Clinically Chaotic
Therapy is serious work. So why are the funniest stories the ones we can’t say out loud?Welcome to Clinically Chaotic. Featuring Ericka and Tara—two therapists bringing professional insight and therapist-level humor to the real realities of the field. This show is about therapist comedy with substance: candid conversations on what happens in the room, behind the notes, and after a long day of holding space.If you’re a clinician, student, or just curious about mental health from the inside, you’ll get unfiltered honesty, practical perspective, and a few much-needed laughs. Take a breath—let’s get into it.
Episode 10: Self-Care Without The Buzzwords
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Self-care is supposed to help, so why does it sometimes feel gross, performative, or even weaponized? We get real about the way “just do some self-care” can land like a brush-off, especially when you’re burned out, overworked, or carrying other people’s stress all day. From our therapist perspective and our real-life mess, we break down what self-care actually means when it’s more than a buzzword.
We talk about the line between true care and disguised coping, including the debate around habits people label as “self-care” that may actually be self-sabota...
Episode 9: Astrology For Self-Reflection
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You’ve probably heard someone say “I could never date a Libra” or “I got burned by a Scorpio” and we get it, it’s funny, but it’s also the fastest way to miss the point. We’re joined by our friend Letty and we keep the boundary clear: astrology is not a clinical tool. Still, when you use it for self-reflection instead of stereotypes, zodiac language can be a surprisingly good doorway into real conversations about personality traits, emotional processing, and what helps people feel understood.
We start by naming our own c...
Episode 8: What It’s Like To Be A Mental Health Provider With ADHD
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Someone can sit across from clients all day, give solid clinical guidance, and still go home wondering why their own brain feels like a browser with 37 tabs open. We get real about ADHD in the mental health field and what it’s like when the provider has ADHD too, especially when years of distraction, low motivation, and school struggles get pinned on anxiety instead of executive function and attention.
We share personal diagnosis stories and dig into why women are more likely to be missed, dismissed, or diagnosed late, including how in...
Episode 7: Non-billable Sessions Are Not Foreplay
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A first date shouldn’t feel like a therapy intake, but if you work in mental health, it can go there fast. We’re joined by guest host Lettie (MSW, mental health clinician) to get real about what dating looks like when your day job is empathy, boundaries, and emotional containment and how that skill set can attract the exact kind of chaos you’re trying to avoid.
We talk about the classic traps: trauma dumping way too early, people fishing for a diagnosis (“What do you think I have?”), and the sneaky...
Episode 6: McDonald’s Sprite, Cheese Cravings, And The DSM
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The DSM sits on so many office shelves like a permanent authority, but its history tells a different story: mental health diagnosis is a living document shaped by culture, politics, research, and plain old human error. We start with the DSM’s roots in 1952, originally designed for shared language in military and psychiatric hospital settings, and talk about how that origin still influences the myth that therapy is only for people in crisis instead of something you can use preventatively during big life transitions.
From there we track the huge pivot tha...
Episode 5: Burnout is not a badge of honor
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Burnout gets treated like a trophy in mental health care, and we are done pretending that is normal. We are Tara and Ericka, and we are pulling back the curtain on what it really looked like for us in high-pressure clinical jobs where “being the one who can handle anything” earned praise while quietly draining our energy, boundaries, and sense of self. We talk about why burnout is not a badge of honor, how weak or inexperienced supervision can make it worse, and what we wish someone had told us much earlier about sust...
Episode 4: Shenanigans of the day
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You can lock down every setting and still end up “findable” online. We talk through the uncomfortable reality of therapists on social media: clients searching our names, the temptation to “creep” before meeting someone new, and why letting clients follow or friend you can blur boundaries fast. If you have ever wondered whether it is normal to look up your therapist, or why a therapist might keep everything private, we give you the honest clinician perspective with confidentiality and safety in mind.
Then we move from the internet to real life. What hap...
Episode 3: Toddlers in big bodies
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A lot of people say schools should “do more” for student mental health. The harder question is what that looks like at 8:15 a.m. in a packed classroom where one teacher is responsible for learning, behavior, safety, and emotions all at the same time. Ericka sits down with her close friend Janelle, a high school math teacher, with a background in psychology; to talk about the real-world version of support: teenagers testing boundaries, daily escalations, and the uncomfortable truth that teachers often become the first safe adult a student talks to.
We d...
Episode 2: Lineage of cockroach people
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Welcome to episode 2 of Clinically Chaotic! This week we dive into several topics including:
Expectations of appearances as therapistsCrying with clientsMaintaining social relationships as a therapistADHD, blank screen moments and cognitive functioningCome join us in navigating all of the chaos!
Disclaimer: This podcast is for entertainment use only. The views expressed in this show are entirely our own and in no way reflect any organizations we may be associated with.
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Episode 1: Welcome to Clinically Chaotic
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Welcome to Clinically Chaotic this week we explore Stigma around being a therapist, awkward encounters with strangers and protecting your peace.
If you also enjoy nifty artists you may want to check out @arts.of.vanessatd on Instagram.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for relational and educational purposes only. While we are therapists we are not YOUR therapists. This podcast is in no way a replacement for actual therapy.
All of the views expressed here are entirely our own and are in n...
