If you’ve been hearing all the buzz about GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Zepbound, and you’re wondering if they could be the right fit for you at midlife, this is the episode to press play on. We brought on nurse practitioner and health optimization expert Amy Wrenn to demystify what GLP-1s actually are, how they work, who they’re for, and what you really need to know about taking them during perimenopause and menopause. Amy is passionate, informed, and totally relatable—she cuts through the hype to bring clarity to a topic that’s been wrapped in confusion and judgment.

In this conversation, we get real about our own experiences, bust some myths, talk side effects (yep, we go there), and explore the broader context of hormone therapy, weight gain, metabolic dysfunction, and the importance of doing what works for your individual body and life. Whether you’re curious, cautious, or already on a GLP-1, this is a must-listen packed with valuable insights.

Episode Highlights:

[0:00] - Welcoming Amy Wrenn and kicking off our deep dive into GLP-1s
[3:10] - What exactly are GLP-1s, and how do they work in your body?
[5:00] - Understanding insulin resistance, perimenopause, and why midlife changes everything
[6:57] - Real-life examples of "metabolic mayhem" that hits out of nowhere
[8:03] - Challenging the lazy stereotype: GLP-1s are not a quick fix
[10:08] - The far-reaching benefits: inflammation, PCOS, cognitive health, and more
[12:10] - Social media hype vs. safe medical prescribing—know the difference
[13:46] - Compounded medications vs. name-brand prescriptions: what to watch for
[17:33] - Who qualifies for GLP-1s, and what do providers look for?
[20:43] - It's not about skinny—it's about healthy: the real goal of treatment
[22:34] - Common side effects: what to expect and how to manage them
[25:25] - Nutrition matters: prioritizing protein, avoiding high-fat traps
[26:38] - Surprising benefits: reduced alcohol cravings, better food boundaries
[28:12] - Coming off GLP-1s: what it looks like, and when it’s okay to stay on
[31:48] - Does your body adapt over time? Amy explains habituation and dosing
[33:32] - The power trio: GLP-1s, HRT, and resistance training
[36:08] - Hormone therapy explained: symptom relief vs. long-term prevention
[40:51] - Why we’re not getting this info from our doctors—and how to change that
[42:24] - Where to follow Amy and keep learning more

Links & Resources

Follow Amy Wrenn, NP on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/np_wrenn

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

In this episode, we sit down with the vibrant and inspiring Wendy Valentine, host of The Midlife Makeover Show and author of Women Waking Up: The Midlife Manifesto for Passion, Purpose, and Play. Join us as we talk about how midlife doesn't have to mean crisis—it can mean awakening. Wendy shares her deeply personal story of rebuilding her life from the ground up, and the radical self-love and resilience that fueled her transformation. We dive into the emotional truths of midlife, from grief and divorce to rediscovering joy and authenticity. Wendy doesn't just inspire, she equips you with tangible tools, mindset shifts, and her powerful FREEDOM framework to help you move from stuck to empowered.

Episode Highlights:

[0:03] - Welcoming Wendy Valentine and introducing her book, Women Waking Up

[2:32] - Wendy shares her rock-bottom moment and the events that triggered her transformation

[6:24] - Reframing "crashing out" as a path to growth and renewal

[8:25] - The lotus metaphor: finding beauty and strength in the mud of midlife

[13:09] - You don’t need a crisis to change: How midlife malaise can be a call to action [14:51] - The most common limiting beliefs Wendy hears from women in midlife

[17:37] - Stepping into the light: responsibility, courage, and becoming your own best friend [22:27] - Introducing the FREEDOM framework: 7 steps to rebuild and reclaim your life [27:27] - From "acting" like your future self to becoming her

[29:44] - Small changes with big ripple effects

[32:49] - Leaping into the unknown: Wendy’s journey into RV life and podcasting

[36:22] - Meditation, journaling, and daily habits that shift your brain and your life

