Welcome Back! We’re so glad you’re here for another episode of our book club series. This week, Michelle and I are diving into another powerful and thought-provoking book, and we can’t wait to share our thoughts with you. As always, we’ll sprinkle in some fun and laughter because, let’s face it, life can be messy and unpredictable—but that’s what makes it beautiful.

Take a moment to grab your coffee, tea, or favorite drink (Michelle’s been sipping on soda while I’ve been stretching out my "super skinny" Caramelicious from Scooters over several days). Let’s settle in and talk books, faith, and everything in between.

Book Club Overview: This week’s focus is The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Last week, we discussed From Here to the Great Unknown, and next week, we’ll dive into The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. The transition from a Christian inspirational memoir to a quirky vampire-themed novel feels like emotional whiplash, but that’s part of the fun, right? Expect some laughs and deep conversations as we navigate these very different genres.
Show notes at https://www.tamiwest.com/post/thehidingplace-bookclub2

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources 
National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org 
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org 
Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ 
About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 194 The Hiding Place: Book Club #2

Welcome back, friends! This week, Michelle and I are recording from the beautiful (and snowy) Orange Beach, Alabama, during our first annual (hopefully) women’s retreat. It’s been an incredible mix of relaxation, brainstorming, and… well, some adventures we didn’t quite plan for. Who knew sticky notes and snow could be so memorable (you’ll have to watch/listen to hear THAT story! 🤣)!

But this episode isn’t just about sticky notes or Alabama snow (the first since the 1800s, by the way!). Today, we’re diving into the latest book from our mini book club: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. Listen for more. Show notes with more details at https://www.tamiwest.com/post/southern-book-club-bookclub3.

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources 
National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org 
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org 
Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ 
About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 195 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires: Book Club #3

Chatter: Understanding & Managing Your Inner Voice

Welcome back! Today, we'll discuss Chatter by Ethan Kross, a book that dives deep into the nature of self-talk, how it can spiral into negativity, and practical strategies for quieting that inner critic. We'll explore how the book's concepts apply to our own experiences with anxiety, depression, and mental well-being.

Key Takeaways from Chatter
📖 What is Chatter?

Chatter refers to cyclical, negative self-talk that fuels anxiety, self-doubt, and stress.

Our inner voice can be helpful for problem-solving and motivation, but when it turns into chatter, it can be destructive.

🧠 Understanding Self-Talk & Chatter
Our brains process thoughts at a staggering 4,000 words per minute!

Studies show that what we think about impacts our happiness more than our actual experiences

The book provides 12 evidence-based strategies to reduce chatter. For more, see show notes at https://www.tamiwest.com/post/chatter-book-club-4

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:

General Resources National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 196 "Chatter" by Ethan Kross:  Book Club #4 Final Week!

💡 Feeling drained, exhausted, or unmotivated? Burnout is real, and in this episode, we’re diving deep into:

✅ What burnout is (hint: it’s NOT just stress)
✅ Who’s most at risk (it might surprise you!)
✅ How to recognize and prevent it before it takes over
✅ Our personal burnout experiences & strategies that helped
✅ Self-assessments and resources to help you check in with yourself

More in show notes at: https://www.tamiwest.com/post/tackling-burnout.

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 197 🔥 Tackling Burnout: What It Is, Who’s at Risk, & How to Prevent It

Welcome back! Today Michelle and I dive deep into compassion fatigue, exploring how it impacts our mental health and well-being. We discuss symptoms, risk factors, and practical strategies we’ve found helpful in preventing or managing emotional exhaustion. We also introduce an alternative perspective on compassion fatigue and highlight the importance of self-care.

