In Session with Ashley B.

Ashley Buckner
  • 4.7 (34)
  • Mental Health
  • Weekly

In Session with Ashley B. is a therapist-led podcast for the moments we feel seen, heard, and believed — where real conversations happen. 🌻 Each episode explores listener questions and real-life experiences around trauma, mental health, religious harm, faith deconstruction, and nervous system regulation, with nuance, curiosity, and care. Hosted by Ashley Buckner, LMFT, licensed therapist and Certified Brainspotting Practitioner in Utah and California. This podcast is educational and reflective in nature and is not a substitute for therapy.

  1. 23h ago

    When Faith Feels Like Fear: An Ex-Mormon Therapist Answers Your Questions

    What if the place that promises peace is leaving you anxious—and the thought of leaving feels just as overwhelming? This month, we’re back to your submissions. I respond to a member questioning the church while fearing for their family’s eternity, a parent navigating LDS youth programs in a mixed-faith marriage, and a listener feeling like an outsider in a deeply religious community. We talk about making room for questions, helping kids develop boundaries, and finding belonging without having to hide who you are. I also reflect on last month’s conversation with Ryan Sanford, share the promised “dick-fishing” update, and get unexpectedly emotional about self-doubt, my experience with postpartum depression, and why this community keeps me showing up. Whether you’re questioning, staying, leaving, or building a life outside religion, you deserve space to be honest about your experience. SUBMIT A QUESTION OR STORYhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dXCjsH8gf8O4NvmcTvNnFeKQm7NgE5uwm1vqqKdjHSs/viewform FINDING MEANINGFinding Meaning: Regulating Your Nervous System After Religion is a 10-week course designed to help you better understand your nervous system, reconnect with yourself, and build a meaningful life after religion. Enrollment is currently closed, but you can join the waitlist to be notified when the course becomes available. 👉 Join the Waitlist Content note: Includes explicit sexual discussion, religious distress, and discussion of postpartum depression. In Session with Ashley B is reflective and educational and is not a substitute for therapy.

  2. Oct 4

    An Ex-Mormon Therapist & a Mormon Creator Have an Honest Conversation

    What happens when an LDS content creator and an ex-Mormon trauma therapist take their conversation beyond social media? This month, I’m joined by Ryan Sanford, who converted to the LDS Church at 22 and has responded to several of my videos online. We sit down to explore where we agree, and where our perspectives diverge on sexuality, shame, religious trauma, and church accountability. We discuss the difference between choosing a religion as an adult and growing up inside it, whether harmful experiences can be separated from the teachings themselves, and what meaningful accountability could look like. There’s room for connection and disagreement in the same conversation. There’s also room to ask difficult questions. SUBMIT A QUESTION OR STORYhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dXCjsH8gf8O4NvmcTvNnFeKQm7NgE5uwm1vqqKdjHSs/viewform FINDING MEANINGExplore Ashley’s live 10-week course on regulating your nervous system after religion:https://ashleyb.circle.so/finding-meaning Content note: Includes discussion of sexuality, pornography, sexual abuse, and religious trauma. In Session with Ashley B is reflective and educational and is not a substitute for therapy.

  3. Sep 6

    "Dickfishing,” Bishop Interviews & the Fear of Hell

    What happens when someone sends an explicit photo that doesn’t match what arrives in person? What do you do when a roommate reports your sexual experience to your bishop? And how can you respect a believing spouse when your own wounds from religion are still wide open? In this listener-submission episode, Ashley discusses “dickfishing,” honesty and sexual boundaries, traumatic bishop interviews, mixed-faith marriage, fear-based religious conditioning, and the fear of hell that can remain long after someone begins questioning their beliefs. She also shares an encouraging update from a listener learning to love herself, reflects on her dream of writing a memoir, and explores why mistakes, accountability, and repair can be some of our greatest opportunities for healing. Content note: This episode contains explicit sexual discussion and conversations about consent, boundary violations, religious trauma, fear of hell, and childhood sexual abuse. SUBMIT A QUESTION OR STORYhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dXCjsH8gf8O4NvmcTvNnFeKQm7NgE5uwm1vqqKdjHSs/viewform FINDING MEANINGExplore Ashley’s live 10-week course on regulating your nervous system after religion:https://ashleyb.circle.so/finding-meaning GOOD INSIDEAshley recommends Dr. Becky Kennedy’s Good Inside parenting app:https://www.goodinside.com/ Use promo code ASHLEY10. It should give you 10% off! This podcast is offered for education and reflection. It is not therapy or a substitute for professional mental-health care.

  4. Aug 2

    Sex, Shame and the Fantasies We’re Afraid to Discuss

    This is the explicit sex episode. Ashley responds to listener submissions about sexual shame and explores what happens to desire, pleasure and intimacy after growing up in purity culture. In one of her most vulnerable conversations yet, Ashley discusses masturbation, sexual fantasies, same-sex attraction, bisexuality and intimacy within marriage. She also explores the fear or panic that can arise during sex, sexual double standards, consent, nervous-system responses and learning to experience desire without automatically treating it as sinful. This episode contains explicit sexual discussion and conversations about childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault. Please listen with care. SUBMIT A QUESTION OR STORY https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dXCjsH8gf8O4NvmcTvNnFeKQm7NgE5uwm1vqqKdjHSs/viewform FINDING MEANING Explore Ashley’s live 10-week course on regulating your nervous system after religion: https://ashleyb.circle.so/finding-meaning This podcast is offered for education and reflection. It is not therapy or a substitute for professional mental-health care.

