The NeuroSpicy MomPod
by The NeuroSpicy MomPod
Welcome to your newest obsession - The NeuroSpicy MomPod! This is a cozy, judgment-free space to normalize neurodivergence and explore nervous system healing.Blending psychology, lived experience, and real conversations - this podcast is about reparenting, healing, and coming back to yourself.New episodes every week 💖
Episodes
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It's All Connected: The Neurodivergent Experience
Maybe my social media isn't as random as it looks! ✨ This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we're exploring the surprising connections between neurodivergence, narcissistic abuse, workplace challenges, poverty, and nervous system safety. Most importantly, we're talking about moving beyond shame and...
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Wait... How HAS Neurodivergence Affected My Life? | Season 5 Premiere
Welcome to Season 5 of The NeuroSpicy MomPod! In this deeply personal premiere, Austen Marie reflects on a seemingly simple question from a cleaning client: "How has neurodivergence affected your life?" The answer turns out to be far more complicated than she imagined. From growing up with...
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BE THE DETECTIVE, NOT THE JUDGE; Understanding Your Neurodivergent Brain with with Josh from Re-Right
What if, instead of judging ourselves for the things we struggle with, we got curious about why they’re hard? This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I’m joined by Josh, co-founder of re-RIGHT, for a conversation about what it actually feels like to move through the world with a neurodivergent...
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Motherhood on Overload: Neurodivergence & Postpartum Depression (Audio Version)
Postpartum mental health is finally getting the national attention it deserves, but what does postpartum look like when you're already living with a NeuroSpicy nervous system? This week, we're looking at the research connecting ADHD and autism with increased rates of perinatal depression, anxiety...
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The Imaginary String: Neurodivergence, Eugenics & the Rights We’re Fighting For
What happens when we forget that the rights we inherited had to be fought for? This week, we’re following the imaginary string through Aktion T4, American eugenics, Buck v. Bell, forced sterilization, the disability rights movement, Section 504, the ADA, and the rhetoric and policies raising…
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THE GIRLS WE MISSED; Late-Diagnosed Autism, Chronic Illness & Healing with Lee Alberts
In this episode I'm joined by Lee Alberts, a late-diagnosed AuDHDer, disability justice advocate, and future mental health counselor, for one of my favorite conversations we've had on the podcast. We dive into what late diagnosis can uncover, why so many neurodivergent girls were missed growing…
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The Charismatic Adult: The Science of Feeling Seen
What if changing a child's life doesn't begin with perfect parenting but with one safe relationship? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we're exploring the groundbreaking Kauai Longitudinal Study, one of the most influential resilience studies ever conducted, and the neuroscience behind…
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Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Thinking: The Neuroscience of Communication
Why can two people hear the exact same words and walk away with completely different understandings of the conversation? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we're putting on our teacher hats and diving into the neuroscience of communication. Together, we'll explore the difference between...
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When Your Nervous System Chooses Isolation: The Hidden Cost of Neurodivergence
Why can you feel lonely even when you're surrounded by people? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we explore the hidden connection between neurodivergence, chronic isolation, autistic burnout, ADHD, and nervous system regulation. You'll learn why loneliness isn't the same as being alone…
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GIFTED, NEURODIVERGENT, AND EXISTENTIALLY EXHAUSTED; The Neuroscience of Existential Depression (Audio Version)
Why do some people seem to feel the weight of the world more deeply than others? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we're exploring existential depression, a form of depression that often affects highly reflective, gifted, and neurodivergent individuals. We discuss the difference between...
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The Stories We Inherit; How Language Shapes Identity, Self-Worth & the Stories We Tell Ourselves (Audio Version)
What if some of the beliefs you hold most strongly about yourself aren't actually facts... they're stories? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we're exploring how language shapes identity, why the messages we hear as children become the stories we tell ourselves as adults, and what...
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When Your Nervous System Thinks You’re the Problem: DARVO, Neurodivergence & Self-Trust
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re digging into DARVO, “Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender” and why manipulative dynamics can be especially confusing for neurodivergent people who grew up masking, over-explaining themselves, and learning to distrust their own instincts.…
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Small Accommodations, Big Relief: Creating a Neurodivergent-Friendly Home
In today’s episode, we’re talking about what it actually looks like to create a nervous system-friendly home as a neurodivergent person, parent, teacher, or caregiver… especially when you’re doing it without unlimited money, energy, or support. We dive into practical, low-cost accommodations that...
