In Between Sessions

How to Support Your Mental Health as a Parent with Emilia Mense Caby from the Whole Parent Foundation

In this episode, Lili is joined by special guest host Katie Montgomery, Licensed Professional Counselor and mom, to interview Emilia Mense Caby, co-founder of the Whole Parent Foundation, a Kansas City nonprofit providing free mental health support for parents at every stage of the journey. Emilia is a trauma survivor, community advocate, and mother of five who experienced severe perinatal anxiety and depression and channeled that experience into building the support she wished had existed. This conversation covers a lot of ground: what postpartum anxiety actually looks like and why it's so often missed, the very real public health crisis of maternal mental health (including the fact that mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Missouri), why community and peer support are just as important as therapy, and why the "village" we keep hearing about is largely a myth for today's parents. Katie also shares her own raw, honest story of birth trauma and postpartum anxiety, including the parts that don't make it into the highlight reel. And the timing couldn’t be better, as May is Parental Mental Health Awareness Month.  If you're a parent, have ever been a parent, or love someone who is a parent, you’re going to get a lot out of this episode. Whole Parent Foundation’s info: Website: https://www.wholeparentfoundation.org/ [https://www.wholeparentfoundation.org/] Instagram: @wholeparentfoundation   For non-KC folks: Postpartum Support International [https://postpartum.net/]   Katie Montgomery, LPC’s info: Website: https://www.emeraldcounselingkc.com/ [https://www.emeraldcounselingkc.com/] Email: katie@emeraldcounselingkc.com   Contact Lili: Email - inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com [inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com]Instagram: @inbetweensessionspodcast TikTok: @lilitorrecounseling www.lilitorrecounseling.com [http://www.lilitorrecounseling.com/] - reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consult for therapy! The conversations on this podcast are meant to support, inspire, and inform, but they’re not a substitute for therapy or medical care. Listening to this show doesn’t create a therapeutic relationship. If something you hear resonates and you’d like more support, consider connecting with a licensed mental health professional in your area. You can search for a therapist at psychologytoday.com [https://www.psychologytoday.com/].

How to Turn a Walk Into a Wellness Practice with KC Walk Club

Making friends as an adult can be awkward, expensive, and we don’t talk enough about how hard it actually is. KC Walk Club is trying to change that, one Saturday morning at a time. In this episode, Lili sits down with Meghan, Maggie, and Jaimee, three of the women behind one of Kansas City's most feel-good communities: KC Walk Club. What started in 2022 with a handful of women who just wanted genuine friendship has grown into a weekly gathering of 20-25 women exploring KC neighborhoods, discovering local coffee shops, and building real connections…for free! They talk about walking as one of the most underrated mental health tools out there, why "third spaces" are disappearing, the very real challenges of adult friendship, and how showing up consistently (even in 5-degree weather) can change your life. Whether or not you're in Kansas City, this one will make you want to get outside and get moving! KC Walk Club’s info: Instagram: @kcwalkclub [https://www.instagram.com/kcwalkclub/] Contact Lili: Email - inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com [inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com]Instagram: @inbetweensessionspodcast TikTok: @lilitorrecounseling www.lilitorrecounseling.com [http://www.lilitorrecounseling.com/] - reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consult for therapy! The conversations on this podcast are meant to support, inspire, and inform, but they’re not a substitute for therapy or medical care. Listening to this show doesn’t create a therapeutic relationship. If something you hear resonates and you’d like more support, consider connecting with a licensed mental health professional in your area. You can search for a therapist at psychologytoday.com [https://www.psychologytoday.com/].