🛑 Key Topics:

What is Compassion Fatigue? 💙
The emotional toll of constant caregiving 🩺
Symptoms and warning signs 🚨
Is it really compassion fatigue or empathy fatigue? 🤔
The impact of unprocessed emotional exhaustion 😞
How we can recover and build resilience 💪
Insights from the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology 🌿

💡 Key Takeaways:

1️⃣ Understanding Compassion Fatigue

It stems from prolonged exposure to others' suffering 💔
It leads to emotional exhaustion, numbness, and detachment 😓
It’s common among caregivers, healthcare workers, and those in helping roles 🤝

Read more in show notes at

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources 
National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org 
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org 
Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ 
Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ 
About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 198 Understanding & Overcoming Compassion Fatigue 💙

Welcome back to Consider Yourself Hugged! Today, Michelle and I are diving into The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath—one of the most hauntingly personal books on mental health, identity, and societal pressure.

From the weight of expectations on women to the stigma surrounding depression and treatment, this book is filled with themes that still hit home today. But, as ChatGPT pointed out when I was researching, Michelle and I tend to approach heavy topics with a lighter touch—so we’ll do our best to balance depth with relatability in today’s conversation.

📖 In this episode, we explore:

✔️ The Bell Jar metaphor—what it teaches us about depression
✔️ Esther Greenwood’s journey—from New York to a psychiatric hospital
✔️ Societal expectations for women in the 1950s vs. now
✔️ Key quotes and moments that left an impact
✔️ How mental health treatment has evolved since Plath’s time
✔️ Lessons we can take from this book to better understand ourselves & others

We also share some personal reflections, unexpected moments of humor, and insights from our own experiences with mental health.

See show notes at https://www.tamiwest.com/post/the-bell-jar-mentalhealth

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 199 📚 "The Bell Jar": Breaking Free from Mental Traps 💡

Your voice is more powerful than you think—it shapes your confidence, influences others, and plays a crucial role in personal and professional growth. In episode 299 of the Joe Martino Show, we explore how using your voice effectively can help develop essential character skills like leadership, empathy, and resilience—and how you can use them to help shape your children, if you have them. Whether you're speaking up in meetings, sharing your story, or simply expressing yourself more authentically, mastering your voice can be life-changing. Tune in as we uncover the key strategies to harness your voice for personal transformation and success! 

299. Use Your Voice to Develop Important Character Skills

Adele Kamel Whitley is a Mindset & Transformational Coach who’s helping people “live an unapologetically authentic life”.

This is Adele’s second time on the show and, like last time, this is half podcast episode, half coaching session for me!

Adele is great and certainly has a very direct approach when it comes to calling you out on your nonsense and unpicking your self-talk. I appreciate that approach and her clients appreciate it too - interestingly she told me after we finished recording that 80% of her clients are men. 
 
I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did. If you’re struggling with making a change in your life, lacking direction, doubting yourself, limiting beliefs then this one is definitely for you.

In this episode I talk to Adele about:

- Why, when I had so many options for career, living situation, projects, in front of me I froze and didn’t take action

- The key steps you should take if you want to make changes in your life

- What it means to be a people-pleaser and how you can let go of those tendencies

- What her hairdresser taught her about facing up to the truth

- & much more

Connect with Adele:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adele-kamel-whitley-30b54736/
https://www.instagram.com/adelekamel/

Listeners also loved these episodes:

#130 | Solo Episode | Life goals, clarity, cringe & more - https://theinsightpodcast.com/s130

#125 | The Truth About Exercise & Mental Health | Dr Brendon Stubbs - https://theinsightpodcast.com/s125

#111 | Dating in 2024, how to find real connection, honest self-reflection & more | Eimear Draper - https://theinsightpodcast.com/s111

Connect with me:
https://theinsightpodcast.com
https://www.instagram.com/samuelcwhart
https://www.facebook.com/samuelcwhart
https://bsky.app/profile/theinsightpodcast.com

#144 | Time for change, facing your fears, stop people-pleasing & more | Adele Kamel Whitley

Michelle and I started off trying to be super organized, but AI is such a HUGE topic that we found ourselves wandering down different rabbit holes! So, today’s episode is all about laying the groundwork—what AI is, how it can actually help with mental and emotional well-being, and why you don’t need to be afraid of it taking over your life. 😆

We also sprinkled in some fun AI-generated jokes, absurd wellness tips, and a guessing game where AI shocked us all by figuring out Michelle’s mystery object (you'll have to watch to see what it was!).

