Podcast

The Self-Compassionate Professor Podcast features guests who have paved creative and self-compassionate career paths–both within and outside academia–after struggle. And on special occasions, solo episodes offer explanation and advice to academics in career crisis.

Interested in being a guest on the podcast? Fill out this form and if your story/message is aligned to our overall podcast message, we’ll reach out to you.

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204. Better at work with Dr. Jennifer C...

Dr. Jennifer Costanza shares her journey from perfectionism, imposter syndrome, intense stress, and difficulty hea...

00:49:45

April 16, 2025

203. Whole people, whole communities wi...

Dr. LuElla D’Amico describes how her own suffering during the tenure process opened up a whole new joyful advent...

00:42:23

April 09, 2025

202. Your own best boss with Dr. Vikki ...

Dr. Victoria Wright shares her own story about leaving academia as a full professor. She now finds herself running...

00:44:25

April 02, 2025

201. The Highly Sensitive Person with D...

This episode is not an interview, but a chat about the experiences of the Highly Sensitive Person, a designation p...

00:38:05

March 26, 2025

200. [Sp Eq '25] The power of the pause

Our pausing practice is perhaps the most important part of creating more career wellness in our work, yet we don&#...

00:17:44

March 20, 2025

199. Paving a new path with the Enneagr...

Kelly Miller tells the story about how her identity was deeply entangled with her work, the toxic work environment...

00:37:29

January 15, 2025

198. Space for authenticity and truth w...

Paul Weigel talks about what it means to be authentic, true, and connected in both work and personal life. We expl...

00:27:05

January 08, 2025

197. Writing, healing, and faith in you...

Dr. Mary Mirvis discusses how her unconventional academic career is taking shape and her faith in the journey. Fir...

00:37:46

January 04, 2025

196. Project management for researchers...

Dr. Shiri Noy explains how creating systems to manage research is essential to individual researcher well-being as...

00:40:02

December 28, 2024

195. [Solstice 24-25] Solstice-inspired...

Happy Solstice! In this episode, I discuss what mean by solstice-inspired rest, why you should rest over the winte...

00:21:49

December 21, 2024

194. Supporting grad student writing wi...

Dissertation coach, Dr. Jen Harrison, explains how certain cultural and structural issues prevent professors and i...

00:41:17

October 23, 2024

193. Leaning into the mess with Michell...

Michelle Grosser describes her journey toward a more regulated nervous system, explains how to communicate safety ...

00:37:01

October 16, 2024

192. A fuller expression of career with...

After a 27-year career in academia where she had been promoted to full professor, served as chair, as well as serv...

00:25:51

October 09, 2024

191. Belonging to self with Dr. Azucena...

In this authentic and inspiring conversation, Dr. Azucena Verdín tells us about how she once did not like the way...

00:45:23

October 02, 2024

190. [Equinox 2024] Tapping into Fall S...

You're invited to feel into Fall 2024 and let the new season teach you something! In this episode, I acknowled...

00:18:58

September 22, 2024

189. All that really matters with Dr. D...

Dr. David Weill shares his story about quitting his job—at the prime of his career—as the Director of the Hear...

00:29:11

July 17, 2024

188. Anything can happen with Dr. Yvett...

Dr. Yvette Martinez-Vu shares her childhood realization that anything can happen and discusses how this insight ha...

00:58:40

July 10, 2024

187. Leading with your values with Dr. ...

Dr. Katharine Stewart shares her story about choosing to leave her position as Sr. Vice Provost and return to facu...

00:41:20

July 03, 2024

186. Academic branding with Dr. Sheena ...

Dr. Sheena Howard tells how the president of her institution called faculty into a room and announced the shut dow...

00:37:26

June 26, 2024

185. [Solstice 2024] Seasonal discernme...

Happy Solstice! This episode kicks off the Summer 2024 season. I describe the importance of using the solstice as ...

00:19:12

June 20, 2024

184. Space as active presence with Dr. ...

Dr. Jia urges us to create more space in our careers and lives: space for recovery, rest, compassion, self-compass...

00:49:41

April 17, 2024

183. Standing on the side of what is ri...

Dr. Felice Russell describes how she navigated the difficult relationship she has always had with academia, leanin...

00:45:59

April 10, 2024

182. Honoring life transitions with Mar...

Marny Requa explains that life transitions such as becoming a parent and menopause are not just short-term changes...

00:46:15

April 03, 2024

181. Time matters with Dr. Martha Kenne...

"Time is so precious," says Dr. Martha Kenney. In this episode, Martha describes the importance of findi...

