Once Upon a Session
Once Upon a Session is a podcast where two therapists bring their love for books, storytelling, and emotional insight together. Each session explores a theme — attachment, grief, love, trauma, healing — through the lens of fictional characters and real-life growth. It’s cozy, funny, heartfelt, and deeply human.
Episodes
20 episodes
Session 18: Love Triangles & Toxic Relationships- Red Flags We Romanticize
Love triangles aren’t always about choosing between two people.Sometimes they’re about choosing between the relationship you have… and the one you deserve.In this episode, we explore the psychology behind toxic relationships throu...
Session 17: Self Sabotage- When Fear Wears a Disguise
Why do we push away the things we want most?In this episode, we explore the psychology of self-sabotage through Elide Lochan from Throne of Glass and Anthony Bridgerton from The Viscount Who Loved Me. One believes she’s...
Session 16: Daddy Issues- The Fathers Who Shape Us
Some of our earliest lessons about love, safety, and self-worth come from the people who raise us.In this episode, we explore the psychology of the father wound through Klaus Mikaelson from The Vampire Diaries and Dorian Havilli...
Session 15: Grief- The People We Become After Loss
Grief changes us.Sometimes in obvious ways.Sometimes in ways we don’t recognize until much later.In this episode, we explore the psychology of grief through Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones and Diana Martinez f...
Session 14: Class Clown- The Funny Ones Are Never Okay
Some people make jokes because they’re funny.Others make jokes because they learned early that making people laugh was safer than letting them see the truth.In this episode of Once Upon a Session, we explore the psychology b...
Session 13: Fallen Warriors- Why Heroic Sacrifice Breaks Our Hearts
Some characters die in battle.Others become the reason people keep fighting.In this Memorial Day episode of Once Upon a Session, we explore the psychology of sacrifice, loyalty, and what it means to be remembered through two fallen w...
Session 12: Best Friends- Soulmates, But Platonic
Some friendships feel bigger than the story itself.In this episode of Once Upon a Session, we explore the psychology behind deep friendship, loyalty, and the people who become part of our identity through connection.From Ron and H...
Session 11: Mommy Issues- How Childhood Attachment Shapes Adult Relationships
Why do maternal relationships shape us so deeply—and why are they so hard to untangle?In this episode of Once Upon a Session, we break down the psychology behind “mommy issues”—the ways early maternal dynamics influence identity...
Why We Love Star Wars: The Psychology Behind the Obsession
In this special episode of Once Upon a Session, Vanessa and Nareesa break down the emotional and psychological layers behind some of the most iconic characters in Star Wars. From complicated parent-child dynamics to identity, ...
Session 10: Sidekicks in the Spotlight- What Happens When You Feel Invisible
Why do side characters so often become the ones we love most?This week on Once Upon a Session, Vanessa and Nareesa explore the psychology behind fan-favorite supporting characters and why the people in the background sometimes leave the ...
Session 9: Forbidden Love- Why We Want What We Can’t Have
Some love stories are easy to root for. Others… make you pause.In this episode of Once Upon a Session, Vanessa and Nareesa explore the psychology behind forbidden love — the pull toward relationships that exist between desire and consequ...
Session 8: Plot Twists & Emotional Whiplash
Why do plot twists hit so hard—and why do we kind of love them?In this episode of Once Upon a Session, we break down the psychology behind emotional whiplash—those shocking, unpredictable moments in books and relationships that ...
Session 7: Hard to Love- When Empathy Gets Complicated
Some characters are easy to love.Nesta Archeron and Jaime Lannister aren’t.In this episode, we unpack what it really means when someone is labeled “hard to love”—and how trauma, shame, identity, and self-protection can push people...
Session 6: Quest For Closure- Why We Crave Answers We May Never Get
Closure… we talk about it like it’s something we’re owed. Like if we just get the right conversation, the right apology, the right ending everything will finally make sense.But what if closure isn’t something we receive… What if it’s som...
Session 5: Sibling Dynamics- The Roles We Learn In Our Families
In this episode of Once Upon a Session, Vanessa and Nareesa explore the psychology behind sibling relationships in fantasy and fiction. From fierce loyalty to painful rivalry, siblings often shape the emotional core of the stories we l...
Session 4: Fictional Men & Real Standards- Why Book Boyfriends Feel So Addictive
Welcome back to Once Upon a Session — where stories meet healing.Let’s be honest: fantasy men have been setting the bar way too high… or maybe exactly where it should be.In this session, Vanessa and Nareesa unpack why we ...
Session 3: Emotional Cover Charge- Why Some Relationships Drain You
Welcome back to Once Upon a Session — where stories meet healing.You know that moment when someone’s energy starts to feel… expensive? That’s the emotional cover charge.In this episode, Vanessa and Nareesa unpack what it ...
Session 2: Villains Who Needed Therapy- The Trauma Behind The Darkness
Welcome back to Once Upon a Session — where stories meet healing.Some villains just needed a session — or ten.In this episode, Nareesa and Vanessa unpack the psychology of literary and fantasy antagonists: the misunderstood, the m...
Session 1: Psych Wards- What Psychiatric Hospitals Actually Feel Like
Welcome back to Once Upon a Session — where stories meet healing.We’re pulling back the curtain on life inside a psych ward — not the movie version, but the human one.Vanessa and Nareesa talk about the realities of inpati...