Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads

What happens when betrayal forces you to stop fixing everyone else and finally start protecting yourself? G-Rex and Dirty Skittles sit down with Barbara Parker for a raw, funny, and deeply honest conversation about healthy boundaries, emotional safety, perfectionism, rebuilding self-worth, and learning that protecting your peace isn’t selfish—it’s necessary.

Awards & Downloads

Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here:
https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a

Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder

This episode includes conversations about infidelity, toxic relationships, emotional trauma, alcohol misuse, suicidal thoughts, and intense emotional distress. Please listen with care.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 in the United States and Canada for immediate support. You don’t have to carry the heavy shit alone.

Mental Health Quote

“Anything that comes between you and your peace needs to be removed.” — Barbara Parker

Episode Description

Barbara Parker knows what it feels like to lose yourself while trying to hold a relationship together. After discovering repeated infidelity in her marriage, she found herself facing heartbreak, anger, financial instability, and one brutal realization: she had spent so much energy worrying about someone else’s happiness that she had stopped paying attention to her own.
In this powerful conversation with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles, Barbara shares how those painful experiences became the foundation for rebuilding her identity, strengthening her boundaries, and eventually helping others do the same. She explains why boundaries start with knowing what you want, why two perfectly good people can still be completely wrong for each other, and why protecting your peace sometimes means accepting that somebody simply isn’t headed where you’re headed.

Barbara also gets real about perfectionism, anxiety, emotional triggers, and the wounds that can sit beneath our awareness until something slams directly into the panic button. She shares her “good enough” approach when perfection falls apart, her tea-kettle analogy for bottled-up emotions, and how her POWER method helps people communicate more clearly, rediscover their confidence, and create lives aligned with what actually matters.

This isn’t about pretending heartbreak was some magical gift wrapped in a bow. It’s about realizing the shit that hurt you doesn’t get to own you forever. You can learn from it, rebuild from it, and become fiercely protective of the peace you worked so damn hard to find.

Keywords: healthy boundaries, self-worth, emotional safety, toxic relationships, relationship healing, betrayal trauma, divorce recovery, self-love, perfectionism, anxiety, emotional wellness, confidence building, personal growth, women’s empowerment, mental health podcast

Meet Our Guest — Barbara Parker

Barbara L. Parker, MA, LPCC-S, is the Founder and CEO of BF Empowerment Center, where she helps people build confidence, improve communication, set healthier boundaries, and move through emotional healing and major life transitions. Drawing from both professional expertise and her own experiences with heartbreak, divorce, financial hardship, and rebuilding her identity, Barbara brings a practical, empowering approach to helping people create healthier relationships with themselves and others.
Connect with Barbara:

Official Website:

https://www.bfempowerment.com/

Instagram — BF Empowerment:

https://www.instagram.com/bfempowerment/

Facebook — B F Empowerment Center:

https://www.facebook.com/bfempowerment/

LinkedIn — Barbara L. Parker:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/queenblparker

Key Takeaways

Healthy boundaries begin with knowing what you want before somebody else starts deciding it for you.

Two people can both be good humans and still be completely wrong for each other.

Protecting your peace sometimes requires walking away from situations that keep pulling you away from yourself.

Perfectionism can steal the joy from moments you worked incredibly hard to create.

Anger can be the surface reaction covering a much deeper emotional wound.

Rebuilding after betrayal means investing energy back into yourself instead of endlessly investigating somebody else.

Emotional safety, self-worth, and identity matter just as much as what a relationship looks like from the outside.

Actionable Items

Ask whether it’s on mission or off mission. Before saying yes to a relationship, commitment, opportunity, or another obligation, ask whether it supports the life you’re trying to build or pulls you away from it.

Practice the “good enough” reset. When perfectionism starts convincing you everything is ruined because something went wrong, remind yourself that successful doesn't have to mean flawless.

Empty the emotional tea kettle. Make regular space to talk, journal, rest, seek therapy, or process what you’re carrying before one small trigger sends everything boiling over.

