PODCAST · health
ShrinkChicks
by Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT
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
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Overwhelmed vs. Overstimulated: What Your Nervous System Is Actually Telling You
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into the difference between feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated, and what’s actually happening in your nervous system when everything suddenly feels like too much. They explore why some people become overstimulated more easily than others, how things...
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The Sex Recession: Why Everyone's Too Stressed for Intimacy
This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re talking about sex, baby, and why everyone seems to be having less of it. The “sex recession” is a real thing, and Em and Jen are exploring how stress, lack of sleep, work, social media, and the constant stream of bad news can affect libido. Plus, the difference...
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Emotional Flooding: Why You Shut Down Mid-Argument
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk all about emotional flooding and why you might shut down, go blank, or struggle to find your words when you’re flooded. They explain what happens in your brain and body when your nervous system becomes overwhelmed, why shutting down can be a protective...
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Why AI Can’t Replace Human Connection with Mike Blanche
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by licensed clinical social worker and addiction expert Mike Blanche from Ethos Treatment to talk about how technology, social media, and AI are quickly changing our mental health and relationships. Mike shares what he’s seeing after more than 20...
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Mother-Daughter Relationships: Why Are They So Complicated?
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into mother-daughter relationships and why they can bring up some of our biggest emotions, even well into adulthood. They explore attachment, childhood wounds, differentiation, seeking your mom’s approval, and why one comment from your mother can somehow...
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What Does It Mean to Practice Radical Acceptance?
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk all about radical acceptance, a core DBT skill that involves fully acknowledging reality as it is, even when you don’t like it, agree with it, or think it’s fair. They explore how acceptance can actually create more freedom and make change possible…
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Rewind: Building Self-Confidence
This week on ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen are throwing it back to an episode from 2024, Building Self-Confidence. This was one of their top episodes, and during this holiday weekend, they wanted to re-release it to share tips and tricks that can help you build self-confidence and self-esteem.…
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How to Cope With Emotionally Immature Family Relationships
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk all about emotionally immature parents and in-laws, the boundaries that can get blurry in family relationships, and how to protect your peace without losing yourself. They explore why understanding emotional immaturity and childhood emotional neglect can...
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Navigating Mental Health Struggles in a Relationship
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about being the partner of someone struggling with mental health, or being the partner struggling, and what it’s like to navigate mental illness within a relationship. They explore the balance between supporting a partner and overfunctioning for them,...
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Jealousy in Romantic Relationships & Beyond
This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re talking all about jealousy. Where does it actually come from, and what do you do with it? Your hosts dive into jealousy at every angle; anxious attachment and reassurance-seeking, why checking a partner's ex's Instagram feeds the monster instead of starving it…
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When Is It Time to Say Enough in a Relationship?
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen take on a common yet difficult relationship question: how do you know when it's time to stay and fight for a relationship, versus when it's time to leave? They break down discernment counseling, a specific, structured approach to help you get clarity, and...
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Why Therapy Works: Real Wins From the ShrinkChicks Community
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen celebrate the many ways therapy can change your life by sharing powerful stories and wins from the ShrinkChicks community as well as themselves. From learning to regulate emotions and set healthier boundaries to receiving long-awaited diagnoses and building...
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Navigating Conversations Through Relationship Milestones
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about the hard conversations that come with every stage of a relationship and why they're never just a one-time discussion. From marriage and finances to kids, careers, family dynamics, and major life transitions, they explore how healthy relationships...
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How to Argue Without Ruining Your Relationship
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into what it really means to fight fairly in relationships and how conflict can actually bring couples closer when it’s handled well. They explore the difference between productive conflict and escalation, and why learning how you and your partner argue…
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Insecurities: Why They Keep You Stuck (and How to Move Forward)
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen unpack insecurities: where they come from, why everyone has them, and how they quietly shape our relationships, careers, and sense of self. They explore the connection between insecurity and hyper-independence, why asking for help can feel so uncomfortable…
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Rewind: Boundaries with Emotionally Immature People
On this rewind episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen welcome Nedra Glover Tawwab back to the podcast! Nedra is a licensed therapist, a New York Times Bestselling author, and an expert on relationships and boundaries. If you haven’t followed her on Instagram yet, go do it now! They start the...
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Sibling Relationships in Adulthood: Closeness, Conflict, and Boundaries
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about adult sibling relationships and why growing up in the same family doesn't always mean growing up with the same experience. They explore how family roles, parentification, favoritism, and changing family dynamics can shape sibling relationships long...
