In this episode of Drinking Tea with Monsters, we dive into chaos with snake yoga, because apparently stretching is better when there are snakes involved… but is it actually relaxing? Of course, us being us, we take a few detours into the world of Australian soaps (Neighbors and Home and Away anyone?) and The OC, and the Jungle Book. It all makes sense when you listen, I promise!

From there, we explore the subtle, often overlooked ways OCD can show up. The thoughts that slowly evolve so you don't realize they are OCD. What might feel like overthinking, could be something more. From repeating thoughts, feeling just right, to indecision, we talk about how to recognize the thoughts, and the recognizing the differences between regular overthinking and OCD..

We wrap things up with a chilling encounter with a ghost in a library, complete with eerie vibes and unexpected book recommendations.

If you love weird wellness trends, mental health discussions, and spooky stories, this episode blends humor, curiosity, and the supernatural in true Drinking Tea with Monsters fashion.

I'm Obsessed...

Neighbors

Home and Away

The OC

The Jungle Book

Book List

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

OCD

IOCDF

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

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In this latest episode of Drinking Tea with Monsters, the podcast about OCD and other, less scary monsters, we dive into the newest TV shows, including Rooster, The Comeback, and Big Mistakes. That’s right: favorites Steve Carell, Lisa Kudrow, and Dan Levy are all back on our screens. Find out which series we’re most excited about in our TV watchlist preview.

Then Pri and Leela take a deeper look at a point Elena Fasan mentioned in her interview, unpacking the unsettling theme of OCD dread and its parallels in horror media like Insidious and The Haunting of Hill House. This segment explores anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and the overlap between psychological horror and real-life OCD experiences.

Finally, Pri brings us home as we “Drink Tea with Monsters,” exploring the haunting true love story of Pedro I of Portugal and Inês de Castro, a tragic historical romance filled with devotion, loss, and legend.

Blending pop culture commentary, TV analysis, mental health themes, and dark history, this episode is perfect for fans of podcasts about TV shows, OCD, psychological horror, and tragic love stories. Tune in for the eerie vibes.

TV Show Watchlist

Rooster (HBO)

The Comeback (HBO)

Big Mistakes (Netflix)

Deli Boys (Hulu)

Shrinking (Apple TV)

Scrubs Reboot (Hulu)

Scrubs (Hulu)

The Americans (Disney+ / Hulu)

The Koreans (Coming in 2026/2027)

Squid Games (Netflix)

Insidious (HBO)

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)

Ghosts (CBS)

OCD

Elena Fasan is a licensed clinical social worker who treats children, adolescents, and emerging adults diagnosed with OCD, anxiety disorders, and OC spectrum disorders. She founded and is the director of the Children’s OCD & Anxiety Collective in Los Angeles and has worked as an adjunct professor teaching child development classes. She also has lived experience with OCD, depression, and skin picking.

Children's OCD and Anxiety Collective

Parenting OCD

IOCDF

IG: @parenting_ocd

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Drinking Tea with Monsters, the podcast about OCD and other less scary monsters, we're back with part II of our interview with parenting OCD expert Elena Fasan. Elena tells us the OCD signs to look out for in children, how to get started on the journey to getting help, and what questions to ask a therapist.

Recommendations

Books

• The Happiness Trap (2nd Edition) by Russ Harris

Podcasts

• The OCD stories
• Fearcast podcast
• Purely OCD
• AT Parenting Survival School

OCD

Elena Fasan is a licensed clinical social worker who treats children, adolescents, and emerging adults diagnosed with OCD, anxiety disorders, and OC spectrum disorders. She founded and is the director of the Children’s OCD & Anxiety Collective in Los Angeles and has worked as an adjunct professor teaching child development classes. She also has lived experience with OCD, depression, and skin picking.

Children's OCD and Anxiety Collective

Parenting OCD

IOCDF

IG: @parenting_ocd

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Drinking Tea with Monsters, the podcast about OCD and other less scary monsters, we share part 1 of our interview with parenting OCD expert Elena Fasan. Elena shares her personal journey living with OCD, growing up in the performing arts, and navigating the high-pressure worlds of ballet, theater, and Hollywood. We get into it all, from behind-the-scenes stories, including surprising run-ins with Tom Cruise, Oprah, and John Taylor of Duran Duran, to real talk about mental health.

Tangents

Sexy Beast (Available to rent on Youtube, Amazon Prime, AppleTV)

The Beast in Me (Netflix)

OCD

Elena Fasan is a licensed clinical social worker who treats children, adolescents, and emerging adults diagnosed with OCD, anxiety disorders, and OC spectrum disorders. She founded and is the director of the Children’s OCD & Anxiety Collective in Los Angeles and has worked as an adjunct professor teaching child development classes. She also has lived experience with OCD, depression, and skin picking.