Important Chapters

00:01:06 – Meet Barbara: Spunky, Sassy, and a Recovering Perfectionist

00:04:21 – What Healthy Boundaries Actually Look Like

00:06:29 – The Heartbreak That Taught Barbara Boundaries

00:08:53 – Facing Infidelity and Talking to Nine Mistresses

00:13:30 – Poor Boundaries, Lost Identity, and Inviting Chaos

00:15:15 – When Betrayal Made Barbara Disconnect From Herself

00:16:28 – Turning Pain Into Purpose

00:19:01 – Stop Investigating Them and Start Investing in You

00:21:53 – The POWER Method and Finding Yourself Again

00:23:51 – Anger, Old Wounds, and the Panic Button

00:25:26 – The Tea Kettle: What Happens When We Never Empty Out

00:30:22 – “This Is Going to Hurt, but It’s Going to Be Worth It”

00:32:04 – Loyalty, Fidelity, and Emotional Safety

00:34:06 – Anxiety, Perfectionism, and Never Feeling Productive Enough

00:35:12 – Favorite Word, Least Favorite Word, and Why “Can’t” Gets No Love

Closing CTA

Subscribe, Rate, and Review!
Subscribe for more inspiring stories. Rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, or visit our Website:

https://goesoninourheads.net/add-your-podcast-reviews

#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #HealthyBoundaries #ProtectYourPeace #SelfWorth #EmotionalSafety #ToxicRelationships #RelationshipHealing #DivorceRecovery #BetrayalTrauma #SelfLoveJourney #WomenEmpowerment #EmotionalWellness #PerfectionismRecovery #ConfidenceBuilding #PersonalGrowth #HealingAfterHeartbreak

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If You Need Support, Reach Out
If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline in your area. Remember, it’s OK not to be OK—talking to someone can make all the difference.
United States: Call or Text 988 — 988lifeline.org
Canada: Call or Text 988 — 988.ca
Worldwide: Find a Helpline
Mental Health Resources and Tools: The Help Hub
Stay Connected with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Official Website: goesoninourheads.net
Facebook: @shltthatgoesoninourheads
Instagram: @grex_and_dirtyskittles
LinkedIn: G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Join Our Newsletter: (https://grexanddirtyskittles.substack.com/)
Merch Store: goesoninourheads.shop
Audio Editing by NJz Audio

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if binge eating isn’t proof that you lack discipline—but a learned pattern your brain can actually change? In this episode, G-Rex and Dirty Skittles sit down with binge-eating coach Amber Abila to unpack food obsession, restriction, cravings, shame, and what it can look like to rebuild trust with yourself around food.

Awards & Downloads

Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

Feedback Link

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here: https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a

Mental Health Quote

“You’re a lot less alone than you think you are.” — Amber Abila

Special Announcement

Amber shares a guided audio designed to help people slow down and “play the story forward” when an urge to binge hits. The direct resource link was not included in the transcript, but listeners can find Amber’s resources through: https://theconfidenteater.org/

Episode Description

Binge eating can feel like a battle between what you want to do and what your brain seems determined to make you do. Amber Abila knows that fight firsthand. After years of restriction, bingeing, bulimia, food guilt, and trying everything from calorie counting to willpower, she began searching for a different way forward.

In this raw and practical conversation, Amber joins G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to talk about how binge-eating patterns can develop, why shame often keeps people stuck, and why simply trying harder may not create lasting change. Amber explains her approach to separating the biology that may contribute to urges from the psychology that can reinforce them, while also challenging the belief that recovery has to take forever.

The conversation gets especially real around dieting, food noise, emotional eating, body image, and the endless mental tug-of-war between “I’ve been good all day” and “I deserve this.” Amber also shares how visualization, questioning automatic thoughts, noticing how food actually makes you feel, and celebrating small wins can help create new patterns.

G-Rex and Dirty Skittles bring their own complicated relationships with sugar, carbs, dieting, GLP-1 medications, and body changes into the conversation, making this episode less about perfection and more about curiosity, awareness, and self-trust.

Most importantly, Amber reminds listeners that shame doesn’t have to run the show. Change can begin when you stop treating yourself like the enemy and start paying attention to what your mind and body are actually telling you.

Keywords: binge eating, food addiction, emotional eating, binge eating recovery, food obsession, food guilt, eating habits, body image, diet culture, food cravings, mental health, emotional wellness, self-compassion, habit change, confident eating

Meet Our Guest — Amber Abila

Amber Abila is a binge-eating and overeating coach and the founder of The Confident Eater. Drawing from her own experience with binge eating and bulimia, Amber now helps people challenge learned food patterns, understand urges, question automatic thoughts, and build a more confident relationship with eating.

Her work centers on emotional eating, hunger and fullness cues, food mindset, body confidence, habit change, and helping people move away from cycles of restriction and shame.

Website: https://theconfidenteater.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconfidenteater_/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/532434625387487

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@amberabila

Key Takeaways

Binge eating is not simply a matter of being “weak” or lacking willpower; Amber encourages people to look at the patterns underneath the behavior.

Restriction and food obsession can create a cycle in which cravings grow louder rather than quieter.

Shame makes it harder to ask for help, which is why talking openly about binge eating matters.

