Barriers to Breakthroughs
Welcome to Barriers to Breakthroughs! A podcast that discusses important topics in women’s sports and what goes on inside the brain of an athlete. Perfectionism, recovering from injury, and bullying, are just some of the many things that can defeat your spirits and ruin your confidence to perform. Through interviews and solo shows, host Emma Woodhouse, a 2-Time All-American skier and 2020 UNH Female Athlete of the Year, brings these topics to light and shows athletes that they are not alone and that you can overcome those barriers to breakthrough!
Episodes
41 episodes
040. Believing in Yourself When the Odds Are Stacked Against You with Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski
Today's guest is Olympic gold medalist Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski. After years of competing in World Cup events and making the national team, Kasia qualified to be in the women’s 8 event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. With just over a month until ...
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55:35
039. Athletes with OCD Explained with Cali Werner
Today's episode is with marathon runner and OCD and mental health advocate Cali Werner! Cali is a former D1 track athlete out of Rice University where she received a National Honorable Mention in track! Cali now has a master’s degree in social ...
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44:46
038. Finding Hope Through the Ups and Downs of Life & Sports with Reagan Rust
Today's episode is with professional hockey player Reagan Rust! She is a former D1 hockey player who played for RIT and then Boston University where she was inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame and was actually the first women’s D1 hockey pla...
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48:34
037. Coping from Trauma and Understanding Your Mental Health Diagnosis with Miranda Bacon
Today's is with Miranda Bacon, former D1 Swimmer from the University of New Hampshire where she was a 9-Time All-America East recipient, a 2-Time inductee into the National College Athlete Honors Society, and she supported her team to 3 America...
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59:48
036. Am I Determined or Is It My Anxiety?
Today's episode is all about slowing down. As an athlete, we are told to always push through and keep working until we win but is that really benefitting us? Throughout my career, especially at my lowest points, I felt like I just needed to wor...
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20:49
035. 3 Questions to Help You Discover Your Identity Outside of Sports with Amanda Whitham
Today's episode features former track and field athlete Amanda Whitham! This high jumper and hurdler competed for Bryant University where she's a Top-10 Bryant record holder in pentathlon + 60m hurdles! Amanda also served as co-president for th...
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39:46
034. My Mental Health & The Future of the Podcast
My mental health has not been great these past few months. Feeling stressed about all the things I want to achieve, and feeling guilty when I want to rest (which makes me more stressed)!This was an episode that I've been wanting to do a...
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26:10
033. Body Image, Perfectionism & Craving External Validation with Sofia Borea
Today's episode features Sofia Borea, a former D1 soccer player who played for the University of New Hampshire! During her time at UNH, she played in every single game, and achieved the America East All-Rookie Team honor in her freshman year!
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58:53
032. The Journey of Self-Discovery When You're In Your Slump Seasons with Grace Dafoe
Today's episode features Canadian skeleton athlete Grace Dafoe! Grace is a part of the Canadian National team where she has competed in several North American cups and international competitions where she has several podium finishes! Grace also...
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57:09
031. Navigating the Student-Athlete Schedule, Team Expectations & Anxiety with Erika Ward (Part 2)
Today's episode is back with Erika Ward! Former D1 Volleyball player for Bryant University where she became the Division 1 career digs record holder, helped her team to win the NorthEast Conference Tournament, and earned a second-team Al...
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41:27
030. Growing a Healthy Relationship Between Food, Body & Performance with Erika Ward (Part 1)
Today's episode is with Former D1 Volleyball player Erika Ward. She's a recent graduate from Bryant University where she became the Division 1 career digs record holder, helped her team to win the NorthEast Conference Tournament and earned a se...
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50:30
029. Reframing Negative Self-Talk, Giving Yourself Space to Let Out Your Feelings & Sticking to a Simple Plan with Maddy Price
Today's episode is with Maddy Price, Olympic, World Championship, and former collegiate track and field athlete who has competed for Canada at multiple Junior World and World Championship events, competed collegiately for Duke University earnin...
