Books, Media & Wellness Resources
Things worth reading, watching, listening to, and thinking about.
Wellness doesn't only happen in a therapy room.
Sometimes a book gives you language for something you've been carrying. Sometimes a story helps you see yourself differently. Sometimes a podcast makes you feel less alone. And sometimes you just need something good to read that has absolutely nothing to do with self-improvement.
This is a collection of books and other resources that connect with the work I care about, mental health, culture, identity, relationships, healing, rest, grief, and being human.
Consider this a curated shelf, not a homework assignment. Take what speaks to you. Leave what doesn't.
Book links go to Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores. I earn a small commission on purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you.
My Bookshop Shelf
I've gathered these recommendations on Bookshop.org so you can browse the full collections in one place — and support independent bookstores while you're at it.
Mental Health, Trauma & Healing
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On reconnecting with the parts of yourself you set aside to survive.
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On complex trauma, what accumulates over time, and what healing can look like for people of color.
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On the emotional cost of being strong, especially when you are always the one holding everything together.
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On intergenerational trauma, how it moves through families, and how those patterns can stop.
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On depression in Black communities, the pressure to keep going, and the silence that can surround pain.
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On what happens when we stop treating mental health as separate from history, culture, politics, and systems.
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On what happens when “fine” stops being good enough and you begin making room for what you actually need.
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A memoir about living with complex PTSD, and the long process of finding treatment that actually fit.
Content note: childhood abuse. -
A guide to recognizing mental health concerns, navigating care, and understanding the barriers that can get in the way.
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On racialized trauma as something held in the body, and the ways it can be carried across generations.
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On addiction, its history, and why substance use is more complicated than simply having enough willpower to stop.
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On supporting someone struggling with substance use without losing yourself or taking responsibility for their recovery.
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On growing up around narcissism and emotional abuse, how those patterns can shape relationships, and what it can look like to stop carrying them forward. -
On growing up with a self-absorbed or emotionally abusive mother, and the anxiety, self-doubt, people-pleasing, and relationship patterns that can follow.
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On understanding anxiety, making room for difficult emotions, and learning to move toward the life you want instead of letting worry make the decisions.
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On attachment patterns, relationships, and the process of developing greater security and connection.
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On understanding attachment patterns, building more secure relationships, and changing the ways we respond to connection without treating those patterns as fixed.
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A novel about depression, family, relationships, and trying to understand yourself when your own mind can feel difficult to make sense of.
If you're reading about trauma because you're considering therapy, you can learn more about EMDR therapy or explore therapy services.
Culture, Identity & Belonging
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On race, class, gender, and the uses of anger and difference.
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Essays on beauty, money, media, and being a Black woman in America.
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On growing up biracial with a white extended family in largely white California, and the long search to understand an absent Black father. Also about faith, caretaking an estranged parent in hospice, and building a sense of self when no one else can give you one.
Content note: parental alcohol use and violence, an abusive relationship, parental death. -
On the effects of racism as trauma, written from a Christian counseling perspective.
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A history that centers Black queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming people in the story of the United States. -
A memoir about growing up Nigerian American, family, cultural pride, and the traditions and lessons carried across generations.
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A memoir about a mother, a daughter, Mexican American identity, queerness, and finding your way back to the parts of your history that assimilation asked you to leave behind.
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A Mohawk writer's account of searching for his Indigenous identity after a third-grade teacher told him Indians no longer exist. Moves through cultural anthropology, travel in Indian Country, the 1990 Oka Crisis, and what it means to be mixed-blood in a post-colonial society.
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A memoir about immigration, marriage, family, faith, and finding a deeper connection to Islam while building a life in America.
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A Hmong family memoir about war, migration, Minnesota, and what gets carried across generations when you leave one home for another.
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On Asian American identity, belonging, and the emotions that come from being told your experience does not quite count.
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Personal stories from Indigenous writers asking what Native identity and belonging mean when neither can be reduced to a document or a category. -
A physician's memoir of fleeing Saigon as a child, and the psychological unraveling that came decades later at the height of her career. Moves between family history, return trips to Vietnam, and her own dissociation and healing.
Content note: war, refugee trauma, dissociation. -
Stories from American Muslim women about faith, identity, family, culture, and finding your place in American life.
