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
137 episodes
136. The Break Your Brain Is Begging For
“Self-care is how you take your power back.”— Lila Delia🧠 In This EpisodeWhy purpose = values + committed action (from an ACT perspective)How values differ from goals — and why that matters for lo...
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Season 3
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Episode 136
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22:20
135. The Neuropsychological Change Process and the Art Response
In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos continues the conversation on creating more chill holidays by exploring the neuropsychology of choice, habit, and tradition. She weaves personal reflection wi...
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Season 3
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Episode 135
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20:30
134. Stop Doing Too Much: Create Your Chill Holiday
The Process Is the Way: How to Actually Enjoy Your Holiday SeasonIn this episode, Amy shares the surprising truth about the exact right moment to pause, relax, and return to yourself: when you fe...
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Season 3
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Episode 134
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30:48
133. That Quiet Drift Away From Ourselves...and How to Return
In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos takes you inside a moment every creative woman knows too well—the quiet drift away from our creativity and, in many ways, from ourselves. What begins as a blank page or stalled idea can quickly snowball into self...
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Season 3
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Episode 133
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20:28
132. Taking Control of Your Brain
In this week’s episode, Dr. Amy Backos invites listeners into a grounding and honest conversation about the power of values—especially as we head into a season filled with expectations, pressure, and anticipatory anxiety. Using the Buddha’s tea...
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Season 3
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Episode 132
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27:42
131. Creativity and Context
"Creativity itself doesn't care about results. The only thing it craves is the process. Learn to love the process and let whatever happens happen next without fussing too much about it. Work like a monk or a mule or some other representative me...
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Season 3
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Episode 131
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21:39
130. The Product Matters Less Than You Think
“You should never let your fears prevent you from doing what you know is right.” - Aung San Suu KyiIn this episode, Dr. Amy Backos invites you to rethink your relationship with creativity, success, and even everyday life. Amy explo...
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Season 3
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Episode 130
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24:20
129. Why Compassion Is the Hardest (and Most Powerful) Thing You Can Do
“Extending yourself in compassion to another human being changes the nature of your relationship. The acknowledgment of one human being to another is what bonds, strengthens, and expands the human connection.”— Oprah Winfrey...
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Season 3
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Episode 129
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19:20
128. Curating Your Psychological Environment: The Art of Inner and Outer Harmony
“The environment is where we all meet. Where all of us have a mutual interest. It is the one thing all of us share.” - Lady Bird Johnson In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos, psychologist and art therapist, explores the powerful relation...
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Season 3
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Episode 128
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37:03
127. Your Body Knows: The Science of Embodied Cognition
The body remembers the bones. Remember the joints. Remember even the little finger remembers. Memory is lodged in pictures and feelings in cells themselves." -Clarissa Pinkola, EstesEpisode Summary:I...
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Season 3
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Episode 127
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31:38
126. Five Ways to Reignite Your Creative Power
"Play is the state of mind that we can use in our creative process to our advantage." Jessica Walsh Grab your Modern Creative Woman Manifest Here!
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Season 3
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Episode 126
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23:57
125. Desire, Sex & Creativity: Interview with Sex Therapist, Skylar Collé
"Is this hot or not hot?"Skylar Collé holds a dual Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and Art Therapy, and she is currently pursuing a PhD in Clinical Sexology. Her research focuses on the 4-D Wheel as a tool for embodied, li...
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Season 3
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Episode 125
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1:10:10
124. Tea, Community, and the Psychology of Awe
"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day." – Henri NouwenThis week on The Modern Creative Woman Podcast, Dr. Amy shares reflections from hosting a benefit tea party for I ...
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Season 3
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Episode 124
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14:58
123. From Hopeless to Hopeful: Simple Creative Shifts
“I would sooner live in a cottage and wonder at everything. Then live in a castle and wonder at nothing.” Joan Windmill Brown Hope is not just a feeling — it’s a practice, a mindset, and a vital ingredient for healing and grow...
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Season 3
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Episode 123
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20:06
122. The $100 Experiment That Changed My Self Image
“It is only a thought and thoughts can be changed.” - Louise Hay In this powerful episode of The Modern Creative Woman Podcast, Dr. Amy Backos dives into one of the most liberating concepts fro...
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Season 3
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Episode 122
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23:03
121. Add this One Habit for Peace of Mind
“A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night.” -Marilyn Vos Savant Join your Modern Creative Woman retreat here: https://...
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Season 3
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Episode 120
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25:09
120. Women in Community
“If we're by ourselves, we come to feel crazy and alone. We need to make alternate families of small groups of women who support each other. Talk to each other regularly, can speak their truths and their experiences, and find they're not alone ...
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Season 3
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Episode 120
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21:53
119. Happy Birthday to My Mom
“Knowing what you don't want is just as important as knowing what you do want.” -My MomIt's my mom's birthday today and I thought I would share 12 of the truisms she taught me growing up and ho...
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Season 3
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Episode 119
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13:43
118. Let's Catch Up!
This episode is just you and me. I thought it would be a great time for us to catch up on what's happening and let you know what I've been up to. It will be a little bit of a different episode...rather than talking with you about art therapy an...
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Season 3
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Episode 118
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21:52
117. Feasting with Your Eyes: Interview with Bebe Black Carminito
BEBE BLACK CARMINITO is a food stylist, recipe developer, content creator, cooking teacher and professional makeup artist. Her debut cookbook, The Curated Board: Inspired Platters & Spreads for Any Occasion, was published in Septem...
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Season 3
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Episode 117
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51:52
116. The Myth of Multi Tasking
Leonardo da Vinci says time stays long enough for anyone who will use it. So many of the women I work with experience time anxiety. They are relating to thoughts about time in a really unhelpful way. They're using thoughts about wha...
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Season 3
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Episode 116
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16:34
115. Art as a Neurological Product (part III)
Making art is a biological process. This is the third episode in a series about the biology of making art, and the science that informs how and why we are creating. Today we're wrapping up this three part series on the b...
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Season 3
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Episode 115
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14:29
114. Art as a Neurological Product (Part II)
“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” Twyla Tharp This episode builds on last week's conversation (episode 113) about what happens in your brain when making art. And we're taking a deep dive into the neurosci...
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Season 3
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Episode 114
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20:04
113. Art as a Neurological Product (part I)
"Art is magical, but it's not magic. It's a neurological product, and we can study this neurological product the same way that we study other complex processes, such as language." Dr. Charles Limb The next three episodes...
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Season 3
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Episode 113
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19:59
112. Women in Leadership: Interview with Dr. Shilpa Reddy
Dr. Reddy is currently the Mental Health Service Chief for the Veterans Administration Clinical Resource Hub in Visn 21, and that's a virtual mental health program that serves Nevada, California and the Pacific Islands. And she has been a tele ...
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Season 3
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Episode 112
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1:02:42