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Are You Settling or Just Compromising in Your Relationship?
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen unpack the difference between compromise and settling in relationships, and why the line between them can feel so confusing sometimes. They explore how compromise is typically preference-based and healthy within a relationship, while settling often involves...
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How Our Assumptions Keep Us Stuck
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about how assumptions can quietly keep us stuck in relationships, work, and everyday life. From assuming people are upset with us to deciding how conversations will go before they happen, they unpack why our brains fill in the blanks and how those…
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When Life Doesn’t Look the Way You Thought It Would
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about expectations versus reality and why life’s biggest moments often don’t feel the way we imagined they would. From marriage and motherhood to careers, birthdays, friendships, and family relationships, they explore what happens when reality doesn’t...
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How to Build Adult Friendships
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about making friends as an adult and why something that used to happen naturally can suddenly feel so difficult. They unpack what actually creates friendship (hint: it’s less chemistry and more repeated proximity), why exclusion feels so dysregulating…
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Rewind: How to Respond and Not React
On today's rewind episode of ShrinkChicks, Emmalee and Jen discuss what it actually looks like to respond, not react. They discuss the practice of responding and not reacting, identifying and understanding your personal triggers, responding vs. reacting with others AND with yourself, why romantic...
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Feeling Lonely in a Relationship and How to Fix It
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about feeling lonely in a relationship: why it happens, how common it is, and what actually helps you reconnect. They explore loneliness during different life stages, especially after having kids, why expecting one partner to meet every emotional need is…
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Kids or Childfree: How to Decide What’s Right for You with Keltie Maguire
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by Keltie Maguire, host of The Kids or Childfree Podcast and a clarity coach who helps people decide between parenthood or a childfree life. Together, they unpack the often overwhelming “in-between” of not knowing what you want, why that gray area...
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Why Relationships Change Over Time
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen break down the phases of relationships and how couples evolve over time, from the honeymoon stage to deeper intimacy. Using a developmental model from couples therapy, they explain why conflict often comes from partners being in different stages at the same...
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When to Go No Contact: Boundaries vs. Cutting Someone Off
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about estrangement and going no contact, a topic that’s more common than we think but still carries a lot of stigma. They unpack why people choose cutoff, the difference between setting boundaries and full estrangement, and why there’s no…
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Navigating Your “What Am I Doing?” Era
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about navigating the “what am I doing with my life” era, those moments when your path, career, or identity no longer feels as clear as it once did. Whether it’s a career pivot, life transition, or just a general sense of uncertainty, this stage can bring...
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Why Childhood Pain Shows Up in Adult Life
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen explore healing your inner child and advice to give to the kid who lives within your adult self. They talk about why revisiting younger versions of ourselves can bring both compassion and anger, and how learning to care for your inner child can help break...
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The Vulnerability of Joy
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about why joy and anxiety often show up together, especially when something good is happening. When positive moments arrive, the nervous system can start scanning for what might go wrong, making it hard to fully relax or enjoy the experience. They…
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Nicole Pellegrino on Becoming a Mom, Grieving a Mom, and Mental Health
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen continue their storytelling series where notable guests share the real emotional journey behind their success. Today’s guest is Nicole Pellegrino, content creator and host of the Long Story Short with Nicole Pellegrino podcast, who Em and Jen first connected...
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Understanding the Many Forms of Grief
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen explore grief; not just the kind that follows death, but the many forms of loss that shape our lives. From pregnancy loss to complicated family relationships to the life you imagined but didn’t get, grief can surface in ways people don’t always expect or...
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The Hidden Cost of Being the “Good Kid” with Maggie Nick
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by trauma therapist, parenting educator, and cycle-breaking advocate Maggie Nick (AKA Maggie with Perspectacles) to talk about the hidden cost of being the “good kid.” Maggie shares her own story of growing up as the easy, responsible child no one...
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Trauma Responses: Understanding The Fawn Response
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen wrap up their trauma response mini-series with a deep dive into the fawn response, the often-overlooked survival strategy rooted in people-pleasing and conflict avoidance. While many people are familiar with fight or flight, fawning happens when your nervous...
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Trauma Responses: Understanding The Flight Response
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen continue their trauma response series with a deep dive into the flight response: what it is, how it shows up, and why it can feel so productive while still being avoidant. Unlike fight or freeze, flight often looks subtle in daily life: staying busy,...