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A memoir about a Cambodian refugee mother and daughter, the legacy of war, and the complicated ways love and family survive across generations. -
A memoir about growing up Cambodian American, family, queerness, foster care, and figuring out where you belong.
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On Nigerian American identity, disability, housing, mental health, and finding your place when the systems around you don't always make room.
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A memoir about growing up in Somalia, immigrating to Minneapolis, family, motherhood, and finding belonging between cultures and generations.
Self-Worth, Self-Compassion & Rest
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On treating yourself with the same understanding and care you would offer someone you love.
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On Black women's self-recovery, and healing as something both personal and connected to the world around us.
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On refusing the idea that rest has to be earned, and questioning a culture that ties worth to productivity.
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On radical self-love and unlearning the messages that taught you to see your body as a problem.
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Short reflections and practices for making space for stillness, especially during periods of change.
Relationships, Boundaries & Connection
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On love as a practice rather than just a feeling, and what most of us were never taught about loving well.
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On identifying what you need, communicating it clearly, and letting yourself have boundaries without apology.
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On family dysfunction, recognizing unhealthy patterns, and deciding what you want to carry forward.
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On growing up with parents who could not meet you emotionally, and what those relationships can leave behind.
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On friendship between Black women as a source of support, connection, and healing.
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On self-esteem, boundaries, and unlearning the ways Black women are taught to measure their worth through what they do for everyone else.
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On the history, culture, and forces that have shaped marriage, partnership, and love in Black communities.
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On enmeshment, family obligation, and learning to separate love from guilt while building a stronger sense of self and healthier boundaries.
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On losing yourself in the work of caring for other people, learning to let go of what you cannot control, and making room for your own life.
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On attachment and creating secure, connected relationships while navigating consensual non-monogamy.
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An accessible introduction to adult attachment styles and how they can shape the way we approach love, relationships, and connection.
Christian leaning
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On attachment, emotional connection, and practical ways partners can create greater security in their relationship.
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On men, masculinity, emotional vulnerability, and what happens when men are taught to disconnect from their feelings and from love.
Grief, Loss & What Comes After
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On grief as something you learn to live alongside rather than something you eventually finish.
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On caring for yourself while grieving, with practical ways to move through the days when everything feels different.
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A short, intimate account of losing her father and discovering what grief looks like from the inside.
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On grief, race, and the losses that can be overlooked or misunderstood.
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On navigating grief after pregnancy or infant loss, birth trauma, or infertility without having to grieve in isolation. Content note: pregnancy and infant loss.
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On grief and healing through a Christian faith perspective, written with the experiences of Black women in mind.
Spirituality, Faith & Meaning
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On faith, the Black church, and making room for yourself inside a tradition that did not always make room for you.
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On reading scripture through the Black church tradition and bringing Black experiences into conversations about faith.
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A womanist reading of biblical women's stories that asks what changes when their voices are brought to the center.
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Radical Dharma — angel Kyodo williams, Lama Rod Owens & Jasmine Syedullah On race, liberation, and Buddhist practice, and what happens when spirituality takes racism seriously.
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On what Christianity can offer people living under oppression, and the relationship between faith, dignity, and resistance.
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An introduction to Africana spirituality, ancestry, and practices rooted in traditions including Ifá and Hoodoo.
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Stories about Black Muslim life in America, and the complicated ways faith, family, culture, and belonging intersect.
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On Black and Jewish identity through food, history, family, and the question of where we belong.
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On Islamic spirituality, love, mercy, and developing a deeper relationship with Allah.
Work, Burnout & Life Outside the Therapy Room
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On the cumulative physical and emotional cost of racism, and what happens when the stress never really gets a chance to stop.
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On navigating the workplace as a woman of color, including the things professional advice often leaves out.
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On burnout, overwork, and the pressure to prove your worth through productivity — and what it means to make rest part of your life.
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On the impact of racial trauma at work and what it can take to heal without pretending the workplace is neutral.
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On how busyness became a measure of worth, and what we lose when there is never enough time to simply be.
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On emotional intelligence at work, with attention to identity, culture, bias, and the expectations placed on people of color.
Community, Culture & Collective Healing
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On abolition, organizing, and the idea that hope can be something we practice rather than something we wait to feel.
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On what mainstream feminism can leave out, including hunger, housing, safety, poverty, and who gets centered.