[40:16] - Rewiring your beliefs through neuroplasticity and self-awareness

[43:25] - Trusting yourself and embracing midlife as your time

Links and Resources:

• Pre-order Wendy’s book Women Waking Up: https://www.wendyvalentine.com

· Wendy Valentine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy_valentine_/

• Wendy's Substack: https://wendyvalentine.substack.com

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

We're thrilled to bring you this powerful and myth-busting conversation with Dr. Kelly Casperson, a board-certified urologist, author of You Are Not Broken, and host of the top-rated podcast of the same name. If you’ve ever felt confused, dismissed, or flat-out frustrated by the information (or lack thereof) around perimenopause and menopause, this episode is for you. Dr. Casperson breaks down the science with clarity and humor, helping us all better understand what’s really going on with our hormones—and why we don’t have to just "tough it out." We cover everything from early symptoms like brain fog and poor sleep to the misunderstood role of hormones like estrogen and testosterone. We also talk about how we as women can become better advocates for our health in a system that often leaves us behind.

Episode Highlights:

[4:38] - Debunking the myth that menopause only happens in your 50s—and how "average" doesn't mean "too young."
[7:16] - Brain fog, sleep issues, and the importance of estrogen and testosterone for your mental clarity.
[16:50] - The real story behind testosterone—what it does, why it's not “just for libido,” and how women actually produce more of it than estrogen.
[21:33] - Pros, cons, and controversies of pellets vs. transdermal testosterone and how to advocate for safe, effective treatment.
[29:00] - Why age-based hormone treatment guidelines are outdated and how to start thinking preventively about your health.
[34:30] - Breast cancer survivors and hormones: navigating a complex and often misinformed landscape.
[38:59] - Common myths around risk and how to challenge medical gatekeeping with knowledge and confidence.
[42:44] - The fallout from the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study and how misinformation persists decades later.
[44:08] - Where to actually find a menopause-savvy provider who knows the full menu of treatment options.

Links & Resources:

• Dr. Kelly Casperson's Website: https://kellycaspersonmd.com/
• Book: You Are Not Broken: https://kellycaspersonmd.com/you-are-not-broken-book/
• Upcoming Book: Menopause Moment (September 2025): Pre-Order Now: preorder Kelly's new book about Perimenopause: https://kellycaspersonmd.com/the-menopause-moment-book/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellycaspersonmd
• Podcast: You Are Not Broken: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-are-not-broken/id1495710329
• Menopause Society Directory: https://menopause.org/

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

In this episode, we’re discussing the real, raw, and essential skills that every woman needs to navigate midlife with grace, grit, and a whole lot of self-compassion. We’ve been through the highs, the lows, the chutes and ladders of this season, and today we’re pulling back the curtain to share the seven foundational skills we believe every woman should know to not just survive, but thrive. These are the skills we teach in our Midlife Master Class, and the ones that have held us up through the toughest times. From boundary-setting and assertive communication to frustration tolerance, inner parts work, and energy protection—this conversation is packed with insights we’ve lived, taught, and continue to practice ourselves.

Episode Highlights:

[0:02] - Why midlife is so hard—and why these 7 skills matter
[2:46] - The highlight reel isn’t the whole story (and why we cry behind the scenes)
[6:12] - Boundaries: not just with others, but with yourself
[9:03] - When your kid is in a toxic relationship (and you want to break up with them yourself)
[13:44] - Self-care as a boundary: what it really looks like
[14:00] - Assertive communication: the misunderstood superpower
[21:10] - Frustration tolerance: why it belongs in your skillset
[22:10] - What self-connected communication actually looks like
[29:43] - Understanding and befriending your inner critic
[31:10] - Why self-compassion isn’t fluffy—it’s essential
[33:08] - Protecting your energy: from giving tree to grounded goddess
[39:39] - The dance between being needed and being free
[41:31] - Redefining resilience as a learned, practiced skill
[46:02] - How changing your self-talk becomes your superpower
[47:39] - Why doing this work in a group is so powerful (and how you can join us)

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

Hey friends! In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome the incredible Christina Woods—a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Rapid Transformational Therapist, Empowerment Coach, and Reiki Master. Christina brings a wealth of knowledge and a deeply personal story of transformation after decades in corporate leadership. Together, we explore how childhood beliefs, people-pleasing patterns, and midlife awakenings can shape—and reshape—our lives.

