The Modern Creative Woman

Episod

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  176. How to Keep Expanding Your World 30.09.2026 20min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! As we get older, some of the things that once nourished us can quietly disappear from our lives. We socialize less because staying home feels easier. We move less. We stop taking classes, going to events, getting dressed for the day, seeing friends, or making time for the things that once brought us joy. Life changes, of course. Our families change, our work changes, our friendships change, and our priorities change. But there is a difference b...
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  175. Stop Waiting to Live Your Life: How Art and Creativity Can Transform Your Everyday 23.09.2026 20min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Are you waiting for life to become easier, calmer, or more interesting before you really start enjoying it? Maybe you're waiting until the kids are older. Until you retire. Until the big project is finished. Until you have more time. So much of adult life can become a series of things we need to finish before we allow ourselves to enjoy what is happening right now. In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores how art, ...
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  174. Are You Living Your Life, or Someone Else’s? 16.09.2026 21min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Are You Living Your Life, or Someone Else’s?Episode Summary What happens when we spend so much time online that we lose touch with our own preferences, pleasures, and experiences? In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores neuroaesthetics and the powerful role that beauty, art, architecture, color, texture, and our physical environments can play in our lives. Neuroaesthetics is a branch of cognitive neuroscience that ...
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  173. Present Moment Awareness: Why Being Here Changes Everything 09.09.2026 34min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! How often are you actually present for your own life? Research suggests that nearly half of our waking hours are spent thinking about something other than what we are doing. Our minds wander into the past, the future, imagined conversations, worries, plans, comparisons, and everything else competing for our attention. In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the surprising connection between mind wandering, happines...
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  172. Glamour Isn't a Guilty Pleasure — It's a Strategy 02.09.2026 34min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! This episode of The Modern Creative Woman reframes glamour as a "womanly art" — an intentional, creative practice of shaping your environment, style, and self-presentation — rather than vanity or performing for the male gaze. Dr. Amy opens with Natalie Portman's account of being sexualized young in Hollywood, then traces how women like Kristen Stewart, Lynda Carter, Keke Palmer, Angela Bassett, and Cynthia Erivo have pushed back against being b...
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  171. The Stories Your Brain Keeps Repeating: Neuropsychological Strategies to Change Your Inner Narratives 26.08.2026 29min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! What if the way you see the world is being shaped long before you consciously decide what you think? In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores value priming, the fascinating psychological process through which our previous experiences, environment, relationships, media, and repeated thoughts influence how we interpret what happens around us. What we repeatedly expose ourselves to can become a kind of filter, making c...
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  170. What your Symbols are Trying to Tell You: Three Art Practices to Try Today 19.08.2026 25min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! What if the images you're naturally drawn to are telling you something about yourself? Symbols have been part of human expression for thousands of years, from prehistoric cave paintings to religious imagery to contemporary abstract art. But symbols aren't only something we find in museums, books, or ancient cultures. They are part of our own inner lives, too. In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores how we can use s...
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  169. Get Ready for a Creativity Renaissance 12.08.2026 23min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Are we on the cusp of a creative resurgence? I think we are. In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, I’m exploring why so many of us feel creatively starved and why I believe this is exactly the moment to bring more art, beauty, aesthetics, reading, and creative expression back into our lives. We’ll look at how our environments, architecture, fashion, phones, social media, and declining engagement with reading and the arts have shaped the...
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  168. Rest, Reset, and Keeping Promises to Yourself: September Resolutions 05.08.2026 21min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Rest, Reset, and Keeping Promises to Yourself There is nothing selfish about taking care of yourself. In fact, you're the only person who can do it. In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos explores why the weeks before September offer the perfect opportunity to pause, reflect, and prepare for meaningful change. Rather than waiting for January's rushed resolutions, Amy explains why September often feels like the true beginning of a new year—and how thoug...
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  167. The More You Look, the More you See: Art to Help you Find Solutions to your Most Vexing Problems 29.07.2026 15min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Can looking at art actually make you more creative? Absolutely—but only if you know how to look. Many people feel intimidated walking into an art museum, worrying they won't "get it" or that they need an art history degree to appreciate what's on the walls. In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos shares five simple ways to experience art that have nothing to do with memorizing artists or reading every wall label. Inspired by a detective novel featuring ...
