My Dearest Michael

My Anxious Life with An Anonymous Friend

June is Men's Mental Health Month, and for this episode I'm sharing something a little different. Over the years, some of the people who have reached out to me most about mental health have been men. Friends, coworkers, family members, and people I never expected. Yet when it comes to talking openly about anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts, many men still feel pressure to stay silent. In this episode, I read the story of an anonymous friend who has lived with anxiety and panic disorder for most of his life. From childhood worries and panic attacks to health anxiety, medication, therapy, and learning how to cope, he shares what it's really like to live inside an anxious mind. If you've ever struggled with anxiety, or if you love someone who has, I think you'll see pieces of yourself in this story. And if you're a guy who's been carrying it all alone, this one's especially for you.   Content Note: This episode contains discussions of anxiety, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. The stories, opinions, and information shared on Earth to Gert are based on personal experiences and are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only.  I am not a licensed therapist, counselor, psychologist, or medical provider. Nothing in this podcast should be considered medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you're struggling with your mental health, please reach out to a qualified healthcare professional. And if you're experiencing a mental health crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself, please call 911, contact 988, or seek immediate support from a crisis professional. As always, take what resonates, leave what doesn't, and be kind to yourself along the way.

EMDR Update with Kim

In this episode, I sit down with my sister Kim and give her an update on my EMDR journey and share more of the process with her. We talk about some of the memories, experiences, and family dynamics that have come up as I've worked to better understand my anxiety, depression, insecurities, and the ways my childhood shaped the person I became. Along the way, we get into some difficult conversations about our upbringing, including physical abuse, generational patterns, and the complicated reality that understanding our parents isn't the same thing as excusing the harm. As always, this conversation isn't about blame. It's about curiosity, healing, and making sense of the stories that helped shape us. This one is raw, imperfect, and was super hard to share—but I think that's exactly why it matters.

My Latest EMDR Journals

This week’s episode is vulnerable, emotional, and probably one of the most difficult thing I’ve shared. What started as a simple intro somehow turned into a live emotional breakdown, reflections on healing, and the decision to finally release a collection of EMDR audio journals that I recorded during a really difficult stretch this past winter. These recordings were raw check-ins from the middle of the work — conversations about anxiety, depression, shame, childhood wounds, feeling like a burden, learning how to receive love, and what happens when therapy starts pulling old pain to the surface. This episode is what healing sometimes actually sounds like: awkward pauses, crying, overthinking, nervous system exhaustion, small breakthroughs, and trying to stay present through all of it. If you’ve ever felt emotionally “too much,” struggled to feel safe being vulnerable, or found yourself somewhere between breaking down and healing… this one might hit home.

Generational Trauma with Kim & Reagan

In this episode of Earth to Gert, I sit down with my sister Kim and my niece Reagan for a conversation about generational trauma, anxiety, survival mode, and how the emotional environments we grow up in shape us in ways we don’t always understand until later in life. We talk about parenting differently than the generations before us, how anxiety and hypervigilance can quietly get passed down, and what it’s like to look back on childhood through adult eyes. We also dive into the idea of epigenetics and the growing understanding that trauma, stress, environment, and nervous system patterns may impact future generations in ways we’re only beginning to understand. This conversation touches on counseling, EMDR, survival mode, emotional disconnection, single motherhood, grief, and the realization that sometimes our parents were just humans trying to survive too. More than anything, this episode is about understanding instead of blame. About asking “why?” instead of just judging the behaviors we developed to cope. And about realizing that healing ourselves may also help heal the generations that came before — and the ones that come after. As always, thank you so much for listening. And a huge thank you to Kim and Reagan for their openness, vulnerability, humor, and willingness to have these conversations out loud.

Welcome Back to Earth to Gert

Welcome back to season two of Earth to Gert💜 In this episode, I talk about the mental and emotional work I’ve been doing this off season, and what it’s felt like to move through grief, healing, more EMDR therapy, and some really big life changes. From starting a new job in mental health to realizing my kids are actually about to leave for college (which feels rude, honestly), this season starts from a very real place. I also share the story of finally reaching out to someone I’ve not-so-secretly had a crush on for basically my entire life — local firefighter Micki Guy — and how this podcast brought us together just weeks before her devastating accident. This episode is about healing, timing, vulnerability, growth, awkward lesbian panic, and learning how to keep creating even when life completely knocks you on your ass. I’m really grateful you’re here