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Let's be real: telling a terrified mom that her horrific intrusive thoughts are "normal" is only half the story, and it's not good enough.

This episode is your new essential guide. We're cutting past the surface talk about "scary thoughts" and diving deep into the neuroscience of what's actually going on. Your client's brain is doing a brilliant, protective job being hypervigilant, but then sleep deprivation, nutritional depletion, and chronic stress turn that protection into a panic spiral. We explain exactly how to spot the difference between a normal thought and pathological Postpartum OCD and, most importantly, how to offer root-cause solutions that stop the nervous system from fueling those terrifying images. If you want to move beyond just screening and genuinely help your clients heal, you need to hear this.

Check out the episode on the blog HERE

Key time stamps: 

1:03   Naming the Unspeakable: What Do Postpartum Intrusive Thoughts Really Look Like?

2:34   Why Telling a Mom "It's Normal" Simply Isn't Enough (and Why It's Harmful).

5:57 Maternal Brain Plasticity 101: How Evolution Made the Postpartum Brain Brilliant.

8:18   Hypervigilance, Sympathetic Dominance, and The Postpartum Energy Debt.

10:58   The Spiral: When a Protective Thought Leads to Pathological Anxiety.

14:25 Root Causes Driving Postpartum Nervous System Dysregulation.

17:54 Case Study: Resolving Severe Nighttime Intrusive Thoughts with Nutrition (Ferritin & Labs).

20:22 Case Study: Feeding Anxiety, Blood Sugar Crashes, and Adrenal Support.

22:09 The Critical Distinction: Intrusive Thoughts vs. Postpartum OCD (P-OCD).

25:12 The Whole-Person Assessment Framework for Intrusive Thoughts.

27:08   Layered Interventions That Work: Regulation, Foundations, Trauma, and Support.

29:27 Common Provider Mistakes: Minimizing, Catastrophizing, and Isolating Symptoms.

32:17   Intrusive (Ego-Dystonic) Vs. Psychotic (Ego-Syntonic) Thoughts: Why This Distinction is Life-Saving.

35:17   Partner Education: Helping Support People Provide Help, Not Judgment.

37:47   Building Resilience, Not Symptom Suppression: Long-Term Nervous System Health.

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