  5. Jul 5

    Uncomfortable Doesn’t Mean Wrong: Boundaries, Therapy, and Life After Mormonism

    In this listener-submission episode, Ashley explores the discomfort that often comes with leaving Mormonism, creating boundaries, embracing your sexuality, and learning to trust your own instincts. She responds to questions about finding a therapist who understands LDS culture without allowing personal beliefs to interfere with treatment, setting boundaries with parents who repeatedly push church attendance, and deciding whether it is emotionally safe to come out to religious family members. Ashley also discusses why you are not responsible for managing a parent’s disappointment, how boundaries teach others what kind of relationship they can have with you, and why discomfort can sometimes be evidence that you are growing rather than making the wrong decision. Plus, Ashley announces an upcoming course about finding meaning and regulating your nervous system after religion.

  6. Jun 7

    Mixed Faith, Betrayal, and the Pressure to Endure

    In this month’s listener Q&A, Ashley responds to questions about mixed-faith marriage, relationship betrayal, confusing mental health diagnoses, career uncertainty, and the hidden pressures many people carry after growing up in high-demand religious environments. Topics discussed include: • Navigating a mixed-faith marriage while raising children • Processing betrayal and rebuilding trust after discovering secret online behavior • Why trauma can sometimes be mistaken for multiple different diagnoses • The pressure to endlessly serve, sacrifice, and “endure” in Mormon culture • Learning to tolerate uncertainty when the future feels overwhelming • Finding compassion for yourself when life isn’t unfolding according to plan As always, this podcast is intended for education and reflection and is not a substitute for therapy. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and remember that healing rarely requires having all the answers.

  7. May 3

    Baptism and Hard Conversations

    In this episode, Ashley explores the complex intersection of personal grief and major life transitions, starting with the passing of her grandmother and the unique challenges of navigating a traditional Mormon funeral after leaving the faith. She shares an update on her move into a new home, reflecting on the process of finally feeling grounded in Utah and the importance of finding community. These personal stories set the stage for a deeper look at how we hold space for ourselves when life feels dysregulating and how we can offer ourselves grace during seasons of significant change.The rest of the conversation focuses on listener submissions regarding the intense pressure surrounding childhood baptism and mixed faith parenting. Ashley discusses how to handle family expectations when choosing not to follow traditional milestones and offers clinical perspective on what is developmentally appropriate for children. She addresses the nuances of raising kids with a partner who has different beliefs and emphasizes that the goal of parenting is not perfection but the ability to repair and connect. The episode concludes with a look at the long term effects of marrying young and a reminder that you are not alone in navigating these complicated dynamics. Follow me on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/ashleyb_therapy⁠Link for submissions: ⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dXCjsH8gf8O4NvmcTvNnFeKQm7NgE5uwm1vqqKdjHSs/edit

  8. Apr 5

    Mormon Missions and the Nervous System

    In this episode of In Session, Ashley Buckner, LCSW, dives deep into the neurophysiological impact of LDS missions and the long-term effects of religious conditioning. Ashley explores the developmental vulnerability of eighteen-year-olds entering high-pressure missionary environments, highlighting how strict power dynamics and rigid rules can foster lasting trauma. Beyond systemic critiques, the conversation offers a supportive space for those navigating the "post-Mormon" landscape, including reflections on the psychological weight of General Conference and the curious fascination apologists hold for ex-member narratives. The heart of the episode centers on real-life listener submissions, ranging from the anxiety of a sibling’s mission call to the lingering regret over career paths sacrificed for religious service. Ashley introduces vital therapeutic concepts like flashback states and body-based healing, explaining that because trauma lives in the nervous system, talking about it isn’t always the best path to recovery. Listeners will walk away with practical grounding techniques—such as color walks and the five-senses exercise—and a reinforced sense of permission to set firm boundaries with religious figures as they reclaim their intuition from years of conditioning. Follow me on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/ashleyb_therapy⁠Link for submissions: ⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dXCjsH8gf8O4NvmcTvNnFeKQm7NgE5uwm1vqqKdjHSs/edit

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4.7
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

In Session with Ashley B. is a therapist-led podcast for the moments we feel seen, heard, and believed — where real conversations happen. 🌻 Each episode explores listener questions and real-life experiences around trauma, mental health, religious harm, faith deconstruction, and nervous system regulation, with nuance, curiosity, and care. Hosted by Ashley Buckner, LMFT, licensed therapist and Certified Brainspotting Practitioner in Utah and California. This podcast is educational and reflective in nature and is not a substitute for therapy.

Information

  • Creator
    Ashley Buckner
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ashley Buckner
  • Show Website
    In Session with Ashley B.

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