Your Therapist Needs Therapy

Jeremy uses the shooting of Charlie Kirk to examine the hypocrisy in how political violence is defined and discussed in America. He argues that hateful rhetoric, propaganda, and systemic oppression are themselves forms of violence, and that mourning propagandists like Kirk ignores the ongoing harm they inflicted on marginalized communities. The episode pushes back against calls for “civility” in the face of fascism, insisting that ...

This week Jeremy sits down with returning guest Kelsey Philippi to dive into the tangled relationship between guilt, shame, and dissociation, exploring how these experiences show up in therapy and everyday life. They discuss the systemic and cultural roots of shame, especially for neurodivergent and queer clients, and how authenticity and safety often exist in tension. The conversation closes with reflections on healing, rupture an...

This week Jeremy talks with Margaret Bronson, founder of Deconstruction Doulas, about her journey out of Doug Wilson’s high-control religious group and how she now supports survivors of similar environments. Margaret shares how online communities, secure attachment, and body awareness helped her leave and heal, while highlighting the systemic abuse, lack of accountability, and patriarchal control within these groups. Together, they...

This week Jeremy celebrates the death of awful human, James Dobson. James Dobson built Focus on the Family into one of the most powerful engines of evangelical control, peddling authoritarian parenting, rigid gender roles, and relentless attacks on queer people. His so-called “biblical counseling” left generations with shame, fear, and deep religious trauma that still echoes today. F*ck him and f*ck his work, around here we celebra...

Jeremy is joined this week by certified sex educator Veronica Dress. Veronica shares her journey from growing up with Catholic sex misinformation to becoming a queer, trauma-informed sex educator and intimacy coach. She and Jeremy discuss the political and cultural barriers to comprehensive sexuality education, the role of creativity and play in intimacy work, and the importance of permission-giving in dismantling shame from purity...

Jeremy is joined this week by Australian therapist Jane Kennedy, who shares her journey from church ministry and humanitarian work into private practice specializing in religious trauma, exploring how burnout, deconstruction, and the “white savior” mindset shaped her career shift. She and Jeremy discuss the cultural differences and surprising similarities in religious harm between Australia, New Zealand, and North America, as well ...

This week Jeremy is joined by returning guest Emily Maynard to unpack the ethical complaints against Dr. Laura Anderson, a prominent figure in the deconstruction space. Together they explore the nuance between licensed therapy and coaching, the risk of recreating harmful power dynamics after leaving evangelicalism, and how survivors can cultivate discernment without falling into learned helplessness. The conversation weaves through...

This week Jeremy looks at how the church covers up abuse and protects predators, and how those same tactics of spiritual bypassing and DARVO are being employed by Mike Johnson to protect our pedophile in chief. We look at examples of institutional coverups like Bill Gothard's grooming and abuse at the IBLP and of course we look at the catholic church and southern Baptist convention having decades-long coverups. The religious r...

This week Jeremy is joined by very special guest Dr Spencer Sunshine, author of Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason's Siege. This delightful book covers some of the lesser known movers and shakers of the Neo-Nazi movement before becoming the online terrorism-loving, capital-building storming movement we know it as today. Spencer’s book looks at James Mason’s progression thro...

In this week’s episode, Jeremy Schumacher vents about systemic and interpersonal failures in the therapy profession, from exploitative 1099 contracts to outdated, trauma-ignoring treatment models. He critiques how therapists perpetuate harm by misdiagnosing trauma, clinging to rigid or blank-slate modalities, and failing to collectively organize for better conditions. Schumacher calls for therapists to improve core competencies aro...

In this episode Jeremy unpacks the Overton Window—a concept describing how public discourse shifts to define what's acceptable—and how it's been deliberately dragged rightward by fascists, religious zealots, and media oligarchs. Jeremy links this political shift to worsening mental health outcomes, especially for marginalized communities, emphasizing how bad-faith actors manipulate both policy and narrative to normalize h...

This week Jeremy takes a break from celebrating his birthday to share the upcoming religious trauma peer support group. This has been in the works for a bit, and launches in July! You can sign up directly here or head over to wellnesswithjer.com/religioustrauma

As always, Jeremy has all his practice info at Wellness with Jer, and you can find him on Instagram and YouTube. To show your love for the show you can pick up some merch! We...

In this episode of Your Therapist Needs Therapy, Jeremy Schumacher interviews Sara Rahn, a Milwaukee-based trauma therapist and advocate for disability representation in mental health care. Sara shares her personal journey into the field, shaped by her experiences as both a disabled person and a clinician, highlighting the lack of disability awareness in training and practice, and the toll of working within under-resourced systems....

In this solo Pride Month episode Jeremy reflects on Pride as both protest and celebration, emphasizing its radical roots and the urgent need for resistance against rising authoritarianism and anti-LGBTQ+ policies. He shares his experience at Milwaukee Pride, where he attended  and offered free religious trauma screenings—gathering informal data revealing the deep and widespread impact of religious trauma within queer communities. T...

Jeremy is graced by some of the coolest therapists he knows, who all are returning guests, who also all happen to be named Emily. So much cool conversation, we talk about the paperwork drain of therapy, the lack of modern society to hold and respect complexity, and generational trauma within our own field of therapy. We also talk about being parents, shifting over the course of our career, and oddly foot fungus comes up, too, so it...

The internet has therapy related questions, and I offer some answers! 

Jeremy has all his practice info at Wellness with Jer, and you can find him on Instagram and YouTube. To show your love for the show you can pick up some merch! We appreciate support from likes, follows, and shares as well!

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Podcasts about therapy do not replace actual therapy, and listening to a podcast about therapy does not signify a therapeutic r...

Jeremy is joined this week by Polly Sackett from Firefly Counseling. Jeremy and Polly talk about her winding path into the mental health field, and how her lived experience, including navigating motherhood, experiencing grief, and discovering somatic practices deeply shaped her therapeutic approach. Together, they reflect on the evolution of the field—from stigma and limited language around mental health to greater accessibility an...

Jeremy drops in this week looking at the recent guidelines released by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapist (AAMFT) for working with Trans, Non-Binary, and/or Gender Expansive (TNBGE) clients. It’s a really good set of guidelines that were released in a time of political strife, and it does a good job of not giving into the pressure that exists in this climate. Jeremy hits some highlights, and examines some of ...

Jeremy is joined this week by fellow Milwaukee therapist, Madeline Bush. Jeremy and Madeline explore her journey from early service work to private practice, where she now focuses on adult individuals and couples. Together, they dig into the regional stigma around therapy, the importance of ritual and grounding practices, and how play and mindfulness can shift relational dynamics. The conversation touches on DBT, the healing power ...