In Session with Nat & Ang

In Session with Nat & Ang
  • 3.7 (3)
  • Mental Health

Welcome to In Session with Nat & Ang!We’re Nat and Ang, and this podcast is a safe space where we talk about mental health, real life, and what it’s like being Arab American.Each episode, we open up about the struggles, thoughts, and feelings that many of us keep inside. We talk about balancing both parts of who we are, learning how to cope, and finding tools and resources that actually help.You’ll hear vulnerable moments, silly conversations, and unexpected stories as we figure things out together.Join us In Session and walk with us on this journey—one honest conversation at a time.

  1. 3d ago

    The Reason You Can't Trust Anyone Might Have Nothing to Do With Them

    You say you trust people. But do you? Or are you just waiting for them to prove you right about what you already believe — that everyone eventually lets you down? In this episode, we get into the thing nobody wants to admit: that most of our trust issues aren't about the person in front of us. They're about the person who hurt us years ago. We break down whether trust should be earned or freely given, what happens when past pain bleeds into new relationships, and whether it's actually possible to love someone you don't fully trust. This conversation got real — and it might change how you look at every relationship in your life. In this episode, you'll learn: The difference between being cautious and self-sabotaging — and how to tell which one you're actually doing right nowWhy forgiveness and trust are not the same thing — and why one has to come before the other can even beginThe question you need to ask yourself before you blame the other person for your inability to let them inChapters: 00:00 – Welcome and Today's Topic 01:22 – Can Broken Trust Actually Be Repaired? 03:23 – Should Trust Be Earned or Freely Given? 05:15 – Why Trust Gets Harder the Older You Get 07:00 – What Trust Actually Looks Like in Practice 09:06 – There's Always Gonna Be a "What If" 10:20 – Can You Love Someone You Don't Trust? 14:11 – How Past Relationships Wreck Your Current One 17:15 – Are You Reacting to Them or to Your History? 18:00 – Relationship OCD and Unrealistic Expectations 23:23 – Where to Start When Rebuilding Trust 26:06 – Second Chances — Where's the Line? 31:22 – You Can Forgive and Still Walk Away 35:20 – One Piece of Advice for Someone Struggling to Trust 38:00 – Don't Block Something Beautiful Because of Something Broken 41:04 – Be Cautious, But Don't Self-Sabotage

  2. Jul 17

    What Would You Tell Your 18-Year-Old Self? (The Answer Might Make You Cry)

    Someone asked us a question that hit harder than we expected: if you could give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be? And honestly, I didn't think I'd get this emotional about it. We went back to who we were at 18. The insecurities, the overthinking, the fear of rejection, the freedom we didn't appreciate until it was gone. One of us even read a letter she wrote to her future self years ago. And hearing those words now, knowing everything we've been through since, it just broke us. This episode is for anyone who's been so focused on what's next that they forgot to look around at what's right in front of them. In this episode, you'll learn: The fear that quietly held both of us back for years — and why it had nothing to do with failure and everything to do with something much deeperA letter written at 18 that predicted almost everything — and the three things she told herself to never let go ofThe one Japanese phrase that completely reframed how we look at every season of life — and why knowing something will end makes it matter moreChapters: 00:00 – Welcome Back and Today's Question 02:14 – Who Were We at 18? 05:02 – The Fear of Rejection That Kept Us Small 06:56 – What I'd Tell My 18-Year-Old Self 08:57 – Why the Hard Path Was the Right One 11:19 – Stop Overthinking — It's Not the End of the World 13:23 – We Were All in the Same Chapter Back Then 15:42 – A Feeling Is Just a Feeling and It Will Pass 17:59 – Did Life Turn Out the Way You Planned? 20:22 – The Japanese Phrase That Changed Everything 25:04 – Reading a Letter to My Future Self 29:42 – Keep Three Things: Hope, Faith, and Love 31:49 – Why You Should Write Yourself a Letter 35:09 – What Gets Better With Age 37:00 – What's Brought You the Most Peace in Your Twenties? 40:02 – Letting Go of Control 42:22 – The 2016 Theme Party That Made Us Feel Ancient 44:21 – Final Message: Every Phase of Life Means Something

