How to Deal When the Shit Gets Real Podcast · Rietta Boksha

Coach Mak: Actionable Anxiety

·55 min·3 clips

In Salt Lake City, Mack says she could not step into her home and felt terror “every minute” for a year.

Mack says that when things get real, the mind can go straight into overdrive. That old pattern looks like thinking hard, thinking fast, strategizing, and collecting data. As a full-time anxiety coach, Mack now works with that process in a more useful way. The goal is to change how people think, feel, act, and react to anxiety. The conversation also stays close to the gap between then and now. Ten years ago, Mack says the idea of becoming an anxiety coach would have sounded impossible. They were more likely to imagine ending up in a psychiatric ward and not interacting with the outside world than standing in front of people as a support resource. That contrast gives the episode its emotional weight. Mack speaks warmly about showing up for people in online groups. There is a clear urgency in wanting to help as quickly as possible. At the same time, there is sadness in seeing how far some people have had to fall before reaching for support. Mack notices that other people often find help earlier than they did. That recognition comes with gratitude and a little envy. It feels honest rather than polished. One of the strongest images in the conversation is the idea of giving the brain a bubble bath. Mack uses that language to talk about the work of calming anxious thinking. They contrast that with the dabblings and doings people often try when they are desperate for relief. The episode keeps returning to the idea that support should be practical, human, and available before things get unbearable. Mack ends by insisting that when it feels like everything is over, the goodness may actually be starting.

As heard by us

A plainspoken conversation about anxiety, isolation, and the value of reaching for help sooner.

Coach Mack talks plainly about living with anxiety and about the work of becoming an anxiety coach. The conversation stays close to the lived experience: old habits, self-examination, and the way isolation can arrive faster than people expect.

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Why you'd press play

You want an anxiety conversation that feels lived-in, not polished from a lecture hall.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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