What I Learned in the Therapy Space this Month (June 2025)
June is men’s mental health month. So, let me just normalize that men are allowed to feel anything and everything beyond anger and feeling fine (thanks Bill Burr!). Check out @BryanEspiritu’s latest reel where he talks about an accessible way to find a therapist in Ontario. (Yes, this is the school that I went to, and I highly recommend their referral board for affordable therapy options.) Here’s a link to the OPCC referral board.
This past month, after feeling some stagnation in my practice and feeling a need to line up some more speaking gigs, I decided two things. I would put my desire for more speaking engagements out there, via a LinkedIn post. And I would start doing more video content on Instagram. I was resisting doing online content because it felt really vulnerable for me. I am so passionate and believe so much in the work that I do, for myself and for my clients, that it still feels a little scary to put myself out there. I am concerned that I will make a mistake, or say something that harms someone. And to get really honest, I am worried about how some former co-workers or friends might view my new career. How can I be a good therapist, when in much of my 20s and early 30s, I lacked so much self-awareness?
I have spent time with my therapist and with friends reflecting on this. Yes, as a therapist, I too have many insecurities. Afterall, I am only human, right? All I can say is that I have worked hard at understanding myself and my emotions and I think I have experience immense growth in the last decade.
And even though it feels vulnerable to be here, I can see the value in posting more content, trying to make connections with people through this medium and using it to further my private practice. So many things can be true at the same time.
Anyway, while it has been a tough month living on this planet, here are some things that have helped me understand people better this past month, or things that I just think are valuable to share. Perhaps they will be helpful for you as well.
*First, while I don’t want perimenopause to become my entire personality, I have found some correlations between things that I am experiencing and many of the perimenopause symptoms now being discussed online. Just like I talked about in my pop psychology and social media post, the awareness we now have around perimenopause is mostly good (how can it not be), however as humans (myself included), sometimes we can over identify with something and we can be frustrated when we can’t find a quick fix. (I posted a video about this on my Instagram earlier this week.) This video, by Dr. Mary Claire Haver, which shows the link between perimenopause and a decline women’s mental health, was quite eye opening. I am overjoyed that women are finally being considered more in the medical field and that we are simply talking about it with any shame. Information is powerful, so if you need something to refer at your next dr’s appointment, this might be the thing.
*As I may have mentioned before, I am very interested in Somatic therapy and the idea that our emotions show up in our bodies as physical symptoms when we no longer have space to process them in our minds. This video from Embody Lab shows a few quick exercises to calm the nervous system. While it may not cure everything that ails us, I think tapping into our bodies can be such a helpful way to understand ourselves and give ourselves some much needed self-care in this hectic and dysregulating world.
*My girl Miranda Popen (you may know her at @ThePeriodLab on Instagram) is once again hosting a menstrual health and mental health event, called Hot Hormone Health, on Sunday, August 17. I was on the panel of her last event, and it was a really special day. Tickets are $80, and the information that you come away with is incredibly valuable. And there are lots of fun freebies! If you’re interested, you can purchase tickets here.
That’s all for now. See you next month!