  3. Jul 9

    Your Brain Is Lying to You. Here's What Depression Actually Looks Like

    You've probably said it before. "I'm so depressed." But do you actually know what depression looks like when it's real... when it's clinical... when it's the kind that convinces you there's no point in getting out of bed, seeing your friends, or even looking forward to tomorrow? In this episode, we're getting honest about depression — the difference between feeling sad and actually being diagnosed, why the happiest person you know might be the one suffering the most, and a brain surgery story that completely changed the way we understand what's happening inside someone's mind when they can't feel joy. We also share what's helped us personally and what to do if someone you love is going through it right now. In this episode, you'll learn: The clinical difference between sadness and depression — and why throwing the word around can be more harmful than you thinkA brain surgery story that reveals what depression actually does to the way you see the world — down to the colors around youSimple tools that don't require a complete life overhaul — just one thing today that can start to bring the light back inChapters: 00:00 – Crisis Resources and Outro Message 00:32 – Welcome and Why We're Talking About Depression 02:46 – Stop Throwing Around Words Like "Depressed" and "Bipolar" 05:01 – When Sadness Starts Getting in the Way of Your Life 07:20 – The Person Smiling the Most Might Be Suffering the Most 09:42 – The Brain Surgery That Changed Everything 12:06 – A Simple Mental Health Check You Can Do on Any Walk 14:32 – Your Brain Can Change How You Experience the World 16:34 – What We'd Say to Someone Who Feels Hopeless Right Now 20:48 – What Actually Helped During Our Hardest Seasons 25:16 – Therapy, Medication, Sleep, and What You Put in Your Body 29:55 – Why You Isolate and What to Do Instead 34:46 – Mood Monitoring and Building a New Routine 39:31 – How to Show Up for a Friend Who's Struggling 43:31 – Find One Thing Today 45:26 – This Is Not a Substitute for Professional Help

  4. Jul 2

    The Real Reason You're Stuck in a Situationship (It's Not Him)

    You like him. He seems like he likes you. But nothing's moving forward and you have no idea where you stand. Sound familiar? We're breaking down situationships today… why they happen, why we stay in them way too long, and why the answer to your confusion is usually already sitting right in front of you. We're also getting into the talking stage, the dating stage, exclusivity, and why there are way too many labels for something that should be simple. This one got heated. We have strong opinions. And we brought receipts. In this episode, you'll learn: The one question most women are afraid to ask — and why his reaction to it tells you everything you need to knowWhy "I still picked you" is the most dangerous line a man can use — and what he's really saying when he says itThe self-check you need to do before entering any relationship — because the real problem might not be him at allChapters: 02:15 – What a Situationship Actually Is 04:36 – Why Won't He Just Commit? 07:00 – Age, Intentions, and When It Gets Serious 09:25 – Why Women Don't Say What They're Feeling 11:46 – The Fear of Losing the Potential 14:09 – When Words Sound Right But Mean Nothing 16:33 – Why Women Want to Be Picked So Badly 19:02 – What to Do If You're in a Situationship Right Now 21:15 – Talking vs. Dating vs. Exclusive — What's the Difference? 26:01 – How Long Is Too Long to Figure It Out? 30:39 – The Self-Work You Need to Do First 33:01 – Listen to What He Says — It's More Telling Than You Think

  5. Jun 24

    Autism in Our Community: The Conversation We've Been Avoiding

    There's a conversation happening in almost every Arab household right now… but most families are having it behind closed doors. Parents are scared. They have questions. And they don't know where to turn because nobody in our community is talking about it openly. In this episode, we break down autism, what it actually is, what it looks like across the spectrum, and why the shame and stigma around it in our culture is doing more harm than the diagnosis ever could. We've both worked directly with autistic children as registered behavior technicians, and we're sharing what we've learned, what we've seen, and what we wish more parents understood. In this episode, you'll learn: Why so many families feel like autism "came out of nowhere", and the real reason it seems to be increasing in our communityThe single mindset shift that changes everything for parents who just received a diagnosis, and why most are doing the oppositePractical tools we used every day working with autistic children that any parent can start using at home right nowChapters: 00:00 – Why We Need to Talk About This 02:20 – Welcome and What Today's Episode Is About 04:41 – What Autism Actually Is 06:52 – How the Brain Works Differently 09:03 – What Stimming Looks Like and Why It Happens 11:25 – They Experience the World Through a Different Lens 13:43 – Obsessions, Routines, and Why They Matter 16:09 – The Book That Changed Everything 18:25 – Stop Fixing, Start Understanding 20:36 – Why Shame and Stigma Are Hurting Our Community 25:16 – The Genetic Component Nobody Talks About 31:28 – How to Help at Home: Naming Feelings and Token Systems 38:35 – Grounding Techniques and Taking Data 43:19 – The Beauty and Reward of This Journey

