In this conversation, Drs. Jeanne and Kelley discuss the birth of 'The Sensitivity Doctors.' They discuss their interest in anxiety and sensitivity and the stigma surrounding these topics. They also explain the reasoning behind choosing the name 'The Sensitivity Doctors' for their podcast.
Drs. Amelia Kelley and Jeanne Retief introduce themselves and express their excitement about starting the podcast. They discuss the importance of trying new things and having a growth mindset. They also encourage listeners to celebrate small victories and focus on the positive aspects of their lives.
They discuss their interest in anxiety and sensitivity and the stigma surrounding these topics. They also explain the reasoning behind choosing the name 'The Sensitivity Doctors' for their podcast.
Key Takeaways
Episode Links
Dr. Amelia Kelley: Books | Website | Instagram
Dr. Jeanne Retief: Shop FIGGI Beauty | Anxiety Blog | Instagram
Dr. Amelia Kelley
Hi, I'm Dr. Amelia Kelley. I'm a trauma-informed therapist with a passion for self-empowerment, and especially working with neurodiverse folks and just really helping people finding their place in this world that's not always so sensitive. I'm also an author and a professor in counseling psychology, so I just love spreading any knowledge I can because I feel like that's the foundation of self-empowerment. I'm so excited to chat with you all about our topic today.
Dr. jeanne
Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. It's actually our first episode together and we have so much to get. Yeah, we're the topic. How did we actually get to meet each other and decide to do this together? And I love that we both came together. It's almost like we were kindred sensitive spirits or something because we just clicked in the way that we view sensitivity and anxiety.
Dr. Amelia Kelley
We're the topic.
jeanne (04:58.657)
Um, you appeared on my podcast, actually the My Figgi Life podcast a couple of times. And after just vibing well together, we decided to do this together and to rebrand it to the sensitivity doctors, which I think is so fitting. So we're just going to talk a little bit about each other today and let our audience know who we are and why we're here and what we hope to achieve with this podcast, I think.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (05:27.67)
Absolutely. Yes, I think even the way we met was interesting. There had to be a lot of things that fell into place for us to even cross paths.
jeanne (05:36.397)
Yeah, that's so true because we didn't actually have a direct meeting point. I had interviewed somebody on the podcast, Gina Cavalier, and she co-authored a book with you and we just connected and we had such a wonderful episode together. I actually appeared on her podcast and it was so strange because I was looking for somebody that could talk towards gaslighting and
Dr. Amelia Kelley (05:40.401)
Mm-mm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (05:47.835)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (06:04.453)
I got this email from Gina randomly and she's like, oh, I don't know if you're interested in this topic, but I have this wonderful specialist, Dr. Amelie Kelley. She can talk about gaslighting. I was like, really? This is so strange. It just happened at the right time. And that's actually how we got to meet the first time. Not knowing that when I met you, I'd already read your book. Yes. What I wish I knew. Yes.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (06:15.811)
Hehehe
Dr. Amelia Kelley (06:26.21)
Oh you had, I didn't realize that.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (06:31.43)
Oh, the first one.
jeanne (06:33.893)
Yes, and it was a book that changed my life and was largely what put me on the Figgi path as well. And I think we were like 80% through your interview before I even realized that I had read your book. So yeah, that was quite funny. So I would like to ask you a couple of things just to get a better feel of.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (06:49.257)
That's so funny.
jeanne (07:01.885)
who we are and where we come from. Where are you situated mainly? Are you in North Carolina?
Dr. Amelia Kelley (07:07.486)
I am right outside Raleigh. So my practice is in Cary. I don't know how familiar you are with the Raleigh Durham area. Yeah.
jeanne (07:14.385)
Not at all, not at all. I lived in the States, but I lived in Georgia. So I know Georgia quite well, but I, and I traveled a lot and I've always wanted to go to the Carolinas, but I didn't quite make it there. So I'm not so familiar with that, but I've heard it's beautiful.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (07:19.384)
Oh, okay.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (07:27.04)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (07:33.926)
It is, it's really wild. This area has, since I've moved here, I think exploded 50, 60%, just doubled in size. And it's really interesting being somewhere that's got such rapid growth happening. Even years ago when we had that giant crash and the recession and all, I mean, people were losing their jobs and just a horribly unstable time, this area just continued growing. So it's.
