Mental Nesting
Mental Nesting is the gentle space for sensitive adults who've outgrown the "hustle through your healing" mentality. Hosted by licensed therapist and writer Barbara Guimaraes, this podcast explores the messy, nonlinear reality of rebuilding your life after trauma, heartbreak, and the kind of personal upheaval that leaves you questioning everything.
If you're someone who's done therapy, read the books, and tried all the self-help strategies but still feel like you're figuring it out as you go—this podcast is for you. Barbara brings both her clinical expertise and lived experience of navigating bipolar disorder, relationship trauma, coming out later in life, and the quiet courage it takes to choose yourself when no one taught you how.
Each episode feels like a conversation with your most emotionally intelligent friend—the one who sees your sensitivity as a superpower, not a flaw. Through vulnerable storytelling, practical frameworks, and her signature "soft but unfiltered" approach, Barbara helps you reconnect with your inner child, build unshakable self-trust, and create a life that feels authentically yours.
This isn't about optimizing or fixing yourself. It's about learning to be human—messily, beautifully, exactly as you are. Because sometimes the most radical thing you can do is slow down, turn inward, and remember that healing doesn't have to hurt to be real.
Perfect for highly sensitive people, therapy graduates, late bloomers, and anyone who's ever felt "too much" in a world that demands you be less. Welcome to your emotional homecoming.
Mental Nesting
The Construction Site Metaphor: Why Your Mess is Actually Progress
What if the chaos in your life isn't evidence that you're broken, but proof that you're building something beautiful?
In this deeply personal episode, Barbara shares the metaphor that transformed how she sees her healing journey - and why thinking of yourself as "under construction" instead of "falling apart" changes everything.
After her relationship ended and a medication poisoning left her unable to walk, Barbara felt like all her progress had vanished. But a simple observation at a construction site revealed a profound truth: sometimes what looks like destruction is actually the foundation for something stronger.
You'll learn:
- Why healing phases mirror construction phases (and why the "messy middle" is necessary)
- How to celebrate milestone moments instead of waiting to be "finished"
- The difference between being broken and being under renovation
- Practical ways to honor your construction timeline without apology
- Why your sensitivity isn't a flaw in the blueprint - it's a feature
Perfect for anyone who's tired of apologizing for still figuring things out, this episode offers a gentle reframe that honors both your progress and your process.
Because messy healing is still healing. And under construction is still moving forward.
Trigger warning: Brief mentions of medication side effects and relationship endings
Connect with Barbara: @mentalnesting_ on Instagram
Thank you for being here, beautiful soul.
If this episode resonated with you, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a review—it helps other sensitive souls find this gentle space we're creating together.
Connect with me:
- Instagram: @mentalnesting_
- Substack: mentalnesting.substack.com
- Email: hello@mentalnesting.com
Join The Nest
The Nest is my free community where we have conversations like this and you don’t have to explain yourself as much.
Want to work together?
I offer gentle, nervous-system-informed support for therapy-experienced and sensitive adults. Learn more about coaching and community offerings at homecoming.mentalnesting.com.
Remember: Messy healing is still healing. You don't have to be done to be enough.
Mental Nesting Podcast: For sensitive adults who've outgrown the hustle