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On the ways racism creates costs that reach beyond the people it targets, and what becomes possible when we stop accepting those divisions as inevitable.
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On using mindfulness and self-awareness to understand how racism lives within us, between us, and around us.
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On wellness rooted in community, accessibility, and the everyday ways people care for themselves and each other.
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On disability justice, the experiences of disabled people of color, and what changes when they are placed at the center of the conversation.
Stories That Stay With You
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Myths and folktales from around the world reimagined as stories about love, desire, and choosing yourself.
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A novel about slavery, motherhood, memory, and what refuses to stay in the past. Content note: slavery, violence, infanticide.
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A woman's life told in her own voice, and the search for love, freedom, and something that feels like her own desire.
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Twin sisters take different paths across the color line, and the novel follows what each choice makes possible — and what it costs.
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A neuroscientist's story about faith, addiction in her family, grief, and the questions that science cannot answer.
Content note: addiction, suicide, grief.
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A novel about slavery, memory, family, and escape, with a touch of the fantastic.
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Four generations of a Korean family in Japan, and what it means to build a life in a place where you are never fully allowed to belong.
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A messy, funny, and painful story about a young Black woman navigating depression, anxiety, relationships, sex, race, and trying to find her way back to herself.
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A Korean War veteran returns to a country that has no easy place for him and sets out to find his sister.
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A short novel about two young Black artists in London falling in love while navigating intimacy, identity, and the weight of the world around them. -
A Nigerian American woman travels to Lagos after the death of a father she never knew and finds family, romance, humor, and unexpected pieces of herself along the way.
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A Black woman and a white man agree to fake-date for a wedding, only to discover that the chemistry between them might be harder to pretend away.
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A woman approaching seventy leans on friendship, family, humor, and her own determination as she figures out what she wants from the next chapter of her life. -
A sharp-tongued Black British woman who gives relationship advice on student radio finds herself in a fake relationship with the very man she warned everyone else about.
Memoirs: Lives, Lessons & Becoming
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On poverty, family, abuse, and building a life and career while carrying what came before. Content note: childhood abuse, poverty.
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On uncertainty, fear, relationships, and the practices that can help you find your footing when life feels unsettled.
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A life told in her own words, from childhood through a remarkable career and the choices that shaped it.
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On family, grief, and the mother and brother whose lives shaped the person Whoopi Goldberg became.
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On a year spent saying yes to opportunities, experiences, and parts of life she would normally have talked herself out of.
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A memoir about Black masculinity, transness, family, and growing up in Texas.
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On transition, organizing, identity, and becoming more fully yourself.
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On persistence, creativity, and building a writing life without allowing other people's expectations to determine what comes next.
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On growing up in Cameroon, family, political upheaval, and the experiences that shape a young person's understanding of the world.
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On being a Black queer woman moving across countries and continents while searching for belonging and a place that can feel like home.
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On tracing a family's history through enslavement, racial violence, and generational trauma, and what changes when that history is finally brought into the light. Content note: racial violence, family violence.
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A memoir addressed to his mother about weight, family, race, abuse, addiction, and the things we inherit from the people who raised us. Content note: abuse, disordered eating, addiction.
Please remember
These recommendations aren't a substitute for therapy, and you don't need to read a book before bringing something into therapy.
Some of these books discuss trauma, racism, grief, abuse, illness, or other difficult experiences. Take care of yourself while exploring them, and skip anything that doesn't feel useful right now.
Podcasts
Listen. Learn. Laugh. Reflect. Connect.
Sometimes a conversation in your ears is the thing that helps. Sometimes you just need something good to listen to on a walk.
This list is intended for adults. Some shows include mature language and discussion of difficult topics.
Last updated: September 2026
Not Sure Where to Start?
Pick whatever matches where you are right now.
Therapy in a Nutshell — Short, practical episodes from a licensed therapist on anxiety, low mood, and emotional regulation. A good first stop if you want tools.
Therapy for Black Girls — Mental health, relationships, and self-care with particular attention to the experiences of Black women.
Relationships Made Easy — A psychologist on communication, boundaries, and second-guessing yourself.
The Neurodiversity Podcast — Neurodiversity, inclusion, and different ways of experiencing the world.
Code Switch — Race, culture, identity, and how they shape everyday life.
First Gen Coach — For anyone navigating a career their family hasn't navigated before.
