Today I'm back with my friend Dr. Paula! She was originally a guest on Season 1 (Episode 31, Flexibility for Your Mind & Getting Unstuck) and today she is back as a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We are talking all about her new book, Toxic Striving.

Paula Freedman-Diamond, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. She is the owner and clinical director of HumanKind Psychological Services in Chicago, IL and the author of Toxic Striving: Why Hustle and Wellness Cultures are Leaving Us Anxious, Stressed, and Burned Out-- and How to Break Free, and The Addiction Recovery Workbook: Powerful Skills for Preventing Relapse Every Day.

Dr. Paula specializes in perfectionism, anxiety, and eating disorders. She enjoys helping high-achievers and people-pleasers learn to stop chasing external approval and start living according to the wisdom of their own bodies and minds. Dr. Paula is on a mission to take down the toxic systems that make people feel like they're not good enough, no matter how hard they work. She is especially passionate about making healthcare more welcoming and respectful for all bodies. She provides education and supervision for clinical psychology doctoral students. She is a strong advocate for size inclusivity in health, fitness, and wellness spaces.

Dr. Paula has been featured in the New York Times and is a featured expert for Reebok, Bark Technologies, and A Sweat Life. She is on the advisory boards for Medical Students for Size Inclusivity and Fat Torah. You can follow her on Instagram at @mindfuldrpaula.

On this episode we talk about:

• The real life experiences (of herself and her patients) that inspired the book.
• How we've all been brainwashed by society, and how to start questioning our conditioning more.
• Privilege vs. hard work/virtue and how we sometimes conflate the two.
• Why all personality traits have good and bad sides and why we're taught that some are more desirable than others.
• Breaking arbitrary rules and busting through all-or-nothing mindset (my favorite topic!).
• Why you're not special for drinking celery juice and the ways we moralize various aspects of hustle culture and wellness culture.
• Her experience with infertility and all the ways we turn other aspects of our lives into different flavors of shit sandwich as diet culture.
• What to do if we value things like health and achievement and how to thrive without striving.
• Why what you resist persists.
• How connecting with your authentic identity and personal truth can help you break the cycle of toxic striving.
• So many other good things!

Work With Paula

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