So buckle up, because we’re about to take a lighthearted but informative dive into the world of AI! 🚀

Show notes at https://www.tamiwest.com/post/what-is-ai-and-why-should-you-care

Thanks for joining!
**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources 
National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org 
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org 
Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ 
About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 200 What is AI and Why Should You Care? 🤖💡

Welcome back! Today Michelle and I have spent the last few months diving deep into AI—how it works, how we can use it, and what impact it has on our mental and emotional well-being. AI is everywhere, and whether we like it or not, it’s influencing our daily lives. But can it actually support emotional health? Or does it take away from real human connection?

In this episode, we share our personal experiences using AI for everything from journaling to simplifying life—and how we balance it with staying present in our relationships. 

We also include a short clip from James Barnes (Jamie, my son 😊), who has extensive experience in AI development, to give insight into some of the biggest misconceptions and benefits of AI.

If you’ve ever felt hesitant (or even scared!) about AI, or you’re just curious about how it could make life easier, this conversation is for you! Show notes at https://www.tamiwest.com/post/boost-your-emotional-well-being-with-ai.

Thanks for joining!

**Not intended to be therapy or replace therapy - If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources:
General Resources 
National Alliance of Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org 
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org Mental Health First Aid Resources: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ 
Celebrate Recovery: https://www.celebraterecovery.com/ 
About AA: https://www.aa.org/ 

Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert 
Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. 

Connect with me:
https://www.tamiwest.com/ 
facebook.com/tamiwestseminars   
tamiwest@tamiwest.com

Hug 201 Boost Your Emotional Well-Being with AI! 🤖🧠

A professional counselor and author sharing tips on emotional security, relational health and better mental health.

Thanks for visiting with us at for Consider Yourself Hugged: Mental & emotional well-being.” Do you find yourself thinking, "Life can be so overwhelming! I feel so frustrated all the time! I worry about everything! I wish I could speak up more and not be a doormat!" If you're looking for improved mental and emotional well-being, please join me every Wednesday as we talk about how to make positive choices in your life.

*Disclaimer:
The information in this show is not intended to be therapy or to address your individual situation. It is information based on my experiences, opinions, and research. If you need further help, please reach out to one of the resources mentioned in the show notes.

About me:
Tami West, PhD 
Stress and Mental Health Expert Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and 
compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. Her passion stems from a lifelong battle with an anxiety disorder which has uniquely equipped her to teach, encourage, and motivate others. 

Tami has worked in a variety of industries including healthcare, school nutrition, corporate sales, and 10 years as a public-school teacher. In 2013 she received her PhD in Human Development, studying the connections among stress, emotions, and identity. 

Dr. West has spoken in 48 states across the US, as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Dr. West is the author of several successful publications including two books: The Stress Club, Life Without the Monsters and Thrive. She is a mother of eight in a blended family and enjoys reading historical fiction, traveling with her husband Tim and family, and watching The Big Bang Theory.

in·sight
[ˈɪnsʌɪt]

"(the ability to have) a clear, deep, and sometimes sudden understanding of someone or something."

Welcome to the Insight Podcast.

A space to discuss psychology, science, mental health and more.

I hope these conversations inspire insight and wisdom in you, and help you find clarity, calm and connection.

Enjoy.

Listeners also loved these episodes:

#130 | Solo Episode | Life goals, clarity, cringe & more - https://theinsightpodcast.com/s130

#125 | The Truth About Exercise & Mental Health | Dr Brendon Stubbs - https://theinsightpodcast.com/s125

#111 | Dating in 2024, how to find real connection, honest self-reflection & more | Eimear Draper - https://theinsightpodcast.com/s111

Connect with me: 
https://theinsightpodcast.com
https://www.instagram.com/samuelcwhart
https://www.facebook.com/samuelcwhart
https://www.youtube.com/@samuelcwhart
https://bsky.app/profile/theinsightpodcast.com

* If you're enjoying this podcast, please show your support by following the show and leaving a review. Just a couple of clicks will help spread the word. *

New tracks tagged #selftalk