We’ve all been there: you’re scrolling through your feed, watching someone bake sourdough from scratch in a pristine linen dress, and suddenly your own life feels incredibly messy and chaotic. 

In this episode of Psychologists Off the Clock, Debbie and Emily are pulling back the curtain on the hyper-curated worlds of social media influencers, reality TV, and the massive "tradwife" trend.

Grab your headphones and get ready for a much-needed reality check on why we need to be way more skeptical of what we see on our screens.

Listen and Learn: 

• What happened when Debbie fell down a Ballerina Farm rabbit hole
• How glamorous images of the past conveniently leave out the harsh realities of history, like poverty, oppression, and environmental harm
• How reality shows feed us false ideals, driving us into a spiral of social comparison and reinforcing toxic, patriarchal beauty standards
• Why chasing these unrealistic lifestyles actually hurts our well-being
• The rise of fear-based pseudoscience, MLMs, and totally unqualified "mental health influencers" who are just looking for clicks

Resources: 

• Debbie’s recent Substack post on Tradwife Influencers: https://open.substack.com/pub/drdebbiesorensen/p/trad-wife-influencers-reflections
• The critique Debbie mentioned about how making cereal from scratch is a leisure class activity: https://www.tiktok.com/@professorneil/video/7339254814578150661 
• Maintenance Phase podcast: https://www.maintenancephase.com/ 
• The Dream podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc28XHKS2jY

About Debbie Sorensen

Debbie (she/her) is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Denver, Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University. She is author of the book ACT for Burnout: Recharge, Reconnect, and Transform Burnout with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and co-author of ACT Daily Journal: Get Unstuck and Live Fully with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She loves living in Colorado, her home state, with her husband, two daughters, and dog. When she’s not busy working or podcasting, she enjoys reading fiction, cooking, traveling, and getting outdoors in the beautiful Rocky Mountains! You can learn more about Debbie, read her blog, and find out about upcoming presentations and training events at her webpage, drdebbiesorensen.com.

About Emily Edlynn

Emily (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric health psychology who works in private practice with children, teens, and adults. She has a BA in English from Smith College, a PhD in clinical psychology from Loyola University Chicago, and completed postgraduate training at Stanford and Children’s Hospital Orange County. Emily spent almost ten years working in children’s hospitals before pivoting to private practice, which allowed her to start a writing career. Emily has written her blog, The Art and Science of Mom, since 2017 and a parenting advice column for Parents.com since 2019. Emily’s writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, Scary Mommy, Good Housekeeping, Motherly, and more. She recently added author to her bio with her book, Autonomy-Supportive Parenting: Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent Confident Children and has a Substack newsletter. Emily lives with her husband, three children, and two rescue dogs in Oak Park, IL where she can see Chicago’s skyline from her attic window.    

Related Episodes: 

• 295. Buyer Beware: Pseudoscience and the Wellness Industry, featuring Pooja Lakshmin 
• 390. Raising Empowered Girls in a Sexist World with Jo-Ann Finkelstein 
• 311. Nobody’s Fool with Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris – Psychologists Off the Clock
• 307. Navigating Social Media As a Parent with Cara Goodwin 
• 433. Rethinking Screens and Video Games with Ash Brandin 
• 382. The Anxious Generation? The Conversation We Should Be Having About Kids, Technology, and Mental Health 
• 429. May Contain Lies with Alex Edmans 

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