In this episode of Empower Hour, April and Audrey sit down with a powerful new voice, Tavia Calhoun. As a college student, part of Gen Z, and a deeply thoughtful observer of culture, Tavia has been ringing the alarm bells on artificial intelligence and what it may be quietly costing us as humans.

This is not an anti-technology conversation. It’s an intentional one.

Together, we explore how AI is shaping education, mental health, creativity, work, and even our natural resources, often without people realizing the full impact. Tavia brings a refreshing and grounded perspective, challenging the assumption that faster and easier always means better.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The environmental cost of AI, including how massive data centers drain local water supplies

• Why AI can be helpful but also dangerous in mental health spaces, especially without human judgment or reality-checking

• The growing concern around AI replacing critical thinking in education, not just supporting it

• How reliance on AI can erode confidence, creativity, and authentic voice

• The ethical issues of AI entering art, music, and creative industries without transparency

• Why boundaries, awareness, and intention matter more than total rejection

• The difference between technology that supports development and technology that replaces it

Tavia also shares what it’s been like to be encouraged by a college professor to use AI for coursework, raising important questions about what learning is supposed to cultivate in the first place.

At its core, this episode is about something simple and vital:

Human connection, discernment, and responsibility still matter.

Technology isn’t going away, but how we choose to engage with it will shape the future of our work, our creativity, our mental health, and our humanity.

If this episode resonated with you, we would love to hear your thoughts. Reach out to us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or through our website and join the conversation.

In this powerful and deeply affirming episode of Empower Hour, April and Audrey welcome Tasha Cofer, a certified postpartum and bereavement doula, grief and life coach, and host of the Holding Women Through Grief podcast.

Tasha brings wisdom, honesty, and tenderness to a conversation many women desperately need but rarely hear spoken aloud. Together, they explore the realities of postpartum life, grief in all its forms, and the vital importance of support, advocacy, and permission to heal at your own pace.

💛 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

What a Postpartum & Bereavement Doula Really Does

Tasha explains the difference between birth doulas and postpartum doulas, and how bereavement doulas specifically support women through miscarriage, stillbirth, infant loss, and other forms of grief. Unlike traditional therapy settings, her work often begins in the home or even at the hospital, meeting women exactly where they are.

Grief Is More Than Loss of a Person

Grief can come from miscarriage or infant loss, but it can also come from unmet expectations, traumatic births, NICU stays, breastfeeding struggles, body changes, or the loss of identity and independence after becoming a parent.

Postpartum Depression vs. Grief

Tasha breaks down how grief, mourning, depression, and anxiety can overlap, and how to recognize when someone may need additional mental health support beyond grief care.

The Pressure to “Bounce Back”

The episode confronts the harmful societal expectations placed on postpartum women. Tasha shares why rest, not performance, is essential and why social media often adds pressure instead of support.

Boundaries, Advocacy, and Saying the Hard Things

From hospital rooms to family visits, women are often unsure how to speak up. Tasha explains how doulas can help advocate when women aren’t ready or able to do so themselves and why it’s okay to let someone else be the “bad guy.”

Three Essential Postpartum Needs

• Rest (not just sleep)

• Self-care (beyond basic hygiene)

• Connection and community

Trusting Yourself as a Parent

Tasha emphasizes the importance of trusting your instincts, asking questions, slowing providers down when needed, and avoiding the overwhelm of Google and social media rabbit holes.

Honoring Loss and Creating Meaningful Remembrance

From candles and prayer to memory bears and keepsakes, Tasha shares many ways families can honor babies and experiences they’ve lost, with no pressure to grieve “the right way.”

What Loved Ones Should (and Shouldn’t) Say

Tasha introduces the powerful concept of WAIT: Why Am I Talking? and explains why silence, presence, and practical help often speak louder than words.

Rapid Fire Wisdom

• Every postpartum parent needs more grace

• It’s time to ask for help when functioning and connection feel impossible

• The smallest acts of care, like meals and chores, can make the biggest difference

⸻

📍 How to Find Tasha Cofer

Tasha shares several ways to connect with her and her work:

• Email: holdingwomenthroughgrief@gmail.com

• Podcast: Holding Women Through Grief (available on all major podcast platforms)

In this honest, funny, and deeply validating episode of Empower Hour, April Thorndyke sits down with Jess Gambill, an LCSW at Empower Counseling’s Boise location, to tackle some of the most common myths people believe about therapy.

This is not the polished, clinical version of therapy talk. This is the real, human, sometimes spicy truth about what therapy actually is, what it is not, and why so many misconceptions keep people from getting the support they deserve.

Together, April and Jess break down the beliefs that create fear, shame, or unrealistic expectations around therapy and replace them with clarity, compassion, and common sense.

⸻

✨ What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• Why therapists do not have their lives perfectly together

• The truth about “therapy is just talking” and why that misses the point

• Why therapists don’t tell you what to do (even when they want to)

• Whether there’s a “right” way to act, talk, or show emotion in therapy

• Why crying in therapy is not weakness, but progress

• The myth that therapists have all the answers

• Why one session (or a few) can’t magically fix everything

• What it really means when therapy takes longer than expected

• Whether therapists ever get emotional about their clients’ stories

• Why therapy can’t fix your partner

• The harmful belief that therapy is only for “broken” people

⸻

💬 Key Takeaways

• Therapy is a relationship between two humans, not a hierarchy

• Progress is not linear and cannot be rushed

• The goal of therapy is insight, regulation, and growth, not perfection

• You are allowed to give feedback, change therapists, and advocate for yourself

• Therapy is for growth, maintenance, and support, not just crisis

As Jess beautifully puts it in this episode: “Broken crayons still color.”

⸻

👩‍⚕️ About Today’s Guest

Jess Gambill, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Empower Counseling’s Boise location. She also serves as a Director of an Outpatient Group Therapy Program and specializes in bariatric assessments and telehealth counseling. Jess is known for her grounded, real-world approach and her ability to create safe, human therapeutic spaces.