Season 2 | Episode 3: Nurse Mildred & The Responsibility Thread

☎️ Season 2 | Episode 3: Nurse Mildred & The Responsibility ThreadIf you’ve ever powered through exhaustion, been praised for coping or your body whispered slow down and then eventually screamed it, this space is for you.In this episode of Hysteria Hotline, we welcome back Thea Baker, a trauma-focused somatic psychotherapist, counsellor, and PhD researcher at Deakin University, who first joined us in Season 1 for The Imposter.This time, we meet her on the other side of a clinical trial, a transcontinental caregiving trip and a body that said “enough.”After months of holding space professionally, parenting, navigating aging parents, and carrying the invisible labour that so many women know intimately, Thea returned home to Australia and collapsed into forced rest. Infection. Inflammation. Antibiotics. Corticosteroids. A system that had quietly accumulated more than it could metabolise.Together, they unpack:* The lifelong thread of over-responsibility* Being the emotional regulator in your family of origin* The sandwich generation squeeze, adult children and aging parents* When burnout turns into bodily shutdown* The grief of not launching into the New Year at full speed* And the radical practice of asking: Is this actually mine to carry?Thea shares the moment she caught herself holding other people’s imagined sadness and chose gently to put it down. The practice of interrupting the default and the power of naming parts. Where even Nurse Mildred, a caregiving alter who gets shit done, makes an appearance.There is laughter. There is grief. There is the messy in-between of shedding skins and renegotiating who we are as daughters, mothers, carers, professionals and women moving through another round around the sun.We explore what it means to stop logging ourselves to death. To notice the voice that says “What about them?” and gently respond, “Not mine.” To sit in disappointment without turning it into failure. To refine instead of shame.This is a conversation about capacity. About boundaries that evolve. About inherited expectations we never signed. About forced rest as initiation. About being the lizard in the Australian summer instead of the martyr at the altar of productivity.💌 Subscribe for conversations on women’s health, invisible labour, trauma, caregiving and the quiet rebellions that change everything.Listen now → 🎙️ Episode 3: Nurse Mildred & The Responsibility Thread (Available wherever you get your podcasts.)Guest Info/Resources: Thea Baker - Thea Baker Wellbeinghttps://www.theabaker.com.auhttps://www.instagram.com/theabakerwellbeingDisclaimer:Hysteria Hotline is for listening, laughing, and occasionally raging, not for medical advice. This podcast contains strong language, sensitive topics, personal stories, blunt opinions, biting truths, and the horrors of the patriarchy. By tuning in, you accept that we’re here to expose bias, share experiences, and spill the tea on medical nonsense — not prescribe treatment, give medical advice or diagnose.If you have health concerns, always seek the guidance of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions regarding a medical condition. For everything else like commiseration, validation, and a healthy dose of outrage, then you’re in the right place.Side effects may include laughter, rage, validation, and the sudden urge to demand better care.By listening, you acknowledge that the hosts and producers of Hysteria Hotline are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hysteriahotline.substack.com