00:35:08

March 27, 2024

180. [Equinox 2024] Seasonal celebratio...

Happy Equinox!! Welcome to the Spring 2024 Season of Self-Compassionate Professor! First, I talk about how honori...

00:16:32

March 19, 2024

179. Just a job with Dr. Dan Lair

Dr. Dan Lair, Associate Dean of Faculty and Student Affairs at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, talks ...

00:59:04

February 23, 2024

178. Self-betrayal with Lora Cheadle

Burnout and betrayal expert, Lora Cheadle, discusses how self-betrayal often masquerades as burnout, how we can be...

00:43:57

December 31, 2023

177. Internal belonging with Dr. Cynthi...

Dr. Cynthia Ganote describes hiding her artistic interests in graduate school, believing that if her academic comm...

01:04:31

December 08, 2023

176. Making career decisions from a pla...

No matter the career decisions in front of you--big or small--making choices from a place of wellness is key to pa...

00:18:33

July 12, 2023

175. Finding boundary gaps

I explain how to know when boundary work is needed, how to use Christina Maslach's six sources of chronic stre...

00:20:52

July 05, 2023

174. Integrating scattered parts with D...

As she prepares to leave one career behind and pivot full-time to another, Dr. Cara Jones describes experiencing a...

00:46:23

June 28, 2023

173. Seasonal planning and career visio...

Happy Solstice! Today I discuss why pausing and feeling into your career vision every solstice and equinox creates...

00:13:52

June 21, 2023

172. Self-trust and career wellness

Self-trust is an essential foundation on which one builds a self-compassionate career path. When we cannot trust o...

00:18:40

June 13, 2023

171. The ingredients that make up a sel...

In this episode, I explain how walking a self-compassionate career path is extremely difficult, but how doing the ...

00:21:09

June 09, 2023

170. Spaces of support with Dr. Toyosi ...

Dr. Toyosi Onwuemene describes how healing from her people-pleasing behavior impacted the dynamics of her relation...

00:53:20

May 31, 2023

169. Legacy and purpose, update with Dr...

I re-release my 2021 interview with Dr. Angela Gist-Mackey. She explains that her career journey began in advertis...

00:42:25

May 24, 2023

168. The Whole Professor Project with D...

Professor of STEM Education at the University of Colorado and creator of the Whole Professor Project Blog, Dr. Eri...

00:48:11

May 17, 2023

167. Self-care and career clarity, upda...

I offer an update about Dr. Melva Robertson's academic career as well as re-release her 2021 interview. In it,...

00:46:56

May 13, 2023

166. A mindful academic career with Dr....

Dr. Geneviève Taylor, Associate Professor of Career Counseling at the University of Quebec in Montreal, discusses...

01:04:10

May 03, 2023

165. Just checking in

Check in with yourself, take a self-compassion break, and sign up for the FREE "Digest, Rest, and Envision" worksh...

00:11:49

April 26, 2023

164. Emotional digestion, rest, and vis...

I announce my FREE workshop series, "Digest, Rest, and Envision," which will be offered May 23, May 24, ...

00:29:15

April 19, 2023

163. Slowing down and being lazy with D...

Dr. Kimine Mayuzumi discusses her graduate school journey as an advocate for change in academia, her research and ...

00:51:02

April 12, 2023

162. How deficit thinking impacts caree...

I describe the ways academic institutions socialize us into deficit thinking where we often come to believe we are...

00:15:34

April 05, 2023

161. Motherhood, women, and career with...

In this interview conducted by Dr. Sanne Frandsen in her Facebook group, Next Level Career Community for Women in ...

01:06:58

March 29, 2023

160. Connecting to a new story with Dr....

Continuing with our theme of connections, I discuss how all roads lead back to Dr. Sanne Frandsen! In this episode...

01:08:17

March 22, 2023

159. [Connecting to a wider audience an...

In the spirit of connecting to those beyond our immediate circles, I re-release my interview with Dr. Alex Ketchum...

00:42:24

March 15, 2023

158. Managing your imposter experience ...

Originally airing on the Papa PhD Podcast with David Mendes, this episode represents our "connections" theme for t...

01:02:38

March 08, 2023

157. Conversations that transform with ...

Dr. David Mendes, creator and host of the Papa PhD Podcast, explains when and why he began the podcast, the waves ...

00:47:25

March 01, 2023

156. Negotiating opportunities with Dr....

Dr. James Hedges, Dean of the Division of Online and Continuing Education at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah...

