Bet you never thought your favorite TV show and your favorite podcast would cross paths, did you? But Stranger Things is bursting at the seams with powerful mental health metaphors and parallels—so many, in fact, that we decided to make it a mini-series!

In this first episode, we explore how some of the stories, characters, and even monsters from Seasons 1 and 2 reflect real mental health experiences, including trauma, anxiety, recovery, and being a caretaker. We also explore the power of belief, connection, and community—and why healing isn’t a single heroic moment, but a long walk through the Upside Down with people who keep the lights on for you.

Connect with us!

Website - www.embracementalhealthnsc.org

Instagram - @embrace.mental.health

Facebook - www.facebook.com/emh.nsc/

Email - embracementalhealthnsc@gmail.com

If you’ve ever wondered why you tend to pull away, cling tightly, or feel uneasy in close relationships, this episode explores how Attachment Theory can help make sense of those patterns. Attachment styles aren’t diagnoses or personality flaws — they’re adaptive responses formed in early relationships to help us survive and stay connected. In this episode, we unpack what attachment is, how it develops, and why everyone has an attachment style shaped by their relational experiences.

We walk through the four main attachment styles — secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized — and explore how they show up in adult relationships, from romantic partnerships to friendships, family dynamics, and even work environments. Most importantly, we talk about why attachment is not a life sentence. Healing and earned secure attachment are possible through awareness, nervous system regulation, safe relationships, and therapy. Attachment styles explain how we learned to protect ourselves — not how we’re required to connect forever.

Resources:

• Quiz Link: https://quiz.attachmentproject.com/

• https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_513-1

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3855268/

• https://archive.org/details/sim_developmental-psychology_1992-09_28_5/page/758/mode/2up

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247946864_Patterns_of_attachment_A_psychological_study_of_the_strange_situation_Mary_D_Salter_Ainsworth_Mary_C_Blehar_Everett_Waters_and_Sally_Wall_Hillsdale_NJ_Erlbaum_1978distributor_HalstedWiley_New_York_xvi

• https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/development-and-psychopathology/article/abs/children-classified-as-controlling-at-age-six-evidence-of-disorganized-representational-strategies-and-aggression-at-home-and-at-school/2A8C2B7A7350A024CC6341D8E3530171

• https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1540-5834.00037

• https://www.jstor.org/stable/1127388?origin=crossref

• https://www.jstor.org/stable/1128475?origin=crossref

• https://books.google.com/books?id=WzHIfiCXE8EC&pg=PA121#v=onepage&q&f=false

Connect with us!

Website - www.embracementalhealthnsc.org

Instagram - @embrace.mental.health

Facebook - www.facebook.com/emh.nsc/

Email - embracementalhealthnsc@gmail.com

Bipolar disorder is often misunderstood, oversimplified, or reduced to stereotypes that don’t reflect the lived reality of those who experience it. In this episode of our Behind the Label series, we take a grounded, compassionate look at bipolar disorder — what it is, what it isn’t, and how it actually shows up in the brain, body, and daily life. We explore the statistics and basics, the neurological systems involved, and the emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms across depressive, manic, and hypomanic episodes.

We also discuss causes, evidence-based treatments, and how therapy and medication work together to support long-term stability — not by suppressing personality, but by creating space for consistency, insight, and functioning. Finally, we talk directly to loved ones about what’s helpful versus harmful, how to offer steady support without trying to control the illness, and we address some of the most common misconceptions that contribute to stigma and shame. This episode is about clarity, understanding, and moving beyond labels toward informed compassion.

Connect with us!Website – www.embracementalhealthnsc.org
Instagram – @embrace.mental.health
Facebook – www.facebook.com/emh.nsc/
Email – embracementalhealthnsc@gmail.com