S* Your Therapist Reads

A trio of therapists reading mental health and wellness books. New episodes every first and third Thursday.

It Begins With You

This week on the podcast, we're talking about It Begin with You by Jillian Turecki. We talk about reading this book from an avoidant versus an anxious attachment lens, the perils of giving dating advice, and the differences between therapy and coaching. Admittedly, some of us got a little...feisty in this episode. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments! 

11-21
55:20

The Furrows

In this week's episode, Erica and May discuss the novel The Furrows by Namwali Serpell. We talk about how families respond to tragedy, ambiguous loss, and the weirdness of memory. Take a listen and let us know what you think! 

10-30
49:07

Shred Sisters

For this week's episode, May and Erica discuss the novel, Shred Sisters, by Betsy Lerner. We talk about how families deal with mental illness, what it's like for the child who goes unnoticed in the family, and how these earlier dynamics impact us later in our adult lives. Take a listen and let us know what you think in the comments! 

10-30
52:06

Sky Daddy

For this week's episode, we discuss Kate Folk's modern, comedic take on Moby Dick, Sky Daddy. We talk about how our history shapes our experience of sex and love, sexy planes (seriously), and doing couples therapy with AI bots. Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments!

07-17
48:59

Tiny Experiments

This week on the podcast, we discuss Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. We talk about the power of noticing your internal experience and cultivating awareness, running experiments to better understand your own needs, and escaping the rat race of achievement. We also have a hardy debate about whether you can use structure...to break free of the constraints of structure. Take a listen and let us know what you think in the comments!

07-03
55:19

Tastes Like War

This week on the podcast, we discuss Grace Cho's Tastes Like War. This memoir explores themes surrounding immigration, trauma, racism, and mental illness. In our conversation, we talk about the burden of success often placed on immigrant children, wanting a life for your children that they may not want for themselves, and how racial discrimination can contribute to the onset of schizophrenia.

06-19
47:16

Calling In

This week on the podcast, we discuss Calling In by Loretta J. Ross. We talk about how to have hard conversations with those you love and those you hate, whether public shaming is ever called for, and how to solve the problem of polarization in the United States (jk...but kind of!). Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments

06-05
44:36

I'm Glad My Mom Died

This week for the podcast, we discuss I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. We talk about what happens to kids when the needs of their parents take front stage, why we sometimes have to let go of hope, and a very common therapist mistake (that we've all done at one point or another). Take a listen and let us know what you think in the comments! 

05-15
01:00:51

Sucker Punch

For this week's episode, we discuss Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul, and talk about who our stories belong to, why stories resonate with one person and not another, and...the family that fights together stays together?

05-01
50:26

Crush

For this week's episode, we're discussing Ada Calhoun's Crush. We talk about open marriage; what makes for a healthy marriage (and how marriages fall apart); and the power of the stories we tell ourselves.

04-17
57:22

No One Gets to Fall Apart

In this week's episode, we discuss No One Gets to Fall Apart by Sarah LaBrie. We talk about how families navigate mental illness and trauma, how it impacts us when our pain is not seen or recognized, and how there's more to avoidant attachment than what meets the eye. Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments! 

04-03
51:21

Self Help

This week, we are unfortunately without our fearless friend Christina, but May and I soldier on! In this episode, we discuss Self-Help by Gabrielle Bernstein--we talk about Internal Family Systems (IFS), taking your inner child out for ice cream, why particular clients gravitate towards different therapists (and vice versa), and why therapists should be, you know, therapists.   Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments!

03-20
01:02:39

Good Morning Monster

For this week's episode, we discuss Good Morning Monster. We talk about how trauma makes it hard to receive love, how therapy actually works (including why it's a bit like the Wizard of Oz), and the rise of robot therapy. Take a listen and let us know what you think of the episode in the comments! 

03-06
59:53

State of Affairs

In this episode, we tackle Esther Perel's State of Affairs. We discuss the causes and treatment of infidelity, compare sex and love here and in other countries, and debate the merits of couples therapists' "no secrets policy" Take a listen and let us know what you think!

02-20
52:10

Polysecure

Valentine's Day is approaching, and being couples therapists, we decided to kick off the month by discussing Polysecure. We talk about what it takes to make ethical non-monogamy work (and how monogamists could learn a lot from their ENM peers); we debate the use of the term co-dependent; and Erica makes the case for gatekeeping the mental health profession. 

02-06
37:40

Season 2: More

In our first episode of the new year, we discuss More: A Memoir of Open Marriage. We talk about how open marriage is...not quite what folks think it is, and the challenges of being a mom while being a whole person. 

01-16
42:29

The Art of Money

In our final episode of the year, we're joined by friend of the pod, Jillian Knight, to talk about the Art of Money. We discuss the new-ish field of financial therapy, how different cultures talk (or don't talk) about money, and how your finances do actually care about your feelings.

12-05
57:02

What it Takes to Heal

In this episode, we are thankful to have friend of the pod, Meagan Chevalier, MS, LMFT to talk about Prentis Hemphill's book, What it Takes to Heal. Not that we're biased or anything but Meagan is like, the therapist we all want to be our therapist??? In our conversation, we discuss when therapy meets the body (somatic therapy), getting comfortable with being afraid, and how therapy can play an important role in community and activist spaces. 

11-21
01:05:45

How Do You Feel?

We are so excited to have our first guest author on the podcast! Dr. Jessi Gold joined us to talk about her new book, How Do You Feel, that just came out this month. We discuss core themes from her book including burnout, being a mental health professional navigating your own mental health, and the unreasonable demands made of those who work in the medical and mental health fields. 

10-17
52:07

Bad Therapy

Oh boy. So in this week's episode, we tackle the book Bad Therapy, and discuss what this book claims is bad therapy, what we wish it actually addressed about the failures of mental health treatment, and make a case for why telling kids to just "man up" is not the move. You know, in each episode of our podcast we talk about who a book is for, and for this particular book our answer is...no one. 

10-03
01:01:37

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