Learning to question automatic thoughts like “I deserve this because I’ve been good all day” can interrupt old habits.

Visualization can help you move beyond the first few seconds of an urge and imagine how each choice may feel afterward.

Celebrating small wins matters. Your brain needs reinforcement when you practice a new response instead of immediately moving on.

Actionable Items

Ask, “Is this true?” When a food-related thought shows up—“I need this,” “I deserve this,” or “I already blew it”—pause and question whether the thought is actually true or simply familiar.

Play the story forward. Imagine both paths: what happens physically and emotionally if you act on the urge, and what happens if you allow the urge to pass?

Celebrate the new behavior. When you make a choice that supports the relationship with food you want, consciously acknowledge it instead of brushing it off.

References Mentioned

The Confident Eater: https://theconfidenteater.org/

Become a Confident Eater Podcast: Amber mentions her weekly podcast during the episode. You can find it on The Confident Eater website.

DSM-5 / Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Amber references diagnostic criteria for binge-eating disorder while discussing how binge eating is recognized clinically.

Important Chapters

00:01:12 – Amber’s Story and the Beginning of Binge Eating

00:02:22 – Restriction, Cravings, and Amber’s First Binge

00:05:17 – GLP-1s and Food Noise

00:06:38 – Why Amber Believes Binge Eating Starts

00:10:16 – Food Flavor, Cravings, and Hyperpalatable Foods

00:15:44 – The Pleasure-versus-Pain Teeter-Totter

00:23:46 – Visualization as a Tool for Urges

00:27:37 – Why You Should Celebrate Small Wins

00:30:02 – The Question That Can Change Your Thinking

00:32:59 – Can Change Really Happen Quickly?

00:37:22 – Restriction vs. Self-Care

00:40:25 – What Amber Wishes She Could Tell Her Younger Self

00:43:20 – The Hard Things Can Build Us

00:45:09 – Anxiety’s Theme Song and the Meaning of Confidence

00:47:00 – Where to Find Amber

Closing CTA

Subscribe, Rate, and Review!

Subscribe for more inspiring stories. Rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, or visit our Website: https://goesoninourheads.net/add-your-podcast-reviews

#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #BingeEatingRecovery #BingeEatingAwareness #EmotionalEating #FoodAddiction #FoodFreedom #RelationshipWithFood #BodyImage #DietCulture #FoodGuilt #SelfCompassion #EatingHabits #EmotionalWellness #HabitChange #ConfidentEater #FoodObsession

***************************************************************************
If You Need Support, Reach Out
If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline in your area. Remember, it’s OK not to be OK—talking to someone can make all the difference.
United States: Call or Text 988 — 988lifeline.org
Canada: Call or Text 988 — 988.ca
Worldwide: Find a Helpline
Mental Health Resources and Tools: The Help Hub
Stay Connected with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Official Website: goesoninourheads.net
Facebook: @shltthatgoesoninourheads
Instagram: @grex_and_dirtyskittles
LinkedIn: G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Join Our Newsletter: (https://grexanddirtyskittles.substack.com/)
Merch Store: goesoninourheads.shop
Audio Editing by NJz Audio

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if healing was never supposed to become another full-time job? In Part 2, Mandi Lynne joins G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to talk about leaving survival mode, reconnecting with yourself, refusing to let mental health diagnoses become limitations, and giving yourself permission to live now—not someday when everything finally feels fixed.

Awards & Downloads Line

Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

Feedback Link Line

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here:
https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a

Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder

This episode includes conversations about trauma, depression, suicidal crisis, and suicide. Please listen in whatever way feels safest for you.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:

https://988lifeline.org/

For crisis resources outside the United States:

https://findahelpline.com/

Mental Health Quote

“I kept postponing living until I was done healing.” — Mandi Lynne

Episode Description

What if you stopped treating healing like the admission ticket you have to earn before you are allowed to enjoy your own life?
In Part 2, Mandi Lynne joins G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to explore the philosophy behind ONE | Life and the shift from simply understanding mental health to figuring out how the hell we actually live with everything we know.

After years of helping build MedCircle, Mandi began noticing something important. Mental health education was becoming easier to access, but people still needed help answering the next question: now what?

She talks about going beneath the crisis of the moment to understand the beliefs underneath it, including how her former husband’s infidelity activated old wounds around worth. The conversation expands into boundaries, relationships, self-abandonment, caregiving, personal agency, labels, diagnoses, and why caring about other people should not require disappearing from your own life.

Then things get wonderfully weird.

