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Hey, welcome to the Blondt Files podcast.

I'm your host, Aria Laurie, and I'm here to talk all things wellness.

From how to achieve optimal health and wellbeing to the best beauty tips and everything in between,

no topic is off limits.

I know there is so much information out there, so I'm here to help you navigate it all and live your best life.

Thanks for listening. Let's get into it.

Hi everybody. Welcome to the show.

Today's episode I'm talking to Kristen Howardton.

She's a licensed marriage and family therapist and an author.

And this episode is so relevant because it's all about anxiety.

I don't know about you, but my anxiety was at an all-time high this year and I attribute that to

having a lot more on my plate with juggling school and work and of course the current state of

the world. And I think some of it is also like growing pains, spiritual growing pains in my

sobriety, in my relationships, my identity, my relationship with myself, all of that.

And I just want to note that when I refer to my anxiety, if not generalized anxiety disorder or

panic disorder or anything like that, thankfully it's just something that comes and rears

it's ugly head occasionally, sometimes for seemingly no reason and other times around stressful

situations. So I've found that my social anxiety has also been really bad and I kind of feel like

outing myself here instead of hiding it in therapy as a good step towards overcoming it.

And maybe it's because it just feels heightened because after six months of seeing pretty much

nobody going into any kind of social situation is a bit of a stimulation overload. And of course

...