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52:41
028. Losing a Teammate to Suicide & Ending the Stigma Around Mental Health with Sarah Golemme
Today's episode is with Sarah Golemme, Div 2 soccer player at Concordia University, Saint Paul in Minnesota! In this conversation, we talk about her journey through her soccer career, her mental health journey with depression and also continuin...
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46:48
027. Beyond the Blocks: Depression as a NCAA Swimmer & Finding Your Identity After Retirement
Today's guests are Lia Barskey and Alexa Rivera from the Beyond the Blocks podcast! These two former NCAA swimmers randomly found each other and realized they shared similar experiences in college. In creating the podcast, their mission is to c...
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37:39
026. Larissa Franklin: Feeling Enough, Finding Daily Wins & Discovering What's in Your Back Pocket
Today's guest is Canadian softball player Larissa Franklin! This outfielder has competed with the Canadian national team at multiple international events throughout her career such as the Pan American Games, winning gold in 2015 and silver in 2...
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1:05:27
025. Fighting for Gender Equality in Pursuit of the Olympic Dream with Haley Daniels
Today's guest is Olympic and multi Pan-American Games medalist Haley Daniels who is coming off a whirlwind of a year of competing in her first Olympic games and it was the first games ever to feature women's canoe events! Haley has been an ad...
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35:50
024. Managing Anxiety and Depression as a Student-Athlete & Speaking Up About Mental Health with Emily Dolloff-Holt
Today’s guest is Emily Dolloff-Holt, former Division 1 swimmer from the University of New Hampshire. During her time at UNH, she earned multiple medals at America East Championships and helped the team to 3 All-America East Championship titles!...
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49:21
023. Accepting Your Road to Recovery & Setting Goals for Success with Valerie Grenier
Today's episode features Canadian alpine ski racer Valerie Grenier! She has been a very successful ski racer already in her young career by earning multiple top 20 finishes in World Cup Giant Slalom events as well as top 5 finishes in speed eve...
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31:59
022. Stepping Away from Gymnastics, Experiencing Burnout & Coming Back Stronger Than Ever with Kristina Vaculik
Former Olympic and NCAA artistic gymnast Kristina Vaculik comes on the podcast to talk about her journey of making the Canadian Olympic team in 2012 and the obstacles she's had along the way. Throughout her career, she has won multiple medals a...
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37:18
021. Changing the Narrative & Keeping the Fun Alive as a High-Level Athlete with Erin Latimer
2x Paralympic Ski Racer Erin Latimer, comes on the podcast to reflect on her experiences as a para-athlete and what she's learned along the way. During her professional career, she earned several WC podium finishes and top 10 finishes at the Pa...
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55:21
020. Evolving Your Mindset & Being Hungry for More with Olympic Bronze Medalist Katie Vincent
Today's episode features Katie Vincent, Canadian sprint canoeist, world champion and Olympic bronze medalist! She comes on the podcast to talk about her experiences at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and what it means for her to be a part of the Olympi...
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49:46
019. The #1 Tool That Successful Athletes Use to Improve Performance
In today's episode, Emma talks about one of the most useful, most underrated secrets to athlete success (in her opinion). It’s a tool used by many successful athletes if not all of them and it's crucial for self-reflection and improvement in yo...
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13:22
018. Living with ADHD: My Story, Experiences & Common Misconceptions
Emma sits down to share her story and experiences with ADHD, how her diagnosis changed her life as well as speaking into the common misconceptions that surround ADHD.Links:Book a Free 15 min Strategy Call with Emma
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12:58
017. Sexism in the Golf Community & Transferring Schools in the NCAA with Sophie Kitchen
Today's episode features Sophie Kitchen who competed in the NCAA golf circuit for the University of Minnesota and Williams College! She comes on the podcast to talk about her experiences of sexism in the world of golf, and about the age old say...
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36:44
016. Entering Anorexia Treatment & Developing a Healthy Relationship with Food with Alice Merryweather
Today's episode features World Cup ski racer and mental health advocate Alice Merryweather! Throughout her career (so far), Alice has had several top 15 finishes in the speed events, placed 1st in the downhill at the 2017 World Junior Champions...
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42:24