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ShrinkChicks

Nicole Pellegrino on Becoming a Mom, Grieving a Mom, and Mental Health

ShrinkChicks

Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT

Health & Fitness, Society & Culture, Education, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Relationships

4.9755 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen continue their storytelling series where notable guests share the real emotional journey behind their success. Today’s guest is Nicole Pellegrino, content creator and host of the Long Story Short with Nicole Pellegrino podcast, who Em and Jen first connected with years ago when she was engaged and navigating the loss of her mother.

Now married and newly a mom, Nicole opens up about the identity shifts that come with becoming a parent, how postpartum anxiety led her back to therapy, and the ways motherhood has reshaped her priorities, career, and sense of self. She reflects on raising a daughter without her own mom, the grief that still shows up in everyday moments, and the support system helping her navigate this new chapter.

Nicole also shares what it’s like balancing motherhood with content creation, why flexibility in work has been life-changing, and what she’s learning about giving herself grace during one of the biggest transitions of her life.

You can find Nicole on TikTok and Instagram @nicolepellegrin0 and listen to her podcast Long Story Short with Nicole Pellegrino.

Tune in to gain insight, awareness, and action!


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Oh, feelings aren't facts. I love that. That's true with like thoughts too. I don't, I'm sure you guys have a lot of people. I know it's so normal, but like the postpartum anxiety thoughts, my first two weeks, I was, I could barely walk up and down the stairs. Like I was just, I went to my, I re-uped therapy. I said, knock, knock. Time to start sessions again.

0:33.7

Welcome back to another episode of shrink chicks.

0:36.2

Take a seat on our virtual therapy couch and get ready to learn all about, well, you.

0:41.6

I'm Emily Beirley.

0:42.7

And I'm Jennifer Chakin.

0:44.0

And we're both licensed, marriage and family therapists and relationship experts.

0:48.1

We're the owners and founders of the therapy group, a nationwide psychotherapy practice with down-to-earth therapists just like us.

0:55.3

Your session is starting, so get ready to know yourself and grow yourself.

1:02.0

I used to wake up sneezing almost every morning, and I kept thinking, do I suddenly have seasonal

1:06.5

allergies inside my own home? I'd clean, I'd vacuum, I'd wash the sheets, and there would be no change. That's when I realized it might not be the surfaces, it might be the air. So I'm so excited to tell you about our newest sponsor air doctor. It made all the difference in my house, and it's now the only air purifier we use in our home. Let me tell you what I've noticed so far. Fewer random odors lingering in the kitchen, weightless congestion when I wake up, and I feel like I'm sleeping more deeply.

1:32.5

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1:41.2

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1:50.9

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1:58.1

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2:08.1

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2:14.6

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2:41.5

we are back with another episode of our storytelling series where notable people share the real

2:47.1

emotional journey behind their success the struggles struggles that shaped them, the support that

...

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