jeanne (07:54.322)
Mm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (08:02.886)
They call it the Silicon Valley of the East. Yeah, it's like a little kind of saying, but I mean, I think my favorite part of this area is the diversity because I spent little times living in the mountains of North Carolina and it was beautiful and I loved it, but in a way it was almost two, one track. There was kind of just this one vibe of people there. Whereas here,
jeanne (08:06.55)
Oh wow.
jeanne (08:27.913)
Mm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (08:29.102)
anything you want you can get. You know, if you drive 20 minutes to Durham, you can get some really great jazz. If you go, you know, over to Mooresville, you can get the best Indian food you've ever had. You've got people from all over, all over the country that live here. And it is steamed with people who are in like the research and technology. And I don't know, it's just a very mentally stimulating place to live, which I think I like.
being a high sensation seeking HSP. So yeah.
jeanne (08:59.557)
Yeah, I can see that about you for sure. It's the same for us. We moved to Portugal from South Africa and I love South Africa. I love my South African culture, but unfortunately, it's not the safest place to be and the security is really just such an issue and we're having a lot of economic issues and crises, especially now with the electricity. I think we have six or seven hours a day without electricity because of
Dr. Amelia Kelley (09:03.074)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (09:08.386)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (09:15.502)
Hmm.
jeanne (09:29.597)
corruption and a failed electricity grid. So when we moved to Portugal, it was quite an adjustment because I don't think I've ever been, and I've traveled to many places, but I don't think I've ever been in a place that's so peaceful in terms of safety and security as Portugal. And that was quite a nice kind of change to make. And we also moved from
Dr. Amelia Kelley (09:44.206)
Hmm.
jeanne (09:57.477)
staying really in one of the biggest cities traffic noise to a really rural countryside kind of property so we went from go to super calm and peaceful
Dr. Amelia Kelley (10:04.398)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (10:13.246)
Mm, yeah, that's so, did you, it's interesting, I always tried to place your accent. I know you might've in passing told me once before where you were originally from, but I'm horrific at accents. I'm really, really bad at them. And imitating them and all of that. So that's so neat. So that's where you were born.
jeanne (10:29.487)
No, it's a-
jeanne (10:34.801)
That's where I was born. We've only been living in Portugal for four years, but I also lived in America for quite some time. So I think my accent is just a little, everybody always says it's strange because I sound South African, but not completely South African. And when I started learning Portuguese, when we moved here, my accent changed again. So it's a little bit of a weird one.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (10:38.37)
Okay.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (10:47.262)
Heh.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (11:01.982)
You know where I told my husband I thought you were from? I said, oh, I think she's from Australia or something. So that's what I mean. My ability to place accents is way off.
jeanne (11:05.279)
Uh-uh.
jeanne (11:10.519)
Thank you. No, definitely not Australia. But I was wondering because you were just telling me before we started this episode, the difference between a psychologist, a therapist, and you having the PhD in psychology and in a research field, did you always know you wanted to do this? Was this like always your kind of dream? You always felt...
pulled towards this?
Dr. Amelia Kelley (11:38.542)
So I actually love telling the story because no, and I think it's a nice way to remind people you don't have to always know your path. So I was actually going to college for art. So my undergrad degree is in fine arts. Yeah.
jeanne (11:51.501)
Oh, art? Wow, that's like, completely different.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (11:56.958)
Right, which you could probably if you think back on all of the chats we've had lately with the fun of rebranding and like all of that, like that's why my eye is always so what about this and a little bit of that. So right, my undergrad is in art. I did have a minor in psychology and I was a senior around the time that 911 happened, senior in college and I'm from New York. I had worked in the city actually at MTV.
jeanne (12:02.434)
Yes, yes!
jeanne (12:20.783)
Okay.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (12:25.926)
in the art department that like summer before it happened. And then I went back up to school and obviously 9-11 occurred and it was horrific. Lots of family in the area. It was kind of that ripple of shock. And almost shortly after I had stumbled upon the Oprah effect. Oprah had an episode about an art therapist who was working with
jeanne (12:41.584)
Yeah.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (12:55.018)
survivors and children who had lost parents in the towers. And it was like this aha moment because here I was, I had this amazing internship at MTV. I had been offered to come back if I wanted. I mean, who wouldn't if you're going through art and have a graphics background? Yeah. Do you remember TRL? Do you remember that show, TRL?
jeanne (13:11.015)
Yeah.
