You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist

Samantha Green, a mother of two and Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in perinatal mental health, joins me to discuss the challenges and issues affecting women during pregnancy and postpartum. She shares her insights on maternal burnout, “mom rage,” postpartum depression, the impact of hormones on mood, and the difficulties faced by modern families in a politically polarized environment.

Samantha highlights the pressures that women face in today's society, particularly due to unrealistic expectations perpetuated by social media. She emphasizes the importance of self-care and the need for women to prioritize their own well-being, especially during the early weeks of motherhood. Samantha also addresses the dynamics between mothers and fathers, acknowledging the differences in parenting styles and the potential for resentment and communication challenges.

Our conversation delves into the hormonal shifts that occur during pregnancy, postpartum, and weaning. Samantha explains how these hormonal changes can affect a woman's mood and lead to symptoms such as intrusive thoughts and anxiety. She emphasizes the importance of understanding these shifts and seeking appropriate support and treatment when necessary.

Samantha explains how Polyvagal Theory helps in understanding the different states of the nervous system and how they relate to anxiety, depression, and stress. She provides practical strategies for managing these states and promoting overall well-being.

Throughout the episode, Samantha emphasizes the need for open communication, self-compassion, and seeking help when needed. She encourages women to let go of unrealistic expectations and prioritize their own mental and physical health. By addressing these issues and seeking support, women can navigate the challenges of motherhood and find balance in their lives.

Samantha Green is a wife, mother to two, and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in in New York who specializes in Perinatal Mental Health. After working in a community clinic for several years and experiencing first hand how difficult it was to find resources for mothers she opened her own Private Practice and is currently working on a book to help mothers manage the stress, and decrease burnout. Find Samantha’s practice at https://www.samanthagreenlmhc.com/ or follow her on X @samgreenlmhc.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• "The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation" by Stephen W. Porges

00:00 Start

[00:01:39] Mom rage and maternal burnout.

[00:04:10] Shifting priorities after having kids.

[00:07:12] Men and women differences.

[00:11:39] Dad's experience with baby.

[00:13:26] Impact of birth control on the brain.

[00:18:43] Hormonal treatment alternatives.

[00:21:29] Mom rage and guilt.

[00:25:35] Intrusive thoughts and OCD.

[00:28:27] Intrusive thoughts and mindfulness.

[00:31:41] Mother-baby units for postpartum depression.

[00:34:35] The freeze state.

[00:37:09] Chronic stress and its effects.

[00:41:22] Early life experiences and coping mechanisms.

[00:45:08] Postpartum PTSD and trauma.

[00:48:09] Helping women through pregnancy

[00:52:35] Trauma resurfacing in motherhood.

[00:54:13] Complex family dynamics.

[00:58:09] Co-sleeping and its taboo.

[01:00:40] Balancing career and motherhood.

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Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.

Special thanks to Joey Pec...

When you entrust a therapist with your personal struggles, you expect her to see you as a unique individual, and greet you with non-judgmental curiosity. The last thing anyone wants in their counseling relationship is to be treated prejudicially, stereotyped on the basis of their immutable characteristics, or made to feel guilty for the color of their skin. And yet, to students like Leslie, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that that is exactly what is being taught in graduate programs.

Therapy is a place you hope to be able to work through shame; learn to see your foibles with compassion; and internalize your locus of control, while releasing any undue sense of responsibility for issues you may have been scapegoated for. It is also ideally a process that helps cultivate peace, understanding, and perspective when dealing with people you find challenging. And in therapy, we expect to learn to recognize and correct for distorted ways of thinking that amplify our stress. Unfortunately, according to Leslie and whistleblowers like her, many modern counseling programs do just the opposite.

Listen as Antioch University whistleblower, coach, and founder of the Radical Center Leslie Elliott describes the disturbing series of events that unfolded over the past two years. We explore ethical dilemmas and differences of opinion in how people in our field are conceptualizing complex matters such as “social justice,” victimhood, “allyship,” gender, the role of the therapist, politics and activism, racism and “anti-racism,” cultural competence, stereotyping, neutrality, individuality, and responsibility.

Leslie Elliott is a holistic wellness coach in Washington State who works with clients from a person-centered, existential perspective, taking into account the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. She earned a BA in Psychology in 2008 and went straight to law school in 2009. During her second year of law school, she decided a legal career was not for her and went back to the drawing board.

Leslie spent the next several years raising her 4 children and working part-time in the field of natural medicine before returning to higher education, enrolling in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s program at Antioch University in 2019. There she had the opportunity to learn and improve counseling skills and therapeutic approaches, but also encountered something deeply disturbing: the usurpation of traditional therapy values by Critical Social Justice ideology.

Near the end of her Master’s coursework, she took a leave of absence after her courses began requiring students to sign a Social Justice “civility pledge.” Frustrated in her attempts to communicate her concerns to the university, she decided to go public in October of 2022 and expose how ideology is corrupting the fields of mental health and higher education.

Undeterred from her work, Leslie began her coaching practice in late 2021, working in a non-clinical setting that allows her to use her counseling skills and her passion for natural health to support her clients. She works with individuals and families, and areas of interest include but are not limited to: life-span, aging, and fertility issues; parent coaching; spiritual growth and integration; technology and pornography addiction recovery; infidelity trauma and recovery; gender confusion and detransition; ADHD; institutional abuse & “DEI” discrimination; medical abuse trauma; and more.

Leslie’s consulting practice, The Radical Center

Leslie’s blog, The Radical Center on Substack

Leslie’s YouTube channel, The Radical Center on YouTube

Leslie’s GiveSendGo legal fund

In this episode, I mentioned Jonathan Haidt’s work; in particular, his book “The Righteous Mind.” You can find that in my bookshop, or purchase it directly from this Amazon Affiliate link.

To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!

Learn more about Do No Harm.

Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at