Children's OCD and Anxiety Collective

Parenting OCD

IOCDF

IG: @parenting_ocd

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A ghost who solved their own murder, the story of Gucci's reincarnation, and a deep dive into OCPD. This episode of Drinking Tea With Monsters blends true crime, psychology, and the paranormal in the most unsettling way.

In honor of Friday the 13th, we explore the eerie lore behind one of the unluckiest days in history, where superstition, fear, and real-life stories collide. From haunted energy to chilling coincidences, this episode leans into everything that makes Friday the 13th so iconic.

Then we deep dive into the fashion world, with the comeback of an icon, (and no, we’re not talking about The Devil Wears Prada 2). We tell you the story of Gucci's reincarnation, and we examine fashion from the iconic looks of George Costanza to the timeless classic looks of Miranda Priestly (and the ones she chooses for us).

Then, we break down the Amy Poehler of disorders (it's not like the other disorders): Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). What it actually is, how it differs from OCD, and why it’s often misunderstood.

We finish this week’s episode with the story of Zona Heaster Shue, also known as the Greenbrier Ghost, believed to be the only ghost to help solve her own murder in court.

If you love true crime, paranormal mysteries, psychology, and a touch of dark humor, this episode is for you.

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...fashion

Max Alexander

The Devil Wears Prada 2

And That's Why We Drink (Episode 271 on Barbro Karlén)

OCD

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

Psychology Today

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)

DTWM

Zona Heaster Shue

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we welcome special guest April Grant, Resident Counselor at Authentic Connections Counseling and Founder of True North Therapy PLLC, specializing in ADHD and OCD. We get into the tech era conundrums surrounding AI. The good, the bad, and the autonomous. Then we deep dive into the neuroscience behind OCD. How is the neurodivergent brain wired? How does it work? And can we retrain it to work with us? Leela and April walk through Leela's experience living with OCD and discuss examples of the OCD brain IRL. We end this weeks episode with two spooky occurrences. One in Virginia and one in Michigan.

This week on Drinking Tea with Monsters, we’re joined by April Grant, resident counselor at Authentic Connections Counseling LLC and founder of True North Therapy PLLC, specializing in ADHD and OCD.

First, we tackle the tech-era monster on everyone’s mind: AI. Is it a revolutionary tool, an ethical dilemma, or something more autonomous than we’re ready for? We unpack the promises, the fears, and the very real questions shaping the future of technology.

Then we take a deep dive into the neuroscience of OCD. What’s actually happening in the neurodivergent brain? How is it wired differently? And most importantly, can we retrain it to work with us instead of against us? April explains the science, breaks it down for us with real-life examples of how the OCD brain shows up day-to-day, and we talk through Leela's lived experience with OCD.

And because no episode would be complete without a haunting tale, we close with two eerie encounters, one from Virginia and one from Michigan, that might make you question what energies surround us in the modern world.

Brains. Bots. Ghosts. Let’s sip. ☕️

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

🤖 the dystopian AI future

OCD

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

Psychology Today

April Grant

Authentic Connections Counseling LLC

True North Therapy PLLC

DTWM

👻 Our true life encounters.

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Drinking Tea with Monsters, we time travel, tackle artificial intelligence, talk anxiety, OCD, and hypervigilance, one of history’s most haunting love stories, and the world's current love for Punch the monkey.

First, we go Back to the Future to ask: if we could rewrite the timeline, would we stop the rise of AI? From sci-fi predictions to modern fears about artificial intelligence, we unpack how pop culture shaped our expectations, our paranoia, and we come up with a whole new conspiracy theory.

Then we deep dive into hypervigilance. What it is, why your nervous system won’t relax, and how the “monkey mind” keeps punching the panic button when nothing is actually on fire.

And finally, we uncover the ghostly romance behind the Taj Mahal, the tragic love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, and the haunting legend surrounding the iconic white marble mausoleum in Agra, India. Is it a monument to eternal devotion, or one of history’s most beautiful ghost stories?

Pour your tea. Question the timeline. Calm your nervous system. And maybe don’t trust the robots!

Because sometimes the real monsters are the ones we build, and the ones we carry inside. ☕

Our Current Watchlist

📺 Back to the Future II (Available to buy or rent)

📺 Shrinking (Apple TV)

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

🐵 Punch the monkey

OCD

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

Psychology Today

DTWM

Taj Mahal, India

Looking for another cozy listen?

Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.