MTV? That's amazing! Yes! I watched it religiously. Oh wow!
Dr. Amelia Kelley (13:22.562)
So I was on the set design team for TRL. And sometimes they would pull us for little side projects. Like I remember doing, oh my gosh, like Nelly's hottest hip hop hits of the summer and doing like the set design at this huge like high rise condo and sitting around having lunch with him and all his gang. Like it was, I don't know, it was really a silly surreal time. But I saw the document.
jeanne (13:35.277)
Ha ha
Dr. Amelia Kelley (13:51.306)
not the documentary, the episode about the art therapist. And it was like this light bulb moment. Oh my gosh, that's it. That's what I'm supposed to do. And so I scrambled, started applying to grad programs. I mean, this is the 11th hour. I'm a senior, I think it was winter and I got waitlisted at a bunch of places. The one I wanted to get into, I was waitlisted. I got into a couple others now that I think about it.
And I was determined to get into this program. So I called them every day for months, asking about the status of my application to the point where they were like, no, Amelia, we don't have any news yet. We'll let you know. I'm like, nope, I'm gonna keep calling. So yeah, that was, I think I was primed kind of to be a therapist just in my family of origin and.
jeanne (14:24.265)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (14:45.09)
kind of the way that I was raised and my, I always had an interest in people's emotions. So I think the foundation was there, but it was just kind of like this click moment. But the path has been wild since then, you know, like I thought I was gonna stay in one arena of counseling and psychology. And it's just, as life goes on, it's pulled me in different directions and different interests. And so the story didn't stop there, but that's definitely where it began.
jeanne (14:55.935)
Mm.
jeanne (15:15.017)
But what especially drew you to anxiety and sensitivity because you do a lot of work in that kind of field. Was it like personal experience or did something just kind of speak to you in that sense? What drew you to that?
Dr. Amelia Kelley (15:23.226)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (15:31.758)
I think a bit of my own personality. I'm definitely drawn to neurodiverse people in general in my friendships and relationships, probably because of.
jeanne (15:40.765)
What is that? What is neurodiverse people?
Dr. Amelia Kelley (15:43.89)
So it's funny because I feel like that term is ever changing right now. You know, we used to think, I think it used to be, okay, people with autism are neurodiverse. That was like that original thought. But that's just the beginning of it. I mean, you've got ADHD, highly sensitive people, the brain, the human brain, after you're under enough pressure and enough stress, there's some theorists now saying,
jeanne (16:08.379)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (16:10.626)
Almost everyone can fall in that neurodiverse category if under enough emotional pressure.
jeanne (16:18.857)
So neurodiverse really is exactly what it says. You are in a diverse kind of neurological, not field, but category, category that is other than the norm or the normal, if you can put that in quotation marks.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (16:23.25)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (16:37.634)
I know I hate that. Neuro normative is like, I almost, I think of it like, oh, look at me, I just attacked my microphone. I think of it kind of like that bell curve, like you've got these folks in the middle, which I think the bell curve should be flatter when we're talking about neurotypical nature.
jeanne (16:45.489)
Hahaha
Dr. Amelia Kelley (17:02.038)
If your brain is not under certain pressures in just everyday life and experience, and or also you don't have the genetic makeup for neurodiversity, you maybe fall within that range. And then as life, stress and or genetics play out, you've got the outer tails. And I feel like that's kind of that neurodiversity piece because there's even, and we should probably have an episode on this,
jeanne (17:14.79)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (17:28.482)
There are even people who fall in the low sensitive category.
