CAPS LOCK

In this episode, Sam sits down with Vienna Pharaon (@mindfulmft) to learn about core wounds—those "first time" moments when we're let down, disappointed, betrayed, or otherwise hurt—and how they show up in our adult lives and relationships. They discuss where those core wounds come from (yes, we all have them, even if we had great childhoods!), how to spot them in your patterns and reactions, and, ultimately, how to heal from them.

Listen to this episode if you've ever had a big, strong reaction to something, if you're interested in inner child work, or if you want to be a better friend, partner, and family member.

Key moments:

01:47 Freud, Attachment Theory, Object Relations, and more

04:52 Core wounds—how childhood trauma shows up in adulthood

06:11 Can my core wounds come from experiences later in life, or is it truly just childhood trauma?

07:34 The five core wounds

08:43 Descriptions of the core wounds and how they affect you in adulthood

10:15 The worthiness wound (feeling like you don’t have inherent value or worth)

11:09 The belonging wound (“nobody gets me/I don’t belong here”)

11:54 The prioritization wound (never feeling like anyone’s #1)

12:22 The trust and safety wounds (being guarded or hypervigilant/being clingy)

13:27 How we internalize pain determines which wounds we get

14:15 Why someone with a happy childhood/family still has core wounds

24:21 The 2-minute quiz that can tell you which wound you lead with

24:35 A full description of the trust wound (Sam leads with this one)

25:05 Can core wounds come from friendships or romantic relationships?

29:11 Breaking and building trust with YOURSELF

31:46 How to start doing inner child work

34:07 What if you don’t really have memories from your childhood?

38:36 What to do when other people show their core wounds

41:39 The difference between emotional maturity and emotional immaturity

43:47 The 3 steps of healing from childhood trauma

49:20 Why do emotionally intelligent women get stuck in the same dating patterns?

50:19 How to tell the difference between falling in love with someone vs. they activate a familiar wound

53:24 Why it’s easier to give love than to receive it

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In this episode, Sam opens up about her former destructive habit of overthinking everything until she's fully spiraling and catastrophizing—and then, as always, she shares how she learned how to STOP doing it. It's literally bad for our health! Also, it's not productive. But you'll learn all that in the episode.

Listen to this episode if you're a chronic overthinker.

Key moments:

06:35 What does overthinking look/feel like?

07:11 Ruminating about the past vs. worrying about the future

08:06 The consequences of overthinking

11:25 Why do we overthink everything?

13:17 Big CAPS LOCK updates!!!

14:22 The one reason we all overthink

14:53 How you can trick your brain by overthinking

15:27 Why overthinking isn’t productive

16:58 All roads lead back to fear of judgment!

17:56 Why you’re always spiraling about the worst possible outcomes instead of the best possible outcomes

18:42 Why it’s dangerous to overthink the worst possible outcomes

19:12 The physical health impact of spiraling (inflammation, immune system, etc.)

20:32 Identifying triggers and patterns for spiraling, overthinking, ruminating, etc.

22:55 Do you mostly spiral at night or when you’re alone?

24:39 Why your spirals are worse at certain times

25:06 The first question to ask yourself when you start spiraling

25:57 Catastrophizing

26:20 How to reframe your thoughts while you’re catastrophizing

26:54 What to do when you catch yourself in a negative thought loop

27:56 Using your calendar app to reduce overthinking

28:02 Venting to your friends vs. venting to your therapist

30:33 Your can/cannot list - this is SO HELPFUL

32:41 How to shift from overthinking in your HEAD to executing an ACTION IRL

33:47 Sam literally wrote you a clean, concise apology text for when you’re in an awkward situation and it’s your fault lol

34:32 Honestly the most crucial advice in any episode ever lol

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In this episode, Sam relives some moments from the first year of CAPS LOCK that really capture what the show is about. Moments that might literally make you laugh or cry (Sam does both throughout the course of this episode), moments that are profound—even some that have enormous implications, reaching far beyond our small-but-mighty audience.

The idea here is that, going into 2026, we all have different goals. We all need to hear different things in this moment to start it off on the right foot. So, as usual—take what you need, and leave what you don't.

Key moments:

01:24 Welcome to 2026!