Christina gets real about her journey from high-achieving executive to empowered healer, sharing how modalities like hypnotherapy, EMDR, and energy work helped her (and now help others) move from burnout to balance. We dig into subconscious beliefs, emotional healing, intuition, and how to rewire the mind for worthiness and self-compassion. You’ll hear both the science and the soul of healing, with laughs, deep truths, and maybe a few thigh stories along the way.

Episode Highlights:

[0:01] - Laura introduces Christina Woods and her background in therapy and corporate leadership.
[1:19] - Christina shares her unraveling: career burnout, divorce, and rediscovering herself.
[5:53] - The “garden moment” that sparked Christina’s personal transformation.
[7:35] - How hypnotherapy and EMDR opened the door to healing deep trauma.
[10:48] - Laura and Christina discuss the power of embodied therapeutic modalities.
[14:34] - Colette joins and dives into the hypnotherapy process and how it really works.
[20:19] - Can anyone be hypnotized? Busting myths and sharing real client experiences.
[24:27] - Custom hypnotherapy audios: why language, music, and intention matter.
[27:55] - Common client themes: high achievers, perfectionism, and “not enoughness”.
[29:16] - Healing principles from the documentary “HEAL” and why intuition matters.
[32:40] - Fear, intuition, and learning to trust your internal compass.
[35:58] - Hypnotherapy reveals unconscious beliefs—sometimes from early childhood.
[37:39] - Laura and Colette share personal “aha” moments and therapy curiosities.
[40:54] - Matching your energy with your mindset to truly hold what you believe you deserve.
[41:37] - Where to find Christina online and how to work with her.

Resources:

• Christina Woods’ website: www.christinalwoods.com
• Christina on Instagram: @christina.lwoods

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

Ready to reclaim your energy, sanity, and self-worth? In this episode, we’re diving into the unapologetic, liberating mindset of giving zero fucks—specifically, the 10 things we’ve learned to stop caring about at midlife. From good girl conditioning to comparison culture, we unpack the beliefs and behaviors that no longer serve us and explore what it means to live more freely, authentically, and powerfully in this season of life.

Episode Highlights:

[0:03] – Reclaiming your time and energy with a zero-fucks midlife mindset
[0:40] – Why being nice instead of honest keeps us stuck
[4:25] – Letting go of comparison and honoring your own path
[7:04] – Releasing outdated visions of what life "should" look like
[11:52] – Caring less about what others think—spotlight effect and all
[16:40] – Ditching the scale: body image, aging, and radical acceptance
[21:55] – No more default caretaker role—how to share the labor
[26:04] – Redefining beauty: aging with grace, or not
[30:49] – Hustling for approval: letting go of external validation
[36:23] – Playing small to keep others comfortable? Not anymore
[41:16] – Letting go of expectations for other people’s lives

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

This episode we’re joined by the incredible Maryon Stewart, a global pioneer in natural hormone rebalancing and women's health advocate. Maryon drops serious wisdom about how women can navigate perimenopause, menopause, and beyond—without relying on HRT. We talk all about phytoestrogens, nutritional deficiencies, and how small, science-backed changes in diet and lifestyle can lead to huge shifts in how we feel.

Whether you're just starting to notice changes or deep in the menopause journey, Maryon’s natural hormone rebalancing protocol (NHRP) offers a roadmap to feeling vibrant again. We go deep into what’s actually happening in our bodies, what the research shows, and why the medical community still isn’t fully caught up. This is the conversation we wish we’d had years ago—so don’t miss it!