There are raccoon videos, ADHD superpowers, favorite swear words, Joan Jett, Led Zeppelin, joy folders, squirrels eating McDonald’s cheeseburgers, funeral menus, tequila, mofongo, espresso martinis, glow sticks, and enough inappropriate laughter to keep the USS Shit Show afloat.

Underneath all of it is a powerful reminder: joy belongs in recovery too.

You do not need to become fully healed before you deserve connection, purpose, laughter, and a life that feels like yours.

Keywords: Mandi Lynne, ONE Life, survival mode, trauma recovery, living while healing, mental health recovery, self-worth, boundaries, self-abandonment, CPTSD, anxiety, ADHD, emotional wellness, personal growth, healing journey

Meet Our Guest — Mandi Lynne

Mandi Lynne is the Founder and CEO of ONE | Life and a former executive at MedCircle, where she helped scale one of the world's most recognized mental health education platforms.
A former educator and nonprofit leader with a background in science, education, and leadership, Mandi also holds certifications in Health & Wellness Coaching, Hypnotherapy, NLP, Somatic practices, and Global Leadership & Social Innovation through the United Nations University for Peace.

Her perspective is shaped not only by her professional experience but by rebuilding her own life through trauma, chronic illness, job loss, bankruptcy, divorce, financial hardship, miscarriage, single parenting, OCD, anxiety, CPTSD, and a past eating disorder.

Today, she helps people move out of survival mode and into a life of clarity, confidence, and direction.

Not someday. Now.

Website: https://onelifelivenow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelifebymedcircle

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MedCircle

Key Takeaways

You do not need to finish healing before you are allowed to start living.

Constantly triaging external problems can keep us from examining the deeper beliefs those problems activate.

Caring for other people should not require abandoning yourself.

Mental health diagnoses can provide information and direction without becoming your identity or limitation.

Healing is allowed to include joy, laughter, music, nature, friendship, and ridiculous moments.

Asking for help does not diminish your strength.

Sometimes one person reminding you of your worth can change the direction of your life.

Actionable Items

Build five minutes of living into your day. Choose something that genuinely makes you feel alive—music, nature, coffee, laughter, animals, creativity—and make space for it before everything feels “fixed.”

Create a joy folder. Whenever something sparks a moment of happiness, take a picture. On the days you feel disconnected from yourself, use that folder as evidence of what still lights you up.

Identify your support people. Write down the names of the people you can contact when you are struggling so you do not have to figure out who to call in the middle of a hard moment.

References Mentioned

ONE | Life: https://onelifelivenow.com/
MedCircle: https://www.youtube.com/@MedCircle

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/

 

 

Important Chapters

00:00:46 — What is ONE | Life? Mandi explains her eight years with MedCircle and how mental health education evolved into a bigger question: once we understand what is happening, how do we actually live better?

00:02:31 — When all the distractions disappeared, Mandi reflects on COVID and how suddenly being left alone with ourselves changed the broader conversation around mental health.

00:03:20 — Stop spending every therapy session triaging the surface. Mandi explains how repeatedly focusing only on external crises can keep us from reaching the deeper beliefs those situations trigger.

00:04:00 — Infidelity, self-worth, and getting to the root. Mandi shares how her former husband’s affairs hurt so deeply because they reinforced something she already feared about her own worth.

00:05:05 — Stop postponing your life until you are healed. Mandi describes realizing that she had turned healing into a prerequisite for living and why that needed to change.

00:05:49 — Raccoon videos count as mental health care around here G-Rex explains the therapeutic value of starting the day with ridiculous raccoon videos, and somehow it makes perfect sense.

00:06:46 — Service without self-abandonment. Mandi talks about caring for others while recognizing that giving should not constantly come at your own expense.

00:07:16 — Relationships without betraying yourself. Mandi explores healthy connection, attachment wounds, authenticity, and finding people who cherish you for being who you actually are.

00:08:57 — G-Rex on masking depression: G-Rex reflects on how completely she hid her depression while caring for everyone around her and why she refuses to put that mask back on.

00:10:05 — Humor as a mental health pressure valve Mandi, G-Rex, and Dirty Skittles explain why sometimes the thing that keeps heavy experiences bearable is laughing at shit you probably should not laugh at.

00:11:47 — Living while you are still healing: G-Rex talks about traveling, setting boundaries, and continuing to experience life even while recovery was still unfolding.

00:14:42 — Introverts confess they kind of loved lockdown. Dirty Skittles and Mandi bond over the unexpected freedom of canceled obligations, while G-Rex, the extrovert, strongly disagrees.

00:16:32 — The evolution from MedCircle to ONE | Life Mandi describes creating a more experiential, inclusive approach focused on practical living rather than only diagnosis and education.