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  166. The Opposite of Procrastination is NOT Productivity—It is Persistence 22.07.2026 27min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Why do we procrastinate on the work that matters most? In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos explores the psychology behind creative avoidance and why procrastination doesn't mean you're lazy—it often means you're deeply invested in what you're creating. Drawing from behavioral psychology, existential psychology, personal stories, and lessons from artists, she shares practical ways to stop judging yourself, build creative stamina, and learn the two sk...
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  165. Self Conscious? Try Self CONSCIOUSNESS Instead 15.07.2026 23min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Why does being self-conscious often leave us feeling anxious, while self-consciousness can become one of our greatest strengths? In this episode, Dr. Amy Bakos explores the profound difference between these two experiences. Self-consciousness often begins in adolescence, when we become acutely aware of how others see us. While this developmental stage helps us learn social norms and belonging, many women become stuck in coping strategies shaped...
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  164. The 3 Biggest Barriers to Creativity (and How to Move Past Them) 08.07.2026 19min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Why do so many intelligent, capable women long to be creative but never quite begin? In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos explores three surprisingly common mental barriers that keep women from painting, writing, making art, and expressing themselves creatively. These obstacles aren't a lack of talent or time. They're patterns of thinking that quietly pull us away from the creative life we want. Drawing from psychology, art therapy, and over thirty ...
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  163. Stop Bypassing Your Emotions: Why Uncertainty Might Be the Best Thing for Your Creativity 01.07.2026 19min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! We spend so much of our lives trying to eliminate uncertainty. We want the right answer, the perfect decision, and reassurance that we're on the right path. But what if uncertainty isn't something to avoid? What if it's actually one of the most important ingredients for creativity, growth, and living a meaningful life? In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos explores why self-doubt is not a flaw to overcome but information to work with. Drawing from ps...
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  162. Knitting in Public: The Surprising Science of Fiber Arts and Brain Health 24.06.2026 27min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Have you ever thought about knitting as preventive healthcare? In this episode, Dr. Amy Backos explores the fascinating intersection of creativity, neuroscience, psychology, and fiber arts. What has often been dismissed as "women's work" is now backed by a growing body of research demonstrating significant benefits for brain health, emotional well-being, pain management, and even cognitive longevity. Drawing from her experience as both a psycho...
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  161. Disrupting the Male Gaze in Art: Who Gets to Be Seen? 17.06.2026 24min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! The Male Gaze in Art: Who Gets to Be Seen?In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the concept of the male gaze, its origins in art and film, and how it continues to shape what we see in museums, movies, and visual culture today. From feminist film theory to museum curation, this conversation invites listeners to look more critically at the images surrounding them and consider whose stories are being told—and whose ...
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  160. The Neuroscience of Pleasure, Desire, and Creativity 10.06.2026 30min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Show Notes: The Neuroscience of Pleasure, Desire, and CreativityIn this episode of The Modern Creative Woman, Dr. Amy Backos explores the fascinating connection between creativity, pleasure, and the brain's reward system. Drawing from neuroscience, psychology, art therapy, and her own recent experience completing a new book manuscript, Amy discusses how creativity activates the same neural pathways associated with fundamental human pleasures su...
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  159. Season 4 Premiere: Creativity, Meaning, & Art Therapy...Answers to Your Most Asked Questions 03.06.2026 30min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! Season 4 Premiere: Creativity, Meaning, and Art Therapy—Answers to Your Most Asked Questions Welcome to Season 4 of The Modern Creative Woman podcast. As we begin another year together, I'm reflecting on what an incredible journey this podcast has been. What started as an attempt to put words to something I have always understood through experience—the transformative power of art and creativity—has become a global conversation. The podcast is n...
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  158. Thoughts Are Not Facts: New Relationship with Your Mind 27.05.2026 40min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! In this episode of The Modern Creative Woman Podcast, Amy Backos explores one of the most powerful concepts in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): cognitive defusion. What happens when you stop treating your thoughts like facts? What changes when you learn to observe your mind instead of obeying it? Amy walks listeners through the neuroscience of memory, thought formation, and perception, using the metaphor of a beach visualization to demo...
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  157. The Creative Power of an Analog Summer 20.05.2026 28min

  Ask me a question or let me know what you think! What would happen if you stopped documenting your life long enough to actually experience it? In this episode, we explore the growing cultural movement toward an “analog summer” — intentionally stepping away from constant digital stimulation and reconnecting with slower, more tactile, deeply human ways of living. From knitting and painting to playing cards, baking, reading, walking, and spending time in meaningful third spaces, this conversatio...