00:55:41

February 22, 2023

155. The healthiest person in the room ...

Corona Pritchard discusses how the burnout she experienced in her work was largely due to organizational dysfuncti...

00:47:11

February 15, 2023

154. Practices that transform toxic wor...

Dr. Jen Harrison discusses the challenges of working as a full-time adjunct and how the pandemic forced her to pau...

00:39:43

February 08, 2023

153. Spiritual practice and career

I argue that spiritual practice allows you to relax into the task of paving a self-compassionate career path. Draw...

00:09:43

February 01, 2023

152. The road to a self-compassionate c...

In this episode, I discuss the importance of regulating your nervous system in the service of cultivating a relati...

00:27:07

January 25, 2023

151. Tiny callings

When you soothe your nervous system, you begin to hear your inner wisdom guiding you in your daily life. And these...

00:12:52

January 18, 2023

150. Surrendering to the life that want...

I discuss Parker Palmer's notions of career discernment and how his philosophy aligns with my group coaching progr...

00:16:12

January 11, 2023

149. Career decisions and trauma with D...

In an effort to contextualize last episode's trauma discussion, I re-release my interview with Dr. Sara Taylor who...

01:07:04

January 04, 2023

148. Planting the seeds with Stephanie ...

Stephanie Lagana and I intentionally create space for "whatever conversation needs to happen." She describes what ...

00:48:36

December 28, 2022

147. Answering the call with Mona Penn-...

Mona Penn-Jousset describes the challenges of working at a Dutch art academy, where issues of diversity, equity, a...

00:46:02

December 21, 2022

146. Trusting your gut with Laura Hoyer

Laura Hoyer discusses her career pivot into instructional design, the challenges she encountered, and how she came...

00:44:26

December 14, 2022

145. Project Jenn with Dr. Jenn Berg

In this re-release of one of the most popular interviews on the podcast to date, Dr. Jenn Berg explains how her wo...

01:03:03

December 07, 2022

144. Your relationship to academia with...

Dr. Leslie Wang helps listeners to re-conceptualize their relationship to academia so they may make intentional de...

00:54:57

November 30, 2022

143. Afformations with Dr. Noah St. Joh...

Dr. Noah St. John discusses "the shower that changed everything"--a moment of realization that would not only tran...

00:38:10

November 23, 2022

142. The right attention to the right t...

Dr. Ginger Lockhart describes how academia fed her addiction for hyper-achievement. Later, when she admitted to he...

00:45:00

November 16, 2022

141. Academic mobbing and healing with ...

Dr. Maureen Meyers tells about the toll academic mobbing took on her mind, body, and spirit, the difficult decisio...

00:51:40

November 09, 2022

140. Navigating stress from a well-reso...

I offer a strategy to navigate midterm stress: 1) Climbing back into your body, 2) Feeling and listening to your e...

00:19:39

November 02, 2022

139. Self-compassionate careers

I discuss how to begin practicing self-compassion and argue that the deep inner work of self-compassion is essenti...

00:23:56

October 26, 2022

138. Everyday self-compassion with Dr. ...

In this episode, I offer an update about Dr. Matthew Goodman's unfolding entrepreneurial career now that he has st...

00:55:29

October 19, 2022

137. Rest and transformation with Dr. R...

Dr. Rose Aslan describes the intense burnout she experienced as both a single mother and as a Muslim scholar of Is...

00:49:51

October 12, 2022

136. Space-consciousness and the sabbat...

I discuss the "space-conscious" philosophy of my one-year group coaching program for academics as well as the ways...

00:30:55

October 04, 2022

135. Finding career answers in collabor...

Both music faculty, Dr. Emily Martin and Elizabeth McDonald realized their students needed better career guidance ...

00:53:32

September 28, 2022

134. Perfectionism with Dr. Isabeau Iqb...

Dr. Isabeau Iqbal describes the characteristics of perfectionism, tells us how perfectionism has shown up in her o...

00:50:46

September 21, 2022

133. Boundary setting and embodiment, s...

In this episode, I explain how staying grounded in your body paves the way to setting boundaries with ease. I expl...

00:29:29

September 14, 2022

132. The soul of academia with Dr. Erin...

In this all new episode, Dr. Erin McTigue explains how the rigidity of academic structures have created a loss of ...

00:50:07

September 07, 2022

131. [Choosing] healthy purposeful grow...

Last in the "August 2022 choosing wellness series," I re-release my conversation with Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore. A...

01:09:12

August 31, 2022

130. [Choose wellness and] color outsid...

Fourth in the "August 2022 choosing wellness series," I re-release my conversation with Dr. Alissa Ackerman. Aliss...