How to Reclaim Movement with Bianca Simmons

What if exercise was never supposed to be a punishment? What if your meditation practice doesn't have to look like anyone else's? And what if healing your relationship with your body requires understanding not just your personal history but the cultural forces that shaped it? In this episode, Lili sits down with Bianca Simmons, Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist (LCMFT) and founder of Renewed & Transformed Therapy in Overland Park. Bianca brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to a conversation about movement, embodiment, and what it actually means to be at home in your body. They talk about journaling and gratitude practices that combat hopelessness, why "ritual" is a more powerful word than "motivation," how to reclaim movement when diet culture has ruined it, the concept of embodiment and bottom-up healing, and why body image work is inseparable from understanding racism, fatphobia, and the systems that taught us to distrust our bodies in the first place.  Resources Mentioned Fearing the Black Body [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42129101] — Sabrina Strings (book) Maintenance Phase — podcast (episodes on BMI [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maintenance-phase/id1535408667?i=1000530850955], anti-fat bias [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maintenance-phase/id1535408667?i=1000500120510], and weight science [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maintenance-phase/id1535408667?i=1000542081632]) YouTube: frequency/binaural beat videos for meditation [https://youtu.be/7xJw6eBEJQs?si=4HloKfpW2r1fpM1t]  Qigong: QiYoga with LuChin [http://ucuvsmzgvqy5qj051r73-fyw/] KU Medical's Center for African American Health [https://www.kumc.edu/about/news/news-archive/center-for-african-american-health.html] on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/africanamhealth/] Contact Bianca: Website - https://www.biancasimmonslmft.com/ [https://www.biancasimmonslmft.com/] Instagram: @renewedandtransformedtherapy Contact Lili: Email - inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com [inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com]Instagram: @inbetweensessionspodcast TikTok: @lilitorrecounseling www.lilitorrecounseling.com [http://www.lilitorrecounseling.com/] - reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consult for therapy! The conversations on this podcast are meant to support, inspire, and inform, but they’re not a substitute for therapy or medical care. Listening to this show doesn’t create a therapeutic relationship. If something you hear resonates and you’d like more support, consider connecting with a licensed mental health professional in your area. You can search for a therapist at psychologytoday.com [https://www.psychologytoday.com/].

How to Let Your Values Lead with Mandy Morris

What do a vegan food truck, a wobbly cat, and a life spent performing on cruise ships have in common? They're all part of Mandy Morris's story, and one way or another, they all connect back to mental health. In the Season 2 premiere, Lili Torre, LPC sits down with Mandy Morris: KC restaurant owner, performer, choreographer, and the woman behind some of the internet's most beloved special needs cats. Mandy opens up about living in alignment with her values, managing anxiety through creativity, building resilience in the face of public criticism, and what it actually looks like to ditch societal expectations and bet on yourself more than once. Whether you're navigating a career pivot, looking for ways to cope with anxiety, or just need a reminder that it's okay to try new things and be bad at it…this episode is for you. Mandy’s info: Tree Hugger Kitchen - https://treehuggerkitchen.com/ [https://treehuggerkitchen.com/] Instagram and Tiktok: @iamwillywonky and @treehuggerkitchen Contact Lili: Email - inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com [inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com]Instagram: @inbetweensessionspodcast TikTok: @lilitorrecounseling www.lilitorrecounseling.com [http://www.lilitorrecounseling.com/] - reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consult for therapy! The conversations on this podcast are meant to support, inspire, and inform, but they’re not a substitute for therapy or medical care. Listening to this show doesn’t create a therapeutic relationship. If something you hear resonates and you’d like more support, consider connecting with a licensed mental health professional in your area. You can search for a therapist at psychologytoday.com [https://www.psychologytoday.com/].

What We Learned Together in Season 1

This season of In Between Sessions has been filled with practical tools, meaningful conversations, and gentle reminders that therapy is just one piece of your mental health journey. In this solo season finale, Lili looks back on the themes that came up again and again: from the power of small daily practices, to letting go of perfectionism, to finding joy and creativity as forms of care. She also shares her personal takeaways from Season 1, and what might be in store for Season 2. We’d love to know what’s stood out to you, too. Please fill out the feedback form [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeoPvlkxcjpqEgxehS22aUoycaCDFR6J3zPB5Nlu-F6ir6wIw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=115600296091154040104]. Your input will help shape Season 2! Lili’s info: Email - inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com [inbetweensessionspod@gmail.com]Instagram: @inbetweensessionspodcast TikTok: @lilitorrecounseling www.lilitorrecounseling.com [http://www.lilitorrecounseling.com/] - reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consult for therapy! Season 1 Feedback Form [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeoPvlkxcjpqEgxehS22aUoycaCDFR6J3zPB5Nlu-F6ir6wIw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=115600296091154040104] The conversations on this podcast are meant to support, inspire, and inform, but they’re not a substitute for therapy or medical care. Listening to this show doesn’t create a therapeutic relationship. If something you hear resonates and you’d like more support, consider connecting with a licensed mental health professional in your area. You can search for a therapist at psychologytoday.com [https://www.psychologytoday.com/].