Hey, welcome back to another episode of After Hours with Amanda, the podcast that's about parenting, but not just for parents.

And we cover a plethora of life topics.

We got that intro out of the way.

How professional was that?

Can I just tell you something?

Y'all know we're supposed to leave for Hawaii this week.

It's been a trip that's been three years in the making. There's been cancellations, reschedules, and all the things, right?

All the things that have gone into, you know, the last two years in trying to travel. And I want to

just talk today about this idea of mental health.

And the reason that I'm so passionate about it and the reason that I think that it's not

something taboo that has to not be talked about or that should be taken care of in the

shadows of quiet, hushed, blocked out appointments that no one knows what it's for,

that we say, oh, I've got an

appointment. That shame that I think is so ridiculous that stems from this idea of being judged.

And like, I get it. I get it. I trust me. Because there is this weird, stupid shame that is cast or almost weakness that is implied by people

when you go and you ask for support because that's what going to therapy is.

Therapy is looking at your situation or yourself and saying I could really use assistance

here.

And I don't think there's any other area of life where if you went up to someone and said, I need help with this, they would be like,

wow, you're so weak. But therapy has this weird stigma. And I just want to kind of break down for

you because I get asked a lot why, well, not why I'm so open with therapy, but how I can be so open with therapy.

In a very loving, appreciative way, most people will DM me and say, like, oh, my gosh, thank you so much for being so open about it.

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