The Read — When you'd rather laugh. Black culture, pop culture, and no shortage of humor.
This American Life — True stories, beautifully told. A good pick if you're not sure what you're looking for.
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Podcasts exploring mental health, personal growth, emotional wellbeing, and the ways we understand ourselves.
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Conversations about mental health, relationships, self-care, and personal growth, with particular attention to the experiences of Black women.
Topics: mental health • self-care • relationships • Black women
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Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage and family therapist, condenses therapy skills and research into short, practical episodes on anxiety, depression, and emotional regulation. T
opics: anxiety • depression • coping skills • practical tools
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Gaines Licensed therapist Kier Gaines on what it actually means to be a man right now — the pressure, the grief, the joy, and the work of growing. Honest stories and practical tools, no judgment. Topics: men • mental health • relationships • emotions
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Candid conversations and listener questions about relationships, self-esteem, life experiences, and navigating adulthood. T
Topics: relationships • self-reflection • life experiences
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Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek blend positive psychology, cognitive behavioral tools, and mindfulness to help with stress, anxiety, and low mood.
Topics: joy • wellbeing • mindfulness • self-care
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A psychologist and his son explore practical psychology, mental health, and personal growth in conversational depth.
Topics: mental health • personal growth • practical psychology
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Conversations about meditation, mindfulness, emotional wellbeing, and developing practical tools for everyday life.
Topics: mindfulness • stress • self-awareness
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Yale psychologist Dr. Laurie Santos on what the science actually says about happiness, and how often our intuitions about it are wrong. T
opics: happiness • science • wellbeing • habits
Neurodiversity
Podcasts exploring mental health, personal growth, emotional wellbeing, and the ways we understand ourselves.
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Emily Kircher-Morris, a licensed professional counselor, explores neurodiversity, inclusion, education, and the experiences of neurodivergent people.
Topics: neurodiversity • ADHD • autism • inclusion
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Barry Prizant and Dave Finch expand the conversation on autism and neurodiversity by centering autistic and neurodivergent voices, with practical insight into the neurodivergent experience.
Topics: autism • neurodiversity • lived experience • understanding
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Conversations for women with ADHD, diagnosed or suspected, focused on strengths rather than deficits.
T'opics: ADHD • women • strengths • self-understanding
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Katy Weber interviews women who were diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood about finally understanding themselves and leaning into their strengths.
Topics: ADHD • late diagnosis • women • identity
Relationships & Connection
Romantic relationships, friendships, communication, attachment, intimacy, conflict, and connection.
Podcasts exploring mental health, personal growth, emotional wellbeing, and the ways we understand ourselves.
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Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel Real couples bring their relationship challenges into the room for conversations about love, conflict, intimacy, family, and connection.
Topics: relationships • communication • intimacy • couples
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Dr. Abby Medcalf shares practical strategies for communicating better, setting boundaries, and improving relationships with partners, family, friends, and yourself.
Topics: communication • boundaries • relationships • self-worth
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Conversations for women with ADHD, diagnosed or suspected, focused on strengths rather than deficits.
T'opics: ADHD • women • strengths • self-understanding
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Katy Weber interviews women who were diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood about finally understanding themselves and leaning into their strengths.
Topics: ADHD • late diagnosis • women • identity
Race, Identity, History & Society
Race, history, identity, and the forces shaping how we see the world.
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Explores race, culture, identity, and the ways race intersects with everyday life and society.
Topics: race • culture • identity • society
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Brittany Luse looks at the forces shaping what we like, how we act, and who we think we are — connecting politics to pop culture, and identity to tech and health.
Topics: culture • identity • current events • critical thinking
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Nichole Hill digs into the gossip, scandals, and pop culture that filled Black newspapers before the Civil Rights era — the messy stories that became history.
Topics: Black history • culture • storytelling
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Stories about life inside prison and the experiences of incarceration, reentry, relationships, and rebuilding life afterward.
Topics: storytelling • incarceration • reentry • resilience
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Four music industry veterans talk with artists and executives about music, culture, and the stories behind the industry.
Topics: music • Black culture • entertainment
First-Generation & Latina Voices
Navigating career, money, family, identity, and belonging when you're building a path that may look different from the one you grew up around.
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Carla Santamaria and her guests talk with first-generation professionals about rethinking limiting cultural beliefs, advancing at work, and building wealth.