00:18:26 — Your diagnosis is not your personality. Mandi explains why labels should provide information and direction—not become evidence that you cannot do something.

00:20:32 — ADHD as a superpower: G-Rex talks about working with her ADHD instead of treating it solely as a limitation.

00:22:06 — What Mandi would tell her seven-year-old self: Mandi returns to the childhood trauma discussed in Part 1 and gives her younger self the message she needed most: it was not your fault.

00:23:49 — The hardest lesson: You do not have to do everything yourself. Mandi talks about responsibility, caregiving, parenting, enabling, and the value of letting others learn to stand on their own.

00:26:03 — If anxiety had a theme song, Joan Jett and Led Zeppelin enter the chat as Mandi shares the music that helps her interrupt anxiety and release control.

00:27:19 — Mandi’s favorite word is exactly what you think it is. The versatility and emotional range of the word “fuck” receive the appreciation it deserves.

00:30:38 — Mandi turns the questions on G-Rex and Dirty Skittles. The conversation shifts as Mandi asks the hosts about the life-changing realizations that altered their own mental health journeys.

00:31:01 — Dirty Skittles realizes she has been living in fight mode. Dirty Skittles shares how therapy helped her recognize chronic hypervigilance and begin discovering what peace actually felt like.

00:32:10 — The 988 call that changed G-Rex’s life. G-Rex describes the crisis call that reminded her of her worth, helped her ask for help, and became a pivotal moment in her survival.

00:33:10 — Kevin Hines and the power of human connection: Mandi reflects on conversations with Golden Gate Bridge survivor Kevin Hines and why acknowledging another human being can matter more than we realize.

00:35:02 — Healing outside therapy: Nature, joy folders, photography, and small moments of happiness become examples of tools that can help us reconnect with ourselves.

00:37:41 — When caregiving disconnects you from yourself: Mandi and Dirty Skittles talk about losing pieces of identity inside roles like parent, partner, and caregiver.

00:38:40 — The squirrel, the cheeseburger, and unexpected joy. Mandi shares one of those completely ridiculous moments that instantly remind you of how healing laughter can be.

00:39:14 — Music and activating the experience of being alive: Mandi discusses using playlists, sensory experiences, nature, and emotion to reconnect with what it feels like to be fully present.

00:40:25 — Planning the ultimate funeral party: Tequila, mofongo, meatloaf, espresso martinis, glow sticks, walkers, and Depends close the conversation in exactly the way you would expect from this crew.

00:42:04 — Where to find Mandi and ONE | Life Mandi shares how listeners can connect with ONE | Life and MedCircle and reminds everyone to find the approach that works for them.

Closing CTA

Subscribe, Rate, and Review!
Remember to subscribe for more inspiring stories. Rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, or visit our Website:

https://goesoninourheads.net/add-your-podcast-reviews

#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #MandiLynne #OneLife #SurvivalMode #TraumaHealing #LivingWhileHealing #SelfWorth #BoundariesMatter #CPTSDRecovery #AnxietyRecovery #ADHDAwareness #HealingJourney #SelfDiscovery #EmotionalWellness #MentalHealthRecovery #JoyInHealing

***************************************************************************
If You Need Support, Reach Out
If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline in your area. Remember, it’s OK not to be OK—talking to someone can make all the difference.
United States: Call or Text 988 — 988lifeline.org
Canada: Call or Text 988 — 988.ca
Worldwide: Find a Helpline
Mental Health Resources and Tools: The Help Hub
Stay Connected with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Official Website: goesoninourheads.net
Facebook: @shltthatgoesoninourheads
Instagram: @grex_and_dirtyskittles
LinkedIn: G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Join Our Newsletter: (https://grexanddirtyskittles.substack.com/)
Merch Store: goesoninourheads.shop
Audio Editing by NJz Audio

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How much of the way we see ourselves was shaped before we were old enough to understand what was happening? Mandi Lynne joins G-Rex and Dirty Skittles for a deeply honest conversation about childhood trauma, shame, self-worth, perfectionism, and the work of separating who you are from what happened to you.

Awards & Downloads Line

Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

Feedback Link Line

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here:
https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a

Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder

This episode includes conversations about childhood sexual trauma, eating disorders, alcohol use, shame, and suicide. Please take care of yourself while listening and step away if you need to.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:

https://988lifeline.org/

For crisis resources outside the United States:

https://findahelpline.com/

Mental Health Quote

“When we learn to see something differently, that is where most of the healing is.” — Mandi Lynne

Episode Description

Mandi Lynne has spent years working in mental health education, but long before becoming the Founder and CEO of ONE | Life, she was trying to understand the shit going on inside her own head.
In Part 1, Mandi sits down with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to talk about the childhood sexual trauma she experienced at seven years old and how it shaped her understanding of love, safety, responsibility, and self-worth. She opens up about the shame and confusion that followed, including what she later came to understand as moral injury.

