Self-Care for Burnt-Out Parents with Dr. Pooja Lakshmin
6/15/202638 min
Jess sits down with psychiatrist and self-care expert Dr. Pooja Lakshmin. They explore how self-care isn't about bubble baths or spa days, but rather about setting boundaries, exercising compassion, and stepping out of the chronic fight-or-flight mode of parenting. Listeners will gain practical insights to help them with burnout.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[upbeat instrumental music] Welcome to Robot Unicorn, hosted by my parents, Jess and Scott. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Jess VanderWier· Host0:14
[upbeat instrumental music] Hey, friends. Today, we have an incredible guest. This is someone who I have been waiting and so looking forward to talking to. Her name is Dr. Puja Lakshmin, and she is a board-certified psychiatrist, a best-selling author, and a leading voice in women's mental health, and she specializes in the intersection of self-care, motherhood, and systemic change. So this conversation was so good. Honestly, one of my favorites so far. We talked a lot about what it actually means to take care of yourself as a parent when you still have all the demands, and how self-care really is not just about, like, go get your nails done or go take a bubble bath, and then come home to your life that is still hard and chaotic and tricky. Dr. Puja graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in women's studies and the biological basis of behavior, which is just a fascinating thing to have your bachelor's in. She received her MD from Jefferson Medical College and did her psychiatry residency at Stanford and George Washington University. She is passionate about empowering women to reclaim their agency, challenge societal norms, and cultivate authentic self-care practices rooted in their