Our topic today is intriguing, so I can’t wait to learn more from my guest. I’m joined by River Nice (they/them), who was originally in a tech job they hated. After using their skill set to help their partner with debt from her gender transition, River found their calling: to help queer people with their money. Now, they run their own financial planning firm, Be Intentional Financial LLC (BIF), to serve their clients and community and help to dismantle oppression in all its forms. Join us to learn more!Show Highlights: Misconceptions people have about the term “anti-capitalist financial planner” A look at the harmful and inaccurate mainstream financial advice in our world Why we live in fear and worry about our financial survival in a capitalist society A look at white privilege and how we can make the world a better place under oppressive systems What “redistribution of wealth” looks like, practically speaking How River helps clients with investing for long-term financial security A charity giving model vs. creating an interdependent community How River teaches financial emergency preparedness to clients How anti-capitalist financial planning is a holistic view of life, money, values, and relationships River’s advice about specific financial scenarios around debt management, living paycheck to paycheck, planning for the future, and accumulating wealth Resources and Links: Connect with River Nice: Website, Instagram, and TikTokCheck out River’s Website for FREE resources and a FREE 30-minute consultation!Also mentioned: the Mint app and the Honeydue app for couplesGet KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coaching is an interesting field with many nuances, and we hear a LOT of buzz about coaching right now. There are coaches for literally EVERY aspect of life. While there are things to appreciate about the field of coaching, there are definitely things to look out for, as well. I’m joined by my good friend, Heidi Smith, who is a Licensed Professional Counselor.  In Part 2 of this conversation, I’m joined by Rachel Ambrose for a coach’s perspective. Rachel is a coach for neurodivergents who has been diagnosed with ADHD and autism. As someone who holds multiple coaching certifications, she is here to give us a better look at the coaching field. She talks about the bounds of coaching and her personal experience around green and red flags in the industry. Rachel shares tips to help people know how to find a helpful coach and be more knowledgeable about the coaching field. Show Highlights: How Heidi partners with clients and coaches in her counseling work Why there are legitimate questions about the training and oversight in the coaching field Why coaching is, by definition, a less intimidating relationship than with a therapist but is like “paying for a friend” How coaching and therapy embody very different relationships, lanes, and ethics What to consider in questions about licensure and certifications The ethical rabbit hole around the client’s relationship with therapists and coaches Why the coaching field is like the Wild West right now Pitfalls in the coaching industry around sexual integrity, case management, interventions, and narcissism KC’s experience in researching ADHD coaching  The vagueness around a “spirituality coach” The bottom line about coaching: “Do your research and be aware of potential drawbacks.” Part 2 from Rachel Amrose: Green and red flags around coaching around the following: Power dynamics in the relationship “I have the cure/the magical answer for your problem!” Concrete, actionable items How to know if a coach’s training is worthwhile or not How to gauge a coach’s willingness to refer out–and stay in their lane Resources and Links: Connect with Rachel Ambrose: WebsiteGet KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Racism. You may think you know what it is and in what ways it exists in our society, but it is a deep and multi-faceted topic. We could spend hours trolling the depths of language, attitudes, behaviors, and nuances that are influenced by race. We are attempting to explore and learn more in today’s show. I’m joined by Rebecca Slue, also known as the White Woman Whisperer. You may know her from TikTok, which is where I found her. We connected when I took an anti-racism course and reached out to her for help, and I’ve already learned a lot from her. Join us for more from Rebecca’s perspective.Show Highlights: An example of how KC got into a quandary over comments on social media and the fear of being labeled as a racist How amazing conversations are happening when we aren’t concerned about perfectionism in our words What we need to understand about white supremacy How Rebecca uses a caste system model of values to understand the behaviors that perpetuate white supremacy Why our understanding of anti-racism is a journey and not a destination Rebecca’s experience of racial identity as she grew up the child of Jewish and Jamaican parents How Rebecca’s experience played out when she entered corporate America How she became the White Woman Whisperer How racism created a holistic layer of chronic stress for Rebecca How Rebecca uses a metaphor to explain white fragility, white privilege, and the pinata of white supremacy Resources and Links: Connect with Rebecca: Website and Podcast, Instagram, TikTok Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technology can be challenging for those with ADHD, and I’ll admit that I’ve struggled at times in this area. If you are someone who responds better to tactile and visual learning, you can probably relate. There are many tools and hacks available to help with executive functioning issues, and I’m excited to learn more in today’s show. I’m joined by technology expert Kat Hunt, who is raising a neurodivergent daughter. Let’s learn more about technological aids that can be helpful for ADHD. Join us!Show Highlights: Three specific areas in which neurodivergent struggle and technologies that can help: Time blindness Solutions: Apps like Calendly, Artful Agenda, and Taskly Data loss/overwhelm Solution: Migrating events/tasks into Google Calendar Dopamine-seeking or dopamine-resisting behaviors Solution: Forest app Why mobile access to these tools is preferable over a physical tool, especially for those who travel or move from home to office frequently