07:07 How vaping affects your fertility and reproductive health (excerpt from episode 9, featuring Quit With Jones)

09:22 How belonging to a community affects your physical health (excerpt from episode 14, featuring Dr. Jonathan Leary of Remedy Place)

23:35 If “eat healthy” is one of your New Year’s Resolutions, listen up! (excerpt from episode 26, featuring Vanessa Rissetto, RD)

31:51 Dating for marriage in 2026 and beyond (excerpt from episode 23, featuring Lindsey Metselaar of We Met at Acme)

36:48 A surprising way that ADHD can affect your friendships and relationships (excerpt from episode 25, featuring Jennifer Salzman)

42:20 How having kids changes your body forever (excerpt from episode 33, featuring Taylor Rae Roman)

47:31 Why Gen Z is facing extremely high unemployment rates right now (excerpt from episode 48, featuring Suzy Welch)

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In this episode, Sam explores a method for approaching (and using) the Law of Attraction that isn't entirely rooted in spiritual BS and New Thought propaganda. Bringing together research from the fields of psychology and neuroscience, plus a 3-step process for implementing the Law of Attraction in your everyday life, this episode is a quick, actionable listen for kicking off 2026.

Listen to this episode if you ACTUALLY want to accomplish your goals in 2026.

Key moments:

00:31 Kicking off 2026

03:06 What is the Law of Attraction?

04:44 What The Secret gets wrong about manifestation

06:08 What The Secret gets RIGHT about manifestation

06:43 The neuroscience behind the Law of Attraction

08:11 How to trick your brain (in a good way)

10:55 Your reticular activating system

12:21 The Red Car Theory

13:21 Gestalt’s Principle of Figure/Ground Formation

13:43 How you’re probably manifesting your fears by accident

15:36 How negative thinking is making you sick

18:24 How to make the Law of Attraction work for you

18:36 The 3 steps of using the Law of Attraction

19:05 Step 1: Ask the universe for what you want

19:22 Try this hack for increasing the likelihood that your manifestation comes true

19:43 How to be specific when you manifest

20:37 Sam’s favorite manifestation/visualization exercise

22:33 Step 2: Believe that you are capable, worthy, and deserving of the reward

22:37 Some manifestation experts do this surprising thing with their vision boards

24:02 Faking it til you make it (literally)

24:55 The importance of affirmations

25:25 Being wary of toxic positivity

26:10 How to stop negative thinking in its tracks

28:13 This thing we ALL DO is holding us back from our manifestations

30:32 Step 3: How to receive your reward

30:40 The most nuanced and difficult part of using the Law of Attraction

34:15 How to receive your reward in a way that starts the cycle of attraction again

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In this episode, Sam thinks she's sitting down to talk exclusively about the supposed "dangers" of Bluetooth and wireless headphones. Ha. As if she could get through a single Google search without going down a 20-subject rabbit hole, ultimately staying up way past her bedtime to bring you a much more comprehensive episode about every type of radiation, where it comes from, and how dangerous (or not dangerous at all) it really is!

Listen to this episode if you saw your favorite influencer throw out her microwave oven and your favorite Healthtokker slander AirPods on the internet.

Key moments:

00:34 CAPS LOCK updates for over the holidays

01:49 Wireless headphones origin story

04:49 How Healthtokkers use fear mongering to sell us products

09:40 What are EMR (electromagnetic radiation) and EMF (electromagnetic fields)?

09:52 Natural and manmade sources of radiation

10:49 Mechanical waves vs. electromagnetic waves

11:31 The electromagnetic spectrum (all the different types of waves and radiation)

12:31 Where radio, phone, WiFi, Bluetooth, and TV fall on the radiation spectrum

13:36 How much radiation is your microwave oven putting out?

14:46 Where infrared falls on the radiation spectrum (heat sources)

15:47 Can you see and/or feel radiation?

16:15 The human body literally emits radiation!!!

17:13 Your lightbulbs probably emit more radiation than your microwave

18:18 THIS is where radiation starts becoming dangerous (according to current science)

18:27 Ionizing vs. non-ionizing radiation

19:07 Can non-ionizing radiation still harm you?

20:56 How dangerous are x-rays?

21:17 The most dangerous type of radiation

21:55 How you might get exposed to gamma rays in your life

22:11 THIS radiation is the #1 cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and the #2 cause overall and TBH we are all exposed to it and we should really be talking about this more??????

24:01 What do you MEAN cancer treatment is exposure to gamma radiation????

26:12 Are our electronic devices giving us cancer?

27:13 So why are radio waves a group 2B (possible) human carcinogen due to possible increased risk of brain cancer?

30:29 How human carcinogens are classified

31:06 Some other 2B possible carcinogens, for context… @ Diet Coke lovers

32:21 The bottom line on cancer risk

34:17 Is this type and level of radiation affecting your fertility?

35:22 Electromagnetic sensitivity and electrohypersensitivity disorder

38:20 Changes you can make if you want to be extra cautious about your daily EMR/radiation exposure

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