Shrinking Heads: Recent Episodes
Emily Buikema and Kaci Guilford
Shrinking Heads is an enlightful take on pop culture and entertainment from a psychological lens. Straight from Emily's closet, Kaci and Emily attempt to use their counseling brains to create meaning in infamous moments that you didn't think needed to be revisited. Your mental health will thank you.
We discuss Jada's memoir and the confession that she and Will have been separated for 7 years. Who knew? Not us.
What happened with Britney Spears' short-lived marriage? We don't know, but we pretend to.
It was the holidays. We try our best to offer a degree of insight into Elon Musk's oddities and behavior that may explain the Twitter dumpster fire. We fail.
Christmas and Counseling combine in our whole hearted attempt to bring some Christmas cheer and insight to some of our favorite fictional characters.
Our clinical and personal takes on addiction's impact on friends and family and why drugs feel like a bad choice for...everyone?
Adam Levine's sexting game is psychoanalyzed with the as little snickering as we can muster.
We tracked down one of the British people in our lives, pastor Alex, to give his thoughts on the loss and legacy of the dearly departed Queen Elizabeth. Emily and Kaci make a point to sound stupid.
It's time for hot takes! A convenient rehashing of several previous episodes whose subjects have had major life developments.
What on earth do we have to offer Britney Griner? Mostly just hope, which we're still pretty unsure about.
We consider the complicated story of Anne Heche and the role of the counselor in processing trauma.
A favorite guest of the show, Ally Coucke, fills the therapist world in on what is with the unquestionably messed up world of the Bachelor and dating for sport. Season 3 is here!
We're kind of late to Harry's party (or house, if you will) but we want to stay and hang for a long time. Turns out there is a lot we left out about our style icon, but it makes for easy listening. Just like Harry.
In all honesty: we think both Tom Cruise and Scientology are weeeird. Kaci uses one of the most popular terms in armchair therapy in her psychoanalysis, but she's a real therapist so she bout to back it up.
Emily and Kaci get serious for this episode and discuss the topic of suicide. Moved by Naomi Judd’s recent death, Kaci brings Emily along for a ride discussing suicide, generative development, and mental health vs mental illness. Oh! And we talk turkeys… again.
For those that are struggling with suicidal thoughts, or have loved ones struggling, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255.
While Kaci is away on a weekend trip, Emily and Bethany discuss the mental health of NBA star Ben Simmons and the challenges of being a professional athlete.
The Oscars, Johnny and Amber, the Met Gala. We try our hand at multiple topics in one episode, each equally juicy.
We tried really hard to find an angle for these two, but they've got some of their own work to do before they're ready for the therapist chair.
*This is an ongoing story that has had several key developments since our recording. Our bad for ignoring the judge's phone calls to get us on the witness stand.
Who knew that one of the hottest women in the history of the world could be so unlucky in love? We (but mostly only Kaci) did. Here's hoping #6 sticks, Jenny.
Pete Davidson got cornered and finally bared his teeth. Where does he go from here and what is the appropriate societal reaction to celebrity mental illness?
Joined by two wee little guests, Emily and Kaci take a look at everyone’s favorite hush-hush character, Bruno Madrigal. In case you don’t know, or haven’t had the joy of this ear worm settling into your brain for eternity, Bruno is one of the main characters from Disney’s new release, Encanto. Bruno and his namesake song have taken hold of pop culture- and while we aren’t supposed to talk about him, we are all sure singing about him a lot. Join us as Emily, Kaci, Bob and Elsa deconstruct what is actually going on with this Bruno guy.
We're back, babies! In our first episode of Season 2, we are joined by Instagram Influencer and friend of the show, Ally Coucke (pronounced "cookie") as she illuminates the Shrinking Heads world on social media fame and eyebrow supremacy.
The Basketball GOAT is tall. And also very competitive. Emily and Kaci talk about Michael Jordan’s retirement, need to be competitive and fear of water.
In 2010, Lady Gaga wore a dress made out of meat to the VMAs because she was protesting the military, we think? If that seems far fetched to you, it kind of does to us too. We invite Stefani into the counseling chair in this throwback episode for some head shrinking and style suggestions.
Ben Affleck is no stranger to bad press. However, he really got caught in a not-so flattering interview with Howard Stern a few weeks ago, and we want to come to his rescue! Emily speaks for JLo, Bethany defends JenGarn and kids, and Kaci talks addiction in defense of Ben- but not that nasty back tattoo (sorry Ben).
Adele lost weight, and had nothing to say about it. The world, however, had a lot to say. Kaci and Emily get a little personal as they explore Adele's weight loss and why it meant so much to society, and themselves.
What do we all have in common with the biggest pop star in the world? We've known love and loss and lived to direct a 10 minute short film about our relationships.
He's a toy and he got some serious issues. We discuss his leadership, attachment, and hero complex. You'll never watch Toy Story the same.
In the first episode of this 2-parter, Kaci and Emily discuss the All Too Well short film, lost love, and whether or not Jake Gyllenhaal cares about anything.
This week, we broke out of Emily’s closet to make room for our first special guest! Join us as we take a few moments to celebrate Britney Spears’ newfound freedom and explore what her new normal may hold for her.
Last week, Chris Pratt wrote a social media post dedicated to his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger that might make you cringe or swoon depending on your disposition. In response, we dedicated our episode to feminist theory and educating the world and ourselves a little bit more about gender roles.
The 27 Club: an infamous celebrity society to which no one wants to belong. In this episode, Kaci and Emily take a look at a collective of young artists who all died at the age of 27. We are doing our part to keep it small.
In 2013, Reese Witherspoon went out with her husband and had a little too much to drink. And then she told a cop some mildly unkind things, got arrested, and issued a pretty sincere apology that seems to have worked well on us. We discuss the psychology of shame and vulnerability and how everything is worse when it's caught on camera.
In our first bonus episode, we switch things up to discuss the recent engagement of Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, how we can support them as a society, and dream of them coming in for premarital counseling. Fingers crossed.
Episode 2 is out! Brad vs Jen vs Angelina vs Society: whose head do we really need to shrink? A look back at one of the most infamous breakups of our time, leaving us to question who is the actual antagonist in this nefarious romance.
On October 31, 2011, Kim Kardashian (West) filed for divorce from Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage after a whirlwind romance and a wedding that allegedly cost $10 million. Kaci and Emily consider the pressures of celebrity, reality tv, and, like any good therapist, attachment style.