How Kat uses Alexa technology to her advantage in time management with her family and at her office How the Due app forces you to pay attention to notifications for events and tasks How parents can use Alexa features with neurodivergent kids to increase independence and self-efficacy while still having parental structure in place Resources and Links: Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As you can probably figure out from the title, this is NOT the show to listen to around children! I’m joined by Catie Osborn, better known as @catieosaurus on TikTok–with an average of 30-50 million monthly views. She is an actor, podcaster, sex educator, adult performer, and mental health and disability advocate based in Atlanta. We are diving into the interesting intersection of ADHD and sexuality. If you are curious to hear more, join us!Show Highlights: How growing up in a very conservative and religious household gave Catie an interesting perspective on sex that was based on shame How Catie became interested in kink, received an ADHD diagnosis, and became a sex educator Why sex is a “fragile moment” Why sexual dysfunction and sexual disappointment are NOT the same things How ADHD makes it difficult to stay focused during sex because of overthinking How neurodivergent people struggle to articulate their needs–especially with intimacy Why sex shouldn’t be in terms of obligation, duty, and service but in terms of being authentically ourselves in surrender to the experience How our sex lives are influenced by layers of white supremacy, capitalism, trauma, and heteronormative values that need to be unpacked and investigated What kink is at its core–and why it has saved Catie Why conversations about sex and intimacy connect you to your partner, breed trust and vulnerability, and lead to better sex! Why Catieosaurus’ TikTok series, “Burnt Out Gifted and Talented Submissive Brat with a Praise Kink,” has been hugely popular How kink allowed Catie to be the one who calls the shots and feels safe and supported–for the first time Resources and Links:Connect with Catie: Website, Podcast, Instagram, and TikTokBook mentioned: Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Self-care is a term we hear EVERYWHERE right now, and you’ve heard me talk about it over and over again. Today’s discussion is around the disillusionment of the self-care industry that I’m feeling, along with many others. I’m joined by Taylor Elyse Morrison, the author of Inner Workout: Strengthening Self-Care Practices for Healing Body, Soul, and Mind. Taylor is a founder, facilitator, coach, and serial entrepreneur, and she uses her coaching, mindfulness, and movement training to meet people where they are and offer actionable steps toward avoiding burnout. I’m putting Taylor on the spot by asking questions and picking her brain about common self-care struggles, and she is up for the challenge! Let’s see how this turns out!Show Highlights: How the consumeristic quality of today’s self-care movement ignores the marginalizations and barriers that many people experience that bring distress and hopelessness Why Taylor urges us to ask, “Is it the Self, or is it the System?” Why Taylor created a self-care assessment to give people “practical starting points” How Taylor’s self-care assessment is based on the five yogic dimensions Why self-care is often confused with pleasure as the hard work of self-care is overlooked Why part of self-care is holding onto yourself in the presence of other people Why wisdom is a part of self-care, along with the components of presence, self-trust, and aligned action How curiosity and self-compassion play into effective self-care Why Taylor is satisfied with the feedback she is getting from her book Resources and Links:Connect with Taylor: Website, (Buy her book, take the free self-care assessment, and join her newsletter group.) TikTok, and Instagram.Find Taylor’s book on Amazon: Inner Workout: Strengthening Self-Care Practices for Healing Body, Soul, and Mind. Find Inner Workout on TikTok and Instagram. Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you afford the services of a professional organizer? Most people can’t, and that’s one of the big problems with the industry. Many professional organizers have come up with alternative ideas that allow them to reach more people with their services. Join us to learn more!I’m happy to welcome back to the show Alison Lush, a Certified Professional Organizer who specializes in chronic disorganization. Alison last joined me for Episode 5 about Gentle Organizing. Today’s discussion is about the problems with professional organizing and how the industry is evolving to be accessible to more people. The good news is that there are different levels of help available more than ever before for organizing and decluttering your spaces!Show Highlights: Why a main problem with the professional organizing industry is that the services are not accessible for most people How the pandemic massively impacted professional organizers in beneficial ways that are far more economical for clients How Alison’s focus has changed to educating and empowering the individual to get unstuck Why there is a spectrum of disorganization in which most people exist somewhere in the middle Highlights of new gap-filling services that some innovative professional organizers are offering (See Resources and Links) Why Accountability Groups and Body Doubling have become the cornerstone of Alison’s work with clients Why the biggest question for professional organizers to ask regarding the client is, “What do they need?” The difference between being unwilling and being overwhelmed in organizing and decluttering Alison’s advice about finding a professional organizer  Resources and Links:Connect with Alison: Website and TikTokJUDITH KOLBERGConquering Chronic Disorganization book – emotion-based decluttering and organizing strategieshttps://www.judithkolberg.com/HAZEL THORNTONGo With the Flow!: The clutter flow chart workbook https://www.org4life.com/SUSAN GARDNERThe Focus Project “If your possessions interfere with your quality of life, The Focus Project is a way to look at them through a different lens.” Frame, Value, Edit. Exercises that promote looking at your belongings from a different angle. Reflection, partnering, creativity are encouraged, along