This month's Mental Health Check-In follows along with my current newsletter series called Therapy Notes: Small Bits of Wisdom from Inside the Room. Head over to the link below, or my website, to join in at my newsletter. It's my favorite place to create and connect.

About the series : Therapy Notes swill offer insights I wish I could pass out for free (here goes), things that help me in my life, and certainly things I wish I’d known before I became a therapist. Scroll back through all of them if you are new here!

Therapy is both an art form and a collection of knowledge. Much of this knowledge is gleaned from the clinical research that informs the science of the field. However, the kitchen table version, simplified down to accessible takeaways, is where I see the most effective help. I hope this series will offer some wisdom from the practice of therapy. My own definition of wisdom is: knowledge you can actually use.

For more Still Becoming find Monica at ⁠⁠monicadicristina.com⁠⁠, and on Instagram: ⁠⁠@monicadicristina⁠⁠.

Sign up for the ⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠ too!

This is a re-release of a Mental Health Check-In episode for those of us who are ending summer and moving into the business of a new school year, or an approaching Fall with work commitments. We are talking about the myth of balance, and how much shame an unrealistic idea of balance can produce in our lives. In this short episode we will identify why this myth isn't helpful, and how to think about ordering our lives instead. We will explore the ideas of prioritization, values, boundaries, and permission as a replacement for the pressure that "balance" produces. I hope this episode is validating, freeing, and encouraging. For more Still Becoming find Monica at ⁠⁠monicadicristina.com⁠⁠, and on Instagram: ⁠⁠@monicadicristina⁠⁠.

Sign up for the ⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠ too!

I am so excited to have author Emily P. Freeman on the podcast. I am such a fan, and I have been for a long time. I appreciate the way Emily shows up in the world and in her work. In a world that is always in a rush to decisions, to certainty, and to judgement, Emily's work is refreshingly curious, patient, and spacious. In this conversation, and in her impactful new book How to Walk Into a Room, Emily invites us to look at endings and decisions in a helpful and wholistic way. We discuss how we moralize decisions, Emily's metaphor of rooms in our lives, and the idea of true peace and decisions. It is such a rich and layered conversation, and I can't wait for you to hear it.

Emily P. Freeman is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of five books, including The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions. As a spiritual director, workshop leader, and host of The Next Right Thing podcast (more than 25 million downloads), her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue. Emily holds a master’s degree in spiritual formation and leadership from Friends University. She lives in North Carolina with her family.

https://emilypfreeman.com/ https://www.instagram.com/emilypfreeman/