The Modern Creative Woman
The art and science of creativity, made simple.
Through the lens of art therapy, neurocreativity, and cutting-edge research, you’ll learn not just why you create, but how to create with more freedom, intention, and joy. Dr. Amy Backos — author, art therapist, psychologist, professor and researcher, with 30+ years of experience — unpacks the evidence-based psychology behind creative living.
Come for the science. Stay for the transformation.
Episodes
179 episodes
178. Synchronicity: What Is Your Mind Trying to Notice?
I'd like to invite you to my online Paris Soiree. Click here to receive your invitation.Synchronicity...
177. You Are Allowed to Evolve: Rethinking Purpose, Values, and What Matters Now
You Are Allowed to Evolve: Rethinking Purpose, Values, and What Matters NowWhat mattered to you when you were 15?Maybe it was friends, school, family, dating, fitting in—or simply getting through the day. Now think about wh...
176. How to Keep Expanding Your World
As we get older, some of the things that once nourished us can quietly disappear from our lives. We socialize less because staying home feels easier. We move less. We stop taking classes, going to events, getting dressed for the day, seeing fri...
175. Stop Waiting to Live Your Life: How Art and Creativity Can Transform Your Everyday
Are you waiting for life to become easier, calmer, or more interesting before you really start enjoying it?Maybe you're waiting until the kids are older. Until you retire. Until the big project is finished. Until you have mo...
174. Are You Living Your Life, or Someone Else’s?
Are You Living Your Life, or Someone Else’s?Episode SummaryWhat happens when we spend so much time online that we lose touch with our own preferences, pleasures, and experiences?In this episode of The Modern Creative ...
173. Present Moment Awareness: Why Being Here Changes Everything
How often are you actually present for your own life?Research suggests that nearly half of our waking hours are spent thinking about something other than what we are doing. Our minds wander into the past, the future, imagined conversatio...
172. Glamour Isn't a Guilty Pleasure — It's a Strategy
This episode of The Modern Creative Woman reframes glamour as a "womanly art" — an intentional, creative practice of shaping your environment, style, and self-presentation — rather than vanity or performing for the male gaze. Dr. Amy o...
171. The Stories Your Brain Keeps Repeating: Neuropsychological Strategies to Change Your Inner Narratives
What if the way you see the world is being shaped long before you consciously decide what you think?In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores value priming, the fascinating psychological proces...
170. What your Symbols are Trying to Tell You: Three Art Practices to Try Today
What if the images you're naturally drawn to are telling you something about yourself?Symbols have been part of human expression for thousands of years, from prehistoric cave paintings to religious imagery to contemporary abstract...
169. Get Ready for a Creativity Renaissance
Are we on the cusp of a creative resurgence? I think we are.In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, I’m exploring why so many of us feel creatively starved and why I believe this is exactly the moment to bring more art, be...
168. Rest, Reset, and Keeping Promises to Yourself: September Resolutions
Rest, Reset, and Keeping Promises to YourselfThere is nothing selfish about taking care of yourself. In fact, you're the only person who can do it.In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos explores why the weeks before September offer the pe...
167. The More You Look, the More you See: Art to Help you Find Solutions to your Most Vexing Problems
Can looking at art actually make you more creative? Absolutely—but only if you know how to look.Many people feel intimidated walking into an art museum, worrying they won't "get it" or that they need an art history degree to appre...
166. The Opposite of Procrastination is NOT Productivity—It is Persistence
Why do we procrastinate on the work that matters most? In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos explores the psychology behind creative avoidance and why procrastination doesn't mean you're lazy—it often means you're deeply invested in what you're creati...
165. Self Conscious? Try Self CONSCIOUSNESS Instead
Why does being self-conscious often leave us feeling anxious, while self-consciousness can become one of our greatest strengths?In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos explores the profound difference between these two experienc...
164. The 3 Biggest Barriers to Creativity (and How to Move Past Them)
Why do so many intelligent, capable women long to be creative but never quite begin?In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos explores three surprisingly common mental barriers that keep women from painting, writing, making art, and expressing the...
163. Stop Bypassing Your Emotions: Why Uncertainty Might Be the Best Thing for Your Creativity
We spend so much of our lives trying to eliminate uncertainty. We want the right answer, the perfect decision, and reassurance that we're on the right path. But what if uncertainty isn't something to avoid? What if it's actually one of the most...
162. Knitting in Public: The Surprising Science of Fiber Arts and Brain Health
Have you ever thought about knitting as preventive healthcare?In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos explores the fascinating intersection of creativity, neuroscience, psychology, and fiber arts. What has often been dismissed as "women's work" ...
161. Disrupting the Male Gaze in Art: Who Gets to Be Seen?
The Male Gaze in Art: Who Gets to Be Seen?In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the concept of the male gaze, its origins in art and film, and how it continues to shape what we see in museums, m...
160. The Neuroscience of Pleasure, Desire, and Creativity
Show Notes: The Neuroscience of Pleasure, Desire, and CreativityIn this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the fascinating connection between creativity, pleasure, and the brain's reward system. Draw...
159. Season 4 Premiere: Creativity, Meaning, & Art Therapy...Answers to Your Most Asked Questions
Season 4 Premiere: Creativity, Meaning, and Art Therapy—Answers to Your Most Asked QuestionsWelcome to Season 4 of The Modern Creative Woman podcast.As we begin another year together, I'm reflecting on what an incredible ...
158. Thoughts Are Not Facts: New Relationship with Your Mind
In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman Podcast, Amy Backos explores one of the most powerful concepts in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): cognitive defusion. What happens when you stop treating your thoughts like facts? W...
157. The Creative Power of an Analog Summer
What would happen if you stopped documenting your life long enough to actually experience it?In this episode, we explore the growing cultural movement toward an “analog summer” — intentionally stepping away from constant digital stimulat...
156. Art Is Political: Creativity, Democracy, and the Courage to Speak
In this powerful and deeply personal episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the inseparable relationship between art and politics, and why creativity is not a luxury—but a necessity for a healthy society.F...
155. Procrastination Cure
What actually creates a meaningful life? In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the deep connection between meaning, motivation, values, and behavior. Drawing from psychological research, personal stories...
154. A New Way to Respond to Uncertainty
When life feels uncertain or overwhelming, it’s natural to return to familiar ways of coping. These patterns often developed for good reason—they worked at one point in time. But as circumstances change, those same strategies can become limitin...