That early trauma became tangled with perfectionism, OCD, anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol use, attachment wounds, and the exhausting belief that if she could just become good enough, perfect enough, or controlled enough, she might finally feel safe.

Mandi also shares what began changing when she found the right therapist. The conversation explores cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, expressive therapies, equine-assisted work, nature, and why healing does not always happen by thinking harder about the problem.

G-Rex and Dirty Skittles share their own therapy experiences, including one of their favorite pieces of advice: speed-date your therapist. The right connection matters.

This episode is heavy, funny, compassionate, and deeply human. Your past may explain parts of you, but it does not have to dictate the rest of your life.

Keywords: Mandi Lynne, childhood trauma, trauma recovery, self-worth, shame healing, moral injury, OCD, anxiety, eating disorder recovery, EMDR therapy, attachment wounds, inner child healing, mental health recovery, expressive therapy, trauma-informed healing

Meet Our Guest — Mandi Lynne

Mandi Lynne is the Founder and CEO of ONE | Life and a former executive at MedCircle, where she helped scale one of the world's most recognized mental health education platforms.
A former educator and nonprofit leader with a background in science, education, and leadership, Mandi also holds certifications in Health & Wellness Coaching, Hypnotherapy, NLP, Somatic practices, and Global Leadership & Social Innovation through the United Nations University for Peace. Her professional work is deeply informed by lived experience with trauma, chronic illness, job loss, bankruptcy, divorce, financial hardship, miscarriage, single parenting, OCD, anxiety, CPTSD, and a past eating disorder.

Her work is grounded in one powerful belief: you do not have to wait to be fully healed to start living well.

Website: https://onelifelivenow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelifebymedcircle

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MedCircle

Key Takeaways

Childhood trauma can shape self-worth before we are developmentally able to understand what happened.

Adult logic can know something was not your fault while a younger, wounded part of you still struggles to believe it.

Shame and moral injury can create deep emotional residue that requires patience, compassion, and support.

Perfectionism, control, disordered eating, and other coping mechanisms can become attempts to create safety.

Finding the right therapist matters. One poor therapeutic relationship does not mean therapy cannot work for you.

Healing is not always intellectual. EMDR, art, animals, movement, nature, and other experiential approaches can reach parts of us that conversation alone may not.

Actionable Items

Speed date your therapist. Pay attention to whether you feel safe, understood, and able to be honest. If the connection is not right, you may keep looking.

Try a form of healing that does not require talking. Paint without a plan, spend time outside, listen to music, move your body, or engage with animals and notice what comes up.

Offer yourself the compassion you would give a child. When shame appears, ask: “If this happened to a seven-year-old I loved, would I blame them?”

 
Important Chapters

00:01:02 — Who is Mandi Lynne? Mandi starts with a simple answer: a regular person. She explains why accepting who we are matters before we start chasing some supposedly better version of ourselves.

00:02:06 — Self-worth, perfectionism, and learning to feel proud. Mandi talks about growing up with messages about humility and confidence, and how easy it became to default to seeing herself through a negative lens.

00:04:34 — Learning to receive praise without shrinking: G-Rex opens up about becoming more comfortable with recognition and learning that confidence and generosity can exist at the same time.

00:08:53 — Childhood trauma and the beginning of survival patterns. Mandi shares her experience of sexual trauma at seven years old and explains the confusion, secrecy, attachment wounds, and self-blame that followed.

00:12:41 — When knowing “it wasn’t your fault” still isn’t enough. Mandi explains the difference between intellectually understanding what happened and getting the brain and body to believe it.

00:13:17 — Understanding moral injury and shame: Mandi discusses the guilt she carried from being forced into situations as a child that conflicted deeply with her values.

00:15:27 — Avoidance, eating disorders, alcohol, and control. Mandi talks about the ways she tried to outrun what happened and how perfectionism became an attempt to make herself feel safe.

00:17:44 — Pregnancy becomes a turning point. An unexpected pregnancy becomes a major catalyst for Mandi to take her mental health seriously and seek the right support.

00:18:46 — CBT, reframing, and recognizing thought patterns. Mandi describes learning that catastrophizing and black-and-white thinking were patterns rather than unavoidable truths.

00:19:05 — EMDR and healing beyond the thinking brain: Mandi explains why EMDR helped her access insights that talk therapy alone had not reached.