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What Masking Actually Does to the Brain | Late Diagnosis, Burnout & Autism in Women with Michelle Karth
This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I’m joined by neuroscientist and late-diagnosed autistic adult Michelle Karth for an incredibly validating conversation about autistic masking, late diagnosis, nervous system burnout, chronic stress, sensory overwhelm, and why so many neurodivergent women were...
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Won’t vs. Can’t: The Parenting Shift That Changes Everything with Stacey Curnow
What if your child isn’t refusing… but actually can’t? In this episode, we’re unpacking one of the most powerful mindset shifts in parenting... the difference between “won’t” and “can’t.” Because what looks like defiance is often something much deeper: nervous system dysregulation. I’m joined by...
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Cognitive Dissonance Explained: Why Your Brain Chooses Comfort Over Truth
Why do we stay in situations that don’t align with what we know? Why do we ignore red flags… justify our choices… or struggle to accept new information...even when it’s right in front of us? In this episode, we’re breaking down cognitive dissonance, the psychological tension that happens when our...
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From Control to Connection: Why Behavior Isn’t What You Think with Gabriel Hannans
Welcome back to your newest obsession - The NeuroSpicy MomPod 💖 In today’s episode, I’m joined by Gabriel Hannans, a special education teacher, registered behavior technician, author of Parent Behavior Encyclopedia, and a powerful voice at the intersection of parenting, education, and social...
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The Myth of “Looking Neurodivergent
“You don’t look neurodivergent.” If you’ve ever heard that or felt like your struggles weren’t “visible enough” to be taken seriously...this episode is for you. In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I’m breaking down what it actually means to “look” neurodivergent, and why so many people,...
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Maybe You’re Not Broken Maybe You Were Conditioned ; A NeuroSpicy Look at Growth Mindset
In this episode, we’re breaking down the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset—and how the way we speak to ourselves shapes what we believe is possible. We explore where these beliefs come from, how they show up in our lives, and why this conversation is especially important for...
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Are We Educating… or Conditioning? The Truth About Modern Schooling with Olivia Couch
Before we dive in, a quick note 💛 The audio and video are slightly out of sync in parts of this episode. Thank you for your patience and understanding as you listen through! Also, I want to acknowledge and apologize for something I caught after recording: I accidentally used the terms...
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🎧 Learned Helplessness: How Systems Teach Us to Stop Trying (Audio Version)
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we explore learned helplessness, a psychological pattern that develops when someone is repeatedly placed in situations where their actions don’t seem to matter. Over time, the brain adapts by assuming that effort is pointless and that belief can begin to...
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Building Something Steadier Than Survival✨
Welcome to Season 4 of The NeuroSpicy MomPod. 💖 This podcast is a space where we explore neurodivergence, nervous system regulation, trauma, healing, and rebuilding life with more awareness and compassion. In this opening episode, I share the deeper story behind why this podcast exists... from…
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🎙️ Season 3 Finale — Healing For the World
This episode closes out Season 3 of The NeuroSpicy MomPod! There’s no recap and no personal update here. Instead, this conversation centers on staying grounded, trusting the process, and tending to our nervous systems when everything feels loud and uncertain. This episode isn’t about forcing...
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Holding Both: Neurodivergent Joy, Grief, and Staying Human
I don’t have a perfect script for this moment in history — but I do know what my body feels. In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we talk about neurodivergent joy — not as denial, not as “look on the bright side,” but as nervous system regulation and psychological survival. We explore why...
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A NeuroSpicy Interview with David Schmidt Jimenez; Supporting Neurodivergent Kids With Dignity
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I sit down with David Schmidt Jimenez — a late-diagnosed autistic, Cuban American educator based in Baltimore — for a conversation that hits deep if you’ve ever felt like you were expected to comply instead of being understood. Together, we unpack what it...
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Why Does Being Aware Make Everything Harder?
