Okay, can we remove the stigma of couples therapy & stop treating it like it's the beginning of the end?

One of the biggest myths about therapy is that you only go when your relationship is falling apart. But what if we viewed it the same way we view preventative healthcare—a tool to strengthen what's already there before life inevitably gets messy?

Because here's the truth: nobody teaches us how to communicate, navigate conflict, or stay connected through the biggest transitions of life—yet our relationships are one of the strongest predictors of our health and happiness.

In this episode of Off With Your Coat, Cat sits down with psychotherapist and couples coach Barbara Steele Martin to explore what really makes relationships last. From postpartum and perimenopause to fertility struggles, empty nesting, and everything in between, they unpack the communication tools, emotional patterns, and daily rituals that help couples stay connected—not just when things are hard, but long before they get there.

Whether you're newly married, deep in the trenches of parenting, navigating hormonal changes, or simply want to become a better partner, this conversation is a reminder that healthy relationships aren't found—they're built.

In This Episode

• Why are millennials obsessed with Off Campus and what that says about how we view our own relationship needs.

• Why relationships often struggle during major life transitions like postpartum and perimenopause—and what to do about it

• The rise of "gray divorce" and why couples quietly grow apart

• The difference between psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists—and when to see each

• Why overfunctioning can quietly damage a relationship

• Navigating infertility, miscarriage, and grief as a team

• Rebuilding intimacy during the postpartum years

• Small daily rituals that create lasting connection

  
  

Learn more about Barbara's couples coaching, women's lunch groups, and educational programs focused on relationships, menopause, and emotional well-being.

Website

Instagram

This Episode is Sponsored By Fleurish Design Studios

One thing we don't talk about enough is how our environment influences how we connect. For our very first femme. supper, we wanted women to walk into a space that immediately felt warm, welcoming, and beautiful. Thanks to Fleurish Design Studios, that's exactly what happened. Their event design & florals set the tone for an evening of honest conversation and meaningful connection—because sometimes it's the thoughtful details that make people feel most at home.

Follow @fleurishdesignstudios for inspiration, and connect with their team to bring your next event to life.

Subscribe to Off With Your Coat on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

In this episode of Off With Your Coat, Cat sits down with functional nutritionist Dr. Sarah Khan to unpack one of the fastest-growing health challenges affecting women today: autoimmune disease.

After being diagnosed with Hashimoto's, Sarah transformed her own health through a personalized approach rooted in nutrition, lifestyle, and functional medicine.

Through her own journey, she was able to restore her health to the point that she no longer requires thyroid hormone replacement—a personal outcome that inspired her work helping women uncover the root causes of autoimmune disease through individualized care.

In this episode we discuss:

• The connection between gut health, hormones, and autoimmune disease
• Hashimoto's, thyroid testing, and common nutrient deficiencies
• How to support your liver, microbiome, and nervous system
• The role of food diversity, herbs, spices, and anti-inflammatory nutrition
• Practical advice for perimenopause, cholesterol, weight changes, and energy
• The truth about gluten, supplements, histamine, and personalized testing

Whether you're navigating an autoimmune diagnosis, struggling with unexplained symptoms, or simply looking to optimize your health, this conversation offers practical, evidence-informed strategies rooted in both science and lived experience.

Resources Mentioned

• The Wahls Protocol by Dr. Terry Wahls

• EWG Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen

• Misfits Market

• Fermented foods including sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir

• Red light therapy

Connect with Dr. Sarah Khan:

⁠Instagram⁠

⁠Website⁠

No one prepares you for breastfeeding success.

And they certainly don't prepare you for weaning, let alone toddler weaning. Emma Pickett changes the game, providing true support that starts during pregnancy.

If you've ever wondered whether breastfeeding is for you, how to feel most supported for the best outcomes, or how the heck to start the weaning process (what, why, how?!), this episode is for you.

This week, Cat sits down with internationally recognized lactation consultant Emma Pickett, IBCLC, educator, author of Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy and The Breast Book, and host of the Makes Milk podcast for an honest conversation that starts with breastfeeding—but quickly becomes something much bigger.

Together, they unpack motherhood, body autonomy, toddler weaning, perimenopause, and why so many women are left feeling like they're failing when, in reality, they've simply never been given the full picture.

Emma explains why "low milk supply" is one of the biggest misconceptions in breastfeeding, how nursing benefits a mother's health long after birth, and why the overlap between breastfeeding, postpartum, and perimenopause deserves far more attention than it gets.

They also dive into the emotional side of weaning—how to know when you're ready, how to support your child through the transition (yes, even if you're reading Booby Moon or battling your own little "booby monster"), and why ending your breastfeeding journey can feel like saying goodbye to one version of yourself while making space for another.

This isn't an episode about doing motherhood perfectly. It's about trusting your body, questioning the narratives we've inherited, and making informed choices—without shame.

In this episode:

• Why so many women believe they're "failing" at breastfeeding.
• The health benefits breastfeeding offers mothers—not just babies.
• The truth about breastfeeding beyond infancy.
• What "flooding" during perimenopause is and why more women should know about it.
• Gentle toddler weaning strategies that actually work.
• What happens physically and emotionally after you stop breastfeeding.
• Why women's health conversations can't exist in silos—and why every stage deserves better support.

Because women deserve more than one point of view.

Connect with Emma:

Instagram

Website

Podcast

Weaning Book for Children: The Story of Jessie's Milkies

What do weaning, mammograms, pelvic floor therapy, PMDD, and perimenopause all have in common?

More than I ever expected.