  6. Jun 17

    Body Image, Beauty Standards, and the Lies Our Culture Taught Us

    You've been hearing it your whole life. From family, from social media, from random people who feel entitled to comment on your body like it's their business. And at some point, you stopped questioning it and just believed them. In this episode, we're getting real about body image, where our insecurities actually come from, why our culture is so brutal about weight, and what happens when you start chasing a version of yourself that was never yours to begin with. This one's personal. We're sharing our own experiences and breaking down why so many of us are walking around at war with our own bodies. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why the way your family talked about food and weight when you were a kid is still shaping how you see yourself today — and you might not even realize it - The dangerous cycle that starts when you tie your beauty to other people's approval — and why it never stops at just one thing - A simple reframe that can shift the way you feel about your body — even on the days you don't want to look in the mirror Chapters:  00:00 – Welcome Back to In Session 01:54 – Our Personal Relationship With Body Image 05:57 – Growing Up Feeling Like the Biggest One in the Room 09:30 – When Your Relationship With Food Gets Dangerous 13:53 – How Your Family Shaped the Way You See Food 20:15 – The Cultural Comments That Stay With You Forever 26:24 – Why Beauty Standards Never Stop Changing 30:41 – Why "Just Lose Weight" Is Never That Simple 35:02 – Comparing Yourself the Moment You Walk In 39:39 – Unresolved Insecurities and Why People Project 41:30 – Social Media Is Making All of This Worse 47:18 – Body Dysmorphia and Where the Line Is 51:37 – Learning to Love Your Body for What It Can Do

  7. May 7

    The Dangerous Line Between Ambition and Losing Yourself

    We all came from the same place. Our parents came here with nothing… just a dream and a plan to survive. So how did we go from chasing safety to chasing status? And why does it feel like no matter how much we get, it's never enough? This episode came from real conversations we had this week with people in our community. We break down what happens when money stops being a tool and starts becoming your identity. We talk about the insecurity underneath the ambition, why people confuse power with respect, and what it actually looks like to be content when everything around you says you should want more. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the jump from survival to greed happens so fast in our community — and the one thing most people never notice until it's too lateThe real reason some people with everything still feel empty inside — and what they're actually chasing underneath the moneyHow to check yourself before ambition crosses the line into something that costs you the people and the peace that matter mostChapters: 00:00 – Welcome Back and What Sparked This Episode  01:09 – From Farmers to Fortune Chasers  3:09 – Why Greed Feels Like a Disease 04:54 – It Started With Survival, Then Became Something Else  07:04 – The Psychology Experiment That Proves How Fast Power Corrupts  09:59 – When You Lose Sight of Who You Are  11:00 – Insecurity Is the Root of It All 13:47 – Chasing the Feeling vs. Having the Thing  15:36 – When Ambition Crosses the Line  18:13 – The Types of Rich People Nobody Talks About  22:25 – What Keeps You Grounded When Money Shows Up  29:34 – Gratitude as the Antidote to Greed  37:55 – Community Over Competition  47:52 – Final Message: Choose Your Master

  8. Apr 22

    Your Friend Isn't Ignoring You. She's Doing This Instead

    We used to think a real friendship meant fighting hard, making up harder, and proving your love through the drama. I was wrong. In this episode, we're getting into the messy middle of adult friendships… the ones that drain you, the ones that drift, and the ones you're scared to walk away from because you've known this person your whole life. We talk about why some of the healthiest friendships never fight, what's actually happening when your friend goes quiet for days, and the one signal that tells you it's time to have the conversation… or time to let the friendship fade. Z If you've ever felt guilty for pulling away, confused about why a friend's words hurt more than they should, or stuck wondering if you're the problem, this one is for you. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the friends who never text back might actually love you more than you thinkThe one thing every draining friendship has in common (and most people miss it)The difference between a friendship worth fighting for and one worth fading fromChapters: 00:00 – Why We're Getting Into This One 00:44 – Have We Ever Had a Friendship Breakup? 02:36 – How Big Friend Groups Naturally Shrink 04:31 – The Real Reason Your Circle Gets Smaller 06:27 – What Actually Keeps a Friendship Alive 08:35 – The Truth About Bad Texters 12:46 – When a Friend Is Draining You 17:12 – Being Honest vs. Being a Therapist 19:15 – The Friend Who's Their Own Worst Enemy 23:40 – When a Friend Keeps Hurting You 27:45 – Jealousy, Intent, and Reading Energy 36:06 – The Friend You Can't Cut Off 41:48 – When Betrayal Comes From Your Person 45:37 – A Public Service Announcement

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Ratings & Reviews

3.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Welcome to In Session with Nat & Ang!We’re Nat and Ang, and this podcast is a safe space where we talk about mental health, real life, and what it’s like being Arab American.Each episode, we open up about the struggles, thoughts, and feelings that many of us keep inside. We talk about balancing both parts of who we are, learning how to cope, and finding tools and resources that actually help.You’ll hear vulnerable moments, silly conversations, and unexpected stories as we figure things out together.Join us In Session and walk with us on this journey—one honest conversation at a time.

Information

  • Creator
    In Session with Nat & Ang
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 In Session with Nat & Ang
  • Show Website
    In Session with Nat & Ang