jeanne (17:32.873)
Wow, oh, we should definitely have an episode because I know nothing about low sensitive category. I wanna know more about neurodiversity. But when you said that I was like, ooh, I think I know a couple of people who could be low sensitive.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (17:46.11)
I know, and I feel like the more we understand, you know, maybe I'm reacting to this because of this aspect or unique nature of my brain, it can help us interpersonally, hopefully not take as much to heart if maybe a lower sensitive person doesn't react the way we would react about something. Because us highly sensitives tend to unknowingly kind of project our moral compass on others.
jeanne (17:54.299)
Yeah.
jeanne (18:00.038)
Mmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (18:14.474)
Like I would feel really strongly about something, so I expect you to feel strongly about something. I don't know if you've ever had that experience.
jeanne (18:14.758)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (18:19.205)
Mm-hmm. I hear you. I'm actually on the other side of that. Like I do have that experience a lot, but I am absolutely terrified of conflict, terrified. And it's one of the deep journeys that I'm undertaking at the moment that, and that I'm always operating from this default setting of I'm wrong, the world is right, and I need to prove that I'm right. So I definitely.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (18:31.906)
Hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (18:45.772)
Mmm.
jeanne (18:48.157)
do feel what you were saying, but I would almost never say it. I would, you know, I would be quiet and I would just kind of accept it. And then I would grow resentful because I don't speak it. And then when I do speak it, it would come out in the most inappropriate ways at the most horrible times. And it would just be...
Dr. Amelia Kelley (18:52.331)
Mmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (18:59.054)
Mm. Mm-hmm.
jeanne (19:12.857)
It would not be good. Yeah. So we definitely, I'm so excited about all these things we're going to talk about. I really feel like there's a whole other world in terms of sensitive people. And for me, especially how that links to anxiety, because I just feel that we've come a long way in mental health over the past couple of years, but somehow I feel.
sensitivity, anxiety, everything that makes us in that specific group has fallen by the wayside a little bit. It's like everybody now understands more about depression, bipolar disorders, and it's talked about a lot and there's a lot of avenues for help. But I feel that with these things that we would want to discuss, there's still very much the stigma about, oh, it's just stress, or, oh, you're just really...
Dr. Amelia Kelley (20:05.742)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (20:08.013)
a really sensitive person, like you take things too personally. And I don't think that there's an understanding for how debilitating this really can be if you don't understand it. And if you are constantly communicating and working with people who don't necessarily understand it.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (20:10.498)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (20:28.81)
I totally agree. I mean, the way you put it made a lot of sense too. If we think about kind of the everyday life, something like being deeply depressed, we hope is like this outlier. It's not something that is necessarily going to bolster you and build your life. Whereas with anxiety, do you know who Kelley McGonigal is? She has the, I want to say the book, The Upside of Stress.
jeanne (20:41.285)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (20:58.438)
No, I don't know.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (20:58.498)
Um, did a really good Ted talk. We can, we can link it and, um, chat about it at some point. Um, because there's this positive component to anxiety and a positive component to stress because it helps motivate and function. I mean, it gets us going. So I think, I think you're onto something here where when you have something that can both be helpful and hurt hurtful, it's
jeanne (21:02.409)
Okay.
jeanne (21:13.177)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (21:16.425)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (21:25.341)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (21:26.942)
sometimes hard to dissect where does that line get crossed.
jeanne (21:31.557)
Yeah, I always think about it as kryptonite, like the literal different definition of kryptonite, because I really do feel like especially as a sensitive and somebody with anxiety, you have certain superpowers. But it's very rare that if you fall in that category, you absolutely understand what that means and what your limitations to that can be. And
Dr. Amelia Kelley (21:35.404)
Mm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (21:49.258)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (22:00.82)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (22:01.861)
Unfortunately, especially at least in my case, that draws you more towards the negative extreme of the scale. And you're so overwhelmed and debilitated by that, that getting yourself back to just a healthy equilibrium and seeing the gifts for what they are becomes a real challenge.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (22:17.275)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (22:24.29)
Right? And if you think about even just the way we talk to each other, like I wouldn't necessarily say to a friend, I'm really depressed about something, right? You might even just say, oh, I'm really sad about it. Whereas we use the term anxious all the time. I'm so over universally if you think about it. I'm really anxious about this. I'm really anxious about that. And maybe we are, but...