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Cameron Rogers on Motherhood, Mental Health, and Motivation
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen launch a new storytelling series featuring notable voices sharing the real emotional journey behind their success. First up: content creator, author, and host of Conversations with Cam, Cameron Rogers. Cameron opens up about transitioning careers, building a...
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Trauma Responses: Understanding The Fight Response
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen continue their trauma response series with a deep dive into the fight response: what it is, why it develops, and how it shows up in everyday life. Often misunderstood and heavily judged, the fight response is a nervous system survival strategy rooted in...
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Trauma Responses: Understanding The Freeze Response
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen break down the freeze response, one of the most misunderstood trauma responses. They explain how freezing is an involuntary nervous system reaction to overwhelming threat, often linked to trauma, and why so many people carry shame for something their body…
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Reimagining Healthy Relationships
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by one of their all-time favorite guests, Alexandra Solomon, licensed clinical psychologist, adjunct professor at Northwestern University, and host of the Reimagining Love podcast, for a conversation about healthy relationships and the patterns we...
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“Ready” Is Not a Feeling
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen unpack a belief that keeps a lot of people stuck: the idea that you need to feel ready before making a big decision. They talk about why “ready” is not actually a feeling, and how waiting for certainty can quietly turn into avoidance. They explore the...
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Breaking Free from Diet Culture
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by Johanna Kulp, licensed therapist, speaker, and body image specialist, who helps individuals and families break free from diet culture and rebuild trust in their bodies. Johanna shares how her own eating disorder recovery shaped her work, and why...
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When Everything Feels Personal
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen talk about how to take things less personally…and why that’s harder than it sounds. After one of their posts went viral, they unpack why giving people the benefit of the doubt isn’t the same as abandoning boundaries, and how expectations, context, and...
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The Difference Between Anxiety & Intuition
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen delve into a question that many people struggle with: How do I distinguish between anxiety and intuition? They break down how each shows up (urgency versus steadiness, fear versus values, repetitive spirals versus one-time clarity) and how anxiety and…
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Do I Need Therapy in the New Year?
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em & Jen wrap up 2025 with a topic that might just be on all of our minds: Do I need therapy going into the new year? They talk about how tough this year felt for many people, how finances and burnout impact mental health care, and what “needing” therapy even means.…
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The Holiday Boundaries Episode
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em & Jen break down the pressure, guilt, and expectations that can make the holidays feel so overwhelming. Jen shares what it was like growing up without big holiday pressure, while Em talks about navigating the mental load of parenting and splitting time between...
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AI vs. Your Therapist
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dig into a topic that’s becoming impossible to ignore: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in therapy, including how it’s showing up in clinical work, where it can help, and where it crosses the line. They discuss AI’s usefulness for administrative tasks or…
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Introversion, Extroversion, and Your Social Battery
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen plug into the world of social battery: how much emotional energy we have for connection before we start feeling depleted. They talk through why some people can socialize endlessly while others need significant downtime, and how much factors like temperament,...
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Rewind: Improving Communication in Your Relationship
This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re rewinding to one of our most beloved episodes: Improving Communication. Em and Jen revisit what it really means to communicate and how to do it better. From meta-communication (talking about how you talk) to learning the difference between honesty and harshness,...
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The Messy Reality of the Holiday Season
This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re talking all about that very exciting (and stressful) holiday coming up … Thanksgiving! Em and Jen are unpacking the messy mix of gratitude, giving, receiving, and toxic positivity that tends to come with the holidays. From the anxiety of picking the perfect…
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What Resilience Really Looks Like
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen are joined by a very special guest, Carol DeMarco, a longtime friend, mentor, and one of the first people to believe in them when they opened The Therapy Group back in 2014. Carol is a dynamic speaker with more than 30 years of experience in counseling,...
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The Cost of Keeping Everyone Happy
This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen dive into the topic of people-pleasing, AKA the quiet, exhausting habit of keeping everyone else comfortable. They talk about what happens when your identity is built around being the “easy one,” how helping can actually double as control, and why…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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.
HOSTED BY
Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does ShrinkChicks have?
ShrinkChicks currently has 337 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is ShrinkChicks about?
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...
How often does ShrinkChicks release new episodes?
ShrinkChicks publishes regularly with 337 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to ShrinkChicks?
You can listen to ShrinkChicks on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts ShrinkChicks?
ShrinkChicks is created and hosted by Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT.
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