00:51:33

August 24, 2022

129. Addiction, academic women[, and ch...

Third in the "August 2022 choosing wellness series," I re-release my conversation with Dr. Lauren Broyles. Lauren ...

00:54:47

August 17, 2022

128. [Choosing wellness and] self-autho...

Second in the "August 2022 choosing wellness series," I re-release my conversation with Dr. Malik Boykin. Malik di...

00:52:44

August 10, 2022

127. [Choosing wellness during] covid t...

First in the "August 2022 choosing wellness series," I re-release my conversation with Dr. Stacey Wieland. Stacey ...

00:59:09

August 03, 2022

126. Courage to re-[en-VISION] career w...

Last, but definitely not least in the "July 2022 vision series," I re-release my interview with Dr. Liz Smith. Liz...

00:32:50

July 27, 2022

125. [En-VISION] big and take action wi...

Third in the "July 2022 vision series," I re-release my interview with Dr. Amani Said. Amani teaches us that doing...

00:54:35

July 20, 2022

124. Betting on [your vision] with Dr. ...

Second in the "July 2022 vision series," I re-release my interview with Dr. Kemi Doll. Kemi explains that we need ...

00:44:51

July 13, 2022

123. Career [vision] and your nervous s...

First in the "July 2022 vision series," I re-release my episode about career wellness and the nervous system. In t...

00:30:22

July 06, 2022

121. Solstice-inspired reflection, solo...

Happy Solstice! During this seasonal transition, I discuss the importance of going inward to process the past, not...

00:12:25

June 21, 2022

120. Patience and discipline with Dr. J...

As we begin to talk vision in the upcoming vision quest episode as well as the upcoming vision workshop on July 13...

00:51:11

June 19, 2022

119. The power of self check-ins, solo ...

So often, when we try to create more space for our needs, wants, and values, our efforts feel overly abstract, sli...

00:20:36

June 12, 2022

117. Do, act, create with Dr. Eric Jame...

Since being on the show almost two years ago (in Episode 36), Dr. Eric Stephens offers an update about his entrepr...

00:58:03

May 29, 2022

116. Lecture breakers with Dr. Barbi Ho...

Dr. Barbi Honeycutt explains what it takes to be a good teacher, arguing that approaching your students authentica...

01:03:59

May 22, 2022

115. Career decisions and trauma with D...

The second part of a two-part series, Dr. Sara Taylor explains that academia was a perfect container for her traum...

00:36:46

May 15, 2022

114. Gaining energy and clarity via ins...

The first of a two-part series, Dr. Sara Taylor describes the work she does today as a therapeutic life coach and ...

00:44:01

May 08, 2022

113. Pregnancy loss, healing, and profe...

Dr. Melanie Peffer passionately argues for a change in the ways our society navigates pregnancy loss, asserting th...

00:45:03

May 01, 2022

112. The inner critic and creating spac...

Dr. Nicole Janz tells her story of healing from burnout. She also discusses her decision to ultimately leave acade...

00:54:14

April 24, 2022

111. Telling a new story with Dr. Sanne...

Dr. Sanne Frandsen describes the power of narrative, explaining how many of our career problems manifest from the ...

01:04:18

April 17, 2022

110. Academic year detox, solo episode

I invite you to participate in the half-day retreat, "Academic Year Detox," where we'll help you to process the ye...

00:20:02

April 10, 2022

109. The thing beneath with Dr. Corey L...

Dr. Corey Latta discusses his experiences with toxic workplaces from corporate to higher education, explaining tha...

00:46:20

April 03, 2022

107. The practice of doing nothing, sol...

In this solo episode, I explain how self-pressure negatively impacts our relationship to self and to others as wel...

00:16:02

March 20, 2022

106. Mentorship with Dr. Shoba Subraman...

Dr. Shoba Subramanian demonstrates the power of mentorship on individuals, institutions, and society, arguing for ...

00:58:00

March 13, 2022

105. Presence with Dr. Caitlin Faas, re...

It's spring break and I'm resting! In that spirit, I re-release my interview with Dr. Caitlin Faas. Caitlin tells ...

00:47:03

March 06, 2022

104. Setting boundaries with Dr. Shaun ...

Dr. Shaun Marq Anderson offers a clear and compelling rationale about why saying no to extra university work is ne...

00:49:03

February 27, 2022

103. Everyday self compassion with Dr. ...

Based on Dr. Kristin Neff's research in Mindful Self-Compassion, Dr. Matthew Goodman defines self-compassion, desc...

00:54:42

February 20, 2022

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