In this deeply human episode of The Inner Room, host Vanessa Spinarsky sits down with New York-based therapist Lauren Larkin (@leltherapy) for an honest conversation about eating disorders, what recovery actually looks like, and why healing is never a solo act.
Lauren shares her personal journey through disordered eating, the familial and cultural forces that shape our self-image, and the unique pressure of living in a city like New York...where comparison and performance can feel like a second skin.
Together, Vanessa and Lauren explore the truth that therapists are humans first and how their own wounds, identities, and lived experiences shape the way they sit with clients. They discuss the importance of relational therapy, the messy middle of balancing work and life, and the courage it takes to name the unspeakable parts of our struggles.
Lauren also gives us a first look at her upcoming Eating Disorder Recovery Workbook, arriving July 2026, designed for those who want deeper support, reflection, and structure in their ongoing healing journey.
This conversation is a reminder that recovery isn’t linear, perfection isn’t the goal, and being a “work in progress” is not a flaw...it’s proof of your humanity.
Connect with Lauren:
Instagram & TikTok: @leltherapy
Website: leltherapy.com
Eating Disorder Workbook: Coming July 2026
Our bodies. Our timing. Our emotions. Ourselves.
In this episode, host Carrie Parker sits down with Kelsie Schlese from @maidentomothertome for a deeply honest conversation about infertility, postpartum mental health, and the quiet pressure mothers carry to “stay positive” while navigating uncertainty.
Kelsey shares her fertility journey, including what it meant to release control and shift toward trusting to conceive .. not as a mindset hack, but as a relational process with her body and nervous system.
Together, they explore how language shapes our fertility and motherhood experiences, why online communities can either harm or heal, and how intentional use of social media can support (rather than drain) mental health.
They also name the realities many mothers feel but rarely say out loud: seasonal depression, postpartum anxiety, and mom rage .... not as personal failures, but as nervous-system responses to overwhelm and isolation.
This episode is an invitation to slow down, soften self-blame, and remember that motherhood was never meant to be navigated alone.
If you’re craving more trust, less noise, and a community that meets you where you are .. this conversation is for you.
Follow @madeintomotherhood for more honest motherhood conversations.
Looking for community?
In this powerful episode of The Mama Healing Hub Podcast, Carrie and Alyssa sit down with Sophia Ashley, founder of Intimacy After Kids, for a conversation every parent needs to hear.
Together they unpack what really happens to intimacy, identity, libido, and emotional connection after kids — and how couples can rebuild something deeper, softer, and more alive.
Sophia shares her own journey from personal struggle to sex coaching and breaks down the nervous system science behind why intimacy feels harder after children. This episode is filled with practical, relatable insights on creating micro moments of connection, navigating dysregulated nervous systems, communicating desire, and rekindling intimacy in a season of life where everyone is tired, touched-out, and overwhelmed.
And yes… you’ll hear why she believes we all need to “throw our libido a party.”
Sophia will also be joining us for a live drop-in in the Mama Healing Hub on January 15th 2026, and you can join for free.
Join The Mama Healing Hub & Start Building Your Mom Circle Today!
Our therapist-led online community is a sanctuary for mothers who crave real connection, emotional support, and space to breathe. Inside, you’ll find:
Monthly live therapeutic gatherings (art therapy, coffee talks, and expert-led workshops)
Drop-in sessions to process emotions and reconnect with yourself
A book club centered on growth and motherhood
Gentle monthly reflections and prompts to guide your healing journey
A private ad-free space filled with moms who get it—because they’re living it too
Join today and receive 30 days free → themamahealinghub.com/join
🌿 Follow along on Instagram:Stay connected with our community conversations, reflective art sessions, and upcoming events at @themamahealinghubinc
Connect with Sophia:
Instagram: @intimacyafterkids
Her podcast: Intimacy After Kids — listen here: https://open.spotify.com/show/7kv3GupPsb2RjsYx98lDNC?si=laGuwd89TIiQhcWiTIsCKQ
What happens when a mother tells the truth about how she feels?