00:20:12 — Changing perspective without minimizing pain. Mandi talks about accepting that some experiences simply suck while refusing to remain mentally tied to them forever.

00:22:11 — Why you should “speed date” your therapist: G-Rex and Dirty Skittles share their own experiences finding therapists who were—and were not—the right fit.

00:25:30 — Painting without a plan: Dirty Skittles shares a therapy assignment that challenged her need for control and unexpectedly helped her feel free.

00:26:50 — Healing through photographs, horses, and experience. Mandi talks about expressive work, life timelines, equine therapy, and helping people access emotions through experience rather than forced conversation.

00:29:15 — Nature as medicine for the nervous system: G-Rex and Mandi connect over nature, grounding, winter weather, and the very real impact seasonal changes can have on mental health.

Closing CTA

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Remember to subscribe for more inspiring stories. Rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, or visit our Website:

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#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #MandiLynne #ChildhoodTrauma #TraumaRecovery #HealingTrauma #SelfWorth #ShameHealing #InnerChildHealing #EMDR #TherapyWorks #OCDRecovery #AnxietyRecovery #AttachmentHealing #CPTSDRecovery #MentalHealthHealing #HealingJourney

 

 

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If You Need Support, Reach Out
If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline in your area. Remember, it’s OK not to be OK—talking to someone can make all the difference.
United States: Call or Text 988 — 988lifeline.org
Canada: Call or Text 988 — 988.ca
Worldwide: Find a Helpline
Mental Health Resources and Tools: The Help Hub
Stay Connected with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Official Website: goesoninourheads.net
Facebook: @shltthatgoesoninourheads
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Join Our Newsletter: (https://grexanddirtyskittles.substack.com/)
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Audio Editing by NJz Audio

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What changes when you stop looking outside yourself for permission to feel whole? In Part 2, Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo return with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles for a powerful conversation about breaking generational patterns, choosing yourself, letting go of emotional weight, healing old wounds, and building a life around joy instead of someone else’s definition of success.

Awards & Downloads

Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here:
https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a

Mental Health Quote

“Choose yourself. When you stop giving away your power, you finally have something real to give back to the people you love.” — Inspired by Rocio Aquino & Angel Orengo

Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder

This episode includes conversations about childhood abuse, abandonment, suicide attempts, trauma, and emotional pain. Please listen with care.
If you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to connect with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You do not have to be suicidal to reach out for support.

https://988lifeline.org/

Episode Description

What happens after you recognize your wounds? How do you make sure you aren’t unknowingly handing them to the next generation?
In Part 2, Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo join G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to continue their conversation about healing, self-awareness, and the lessons behind The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

Rocio and Angel explore the stories society teaches women and men, why empathy and compassion matter, and how the media and stories we consume can shape how we understand ourselves and the world.

Rocio reveals that the five women at the center of The Orchid carry pieces of her own experiences, trauma, and transformation. Angel shares one of the biggest lessons of his healing journey: we have more control over where our emotional energy goes than we realize.

The conversation becomes deeply personal as Angel discusses childhood abuse and Rocio shares losing her mother, attempting suicide at 20, and what she would tell that younger version of herself today: go play the game, because you are going to be okay.

They also talk about generational trauma, parenting, letting go, intuition, self-love, nature, emotional energy, and why taking care of yourself first is not selfish. G-Rex brings it home with one hell of a reminder: stop chasing somebody else’s definition of happiness and start chasing your joy.

Healing yourself can change more than your own life. It can change what the people who come after you have to carry.

Keywords: generational trauma, choosing joy, self-love, emotional healing, breaking generational cycles, intentional living, childhood trauma, personal empowerment, mental health recovery, letting go, self-worth, emotional wellness, healing family patterns, self-compassion, finding purpose

Meet Our Guests — Rocio Aquino & Angel Orengo

Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo are the storytellers and creators behind The Orchid, a book and growing community dedicated to healing, self-discovery, purpose, and intentional living. Their work blends personal experience, honest reflection, storytelling, and meaningful conversation to encourage people to look inward, challenge inherited beliefs, and create healthier emotional patterns for themselves and future generations.
Website: https://www.theorchidbook.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocioangel__/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rocioangel.social

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rocioangel.theorchid

Key Takeaways

Healing your own wounds can change what gets passed down to the next generation.

Loving yourself does not take love away from your family; it can increase your capacity to show up for them.

You have a choice about where you spend your emotional energy.

Letting go is not weakness—it is deciding that something no longer deserves your peace.

Happiness tied only to possessions or achievements can be temporary; joy can live in ordinary moments.