In this solo episode, I'm sharing a personal update on my own health journey—from weaning after nearly two and a half years of breastfeeding to navigating shifts in my PMDD symptoms, getting my first mammogram because of my family history of breast cancer, and beginning pelvic floor therapy (which has been far more eye-opening than I anticipated).

What I've learned is that women's health is rarely about one symptom, one diagnosis, or one specialist. Everything is connected. And often, the most important skill we can build is learning how to advocate for ourselves.

I'm also excited to share the third and final pillar of gen-well: femme.

femme. is an intimate supper series designed to bring women together across disciplines, backgrounds, generations, and perspectives for nuanced conversations about women's health. We'll gather clinicians, founders, advocates, and women with lived experience—including voices from both Eastern and Western medicine—to explore the topics that deserve more curiosity, context, and conversation.

Because the future of women's health won't be built in echo chambers. It will be built when women come together to learn from one another.

Our founding supper focused on perimenopause—a life stage that affects millions of women yet remains widely misunderstood, under-discussed, and too often reduced to a handful of symptoms.

The goal? More connection. More conversation. Less hierarchy. And a growing collection of shared wisdom that helps women feel informed, empowered, and less alone.

Because women deserve more than one point of view.

I'd love to hear from you: What topics would you like to see us tackle at future femme. suppers?

Make sure you are following @genwellofficial, and subscribe to the pod wherever you stream!

Can we please stop with the performative wellness?

Why are we blindly participating in trends without understanding their purpose — or whether they actually fit our unique needs?

What if we took a page from cultures that have long understood healing differently: through ritual, community, nervous system safety, and real connection.

This week on Off With Your Coat, Cat sits down with Jiji Kenney, founder of Luruh (to fall gently), an Indonesian-rooted monthly gathering for women centered around communal healing, intentional ritual, and embodied wellness.

After her own trauma, difficult postpartum experience, and the pressure of “snapback” culture, Jiji began questioning what wellness in the Western world actually means when it’s practiced, not just performed.

This conversation is grounding, honest, and deeply human — a reminder that healing may have less to do with perfection and more to do with ritual, connection, and community.

Because wellness was never meant to be a performance.

Connect with Jiji and learn more about Luruh and the upcoming gathering dates here!

Why does it feel like everyone is either on a peptide stack, promoting one, or thinking about starting? Are they actually safe? Effective? Overhyped?

In Part 2 of Off with Your Coat, Cat Duff sits back down with Naturopathic Doctor Dr. Penelope McDonnell for a candid conversation on the wellness topics taking over everyone’s feeds: peptides, GLP-1s, inflammation, longevity, and the foundational habits women are skipping in the pursuit of optimization.

Dr. McDonnell breaks down why she believes we’re still in the “AOL dial-up era” of peptide therapy, the safety concerns no one online seems to be talking about, and why sourcing and personalization matter more than ever.

They also dive into:

• Cancer prevention –why disease seems to be hitting women, younger & younger

• GLP-1s, micro-dosing + metabolic healing

• Gut health, inflammation + the viral “seed cereal” for everyday

• Travel wellness hacks and lymphatic drainage

• Functional testing + women’s hormone health

• Therapy, burnout, sleep, and longevity

If you’ve been peptide-curious — or completely overwhelmed by wellness trends — this episode brings nuance, context, and honesty back into the conversation.

Connect with Dr. M:

Instagram

Practice

What is a naturopath—and where does this kind of care fit into women’s health today?

In this two-part episode, Cat sits down with Dr. Penelope McDonnell for a candid conversation on fertility, menopause, inflammation, peptides, longevity, and the future of personalized medicine.

Dr. McDonnell has been part of Cat’s health journey for nearly a decade—supporting everything from breast cancer prevention (with strong family history), fertility prep, miscarriage recovery and hormone support, and postpartum care, all alongside traditional medical doctors.

This episode explores what can happen when women build a collaborative care team instead of feeling forced to choose one side or the other. Where one approach falls short, another can offer support—and together, they can help women feel informed, proactive, and truly seen.

We also dive into root-cause medicine, hormone health, genetics, nervous system regulation, wellness misinformation online, and why nuanced conversations around miscarriage, menopause, libido, and aging matter so much.

This is a conversation about balance, prevention, modern science, ancestral wisdom—and empowering women with more options, not more fear.

You can connect with Dr. M:

Instagram

Her Practice

The idea that the basics of health are “unsexy” is officially over.

Whether you’re navigating perimenopause, fertility challenges, or simply seeking to optimize your health, this conversation delivers practical, science-backed insights on what actually moves the needle.

Cat sits down with Danielle Raniolo, Founder & Women’s Health Coach, to explore why foundational habits—nutrition, movement, sleep, nervous system regulation, and toxin reduction—are the most powerful tools for long-term health, hormone balance, and longevity.

And we have some fun along the way. As Danielle is Cat’s college best friend and former roommate, this conversation blends science, lived experience, and compassionate perspective with a dose of nostalgia, laughter, and real-life reflection.

Key Takeaways

• Danielle’s whole-body approach to women’s health: full-body leadership

• Strength training for lean muscle, metabolic health, and longevity (how and when to start)

• Functional medicine and uncovering root causes, including autoimmunity

• Acute vs. chronic inflammation and its impact on the body

• Balancing cardio, resistance training, and recovery for long-term health

• The importance of personalized lab testing (thyroid, metabolic, nutrient markers)

• Foundational supplements: creatine, magnesium, vitamin D, omega-3s

• Nutrition strategies: fiber, diversity, and plant-forward protein

• Nervous system regulation through acupuncture, movement, and mindfulness

• Fertility optimization and when to consider medical support

• And so much more

Connect with Danielle

Instagram

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