Storied Souls Blog
Mental Health Music Mondays: June & July 2026
Over on Instagram and Facebook, I’ve been sharing mental health music recommendations each Monday. Music has an incredible way of expressing the thoughts and emotions that we don’t always know how to put into words. Here’s a compilation of my musical picks for June and July 2026. Which song was your favorite? Do you have any recommendations for me to check out?
“I Sat With My Body” Poem
As a lifelong reader and writer, I’ve always loved the written word. The feelings it could evoke. The way it could help me process through thoughts, emotions, and experiences that I couldn’t quite say aloud. In this poem, I share a personal look at my journey towards self-love and developing a healthier body image. I explore the pressure of perfectionism that women are so often under in our society, and how I learned to see my body as a resilient ally instead of another enemy.
When Faith Feels Like a Performance: Navigating Christian Perfectionism
You’re the first to volunteer and the last to leave, yet you’re terrified that if the world saw the real you, the performance would fall apart. This exhaustion is the hallmark of Christian perfectionism—a cycle where high-functioning anxiety and spiritual burnout overlap. This guide helps women and teen girls dismantle the pressure to be perfect by using evidence-based tools like CBT and somatic grounding to find genuine anxiety relief. Discover how to bridge the gap between your faith and your mental health so you can finally move from a put-together performance to soul-deep rest.
Anxious, Highly Sensitive, or Both? How to Decode Your Daughter’s Nervous System
When the school day ends with a slammed car door and heavy silence, it is time to stop guessing why your daughter is shutting down and start decoding her nervous system. Whether she is a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), struggling with anxiety, or navigating the overlap of both, her irritability is a sign that her nervous system is overtaxed and on critical power saving mode. In this post, you will learn to differentiate between a biological trait and symptoms of anxiety by identifying the physiological signals of a brain stuck in survival mode. Discover how to use somatic tools to quiet her internal security alarm and manually signal safety to her brain, moving your home from exhausted and on edge to a state of steadiness.
How to Heal from the Anxiety You’ve Learned to Hide Behind
High-Functioning Anxiety (HFA) often manifests as a relentless cycle of burnout and perfectionism. You look like the "reliable one" who has it all together, but you’re living in constant fear that one minor mistake will cause your entire life to collapse. In this post, we explore how to stop running 24/7 internal damage control and start building genuine steadiness. Learn how to use Cognitive Reframing to challenge catastrophic thinking and the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Method to calm your nervous system. I specialize in helping women and teen girls in Texas, Arizona, and Montana move out of anxiety and into a life that doesn't require a mask.
Too Much, Too Loud, Too Fast: Navigating Sensory Overwhelm as an HSP
You aren’t being difficult, and you aren’t just too sensitive. For the 20% of the population born as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), the world doesn’t just feel loud—it feels like a physical assault. From the bone-weary exhaustion of the HSP Hangover to the paralyzing weight of decision fatigue, navigating a high-stimulus world with a sensitive nervous system requires more than just toughening up. In this post, we explore the science behind Sensory Processing Sensitivity, Dr. Elaine Aron’s D.O.E.S. framework, and the evidence-based Sensory Decompression tools you need to trade constant survival for a life of quiet steadiness and ease.
Scrolling, Comparing, and Shutting Down: The Pressure of Being a Teen Girl
Her curated life is a masterpiece; her internal life is a meltdown. While the house is quiet at 3:00 AM, her mind is consumed with the weight of social comparison and the pressure to perform. This digital "Highlight Reel" triggers a state of survival where an amygdala in overdrive physically disconnects her from her logic center. We examine the fear driving her behavior, the biological processes impacting her identity development, and the evidence-based co-regulation strategies you can use to help your daughter navigate the emotional storm and find her steady ground.
The information provided on this website, including blog posts and resources, is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Use of this site does not create a therapist-client relationship. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 988 or go to the nearest emergency room.