What happens when the thing that feels frightening, unpredictable, or even traumatic is your own brain?

For people living with OCD and anxiety, intrusive thoughts can feel terrifyingly real. You may find yourself questioning your memories, searching for reassurance, or performing rituals because the possibility of something bad happening feels impossible to tolerate. And when these experiences begin to shape your daily life, they can feel traumatic in their own right.

In this episode, I sit down with Jenna Overbaugh, a licensed professional counselor who has specialized in OCD and anxiety since 2008, to talk about the often-misunderstood experience of living with OCD. Drawing on her clinical expertise and lived experience, Jenna helps us understand why intrusive thoughts can feel so convincing, how OCD can interfere with relationships and everyday life, and why exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy can be such an important part of recovery.

Because the goal isn’t to eliminate every uncomfortable thought or guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen. It’s to build the capacity to experience uncertainty, tolerate discomfort, and keep living a meaningful life anyway.

We also explore why effective exposure therapy should be collaborative, gradual, and challenging but manageable; not an exercise in overwhelming someone or forcing them to face their worst fears without preparation. And we discuss how children with OCD can be misunderstood when their behaviors look like defiance, disrespect, or stubbornness, even when they’re trying desperately to prevent something terrible from happening.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why living with OCD can feel traumatic, even when the threat seems to come from within your own mind
• Intrusive thoughts, false memories, and why frightening thoughts can feel so convincing
• How OCD rituals and compulsions can take over daily life
• How OCD can be mistaken for defiance or disrespect in children

About the Guest:

Jenna Overbaugh is a licensed professional counselor who has specialized in OCD and anxiety since 2008. She is passionate about making mental health concepts practical and accessible, and her work focuses on evidence-based approaches including exposure and response prevention (ERP) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Click here to visit Jenna's website and learn more about her work.

Connect with me:

Want to learn more? You can find me on Instagram @dr.koslowitzpsychology and check out my new book Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle and Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be

What happens when a mother knows something is wrong, desperately seeks help, and is repeatedly told she’s fine?

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, I sit down with Aaisha Alvi, author of A Mom Like That: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis, to talk about her experience with postpartum psychosis, the devastating impact of being dismissed by medical professionals, and the long road toward getting the care she needed.

Aaisha shares what it was like to experience frightening changes in her thoughts and perceptions after childbirth, while struggling to understand what was happening to her. Even as she reached out for help, her symptoms were repeatedly misunderstood. It wasn’t until she connected with a perinatal psychiatrist that she received the specialized care and understanding she needed.

Together, we explore the difference between intrusive thoughts and psychosis, the stigma surrounding maternal mental illness, and the harmful assumption that a mother experiencing a psychiatric crisis must be a danger to her child; or a bad mother. They also discuss how cultural expectations, shame, and fear can make it even harder for parents to speak openly about what they are experiencing.

This conversation is a reminder that mothers experiencing serious mental health challenges deserve compassion, appropriate treatment, and the chance to be heard without judgment. By sharing her story, Ayesha hopes to help other parents recognize when something is wrong, seek support, and understand that a psychiatric crisis does not define who they are as a parent.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The difference between intrusive thoughts and psychotic symptoms
• What can happen when healthcare providers dismiss or misunderstand a mother’s concerns
• The importance of specialized perinatal mental health care
• How stigma and the fear of being labeled a “bad mother” can prevent parents from seeking help
• The role that culture, religion, and family expectations can play in how mental illness is understood
• Why mothers experiencing psychiatric crises need support rather than shame
• How sharing personal stories can challenge misconceptions and create space for more compassionate care

About the guest:

Aaisha Alvi is the author of A Mom Like That: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis. Through her personal story and advocacy, she works to bring greater awareness to postpartum psychosis and challenge the stigma surrounding maternal mental health.

Connect with me:

Want to learn more? You can find me on Instagram @dr.koslowitzpsychology and check out my new book Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle and Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be

What if being apart from your child doesn’t mean you’re any less connected?

In this episode, I sit down with actress, author, content creator, and co-host of The Mother Daze podcast, Sarah Wright Olsen, to explore one of the hardest parts of parenting: separation.

Sarah is the author of the beautiful picture book When I Am Not With You, inspired by a simple question she and her children have shared for years: “When I am not with you, where am I?”

The answer? “In my heart. In my head.”

Together, we explore what attachment really looks like when we aren't physically together and why being a securely attached parent doesn't mean being constantly available.

For post-traumatic parents, separation can bring up enormous amounts of fear and guilt. If you grew up with experiences of abandonment, inconsistency, or loss, saying goodbye to your own child can feel much bigger than the moment itself.

This episode is a must-listen if you've ever thought:

“Am I hurting my child by being away from them?”

“How can I stay connected to my child when I can't always be there?”

“What if my own childhood makes separation harder for me?”

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why attachment doesn't require constant physical presence
• The importance of mental presence and helping children carry us with them
• Creating goodbye rituals that help children feel secure
• Why separation can actually be part of healthy attachment
• Parenting through daycare, work, school, and other separations
• The guilt many working parents experience
• Why we don't need to “awfulize” separation or daycare

About the Guest:

Sarah Wright Olsen is an actress, author, content creator, entrepreneur, mom, and co-host of The Mother Daze podcast. She is the author of When I Am Not With You, a picture book inspired by her family's own experiences with separation, connection, and the many goodbyes that happened throughout childhood.

Sarah's work is deeply informed by her own experiences as a mother, including postpartum anxiety, working motherhood, and her desire to build community and share the things she has learned along the way.

Connect with Sarah:

Instagram: @swrightolsen

Book: When I Am Not With You

Podcast: The Mother Daze with Sarah Wright Olsen and Teresa Palmer

Connect with me:

Want to learn more? You can find me on Instagram @dr.koslowitzpsychology and check out my new book Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle and Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be