Topics: first-gen • career • cultural beliefs • money
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A space for Latinas to talk about the unspoken — first-gen struggles, mental health, self-love, careers, relationships, and family.
Topics: first-gen • Latina • mental health • family
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Anjelica Cazares and Andrea Diaz talk with underrepresented women about entrepreneurship, navigating academic spaces, burnout, and salary negotiation.
Topics: leadership • first-gen • career • pay equity
Culture, Society & Perspectives
Stories, conversations, and closer looks at the ideas, groups, and narratives shaping the world around us.
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Each week, one theme and a handful of true stories that unfold like short films for radio — personal, funny, surprising, and often deeply moving. Hosted by Ira Glass.
Topics: storytelling • current events • human stories
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Conversations about relationships, family, culture, life transitions, and the questions that come with being human.
Topics: relationships • family • culture • life transitions
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Aliyah pairs an athlete with a guest from another world — music, comedy, business, fashion — and draws out what they unexpectedly have in common.
Topics: athletes • conversation • connection
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Journalist Danielle Robay has candid conversations about ambition, healing, purpose, and self-worth, challenging the assumptions behind what's making news.
Topics: culture • personal growth • perspectives
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Explores the ways groups, fandoms, communities, and cultural trends can develop intense loyalty and influence.
Topics: social influence • culture • groups • critical thinking
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Deep dives into the events, people, and culture wars shaping the world, with celebrities, experts, and journalists joining in.
Topics: culture • politics • queer perspectives
Humor, Joy & Pop Culture
Not everything has to be about healing. Sometimes you just need to laugh, be entertained, or take a break from thinking so hard.
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Black culture, pop culture, current events, celebrity news, and social commentary — with plenty of humor.
Topics: Black culture • pop culture • humor • current events
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A funny and entertaining exploration of scams, fraud, cons, and the people behind them.
Topics: humor • scams • storytelling
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Journalist and cultural critic Demetria L. Lucas brings the group chat to life. pop culture, politics, dating and divorce, travel, and whatever else has the internet talking.
Topics: Black culture • pop culture • politics • humor
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Keke Palmer talks with guests about identity, relationships, success, reinvention, growth, and navigating life in the public eye.
Topics: identity • relationships • growth • pop culture
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Deante' Kyle talks hip-hop, culture, and whatever's happening, with artists and guests along for the ride.
Topics: hip-hop • Black culture • entertainment
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Olay brings together a rotating panel of guests each week to talk through hot topics, with a Black '90s nostalgia running through it.
Topics: Black culture • pop culture • nostalgia • conversation
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Longtime friends bringing the banter and irreverence of NBA Twitter into podcast form.
Topics: basketball • humor • sports talk
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A funny, conversational take on internet culture, trending topics, social media, and the things keeping us online.
Topics: humor • internet culture • pop culture • online trends
Before You Press Play
You don't have to agree with everything you hear. Podcasts include personal experiences, opinions, stories, and sometimes professional perspectives. Listen critically and decide what is useful or meaningful for you.
Podcasts aren't necessarily evidence-based. A podcast may discuss psychology, trauma, health, relationships, or other areas without being clinically or professionally reviewed. Information shared by hosts or guests may reflect personal opinions or experiences rather than professional consensus.
Choose what feels supportive. If an episode leaves you feeling overwhelmed, activated, ashamed, or distressed, it's okay to stop listening. You can always come back to it later, or choose something else.
Follow your curiosity. You might discover a podcast that helps you understand yourself, your relationships, or your culture — or simply makes you laugh.
A Note About Content
Some podcasts include mature language and conversations about sex, trauma, mental health, substance use, relationships, racism, sexuality, incarceration, and other sensitive topics.
Please choose what feels appropriate and supportive for you.
One More Thing
Podcasts can be helpful supplemental resources for reflection, education, connection, and entertainment. They are not a substitute for therapy, medical care, or crisis support.
Inclusion on this list does not mean that every episode, guest, or viewpoint has been reviewed or endorsed by Envisioning Wellness.
If something you hear raises questions or concerns, consider bringing it into therapy so we can explore it together.
Last updated: September 2026.
Podcast titles, hosts, and availability change over time. If a link no longer works or a show has ended, let me know.
Looking for therapy? I'm currently accepting new adult clients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, New Jersey, and North Dakota. Explore therapy services →