jeanne (22:35.335)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (22:45.998)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (22:51.034)
it seems like it'd be interesting and maybe this is something we'll learn along our journey doing this. Like what is that distinction? Like what's the term maybe for anxious versus anticipatory? I don't know, you know.
jeanne (22:59.947)
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't think people really understand it. It really drives me a little bit nuts because of course I have panic disorder and it's something that not only I live with every day, my family lives with that. I have a five-year-old little girl, six-year-old now, I have a husband, we both have very high stress jobs. So,
Dr. Amelia Kelley (23:13.189)
Yeah.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (23:19.511)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (23:26.949)
It's something that is part and parcel of my life. And I see the good and the destructive elements of that. And a big part of my stunt in recovery or my stumbling blocks in, in recovery was the fact that we use this as an it word in today's life. Just look at the reality TV programs, right? And they're
Dr. Amelia Kelley (23:34.242)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (23:51.243)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (23:52.429)
It's almost like a slang way of saying, oh, you're giving me anxiety, you know, I've heard it so many times and they're normalizing something that isn't necessarily that normal, which makes it so much more difficult for somebody that really is suffering from it to have some form of understanding and compassion towards that. So for example, my husband and I.
are so aware of it, we refuse to use the word anxiety in the house unless it's necessary. We communicate and I have different stages of where I may be. And if I say I'm stressed, it means I had a normal day, you know, I'm just stressed out about whatever has happened at work, and maybe my family and maybe this and maybe that. But when I say I'm anxious, it gives him a signal to say, okay, so
I'm not in a good space right now. And if I continue to be in this space, this is not going to end well. So let's just be aware. Let's just like give some breathing room and are you practicing everything you need to be practicing? And when I say I'm panicked, it means, okay, we're not trying anymore. Panic attack is here. Now, now it's like all hands on deck, plane is crashing. And it's incredible even to me how much that changes your mindset of what you're going through.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (25:05.63)
All hands on deck. Yeah. Yep.
jeanne (25:20.401)
because anxiety really isn't just stress. And it isn't just something that, you know, you feel it now and in 15 minutes you're over it. No, it's just not that, but society has made it that. It's made it almost like this funny thing that you say when you feel a little overwhelmed or, you know, I don't know, that's my opinion on it anyway.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (25:24.022)
You're right.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (25:45.086)
Yeah, no, I love the voicing it and the determining the differences too. Because I think one of the, when I think of my folks with panic disorder and who have had panic attacks and, and or have, and for all listeners, when I say my folks, that is definitely me talking about my clients, not my parents. But my clients that I work with,
jeanne (26:05.989)
Yeah.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (26:14.714)
when they have instances of panic and I ask them, you know, what was the precursor? What was happening? We talk about halt, the hungry, angry, lonely, tired, you know, were any of those things happening for you? A lot of times not voicing that it's happening before it's happening intensifies it. And so a lot of times I'll encourage them to just use the coping skill. If you go into a public setting, for instance, and you have to do some public speaking,
jeanne (26:23.613)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (26:44.902)
it makes sense and it's okay to tell someone, whether it be someone in the room you trust or whether it be your reflection in the mirror. Oh, I'm feeling really anxious about this. And this is true anxiety. I'm using this in the term as it should be. You know, I'm feeling really nervous about doing this speech or this presentation. It's like noticing the noticing, witnessing it, giving it that time and space by just voicing it is more powerful.
jeanne (26:48.484)
Hmm.
jeanne (26:52.293)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (26:56.815)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, of course
Dr. Amelia Kelley (27:14.498)
than a lot of people realize. And it sounds like that's what you're doing. That's the culture you've created inside your family.
jeanne (27:14.853)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (27:21.069)
Oh yeah, for sure. And it definitely, I think we really underestimate the need for a good support structure in terms of that. But you can only have a support structure as good as you are also able to communicate with. And there is some responsibility on my side as well as the person going through it because the person not going through it doesn't necessarily understand what's happening. And I cannot expect them to understand or feel the way that I feel.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (27:29.536)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (27:49.157)
So it's definitely important to have these ways of dealing with it. And like you just said, it's good to tell somebody. So for me, for example, when I'm in the anxiety phase where I'm anxious and I say I'm anxious, I just want him to know, I want somebody to know that I am busy internally going through this. But at that stage, I don't want you to make a big deal about it, because when you make a big deal about it, then for me, it signals, oh, my goodness, OK, this is happening.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (28:09.154)
Mm.
