Learning to Trust Yourself with Dr. Julie Hanks: Unleashing Sister Saints Podcast

I loved being a guest on the Unleashing SIster Saints podcast. Listen as I chat with host Dr. Susan Madsen about learning to trust yourself and overcoming aspirational shame.

Aspirational shame is a term I coined after noticing that many Latter-day Saint women feel flawed because they want something outside of traditional home and family life. It is common for women to worry there is something wrong with them because they desire more than motherhood and being a wife. I felt an immense amount of aspirational shame myself when I was raising my family, getting my PhD, and opening my therapy practice. It was extremely painful and isolating

I have studied how LDS women have overcome aspirational shame, both for my dissertation and in other studies. What I found most interesting about my research is the top ways that people resolve shame about aspirations:

1. They feel God’s support for their aspirations through personal revelation.

2. They leave or distance themselves from the Church.

Tune into the podcast below to hear additional findings from my research. Susan and I also discuss strengthening our partnerships and how to discern what the Spirit is trying to tell you about your own life.

While we chat, Susan mentions a blog I wrote about aspirational shame. You can find that and other resources on the topic here:

• Healing Aspirational Shame blog

• Debunking Modern-Day Motherhood Myths

• Mormon Women: Family, Work, and Faith