Why does healing feel harder after you finally have words for what you’ve been living through? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I explore why awareness can feel destabilizing at first — especially for neurodivergent adults, trauma survivors, parents, and late-diagnosed women who spent...
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🎙️Neurodivergence Without the Safety Net: When Survival Becomes the Only Option
What does neurodivergent support look like when you don’t have a safety net? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I talk openly about the gap between neurodivergent support in theory and neurodivergent survival in real life — especially for those without excess money, flexible systems,...
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Embracing Neurodivergence: A Journey of Understanding; A NeuroSpicy Interview with Kory Andreas
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, I’m sitting down with Kory Andreas for a gentle, grounding conversation about late-diagnosed autism, nervous system safety, and what it actually looks like to unmask in a world that wasn’t built for us. We talk about the lived experience of discovering...
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It Runs in the Family: The Genetics of Neurodivergence & Why It’s So Often Missed
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we explore why neurodivergence so often goes unrecognized in families — and how genetics, normalization, and survival can quietly shape generations of nervous systems. As we move through the holiday season, this conversation gently holds space for: Adults...
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When You’re the Calm… but You’re Not Calm
A compassionate, science-backed conversation about what happens when neurodivergent parents want to be the calm for their kids… but their own nervous system is completely overwhelmed. In this episode, we explore: ✨ why ND parents reach their limits faster ✨ the physiology, psychology, neurology,...
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🎙️ Holiday Season, Tiny Nervous Systems: Why Everyone Feels So Off Right Now
This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re diving into something almost every neurodivergent parent (and reparenting adult) is feeling right now: why the holiday season quietly turns our nervous systems inside out. From unpredictable school routines, sensory chaos, dark mornings, social pressure,...
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Why ‘Normal Parenting Tips’ Don’t Work for Neurodivergent Kids — And Why That Doesn’t Make You Soft
Hey friends — today we’re untangling one of the biggest misconceptions in parenting advice: the idea that neurodivergent kids should respond to “normal” discipline and behavior strategies the same way neurotypical kids do. Spoiler alert: they don’t. Because their brains don’t. In this episode, we...
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Two Identities, One Nervous System: Growing Up Undiagnosed & Rebuilding Who You Are
In today’s episode, we’re diving into something so many late-identified neurodivergent adults know all too well — the feeling of having two versions of yourself living inside the same body. There’s the younger you who survived life without language for your neurodivergence… and the current you...
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🎙️ What Our Children Wish We Knew: Healing Our Inner Child While Parenting
This week’s episode cracked my heart open in the best way. 💞 “What Our Children Wish We Knew” is a love letter to the kids we’re raising and the little ones still living inside us. In this exclusive video episode, I’m sharing not just the full podcast recording — but also an off-script,...
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School Refusal: When the Body Says "I Can’t”
Why do some kids seem unable to go to school—no matter how much we encourage, reward, or reason with them? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we unpack school refusal through a neurodivergent and trauma-informed lens. 🌻 You’ll learn how emotional distress, sensory overload, and chronic...
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The Hidden Cost of Being Neurodivergent (Audio Version)
✨ S3E7: The Hidden Cost of Neurodivergence ✨ Let’s talk about the price of existing in a neurotypical world — the emotional labor, the job instability, the financial strain, and the silent burnout so many neurodivergent adults and parents face. In this week’s episode, Austen Marie opens up about...
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Healing While We Parent - An Interview with Kecia Nelson, LCSW
In this week’s episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, host Austen Marie chats with Kecia Nelson (@wholehearted_parenting)—a licensed clinical social worker and mom—about the messy, beautiful process of reparenting yourself while parenting your kids. They dive deep into healing generational trauma,...
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Trained to Tolerate: How Childhood Abuse & Undiagnosed Neurodivergence Can Prime You for Narcissist
In this week’s episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re talking about something so many of us live without realizing it — being trained to tolerate. From toxic workplaces to unhealthy relationships, many of us learned early on to shrink, stay quiet, and settle. Let’s unpack where that pattern…
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🎙️From Overwhelm to Empowerment: Trauma & Neurodivergence with Bry Bryan
🎙️ Today I’m joined by Bry Bryan (@brythetherapist)—a licensed trauma therapist who works with neurodivergent kids, overwhelmed parents, and adults navigating trauma. Her own lived experiences with addiction and survival shaped the way she shows up in therapy—with compassion, honesty, and hope....