On this episode, Vanessa Spinarsky cracks open the viral Instagram post that stirred up thousands of reactions...both deeply supportive and shockingly judgmental.
The post was simple:
“I’m a parent who does not thrive with constant little-kid energy.”
But the internet heard:
“You don’t love your kids.”
“You’re cold.”
“You’re rejecting your children.”
“You shouldn’t have had them.”
In today’s conversation, Vanessa breaks down why mothers’ honesty is so threatening, the emotional labor that gets erased in motherhood, and the very real nervous-system limitations that social media refuses to acknowledge.
This episode is a grounded, unfiltered look at what mothers actually experience behind the scenes and why naming those truths is not only allowed, but essential for our mental health, our relationships, and our kids’ emotional safety.
If you’ve ever felt guilty for being overstimulated, overwhelmed, touched-out, or simply human…
this episode will feel like coming home.
In this deeply honest and refreshingly grounding conversation, Carrie and Alyssa sit down with Jenna Cavadas, postpartum marriage coach and mother, to talk about the hidden emotional terrain couples face after infertility, birth, and the early-motherhood years. Jenna opens up about her own journey through infertility and the ways it shook her marriage, her identity, and her sense of self.
What began as her rock-bottom moment became the doorway into her work today: helping women rebuild connection, reclaim their desires, and re-root themselves in their feminine power, especially during the most demanding seasons of motherhood.
Together, we unpack the messy parts of postpartum relationships: the resentment, the uneven labor, the exhaustion, and the quiet ache of not recognizing yourself anymore. Jenna offers a clear, compassionate path back, one rooted not in doing more, but in doing less, softening, communicating honestly, and remembering your own needs.
Whether you’re in the newborn trenches, navigating the mental load, or craving a deeper connection with your partner, this episode will make you feel seen and remind you that healing is always possible.
📲 Connect with Jenna
Find Jenna on Instagram at @jennacavadas
She offers 1:1 coaching, workshops, and deeply supportive content for women navigating postpartum, resentment, and relationship repair.
Join The Mama Healing Hub & Start Building Your Mom Circle Today!
Our therapist-led online community is a sanctuary for mothers who crave real connection, emotional support, and space to breathe. Inside, you’ll find:
Monthly live therapeutic gatherings (art therapy, coffee talks, and expert-led workshops)
Drop-in sessions to process emotions and reconnect with yourself
A book club centered on growth and motherhood
Gentle monthly reflections and prompts to guide your healing journey
A private ad-free space filled with moms who get it—because they’re living it too
Join today and receive 30 days free → themamahealinghub.com/join
🌿 Follow along on Instagram:Stay connected with our community conversations, reflective art sessions, and upcoming events at @themamahealinghubinc
In this heartwarming episode, Alyssa invites her friends Samantha, Kylie, and Kristen onto the podcast to explore what friendship really looks like inside and outside of motherhood.
Together, they unpack how community, shared goals, and honest conversations become anchors for women in this season of life.
From swapping recipes to sweating through workouts together, they reveal how simple everyday rituals can transform into meaningful support systems.
The conversation celebrates the kind of friendships that help moms feel seen, grounded, and empowered...reminding us that we don't have to do any of this alone.
Join The Mama Healing Hub & Start Building Your Mom Circle Today!
Our therapist-led online community is a sanctuary for mothers who crave real connection, emotional support, and space to breathe. Inside, you’ll find:
Monthly live therapeutic gatherings (art therapy, coffee talks, and expert-led workshops)
Drop-in sessions to process emotions and reconnect with yourself
A book club centered on growth and motherhood
Gentle monthly reflections and prompts to guide your healing journey
A private ad-free space filled with moms who get it—because they’re living it too
Join today and receive 30 days free → themamahealinghub.com/join
🌿 Follow along on Instagram:Stay connected with our community conversations, reflective art sessions, and upcoming events at @themamahealinghubinc
In this first Inner Room conversation, I sit down with Grant, a mental performance coach who blends truth, energy, and embodiment.
We talk about the cold plunge moment that cracked something open in me, the emotional release that followed, and how that single experience revealed a template of masculinity I didn’t know I was missing.
From there, this episode goes everywhere:
→ what masculine and feminine energy actually mean beyond the internet clichés
→ why so many men are emotionally stuck
→ the real cost of suppressed emotions
→ how to build trust with yourself
→ breathwork, regulation, and surrender
→ what women misunderstand about men (and what men miss about women)
→ the bridge back to each other
Grant drops truth bomb after truth bomb ... the kind that makes you rethink how you show up in love, conflict, and in your own body. He shares the importance of self-reflection and trusting yourself and provides a few tips for emotional regulation.
If you’ve ever felt disconnected from yourself, your partner, or your emotional life… you’re going to feel this one in your chest.
Instagram: @grantdziak
Website: https://grantdziak.com/
If These Walls Could Talk → hit follow so you don’t miss episodes from both The Mom Room & The Inner Room.
In this episode, Vanessa Spinarsky dives into what most people avoid: the truth that change isn’t blocked by willpower... it’s blocked by invisibility. We can’t shift what we’ve never slowed down enough to see.
Through honest stories, clinical insight, and the kind of emotional x-ray only a therapist-mom-human can bring, Vanessa explores how unconscious patterns quietly run the show: the over-functioning, the shutdowns, the chronic self-protection that once kept us safe but now keep us stuck.
She breaks down why capacity: emotional, nervous-system, mental capacity is the foundation for growth, and why most of us try to change from a dysregulated place that cannot support transformation.
This episode is an invitation to wake up from autopilot, meet your inner world with curiosity instead of criticism, and build the internal spaciousness required to actually witness your life… instead of just surviving it.
It’s not self-help. It’s self-seeing.
I’m Vanessa Spinarsky a therapist, mom of two, wife, and human just trying to figure it out like everyone else. The Inner Room is where I bring honest, layered conversations about what it really means to be human: the messy, tender, in-between places we don’t always talk about.
Motherhood cracked me open and taught me how to surrender, to feel it all, and to make meaning from the chaos. This space was born from that - a place to explore the soft, the raw, the contradictions we live inside.
Here, I sit with guests (and sometimes just myself) to talk about identity, love, rage, creativity, gender, partnership, and the long, winding process of returning to ourselves. I’m not polished, I’m not performing... I’m just here to listen, learn, and remember that we’re all figuring it out as we go.
Welcome to The Inner Room.
In this powerful episode of The Mama Healing Hub Podcast, hosts Vanessa Spinarsky and Alyssa Trittler sit down with trauma therapist and parent coach Mackenzie Kinmond for a raw and insightful conversation on what it truly means to parent from connection rather than control.
Together, they explore the nuanced intersection between emotional attunement and behavioral guidance, unpacking why so many high-achieving parents struggle when their children’s needs don’t fit neatly into systems of order or logic.
Mackenzie introduces the philosophy of connection-based discipline: a framework that views discipline not as punishment, but as a form of teaching, rooted in love, boundaries, and co-regulation.
Mackenzie Kinmond, is a parenthood empowerment coach and therapist who helps overwhelmed parents move out of survival mode and rediscover real joy in their everyday lives. She works with parents who feel stuck in exhausting cycles of guilt, yelling, and anxiety, those who are giving everything they’ve got and still feel like it’s not enough. Through her trauma-informed, connection-based approach, she supports parents in building more confident, connected relationships with their kids and themselves, even in the middle of the messiness.
🔗 Connect with Mackenzie on Instagram:
@parenting_with_mackenzie
Join The Mama Healing Hub today and receive 30 days free → themamahealinghub.com/join
🌿 Follow along on Instagram: Stay connected with our community conversations, reflective art sessions, and upcoming events at @themamahealinghubinc
In this heartfelt episode Alyssa, Vanessa & Carrie explore the tender terrain of sexual intimacy, communication, and connection in the postpartum season.
Motherhood brings seismic shifts, physically, emotionally, relationally, and many mothers find themselves feeling disoriented in these transitions.
Together, we unpack what it means to redefine desire, to relearn each other as partners, and to stay connected while everything around (and within) you changes.
This conversation invites listeners to slow down, notice their inner world, and approach intimacy not as performance but as a practice of presence, communication, and shared vulnerability.
Further Exploration
✨ Read the article referenced in this podcast written by our very own Vanessa Spinarsky:Dive deeper on Bumpdate.
💛 Join The Mama Healing Hub:Our therapist-led online community is a sanctuary for mothers who crave real connection, emotional support, and space to breathe. Inside, you’ll find:
Monthly live therapeutic gatherings (art therapy, coffee talks, and expert-led workshops)
Drop-in sessions to process emotions and reconnect with yourself
A book club centered on growth and motherhood
Gentle monthly reflections and prompts to guide your healing journey
A private ad-free space filled with moms who get it—because they’re living it too
Join today and receive 30 days free → themamahealinghub.com/join
🌿 Follow along on Instagram:Stay connected with our community conversations, reflective art sessions, and upcoming events at @themamahealinghubinc
In this episode of the Mama Healing Hub Podcast, hosts Carrie Parker and Vanessa Spinarsky sit down with Adriana Mastronardi, fitness and nutrition coach, to unpack how moms can simplify family meals while reclaiming their own health.
We talk about why moms so often end up as the heartbeat of their household’s wellness, and how that invisible role can easily slip into stress and decision fatigue if it’s not tended to.
Adriana shares her own story of finding strength and confidence after motherhood, and offers practical, doable strategies for meal planning, protein-first eating, and moving away from perfectionism.
This conversation is about more than food ... it’s about energy, habits, and what it takes to truly feel well as a mom.
From Costco shortcuts to stress-cycle completion, Adriana reminds us that health isn’t about overcomplicating things ...it’s about building simple foundations that last.
Whether you’re exhausted from meal prep, struggling with self-care, or looking for motivation to start small, this episode will leave you with encouragement, fresh ideas, and a reminder that you don’t have to do it alone.
Follow Adriana on Instagram: @cup.of.dri
This episode feels a little bit like pulling up a chair at our kitchen table. You’ll hear us in real time ... sharing what’s happening in our lives, what we’re wrestling with, and what we’re excited about.
We talk about learning to work with our cycles (instead of against them), why time apart from our kids can actually make us better moms, and the way new professional adventures are lighting us up , like Alyssa stepping into doula training and Vanessa diving deeper into her book-writing process. Carrie opens up about the pull toward new healing practices, and together we swap stories about creativity, self-care, and giving ourselves permission to not have all the answers.
Think of this episode as a mix of laughter, honesty, and those “me too” moments that make you feel less alone in motherhood. It’s not a masterclass. It’s not a checklist. It’s just us ...in the middle of the mess and magic.
In this powerful conversation, clinical psychologist and author Dr. Gilly Kahn joins us to talk about the often-misunderstood world of ADHD in women. Too often, ADHD is defined through the lens of restless little boys, which leaves girls and women misdiagnosed, mislabeled, and misunderstood.
Dr. Kahn opens up about the emotional dysregulation so many women live with, the shame and “too muchness” they’re told to carry, and how community and compassion can shift the story. We explore why the diagnostic criteria still fails women, what it really feels like to parent while managing ADHD (in yourself or your kids), and why connection and validation matter just as much as tools and strategies.
This isn’t a dry, clinical take...it’s honest, hopeful, and deeply human. You’ll walk away with practical insights, a new lens for understanding ADHD, and permission to stop blaming yourself for systems that were never built with women in mind.
📖 Preorder Dr. Gilly Kahn’s new book Allow Me to Interrupt here: Simon & Schuster
📸 Follow her on Instagram: @drgillykahn
🌐 Explore more of her work: drgillykahn.com
September mornings are no joke. Between back-to-school chaos, missing shoes, forgotten lunches, and kids melting down (while you’re holding back your own), it can feel like you’re already behind before the day even starts. In this episode, we get real about the emotional weight of school transitions, why mornings feel so impossible, and what to do when you and your partner are on totally different pages.
We’ll share how to stop rushing (without everything falling apart), what (dys)regulation actually looks like in real life, and small shifts that can turn chaotic mornings into something almost more calm. If you’ve ever thought, “I can’t be the only one losing it at 8 a.m.,” this conversation is for you.
You’ll leave with:
A way to feel less frazzled (even when everything’s going wrong)
Tools for smoother communication with your partner in the morning juggle
Permission to stop striving for perfect mornings and just show up real
A reminder that your kids are way more resilient than you think
Because mornings don’t have to break you and you don’t have to do it alone.
In this raw and real conversation, Vanessa, Alyssa, and Carrie take mom guilt out from under the rug and shine a big ol’ light on it.
We dig into where this guilt even came from, why it exploded in the 80s and 90s, and how it’s been cleverly used to keep moms overworked, under-rested, and constantly questioning themselves.
We unpack the difference between rational guilt (the kind that can actually help you grow) and irrational guilt (the kind that slowly eats away at your joy), and share how we each wrestle with it in our own motherhood.
This is not your typical “just let it go” chat. We’re asking harder questions....like who actually benefits from you feeling guilty all the time?
And more importantly… what would it look like to parent from freedom and authenticity instead?
If you’ve ever ended the day feeling like you didn’t do enough (even though you did everything), this one’s for you.
🌿 Stay Connected With Us
Instagram: @themamahealinghubinc
Join the Mama Healing Hub (free & paid spaces available): www.themamahealing.com
Mailing List: Sign up here to get updates on events, workshops, and healing resources
Check out our rebranded website: themamahealinghub.ca
This week’s episode of the Mama Healing Hub Podcast is a breath of fresh air for every mom who’s ever felt the pressure to get the “perfect” family photo.
We’re joined by Nicole Harris, the heart behind Wild & Rooted sessions, photography that celebrates the messy, unfiltered, beautifully human moments of family life. Forget the stiff poses and forced smiles. Nicole invites families to exhale, move, play, and just be themselves, capturing memories that feel like your life, not a photoshoot.
This conversation isn’t just about photography, it’s about slowing down enough to notice your own life. It’s about the emotional weight of motherhood, why we often hide the parts of our lives that are the most tender, and how real moments become the keepsakes we’ll treasure the most.
There were a few tear-jerker moments in this one, and by the end, you might just look at your everyday chaos with a little more love.
If you’ve been craving permission to ditch perfection and see the magic in the mess....this one’s for you.
🎧 Listen now and let this episode be your reminder that your life is already beautiful as it is.
✨ Book a Wild & Rooted session with Nicole
Click here to book🌐 Website: www.nicoleharrisphotography.com📸 Instagram: @nicole.harris.photography
🌿 Stay Connected With Us
Instagram: @themamahealinghubinc
Join the Mama Healing Hub (free & paid spaces available): www.themamahealing.com
Mailing List: Sign up here to get updates on events, workshops, and healing resources
Check out our rebranded website: themamahealinghub.ca
What if your path back to feeling strong didn’t start with the gym...but with your breath?
In this powerful and refreshingly honest episode, Vanessa and Carrie sit down with Dr. Son Nguyen, a multi-passionate healer, chiropractor, acupuncturist, movement therapist, and pre/postnatal expert, to talk about the real stuff nobody told us about pelvic floor health and postpartum recovery.
Dr. Son shares her wisdom from over 20 years of experience working with women’s bodies, reminding us that “movement is life,” but so is rest. We talk about what strength means in motherhood, how to reconnect to your body when it feels like a stranger, and the small but potent ways we can invite healing into our daily lives.
This episode is for you if:
You’ve ever felt disconnected from your body after having a baby
You’re dealing with leakage, core weakness, or tension and don’t know where to start
You want movement to feel joyful again—not like a chore
You’re craving a deeper conversation about what recovery and strength really mean in this season of life
👀 Listen in to find out:
What’s more effective than kegels (hint: it starts with breath), how to make movement doable when you're short on time, and why the pelvic floor is about so much more than just fitness.
🌿 Stay Connected With UsInstagram: @themamahealinghubincJoin the Mama Healing Hub (free & paid spaces available): www.themamahealing.comMailing List: Sign up here to get updates on events, workshops, and healing resourcesCheck out our rebranded website: themamahealinghub.ca
💫 Connect with Dr. Son NguyenWebsite (for booking): wellnesswindsor.comInstagram: @dr.sonnguyendc
In this episode of the Mama Healing Hub, Vanessa, Carrie, and Alyssa sit down for a refreshingly honest and unfiltered convo about what’s in and what’s out in their parenting this year. From ditching the pressure to do gentle parenting “perfectly,” to letting go of food rules, to not taking their kids’ meltdowns personally, this episode is part vent sesh, part permission slip.
They each share the habits, expectations, and mental noise they’re leaving behind and what they’re making space for instead. Screens, nutrition, identity, guilt, parenting style, it’s all on the table, with zero judgment and lots of laughs.
Whether you’re rethinking how you show up at bedtime or just need to hear that you’re not alone in the chaos, this episode is a must-listen for any mom ready to parent a little more like herself.
🌿 Stay Connected With Us:
Instagram: @themamahealinghubinc
Join the Mama Healing Hub (free & paid spaces available): www.themamahealing.com
Mailing List: Sign up here to get updates on events, workshops, and healing resources
Check out our RE-BRANDED website: themamahealinghub.ca
In this heartfelt episode of the Mama Healing Hub Podcast, Vanessa and Alyssa sit down with Marni Wasserman, real food advocate, nutritionist, and host of The Ultimate Baby Podcast, to talk about the often messy, confusing, and beautiful journey of motherhood and health.
Marni shares her personal story, from a vegetarian lifestyle to being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, and how her path to healing reshaped the way she approaches food, motherhood, and intuition. This conversation is a reminder that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to wellness, and that listening to your body can be one of the most powerful tools on your motherhood journey.
✨ This episode is for you if:
– You’ve felt overwhelmed by food trends and wellness advice
– You’ve struggled with postpartum health or autoimmune issues
– You’re learning to trust your instincts more than outside noise
– You want a reminder that motherhood doesn’t require perfection — just presence
🧠 This Month in the Mama Healing Hub:
Each month, our community explores a focused healing theme to support personal growth and nervous system resilience.
July’s theme is: REGULATION.
But we don’t believe regulation means being calm all the time , it means learning to ride the waves, come back to ourselves, and understand what our nervous systems truly need.
💬 Upcoming Drop-In Events for July:
– July 10: The Nervous System in Motherhood with Alyssa
– July 17: Managing the Mental Load with guest expert Madeline Wilson
– July 24: The Basics of Polyvagal Theory with Vanessa
Come join the conversations, meet other like-hearted moms, and get support in a way that feels nourishing and real.
💛 Connect With Marni Wasserman:
Website: www.marniwasserman.com
Instagram: @marniwasserman
Podcast: The Ultimate Baby Podcast
Also check out: @ultimatehealthpodcast
🌿 Stay Connected With Us:
Instagram: @themamahealinghubinc
Join the Mama Healing Hub (free & paid spaces available): www.themamahealing.com
Mailing List: Sign up here to get updates on events, workshops, and healing resources