jeanne (28:18.693)
We're there. I can't breathe. I can't, but if you carry on normally, you know, like, okay, I hear you. I see you. I know it's going on. Let's just go on with our day. It helps me a lot of times to get out of that space, but very important. Yes. It's super important for me that somebody knows this is the storm that is currently going on inside of me.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (28:39.746)
Right.
jeanne (28:43.369)
Because that feeling of being alone in it is so isolating and scary. And I think it makes it even worse because we tend to overthink and snowball really quickly. So you need that kind of external reality check a little bit, just to kind of help you neutralize the threat.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (28:54.434)
Yeah.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (29:06.798)
Well, and when you're talking about telling someone or having a supportive person, it makes me think of that term co-regulation, right? And so a big part of, when you were saying, I'm panicked and I need you to just say, okay, we got this, you're validated, you see that this is happening, it kind of makes me think of with my children, if they get injured, for instance, injured subjectively, like they bumped their knee or something.
jeanne (29:11.302)
Mm-hmm.
Mmm. Yeah.
jeanne (29:29.033)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (29:33.106)
Yeah.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (29:35.282)
It's not going to help them if I escalate. Like being that calm base signals to the other person, whether it be your child or your spouse or a friend who's having anxiety, it's okay. We're still safe. So even though your internal storm is happening, the environment, the space is a safe space. So I think I get eerily quiet, like, okay, you got injured, are you okay? Like, let's...
jeanne (29:50.159)
Yeah.
jeanne (29:53.381)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (29:56.968)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (30:02.377)
I'm sorry.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (30:03.882)
let's bring it down to a whisper, let's deal with this as opposed to, oh my goodness, you know. So yeah, that kind of reminds me of that.
jeanne (30:10.209)
Yeah, yeah. So what would you say is the reason we chose this name, the sensitivity doctors, because we had some conversations about this and we were like playing about the words and we were going, should it be this way? Should it be that way? No, but it means something different when you say it this way. And we kind of agreed on the sensitivity doctors and we both loved it. And.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (30:33.047)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (30:36.197)
I loved it because I think it was so beautiful to put together a podcast with like-minded individuals that are open to talking about sensitive wiring and how the world may not always be open to people with sensitive wiring, coming from people that are sensitive people, highly sensitive people. So for me, that's why it worked. But
Dr. Amelia Kelley (30:53.71)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (31:04.057)
Why did you, because you're actually the one that came up with it. You, you, you gave the brilliant idea, which led to conversation. So why, why did you choose it? Why did we end up settling on it?
Dr. Amelia Kelley (31:07.236)
I'm sorry.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (31:16.95)
Well, and I will say, even though I came up with the final name, you came up with a really great list of kind of these building block names. Like after reading through yours, it allowed me to creatively think about the sensitivity doctors. Yes, for sure. I think, you know, the thing that really stood out to me is that this is a space that is not just about high sensitivity and not just about neurodiversity. It's about...
jeanne (31:30.613)
Oh cool, team effort!
jeanne (31:44.817)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (31:45.558)
the human experience that when we feel things deeply, especially in a world that's not always gonna slow down and give us the space to do that, having a space that you know that is going to be our main focus, but we also are excited about all the different topics that play into how our emotions are impacted. It was also really important. I know I've brought this up a couple times with you.
jeanne (31:47.506)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (31:55.613)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (32:09.331)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (32:13.858)
that I really wanted it to be a very all-encompassing, but fun and catchy name that lets anyone who feels sensitive know that we're here. And so, you know, I've talked with you a bunch about working with quite a few men that I work with specifically, and or I worked with a lot of, I work with a lot of armed forces and veterans and a lot of cops and, you know, first responders. And...