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Back to the Beginning: A Glimpse at Neurodivergence Through Time
This week on The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we zoom out and trace the history of how society has seen neurodivergence. From myths of “divine madness,” to the rise of asylums, to the Disability Rights and Neurodiversity movements — this episode explores how far we’ve come, and why it matters right now....
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🎧 The Power of Love in Teaching, an Interview with Olivia Couch
In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, Austen Marie sits down with educator and advocate Olivia Couch to explore love, autonomy, and the power of unlearning in education. Together, they dive into the role of teachers as ethnographers, the challenges of burnout, and how community and play can...
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Welcome to Season 3 of The NeuroSpicy MomPod! ✨
In this kickoff episode, I’m sharing the story behind the mic:💖 Growing up with cPTSD, undiagnosed ADHD + autism💖 How teaching TK kids helped me rewire my own nervous system💖 The breaking point that led me to walk away from my marriage & career💖 Why this podcast exists and where we’re going...
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S2E20 - Thank you For Growing With Me!
Season 2 Finale! 💖 We’ve officially wrapped up 20 episodes this season, and I just want to say thank you to every single listener who’s been part of this NeuroSpicy journey. From deep dives into advocacy, to raw conversations about parenting, healing, and being ND in a world that wasn’t built…
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A NeuroSpicy Take on Ai
AI can feel like magic for ADHD, autistic, and dyslexic brains, helping with emotional regulation, executive function, and communication...but what’s the hidden cost? 🤔 In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we dig into the neuroscience, environmental impact, and mind–body connection so you…
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🎧Back to School, Back to You: Supporting Neurodivergent Nervous Systems in Transition
Transitions are hard—especially when your neurodivergent brain is already screaming, “TOO MUCH, TOO FAST.” In this episode, we unpack why seasonal shifts and new routines can send our nervous systems into overdrive, how to support our kids (and ourselves) through change without shame or burnout,...
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🎧Why Trying New Things Feels Like a Threat: The Neurospicy Brain & Change
Why does trying anything new feel like your brain is short-circuiting? Why do school transitions make our kids fall apart—and why do we spiral right along with them? In this episode of The NeuroSpicy MomPod, we’re breaking down the real neuroscience behind why our bodies react to change like it’s...
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🎧 Why Justice Sensitivity Feels Like a Full-Time Job (Especially If You're NeuroSpicy)
Do you ever feel like you have to speak up—even when it costs you everything? Like your body literally won’t let you move on when something feels unfair? That’s not you being dramatic. That’s your neurodivergent nervous system doing exactly what it was wired to do. In this episode, we’re digging...
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🎧 Episode 15: You Might Be NeuroSpicy If…
Ever peeled the labels off water bottles like it was your job? Refused to wear jeans unless they were exactly the right softness? Couldn’t handle wet hair after a shower and didn’t know why? This week’s episode is a lighthearted but powerful dive into the subtle, often-missed signs of...
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🎧 A NeuroSpicy Take on Spirituality
Ever wondered why astrology feels more real than science class? Or why your nervous system calms down more in the forest than in a therapist’s office? Let’s talk about it. 🌿✨ In this episode, we explore why so many ND folks are drawn to the “woo,” how trauma and religion intertwine, and what...
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🎧 A NeuroSpicy Take on School Trauma
Today, we’re breaking down the hidden trauma so many of us experienced in school—from being shamed for needing to move, to overachieving ourselves into nervous system collapse. Whether you were labeled a “problem” or praised as “gifted,” the system was never built for your brain. And that damage?...
About this show
Welcome to your newest obsession - The NeuroSpicy MomPod! This is a cozy, judgment-free space to normalize neurodivergence and explore nervous system healing.Blending psychology, lived experience, and real conversations - this podcast is about reparenting, healing, and coming back to yourself.New episodes every week 💖
Hosted by
The NeuroSpicy MomPod