Episode Highlights:

[0:00] - Intro to Maryon Stewart and her revolutionary work on menopause
[4:50] - What the FEMMAR community offers and why real-time research updates matter
[9:13] - How the NHRP was born and what makes it unique
[14:26] - Breaking down the Natural Hormone Rebalancing Protocol (NHRP)
[17:21] - Understanding phytoestrogens and how they mimic estrogen naturally
[21:07] - Can you really go through menopause without HRT?
[24:52] - What phytoestrogens actually are and how they work
[28:22] - A look at the diet: what to eat, how to eat, and making it easy
[32:27] - Belly fat at midlife: why it happens and what to do about it
[34:14] - Post-menopausal zest, community support, and long-term vitality
[41:30] - How the medical world is responding and FEMMAR’s growing impact
[45:32] - Where to find Maryon, her community, and free resources

Links and Resources:

Femmar - website and community sign-up https:femmar.com Free Phytoestrogens Food Guide - download from Femmar.com (https://www.femmar.com/newsletter-downloads)

Femmar.Hormonal.Health on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femmar.hormonal.health/?hl=en

Maryon Stewart BEM on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryon-stewart-bem-b806634/

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.

Hey friends! In today’s episode of Insights from the Couch, we’re exploring one of our favorite (and most handed-out!) psychological models—the Drama Triangle. If you've ever felt stuck in dysfunctional relationship dynamics, unsure why you're constantly the “rescuer,” “victim,” or “persecutor,” this one's for you. We break down how these roles silently fuel relational chaos and emotional suppression—and most importantly, how to get out.

We also introduce the Empowerment Triangle, the powerful antidote that helps you reclaim your agency and transform your relationships. We’re not here for surface-level chatter—we’re all about taking personal responsibility, getting real about what’s not working, and building healthier, more honest connections. So grab your coffee and settle in—we’re getting real about emotional growth, boundary-setting, and stepping into your truth.

Episode Highlights:

[0:02] - Welcome to Insights from the Couch and intro to "The Chat" community
[1:47] - Why we love teaching the Drama Triangle model
[3:24] - Defining the three core roles: victim, rescuer, and persecutor
[5:34] - The puppet-master energy of the victim role
[7:50] - The shift from victimhood to Creator mindset
[10:57] - Personal stories on family dynamics and feeling disempowered
[13:19] - How rescuers unknowingly uphold dysfunctional systems
[16:33] - Gender, parenting, and the over-functioning rescuer
[18:26] - Emotional discomfort and the fear that fuels rescuing
[22:46] - The persecutor: the role no one wants but everyone needs
[25:07] - Why breaking the triangle means risking being “the bad guy”
[27:56] - How emotional suppression drives the Drama Triangle
[32:54] - Shifting to the Empowerment Triangle: Creator, Coach, and Challenger
[35:51] - Taking personal accountability and validating our feelings
[38:24] - The difference between rescuing and coaching with compassion
[41:05] - How to offer support without enabling
[42:06] - Embracing the Challenger role to live in truth
[44:33] - Join our new community space “The Chat” at insightsfromthecouch.org

Links & Resources:

· Join the conversation and community at: https://www.insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat

· Learn more about the Drama Triangle and Empowerment Triangle: The Power of TED* by David Emerald

· Recommended reading: The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

If today's discussion resonated with you or sparked curiosity, please rate, follow, and share "Insights from the Couch" with others. Your support helps us reach more people and continue providing valuable insights. Here’s to finding our purposes and living a life full of meaning and joy. Stay tuned for more!

Come hang out with us in The Chat, our free community for midlife women, where we keep the
conversation going at insightsfromthecouch.org/the-chat.

And don’t forget to
download our free guide 7 Skills to Master Midlife so you can stop living small, start taking action, and
live the life you really want at insightsfromthecouch.org/midlife-roadmap.