jeanne (32:25.041)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (32:30.953)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (32:43.134)
I want it to also be a space where they feel like they can come be informed and have that safety net too. Even though, let's be honest, we're strong women, we're probably going to talk a lot about those topics too. So yeah, I mean, you and I both happen to be doctors as well, different types of doctors, but I think the biggest thing with us that the doctor part of it is not that we're going to give you a prescription disclaimer.
jeanne (32:49.221)
Mm-hmm.
jeanne (32:55.021)
Yes.
jeanne (33:01.929)
Correct.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (33:11.938)
but that we both deeply love learning and then sharing what we know and what we're learning. And I think that's gonna be really what this space is about. And I don't know about you, but I welcome people to reach out and say, hey, this is a topic I would love to learn more about, or based on what you guys were talking about, can you explain this further? I love that idea of building that community of self-empowering knowledge.
jeanne (33:19.931)
Yeah.
jeanne (33:24.424)
Yeah.
jeanne (33:41.465)
Oh yeah, for sure. Because the thing is there are so much to talk about in terms of these topics, but there are always things that we don't think about or maybe we've missed. And it would be so great to know also from our audience what they would like us to discuss. And the last thing I wanted to add also to the name is that we wanted it to be this because yes, we are both doctors in our respective spaces, but also because we wanted to create the feeling
And the message that we are somewhat of experts in this field, because not only are we both sensitive people, but on the different ends of the spectrum, which we will also discuss in episodes. But I live with panic disorder. You work with these types of people and problems every single day. You've written books about this. And
It's something that we really have lived through and know a lot about. And it was so important for me to have our audience feel like they're not being spoken to, but rather that we're sharing, hopefully some things that can help them from a journey and a path that we've walked and that we continue to walk every day. It's not just like this outsider perspective of, okay, we're diagnosing you with this, not that we diagnose, of course.
but like, or we're dubbing you with this title without knowing and understanding that we've really also experienced it ourselves and that hopefully we can create a community like that.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (35:24.898)
And I love if anyone's picking up on the way that our two brains approach the same ideas. It's so different but so complementing of each other. So I feel like the different types of listeners are going to be able to kind of hear from each of the ways that we see something and it's going to land. But whether it be the way I see it or the way you see it or the combination, I love that too.
jeanne (35:35.046)
Yeah.
jeanne (35:50.537)
Yeah. And so just to give you a taster, we are going to be talking about highly sensitive people, the different spectrums of high sensitivity. We're going to be talking about neurodiversity, celebrating women. We're going to have wonderful guests that come onto the podcast and share their expert opinions with us on choosing your relationships the right way, how to figure out if you are in a good relationship, self-compassion, dating yourself.
loving yourself. And we really hope to just add value and a sacred space to you once a week. I think that's our main goal.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (36:31.838)
I concur. I love it. I'm so excited.
jeanne (36:35.778)
So before we end our first episode, we've decided that we want to give something special at the end of every episode. So we want to encourage you to do this as well, just to help you come back to a safe kind of space, especially when you're stressed and you feel super overwhelmed and recognize even as small as it may be the good things that may still be happening for you and try and concentrate on this.
So what are you celebrating today?
Dr. Amelia Kelley (37:04.686)
Honestly, I'm celebrating doing this because this is totally new for me. And I always talk to people about growth mindset and the only way to continue living that is trying new things and learning. And so I'm excited to be, I'm genuinely celebrating this. Like this is like so cool to be doing this with you. So I'm really excited. So that's my celebration, honestly.
jeanne (37:07.209)
Hahaha
jeanne (37:30.761)
Thank you. That's really cool. I'm also super happy to be here. I'm, I'm excited and I'm celebrating that I was on time for the podcast because, because usually it would be the other way around where I would be the one that is late. So I'm celebrating that I managed to do that today with no promise of this happening again in future.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (37:40.138)
And I was not. Ha ha ha.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (37:59.618)
Love it.
jeanne (38:01.033)
So we hope you'll join us next week for our next podcast episode. And we are so happy to have you as part of this community. Everything we talk about every week, including everything you hear in the ad breaks will be linked for you in the show notes below, as well as any information you may need about me or Dr. Kelley, if you want to reach out to us. But for now, we'll see you again next week. Bye.
Dr. Amelia Kelley (38:25.367)
Bye.