regulate your nervous system
• Hyper and hypo-arousal: what are they and why are they relevant?
• Challenging the “shoulds”
• Radi...

Therapist Halle Thomas joins Kristie and Felicia to unpack the exhausting reality of hypervigilance, a.k.a the survival mechanism rooted in trauma that has no "off switch." Through conversation and Reddit stories, they expose how hypervigilance manifests and leads to self-fulfilling prophecies in relationships. You’ll also hear validating, practical strategies for healing and why making mistakes is a crucial part of recovery.

Some t...

Coming soon to your headphones! A mental health show where actual, licensed therapists open up about what they’re really thinking, while answering the internet’s most burning mental health questions. And by burning mental health questions, we mean the stuff you’re posting about anonymously on Reddit in the middle of the night.

Each week, you’ll hear from expert therapists to break it all down: from emotional numbness and trauma to s...