Welcome!! To connect or become a client visit catiaholm.com or call/text 956-249-7930.

In today's episode, OCD Without Shame, OCD feels like a nonstop demand for certainty, even when you know the fear does not make sense. I break down why intrusive thoughts are symptoms not character warnings, and how evidence-based treatment helps you reclaim your life.
• the “oversensitive smoke alarm” metaphor for OCD and why the brain’s done signal gets stuck
• the obsession anxiety compulsion relief loop and how relief reinforces the cycle
• why OCD is not tidiness and how compulsions can be invisible and mental
• what research suggests about genetics, trauma correlation, stress and age of onset
• why searching for the one cause can become its own compulsion
• intrusive thoughts in motherhood and the shame that keeps people silent
• ERP as the gold-standard treatment and how it retrains tolerance for uncertainty
• SSRIs as a first-line medication option and why support is not failure
• a small at-home practice to delay one compulsion for five minutes and observe the anxiety shift

Support the show

Couch Time with Cat isn’t therapy—it’s real conversation designed to support your journey alongside any personal or professional help you're receiving. If you're in emotional crisis or need immediate support, please get in touch with a professional or reach out to a 24/7 helpline like:

• US: 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
• UK: Samaritans at 116 123
• Australia: Lifeline at 13 11 14
• Or find local resources through findahelpline.com

You’re not alone. Let’s take this one honest conversation at a time.

Follow the show and share it with someone who’s ready for healing, hope, and a more empowered way forward.

Show hosted by:

Catia Hernandez Holm, LMFT-A

Supervised by Susan Gonzales, LMFT-S, LPC-S

You can connect with Catia at couchtimewithcat.com

and

To become a client visit- catiaholm.com

Welcome! To become a client visit catiaholm.com or call/text 956-249-7930.

In today's episode, Brain Science, Are you in Survival Mode or Higher Order Thinking?, we name what’s happening when survival mode takes the wheel and protection becomes more important than connection. We break down fight, flight, freeze, and fawn and practice simple regulation tools that help us show up with more choice in relationships and parenting.
• survival mode as a nervous system response rather than a personality flaw
• how the brain and body scan for safety through senses and social cues
• emotional triggers like criticism, rejection, conflict, and uncertainty
• fight, flight, freeze, and fawn patterns and what they look like day to day
• a relationship moment reworked with regulation and clear language
• parenting stress and why the “shoe problem” is rarely about shoes
• boundaries that hold while kids have big feelings
• repair after we get it wrong and why it builds secure connection
• the “notice, name, regulate, choose” framework for real-time decisions
• the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise to get your whole brain back online

Support the show

Couch Time with Cat isn’t therapy—it’s real conversation designed to support your journey alongside any personal or professional help you're receiving. If you're in emotional crisis or need immediate support, please get in touch with a professional or reach out to a 24/7 helpline like:

• US: 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
• UK: Samaritans at 116 123
• Australia: Lifeline at 13 11 14
• Or find local resources through findahelpline.com

You’re not alone. Let’s take this one honest conversation at a time.

Follow the show and share it with someone who’s ready for healing, hope, and a more empowered way forward.

Show hosted by:

Catia Hernandez Holm, LMFT-A

Supervised by Susan Gonzales, LMFT-S, LPC-S

You can connect with Catia at couchtimewithcat.com

and

To become a client visit- catiaholm.com

Welcome! To connect or become a client, visit catiaholm.com or call/text 956-249-7930.

In today's episode, How To Help Kids Through Back-To-School Anxiety At Any Age, Back-to-school anxiety is not a sign that something is wrong with your kid; it is their nervous system scanning for safety when everything feels new. I break down what school anxiety looks like at different ages and share simple tools that help kids feel connected instead of pushed to “get over it.”

• reframing first-day flutter as normal nervous system biology
• why logic fails and co-regulation works through connection
• anxiety as a companion rather than something to eliminate
• elementary kids asking will someone take care of me and using a steady goodbye ritual
• why sneaking away can increase anxiety over time
• middle schoolers asking do I belong and how anxiety can look like attitude
• executive function under construction and why kids come home smoked
• sideways conversations that open the door without interrogation
• teens asking does this matter and can I survive it amid achievement pressure and online life
• modeling honest, unpolished stories instead of platitudes
• the core truth that anxiety is not the enemy, disconnection is

Support the show

Couch Time with Cat isn’t therapy—it’s real conversation designed to support your journey alongside any personal or professional help you're receiving. If you're in emotional crisis or need immediate support, please get in touch with a professional or reach out to a 24/7 helpline like:

• US: 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
• UK: Samaritans at 116 123
• Australia: Lifeline at 13 11 14
• Or find local resources through findahelpline.com

You’re not alone. Let’s take this one honest conversation at a time.

Follow the show and share it with someone who’s ready for healing, hope, and a more empowered way forward.

Show hosted by:

Catia Hernandez Holm, LMFT-A

Supervised by Susan Gonzales, LMFT-S, LPC-S

You can connect with Catia at couchtimewithcat.com

and

To become a client visit- catiaholm.com