I recently drenched myself in an article from NPR called, “The Period Talk You Never Got” which had me both hysterically reliving awkward after-school tutorials in my elementary school auditorium and feeling completely mortified by how little I actually knew about something that happens to my body every single month.

What bothered me even more than my naivety was the fact that menstruation still seems to be this red veil of shame. Sure, we complain about the symptoms to our inner circle of girlfriends and our spouses may look to tread a bit more lightly at certain times of the month, but besides the obligatory “welcome to womanhood” chat during our pre-teen years and the exhaustive tracking that comes along with getting pregnant, menstruation really kind of flies under the radar - much like so many other vital components of women’s health.

So today we’re going to do a deep dive on periods with a really cool expert who believe it or not, loves her time of the month. With me today is Heather Allmendinger, a former corporate administrative manager who hated her cycle and struggled with the pain that came with it every month. After earning her certifications as a Health Coach focused on conception and pregnancy, Heather saw the challenges others were experiencing and decided to go all in. She quit her corporate job and started her business, Vivydus, as a Menstrual Cycle Consultant, teaching workshops and coaching others on how to embrace the ovulatory cycle and use it as a tool for self-care, empowerment, fertility, productivity, and inclusive emotional leadership.

From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I had a conversation with another mom recently that inspired this episode today. I myself had a happy, normal childhood with supportive parents that put me on a stable path to adulthood. She sadly, wasn’t so lucky, and we got to talking about how being the “rock” of the family felt so impossible to her. As mothers, we are so often portrayed as unflappable but in a flood of tiny tears, it’s actually really easy to be derailed, especially if those emotions bring up unresolved issues from our past.

Life is complicated and if we didn’t grow up with the influences and support that we deserved, how can we possibly expect to know how to do it for others? What can we do if parenting brings up feelings that we’ve buried and hope to never resurrect? And how can we move past our own pasts to be great role models and emotional strongholds for our little people? Let’s find out.

Our guest today is Stacey Rowland, a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Strive Counseling based in Phoenix, Arizona. Stacey is very well-versed in trauma healing and has extensive clinical training and experience in public mental health agencies, including residential and outpatient settings. She is passionate about helping individuals and families address their mental health concerns and works collaboratively with her patients to identify and meet their goals. Stacey uses a trauma-informed, strength-based approach to lead people through the process of making positive changes in their lives.

From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

As you probably know, this season is all about uncomfortable conversations and today’s topic might just take the cake. So let’s jump right in.

Have you ever imagined what it would feel like to have an affair? Have you ever suspected that your spouse might be cheating? Well, you’re not alone.

According to an article by the Institute for Family Studies approximately 20% of men and 13% of women reported that they’ve had sex with someone other than their spouse while married. But this data widely varies, most likely because people aren’t really comfortable with admitting it. Just Google around and you’ll see reports of more than half of married men engaging in extramarital sex during their marriage. That definitely doesn’t paint of rosy picture of marriage, but more importantly, it gives us an idea of just how hard relationships really are.

Cheating has admittedly been an odd topic for me. Why bother snooping and sneaking around? Why not just break up? Everyone deserves to be happy right, so why can’t we just call a spade a spade and get on with our lives? Of course, we all know it’s much more complicated than that, especially with kids in the mix. So let’s talk about it. Why do people cheat? Is it ever possible to repair our relationship and find happiness together? Let’s find out.

With me today is a guest that we’ve had on the show before and who wow’ed me at such a fever pitch that I had to have her back. Becca Stone is a psychotherapist based in Brooklyn and Philly who works specifically in emotion-focused couple’s therapy, an evidence-based approach to healing relationships grounded in the neuroscience of attachment. She is also a mother of two and works with her husband running their therapy practice.

Find our more about Becca right here and enjoy the show!

From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!