Is It Holiday Stress or a Red Flag? How to Know | Episode 256: Jennifer Aycock & Christa Spanich

In this episode

In this episode I sit down with two amazing women, Jennifer Aycock and Christa Spanich, the co-founders of Mindful Psychiatry & Wellness of Tulsa. Each of them has spent more than 20 years in mental health care, and after years of talking about building something of their own, they finally took the leap. I love that they decided there's never a "right time" — you just go for it, surrounded by the right people.

Because it's the holidays, we got really practical about what makes this season both wonderful and a lot. We talked about choosing presence over perfection, letting go of the pressure social media piles on us, and giving yourself permission to retire a tradition that's no longer feeding your family with joy. Jennifer and Christa also walk through how to tell the difference between normal holiday stress and the red flags — in yourself and in your kids — that signal it's time to reach out for support.

We also get into the oxygen-mask-first idea: boundaries that protect your peace, protecting your routines, and not pushing yourself to burnout before you ask for help. And I loved hearing about their first annual Women Supporting Women campaign benefiting Tulsa Period Pantry, because access to period products is tied to something as basic as girls being able to show up for school. This conversation is warm, honest, and full of doable steps. Keep going — and let this one encourage you to put your own mask on first.