Pickles and Vodka: a Mental Health Podcast · Christina & Lauren

#219 More Magical Thinking

·40 min·3 clips

Lauren dedicated her aerial performance to a friend who died that morning, using grief as fuel on stage.

Hosts Christina and Lauren revisit the topic of magical thinking, prompted by a listener email. They define magical thinking as the belief that unrelated events are causally connected without a plausible link. Lauren shares that she recently returned to therapy with a previous therapist who provides validation. Christina performed in an aerial show with a dark, undead theme set to Evanescence. A friend of Christina's, who was a sex trafficking survivor turned advocate, passed away the morning of her performance. Christina dedicated her aerial show to her late friend, describing how she operated on autopilot. Lauren attended her first Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast, experiencing its initiation rituals and underwear run. The hosts discuss how magical thinking often manifests as rituals to manage anxiety, like counting or time-based challenges. Christina recalls a childhood ritual with her sister involving specific goodnight phrases. Both hosts relate to the compulsion to complete tasks before a toilet finishes flushing. They explore the idea that magical thinking provides a sense of false control over life's uncertainties. Lauren connects her eating disorder behaviors to a desire for control and magical thinking about outcomes. Christina notes that socially accepted forms of magical thinking, like religious practices, can normalize its appearance in mental health. Lauren describes a symbolic bonfire where she burned written representations of personal struggles. The hosts contrast potentially harmful magical thinking with grounding techniques like naming sensory details. They briefly mention their guest criteria, preferring people they know who have reliable recording equipment. The episode has a conversational and candid tone, blending personal storytelling with reflective discussion. Listeners interested in the intersection of superstition, ritual, and mental health will find this episode engaging. Those seeking highly structured or clinical discussions of psychological concepts might prefer to skip.

As heard by us

A loose, grounded chat about magical thinking in ordinary life.

Christina and Lauren circle a familiar tension: some beliefs get treated as normal, while others draw suspicion. The therapy check-in and listener prompt keep the conversation grounded, and the best passages lean on small, lived-in details like the cold of early November and…

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Why you'd press play

You want a blunt, cozy take on magical thinking that starts with therapy and ends in guest logistics.

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