with curiosity about the root causes of clutter. – Self-directedLYNNE POULTONDeclutter GO! by Lynne Poulton - Once you start, you’re on a roll. Declutter GO! GAME NIGHTS – Group body doubling – weekly guided activities, prompts – group body doubling or autonomous - JONDA BEATTIE AND DIANE QUINTANARelease-Repurpose-Reorganize CARDShttps://releaserepurpose.com/?fbclid=IwAR3UkkdN6FdroVrQ260VV17XqvA2MnuMl5Hf9DHfzdMD_OaiYLz8tFbyYag - Self-directed – focused areas – systematicVICKIE DELLAQUILAOphelia the Organizer – Follow her adventures and hear her organizing advicehttps://www.opheliatheorganizer.com/JULIET LANDAU-POPEOrganizing Bootcamp (5x15 minute sessions over weekdays) https://jlpcoach.com/Connect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**Content Warning: This episode references school shootings and the murder of George Floyd.Stress is a word we throw around regarding many aspects of life, and we all know what it is to feel stress, but how much do we truly understand about it? Stress can take any able-bodied, able-minded person and bring them to a whole new level, whether or not they have a diagnosed condition. As we break down the topic of stress, each person has different responses, personality styles, and primary goals. Join us to find out which stress animal you are! I’m joined by Dr. Lindsey Cooley, who posted a TikTok about stress, and I knew we had to have this conversation on the podcast. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who specializes in school-aged children/teens, emotional and behavioral disorders, LGBTQ youth, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder. Show Highlights: Why we should be kind to ourselves–even if we don’t have a diagnosis What is stress? (THE million-dollar question!) The phases of stress (alarm, resistance, and exhaustion) and how prolonged stress can cause diseases of adaptation How our culture normalizes “too much stress” How stressful life events can affect executive functioning, relationships, energy, and more (The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale and Adverse Childhood Experience are well-known measurement tools.) Why we need to legitimize that most of our stress is caused by normal reactions to dysfunctional systems The medical model of disease vs. the social model of disease Common symptoms of being in a prolonged stress cycle Differences in acute stress, chronic stress, and traumatic stress How traumatic stress occurs when we watch something like the murder of George Floyd and school shootings How the “stress animals” (eagle, turtle, chameleon, and lion) concept came from Lynn Lott's Top Card Activity How your personality style and stress response help determine your stress animal How we can learn to care for ourselves in the middle of stress  Resources:Connect with Dr. Lindsey Cooley: TikTokMentioned in this episode: Lynn Lott's Top Card Activity, the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, the ACE Scale, and "Kids Are Suffering from Toxic Stress" LA Times articleConnect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning​​We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you follow me at all, you know that I really don’t like the word self-care. But today, I’m giving you an entire episode about Real Self Care!My guest today is Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a perinatal psychiatrist, writer, and CEO of Gemma, a women's mental health community, has a fresh perspective on self-care. In her debut nonfiction book, Real Self Care, Dr. Lakshmin challenges the conventional concept of self-care, which is largely full of empty calories and devoid of substance. She argues that the game is rigged, and faux self-care only keeps us looking outward, comparing ourselves with others or striving for a certain type of perfection, which means it's incapable of truly nourishing us in the long run. Her insights on self-care are particularly relevant in the current times, when many people feel overwhelmed, overburdened, and burnt out. Show Highlights: The difference between a “system” and “philosophy”. There is no one right answer, there are hundreds of answers. Hope as a skill, not a new concept. A boundary is the process you went through where you decided that you were worthy of standing up for what you want. You know how to practice real self-care when you suffer from a mental health condition. There is no one answer for recovery from religious trauma. Links and Resources:Connect with Dr. Pooja Lakshmin: Instagram, TwitterReal Self Care, Dr. Pooja LakshminConnect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning​​We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many adults, like me, are diagnosed with ADHD later in life. It is fascinating to hear the stories of how this diagnosis is missed in their childhood years. I’m joined by Dr. Sasha Hamdani, a board-certified psychiatrist and ADHD clinical specialist who just happens to spend some of her spare time on TikTok. Let’s get the facts from an expert! Join us for this interesting conversation!Show Highlights: The basics: What is ADHD? Why reframing is helpful for adults diagnosed with ADHD Why many of us do self-diagnosis, especially in today’s social media-driven world Factors that can cause a child to fly under the radar and go undiagnosed Why ADHD can be described as “an interest-based nervous system” How most people with ADHD have an “I’m dumb” moment because of how their brains process information and overlook details Why ADHD diagnosis is overlooked in so many people because of the ways they learn to compensate for symptoms Why people with ADHD mask their internal symptoms by learning to respond to their external environment Dr. Sasha’s advice about educating yourself and learning more about ADHD How to decide whether or not to take ADHD medication as an adult Dr. Sasha’s advice about noticing red flags in dealing with your healthcare provider  Resources:Connect with Dr. Sasha: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Book, Self-Care for People with ADHD, and the Focus Genie AppConnect with KC: TikTok, Instagram, and Website Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While DrowningWe love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: www.strugglecare.com/promo-codes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices