What if the words psychic, medium, and witch weren’t spooky labels but practical paths to clarity and self-trust? Julia sits down with intuitive mentor and practicing witch Nikki Philavanh to separate myth from method. We dig into what psychics actually do, how mediums communicate with the other side, and why witchcraft is more about grounded ritual and empowerment than Hollywood tropes. If you’ve ever wondered how tarot differs from oracle decks, how to spot ethical red flags in a reading, or how to set energetic boundaries that protect your peace, this conversation delivers.

Nikki shares vivid stories from her work—moments of uncanny validation, times she’s had to set firm boundaries with pushy spirits, and simple practices that help clients move from fear into agency. We explore archetypes like Lilith and Aphrodite through a modern lens, highlighting how “dark” feminine energy often signals unapologetic sovereignty rather than danger. The thread runs straight into shadow work and the “golden shadow,” those admired traits you see in others that are waiting for you to embody. Along the way, we talk about synchronicity, goosebump truth, and how neurodivergence can amplify perception, pattern recognition, and intuitive hits.

Ethics and free will are front and center. A solid reading outlines possibilities based on your current choices; it doesn’t lock you into fate or use fear to control you. We offer practical tips for discerning signal from noise, including keeping a log of repeated signs, testing small actions, and watching how your body responds. We also connect ritual to everyday life: lighting a candle with intention, quieting your mind to listen, and honoring ancestors at home mirror the structure and comfort many find in prayer. Different languages, same human longing for meaning and healing.

If you’re curious about intuition but wary of hype, you’ll find clear distinctions, grounded tools, and a welcoming path into your own power. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who’s “woo-curious,” and leave a review to tell us your biggest takeaway or synchronicity you can’t explain.

Guest: Nikki Philavanh

Topic: Intuition, Clarity, and Self-trust

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

We explore mental and physical resilience with Chanan Smith, moving from prevention and boundaries to daily one-inch progress that compounds into real confidence. Stories, tools, and mindset shifts show how to parent for capability, train for awareness, and manage stress without burning out.

• Chanan’s origin and resilience mission
• Prevention-first personal protection and campus safety
• Failure as a readiness test and reset skill
• Tribe support versus bodyguard parenting
• The pause for regulation and choice
• One-inch progress and consistency before intensity
• Pilot mindset for turbulence and stress
• Identity-based habits over shallow goals
• Ignore critics, invest in yourself, protect focus
• Three rules: permission, no competition, no proving

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Remember, you are worthy, lovable, capable, and enough.

Guest: Chanan Smith of Executive Warrior

Topic: Real Confidence

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

Divorce can change the shape of a family without breaking a child’s sense of safety. We sit down with licensed mental health counselor Ara Mascarenas to map out what kids truly need at each stage of development—from infants who rely on proximity and sameness to teens carving out identity and voice—and how parents can protect attachment through presence, truth, and predictable connection. If you’ve wondered how to talk to your child without oversharing, how to spot parentification, or how to keep rituals alive when life gets messy, this conversation gives you clear steps and compassionate scripts.

Ara introduces the Circle of Security lens, showing how kids explore when they feel seen and return for comfort when stressed. We unpack age-specific behaviors—regression in preschoolers, loyalty conflicts in early grade school, tummy aches and shame in tweens, boundary-pushing in teens—and translate them into workable plans. You’ll learn why kind, age-appropriate truth beats silence, how to avoid parental estrangement and the disorganized attachment it can create, and how small, consistent rituals like Friday pancakes or daily 10-minute “special time” become anchors that calm the nervous system.

We also draw a firm line between healthy responsibility and harmful emotional labor. Chores build competence; carrying a parent’s pain builds anxiety. With practical examples, repair scripts, and resource recommendations—The Whole-Brain Child, Hold On to Your Kids, Good Inside, The Conscious Parent, Raising Securely Attached Kids, and Brainstorm—you’ll leave with a toolkit that meets real life where it is. No perfection required. Just steady presence, honest words, and repeated moments of delight in your child.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more parents can find practical support.

Guest: Ara Mascarenas, LMHC, of Rising Stronger Counseling

Topic:  Divorce and Childhood Attachment

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

When addiction or a mental health crisis hits your family, the advice is loud but rarely clear. We sit down with Dr. Erin McNamee—clinician, former treatment center director, and researcher on families in addiction—to unpack what actually helps loved ones move from panic and shame to informed, sustainable action. Erin shares how the Family Recovery Collective came to life as an unbiased, low-cost hub where families learn at their own pace, connect with others, and access practical tools without being funneled into a single program or referral stream.

We dig into the science and the system. You’ll hear why behavioral couples therapy has decades of evidence yet remains underused, how HIPAA and insurance hurdles sideline family work, and why the “28 days and fixed” myth sets everyone up for disappointment. Erin reframes codependence through the lens of pro-dependence—honoring care as a loving instinct—and offers a realistic approach to boundaries: start with the smallest one you can hold. We explore the neuroscience of early recovery, the impact of trauma and genetics, and the often-missed world of process addictions like gambling, porn, and food.

Most importantly, we center the people who carry the invisible load. From evaluating treatment options to understanding roles across therapists, psychiatrists, interventionists, and sober companions, this conversation gives families the language, structure, and confidence to navigate complexity. The Collective’s interviews with first responders, veterans, and partners provide lived experience that reduces stigma and brings relief: you’re not alone, and there are many valid paths to healing.

If this resonated, share the episode with someone who needs a steadier map, hit follow to stay connected, and leave a review with one takeaway you’re bringing into your next conversation at home. Your story may be the bridge someone else needs.

Guest: Dr. Erin McNamee  

Topic:  Addiction and Recovery

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

What if the person guiding couples through crisis is quietly navigating her own? We sit down with Dr. Jamie Brodarick, a marriage and family therapist who recently went through divorce, to unpack what actually helps relationships heal, when it’s time to let go, and how to protect kids from collateral damage. Her dual vantage point—clinician and parent—turns theory into grounded, compassionate strategy.

We dig into the real predictors of marital repair: both partners doing individual therapy, owning their part in the negative cycle, and coming together with a trained couples therapist to learn regulation and empathy. We talk about why many couples wait too long for help, how major life transitions expose old cracks, and why uneven growth can stall progress when one partner “outgrows” the other emotionally. Jamie makes a strong case for preventive counseling before engagement, treating therapy like proactive health care rather than a last-ditch fire drill.

The conversation then moves into decision-making around divorce. Jamie shares the internal calculus of trying everything, noticing fear as the main reason to stay, and reframing loss by naming the gains: peace, time, self-acceptance, and the chance to build a healthier future. For parents, we explore the research on child outcomes, the power of two calm homes over one tense house, and practical tools like the Children’s Bill of Rights in Divorce. You’ll learn age-appropriate ways to support kids, stop triangulation, align routines, and coach children to self-advocate, reserving parental intervention for true safety issues.

We close with a three-phase roadmap—before, during, and after divorce—covering legal and financial prep, collaborative divorce teams, emotional acceptance, and post-divorce healing that prevents repeating old patterns. Jamie’s hopeful throughline is simple: accountability plus reflection changes everything. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review with your biggest question so we can tackle it next.

Guest: Dr. Jamie Brodarick

Topic:  Divorce, Healing, And Co-Parenting

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Your Host: Julia Manfre of Self-Care Solutions, LLC | Follow Self-Care Solutions on Facebook

Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

Two therapists unpack how everyday wounds become adult attachment patterns and how EMDR, repair, and boundaries build secure love. Ashley Zarmanian shares her story of caretaking, anxious–avoidant dynamics, and parenting as a model for repair and growth.

• defining developmental trauma and its everyday forms
• mapping secure, anxious, avoidant and disorganized attachment
• the anxious–avoidant dance and how to interrupt it
• EMDR timelines and reprocessing to reduce triggers
• corrective experiences and therapeutic boundaries
• core beliefs, reparenting and realistic affirmations
• dating patterns fueled by caretaking and codependency
• parenting through repair, not perfection
• books and resources on attachment and trauma
• where to find Mangrove Therapy Group

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You are worthy, lovable, capable, and enough.

Guest: Ashley Zarmanian, MA, LMHC, EDIT Certified of Mangrove Therapy Group

Topic: Power on the Spectrum

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A reconnection led to a revelation: Danielle grew up on the spectrum, carrying a stack of 1980s labels that never quite fit. What unfolds is a candid, moving journey from “severely learning disabled” on paper to leading Juliet on stage, powered by a mother who turned library castoffs into a custom education—vinyl records, tapes, storyboards, and claymation. We walk through the early hints of gifted storytelling, the painful mismatch of reading groups and resource rooms, and the moment a teacher listened closely enough to hear the logic in a “snake” answer and name it for what it was: precision.

The middle school years bring the hard truths many families recognize but rarely hear out loud—bullying that doesn’t stop at the bell, sensory overload that erases basic body cues, and a support system that groups neurodivergent learners with disruptors. Danielle explains what masking costs and how depression can hide behind good grades and a brave face. Then comes the pivot: a mentor’s nudge toward Romeo and Juliet, a Walkman-fueled audition strategy to outsmart dyslexia, and a freshman Juliet that filled an auditorium and rewrote the narrative. A handwritten note from a classmate who knew her history lands like a benediction, honoring the path from resource rooms to Shakespeare.

We don’t shy away from the crisis either—the night that ended in the ICU and the choice that followed to build coping tools that fit her nervous system. Along the way, we lift up the people who made the difference: a mother who taught to the brain she saw, teachers who caught the spark, and a community that applauded the work, not the myth. The takeaway is clear and hard-won: we are not the label. If you’re a parent, educator, or anyone who loves a neurodivergent kid, you’ll leave with practical insight—use audio and movement when print fails, expect unseen load from masking and noise, celebrate mastery loudly, and ask what’s too bright or too fast before asking what’s wrong.

If this conversation moved you, subscribe, share with someone who needs a hopeful blueprint, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your words help more families hear they’re not alone.

Guest: Danielle "Elley" Linton of Jack and Pickles Amusements -
Family Entertainment

Topic: Power on the Spectrum

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We chart how a painful past and relentless migraines met the right tools, therapy, and mentorship to create a sustainable podcast business. We share the mindset shifts, AI-proof strategies, and a new show and community designed to help creators grow with purpose.

• choosing a life that fits motherhood and entrepreneurship
• discovering podcasting as purpose and business lever
• mentorship, live production craft, and network building
• costly mistakes from over-giving and weak boundaries
• trauma, migraines, and the body’s signals to speak truth
• therapy, corrective experiences, and rebuilding self-worth
• pricing, scope, and processes that protect sustainability
• AI’s limits and where human producers still win
• launching Blender and a Slack community for creator growth
• practical hosting skills, legal guardrails, and discoverability

Guest: Producer Jaime ("Jemmy") Legagneur of Flint Stone Media LLC

Topic: Healing and Following Your Dreams

Connect with Producer Jaime:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (561) 425-2260
• Website: FlintStoneMedia.com
• Podcast: Blender Business Show and Community

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...

Guest: Colleen Haney, Owner of Communicating Energy Wellness Institute

Topic: Energy

Connect with Colleen:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (561) 212-6862
• Websites: CommunicatingEnergyInstitute.com and ColleenHaney.com

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 Dr. Xu is the owner of Perfect Union of Body and Mind.

Guest: Dr. Xu

Topic: Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Contact Info

 Email: [email protected]

 Phone: 561-771-6073

 Website: http://www.drxuperfectunion.com

Topic: Acupuncture

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Kery is the owner of Your Health Path.

Guest: Kery Knutson

Contact Info

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (561) 342-1331

Website: YourHealthPath.com

Topic: Mindset

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Educating Women on the Tools, Skills, and Secrets of Self-Care...