Family, cultural, and societal stories can shape you, but they do not have to control the rest of your life.

Actionable Items

Do an energy audit. Identify one person, argument, resentment, or expectation receiving more of your emotional energy than you want to give it.

Spend ten minutes outside without your phone and notice something small that genuinely brings you joy.

Identify one belief, behavior, or emotional pattern from your family history that you do not want to pass forward, then choose one small way to respond differently.

 
 

Important Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to Part 2 + Why Healing Stories Need a Bigger Stage
G-Rex opens by asking how stories like The Orchid can help people better understand women's emotional experiences and normalize talking about mental health.

03:34 – Rocio’s Mission to Create Stories That Help People Heal
Rocio talks about dedicating her life to stories that allow people—especially women—to see themselves through a different lens.

05:39 – Strengthening Women, Men, and the Human Experience
Angel discusses the importance of empathy, kindness, compassion, and strengthening qualities historically labeled as feminine.

08:06 – How the Stories We Consume Shape Us
Angel explores the influence of film, television, video games, and storytelling—and why he wants more stories showing people how to heal and survive.

09:45 – Rocio Reveals Herself in The Orchid’s Five Women
Rocio shares that she sees parts of her own trauma and healing journey in all five central characters.

10:58 – Closing Your Wounds and Reclaiming Your Power
Angel uses The Matrix as a metaphor for reaching a place where another person’s insults no longer have the same power over you.

15:45 – Take Care of Yourself Before Trying to Save Everybody Else
Angel explains why healing yourself first allows you to show up differently for your family and everyone around you.

17:53 – What Angel Would Tell His Six-Year-Old Self
Angel reflects on childhood abuse and the lessons about personal power and self-belief he wishes he could have learned before experiencing trauma.

20:21 – Rocio on Losing Her Mother and Attempting Suicide at 20
Rocio talks about reaching one of the lowest moments of her life and the message she would now give her younger self: you are not alone, and this will not last forever.

22:11 – Their Hardest Lessons: Abandonment and Letting Go
Rocio reflects on surviving abandonment while Angel explains why letting go has been one of the most difficult and rewarding lessons of his life.

25:13 – “The Person I Love the Most Is Me”
Angel shares the realization that taking responsibility for his own happiness actually allows him to love his wife, daughters, and family more freely.

27:02 – Choosing the Story You Tell Yourself
Rocio and Dirty Skittles discuss how self-belief becomes a daily practice and why compassionate thoughts matter.

29:00 – Stop Chasing Happiness. Chase Your Joy.
G-Rex shares why joy has become more meaningful than material success and encourages listeners to stop building their lives around somebody else’s dream.

32:22 – Anxiety Theme Songs and Remembering to Breathe
Angel and Rocio share the reminders they use when anxiety kicks in and life starts feeling overwhelming.

35:50 – Healing as a Couple and a Family
Rocio talks about investing in personal growth, growing together as partners, and watching those lessons ripple through their children and extended family.

37:23 – Breaking Generational Trauma
Angel recalls the moment he and Rocio decided that the painful patterns carried through their family line would stop with them.

39:08 – “Yes, I Can” vs. “You Can’t”
Rocio and Angel share their favorite and least favorite words, ending the episode with a reminder to stop allowing other people to define what is possible for you.

40:06 – Where to Find Rocio, Angel, and The Orchid
Rocio and Angel share where listeners can connect with their work and leave one final reminder: one of the greatest resources you have is yourself.

Closing CTA

Subscribe, Rate, and Review!
Remember to subscribe for more inspiring stories. Rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, or visit our Website:

https://goesoninourheads.net/add-your-podcast-reviews

 

#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #GenerationalTrauma #BreakTheCycle #ChooseJoy #SelfLove #EmotionalHealing #IntentionalLiving #HealingJourney #PersonalGrowth #SelfWorth #SelfCompassion #TraumaRecovery #LettingGo #FindYourJoy #TheOrchid #RocioAndAngel

***************************************************************************
If You Need Support, Reach Out
If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline in your area. Remember, it’s OK not to be OK—talking to someone can make all the difference.
United States: Call or Text 988 — 988lifeline.org
Canada: Call or Text 988 — 988.ca
Worldwide: Find a Helpline
Mental Health Resources and Tools: The Help Hub
Stay Connected with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Official Website: goesoninourheads.net
Facebook: @shltthatgoesoninourheads
Instagram: @grex_and_dirtyskittles
LinkedIn: G-Rex and Dirty Skittles
Join Our Newsletter: (https://grexanddirtyskittles.substack.com/)
Merch Store: goesoninourheads.shop
Audio Editing by NJz Audio

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.