Author Archives: Christy Barongan

Sadie the Artist, Part 1 Podcast

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Christy Barongan

After talking about politics with Sadie from ages 8 to 19 for a few episodes, I decided to switch to talking about Sadie’s love for all things creative. Which is where her passion has always been since she was an infant, sitting in her crib, entertaining herself with stories until someone came to get her. Similar to the previous episode, I share her my memories of those times and ask her what her experience was like from the child’s, and now adolescent’s, perspective.

Bonus Track: we coulda been

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Sadie for President 2028? Podcast

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Christy Barongan

This interview took place a few days ago. The 2 prior podcasts were some of my fondest memories of writing my blog, and I hope you enjoyed them. In the next 3 episodes I ask Sadie to reflect on what her mindset was at that time and in what ways it has changed or remained the same. This podcast focuses on her political aspirations. Because they were interviews, there is no accompanying post. But as a bonus, I open and close the episode with a clip from one of her songs, which still needs to be recorded.

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Posted in Creativity, Podcast and tagged adolescence, identity, values. Bookmark the permalink.

The Greatest Gift I’ve Received to Date

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Christy Barongan

What is the greatest gift someone could give you?

I got my gift on August 15. It was hip replacement surgery. I told the orthopedic surgeon at my three month follow up that he didn’t save my life, but he gave me my life back. Because I love tennis, and I have been living without it for six years. I thought that I was never going to be able to play again.

I was glad I could thank him in person. I also calculated the number of surgeries that he’s done. I estimated it to be 28,000. If you could add 800 every year. Just in case he ever encounters someone as obsessive as me. 🙃

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1807. Bookmark the permalink.

My Schools

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Christy Barongan

What colleges have you attended?

UVA: BA in Psychology and English, clinical psychology internship

Kent State, Ph.D. In Clinical Psychology

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Sadie for President Podcast

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Christy Barongan

This podcast features an audio interview I did with Sadie on August 4, 2015 as she impressively describes her platform at 10 years of age, as well as why she became interested in politics.

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Posted in Podcast and tagged Michelle Obama, Presidential candidate platform, Washington D.C., White House. Bookmark the permalink.

Out of the Mouths of Babes Podcast

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Christy Barongan

The next podcast series will include interviews with my niece. This one was from a blog post written on November 27, 2014. You can read the blog post here.

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Posted in Podcast, Relationships, Self-Acceptance. Bookmark the permalink.

Positive and Negative Feedback Podcast

Posted on December 31, 2025 by Christy Barongan

Have you ever noticed that when someone says something negative about you it carries much more weight than when someone says something positive about you? One psychological theory for why this happens is that, from an evolutionary perspective, when something negative happens this is a signal that something has changed in our environment and we may have to do something about it. When everything is status quo, or even positive, everything is status quo and we just go about our business.

To read the full blog post, click here.

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Posted in Podcast, Psychology and tagged criticism, evolutionary theory, negative feedback, positive feedback, self-criticism. Bookmark the permalink.

Knitting and Relationships Podcast

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Christy Barongan

I first learned to knit at an eating disorder conference. The presenter was using knitting as a metaphor for what recovery was like. It’s so difficult to figure out how to get started, or to think you’ve made progress, only to have to rip everything out. The presenter was totally addicted to knitting but clever. And it’s true. Knitting has taught me a lot about life. The blog post can be read here.

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Posted in Mental Health, Podcast, Psychology, Relationships, Self-Acceptance and tagged cognitive complexity, immigrants, knitting, neuropsychology, relationships, repetition compulsion, sensation seeking, trauma. Bookmark the permalink.

Massages: Stress Relief? Podcast

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Christy Barongan

This post was originally written on September 26, 2013. It was my abrupt introduction to massage as a necessary part of my self-care routine. If, when you hear of massage as being self-care, you think of spas, candles, aromatherapy, and bliss, then you may be surprised to find out how hard self-care can actually be.

The blog post can be read here.