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What if most of your stress isn’t from your schedule, but from the stories your mind keeps telling? We celebrate 100 episodes by building a season-long survival guide that turns mental traps into practical tools you can actually use. Two friends with mental health training get honest about the habits that trip us up—then show how to get unstuck with simple steps that fit a real life.

We start by dismantling all-or-nothing thinking with a pen-and-paper exercise that creates space between extremes and points you toward what’s reasonable and effective. Then we take on catastrophizing, shifting from scary possibilities to likely outcomes while using movement, environment resets, and calming statements to cool a spiraling nervous system. Self-criticism gets a double hit of compassion and structure: kinder self-talk, plus a calendar audit that adds people, places, and activities that refill your energy instead of draining it.

Communication sits at the center of better days. We tackle mind reading by swapping assumptions for clear asks, and we curb overcommitment with the “polite no” and the “yes-no” technique that protects time without burning bridges. We explore how gratitude weakens the comparison trap, how naming feelings—beyond “fine”—undoes emotional numbing, and how nostalgia loops can make the present feel smaller than it is. Finally, we trade perfection for progress, embracing good enough as the engine of growth and the antidote to procrastination.

If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, stuck in your head, or trapped by your own expectations, this conversation offers permission and a plan: find the middle, say what you need, and make space for what matters. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review telling us which tool you’ll try first.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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Holiday magic shouldn’t require a spreadsheet and a stress headache. We talk candidly about the creeping pressure that starts when stores roll out Christmas before Halloween, why time suddenly feels so fast, and how easy it is to confuse tradition with obligation. Together we take a hard look at the rituals we’ve inherited, admit where they’ve stopped serving our families, and model a better path: ask who it’s for, invite your kids into the decision, and choose the version that actually brings joy.

We share a real shift in our own home—pressing pause on the “perfect” day-after-Thanksgiving tree farm outing—and what happened when we finally asked the kids what they wanted. The answers surprised us and freed everyone. From there, we get practical. You’ll learn a simple stress inventory to identify your top three pressure points, a coin-flip gut check to cut through indecision, and no-guilt scripts to say, “No, thank you,” when your calendar is already full. We also explore how to navigate extended-family expectations with respect, clarity, and options that keep connection at the center without burning you out.

If you love certain traditions, keep them and savor every minute. If you’re carrying rituals that feel heavy, modify them or let them go. Nothing has to be forever; reevaluate each year and let the season of life guide the plan. Expect concrete ideas for scaling back cards and parties, creating simpler gatherings, and practicing boundaries so you can be present for what matters most. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs permission to opt out, and leave a quick review to tell us which tradition you’re changing this year.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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A clean report card can still hide a hard truth. When spelling lists melt down into tears and progress graphs flatten, parents are left wondering if it’s effort, maturity, or something deeper. We open up about the moment a seasoned school psychologist realized her own child needed more than time—she needed an evaluation, a plan, and a different kind of help. That shift from “try harder” to “teach differently” becomes the turning point.


This is also a story about protecting self-worth. We share scripts for talking to kids about learning differences, shifting praise from outcomes to effort, and inviting children into the plan so they feel empowered, not singled out. Behavior is reframed as communication; avoidance becomes a clue to skill gaps, not a character flaw. By partnering with teachers, requesting the right data, and acting early, families can move from confusion to steady progress.

If report cards raised questions or your gut says something isn’t clicking, you’re not alone—and you’re not powerless. Listen, take notes, and share this with someone who needs a nudge toward early intervention. If the conversation helped, follow the show, leave a review, and tell us what topic you want next.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com