The Curious Empath (Formerly: Who We Are & What We Need)

Catherine sits down with Cristine Hull, PhD — founder of the Zero Point Meridian Technique and creator of Frequency Formulas — for a wide-ranging conversation about the road from living entirely "in her head" to becoming a practitioner of energy psychology and quantum healing. She and Catherine dig into brain integration and heart rate coherence, the neuroscience of different neurodivergent minds, Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies, and Cristine's Love Solve method for processing the four core negative emotions — anger, fear, sadness, and guilt — including some delightfully practical ways to actually get anger out of the body.

Join Cristine for a free webinar 8/26/26!

Contact Cristine - Website - Instagram - LinkedIn - YouTube
Contact Catherine - Website⁠ - ⁠Substack

What is divination really for — predicting the future, or understanding the energy you're working with right now? In this episode, investigative metaphysician and certified Monroe Institute trainer Demi Pietchell joins me to unpack her eclectic toolkit (tarot, runes, shufflemancy, sound medicine) and the throughline beneath all of it: intention. We talk about how she tunes into collective energy from a distance, the discernment required to hold that kind of sensitivity, and how ancient sites like Malta's Oracle Chamber may have been built to resonate at frequencies that shift consciousness. A conversation about using insight to empower choice — not to hand over your agency to fate.

Contact Demi: Website
Sign up for her Manifestation Training Aug 7-9 (use code 20ce20 for a 20% discount)
Contact Catherine: Website - Substack

Editing and Logo by Catherine Quiring

In this conversation, Katherine Spearing discusses her new book, 'A Thousand Tiny Papercuts,' which explores the complexities of spiritual abuse and the journey to reclaim autonomy after leaving high-control religious environments. The discussion delves into the insidious nature of spiritual abuse, the confusion experienced by individuals trying to navigate their faith, and the emotional turmoil that often follows leaving such systems. The conversation also highlights the importance of understanding the BITE model of control and the potential for thriving after leaving these environments, emphasizing the need for healing and self-acceptance.

Join Catherine Quiring in conversation with Megan Griffith, autistic and ADHD life coach, content creator, and author of Welcome to AuDHD: How to Survive and Thrive as an Adult with Autism and ADHD. This wide-ranging discussion explores what it means to live at the intersection of autism and ADHD, from communication differences and alexithymia to masking, self-trust, and disability identity.
Megan shares her diagnostic journey through misdiagnosis, the research behind her book (including lived experience from her community), and practical tools like EFT tapping for emotional processing. Catherine and Megan discuss monotropic vs. polytropic thinking, the building blocks metaphor for masking, and how childhood emotional neglect affects neurodivergent people—even in loving homes where authentic selves weren't fully mirrored.
This episode offers validation, clarity, and hope for anyone navigating neurodivergence, whether self-diagnosed or formally assessed.

Resources:
Neuroclastic Directory
EFT (Emotion Freedom Technique) Tapping (with Sophia Graniela, another podcast guest)
“HSP or Autism?”
Neurodivergence Lived Experience Summit: 1/23-25/2026

Connect with Megan Website - Book
Connect with Catherine: Website - Substack - YouTube - Neurodivergent Self-Diagnosis Consultation

Key Topics:
The History of AuDHD: Why autism and ADHD couldn't be diagnosed together until 2013 (DSM-5)

Alexithymia Explained: Difficulty identifying emotions in the moment, but processing them later through "back doors" like journaling or intellectual processing

EFT Tapping: A practical tool for accessing difficult emotions through meridian points and parasympathetic nervous system activation

Communication Differences: How neurotypical people give 70% of information expecting you to fill in gaps, while autistic people typically give 100%

Monotropic vs. Polytropic Thinking: Flashlight (deep focus) vs. lantern (broad attention) approaches to thinking and work

Masking as Building Blocks: A trauma response metaphor—not a removable mask, but borrowed blocks that became part of your tower

Self-Trust and Validation: How diagnosis (formal or self) can affirm "I was right about me all along"

Disability Identity: Community perspectives on whether AuDHD is a disability, difference, or "it's complicated"

Childhood Emotional Neglect: How unmirrored enthusiasm and unmet attachment needs affect neurodivergent children

Intersectionality: Research findings on disability, police violence, and the "ugly laws" that prohibited visible disability in public until the 1970s

Practical Tools:
EFT Tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
Three-step process: Acknowledgment → Validation → Gentle Reframe

Taps meridian points while processing difficult emotions

Helps access emotions through the "back door" for those with alexithymia

The 24-Hour Rule for Self-Trust
When trusted people disagree with your reality perception

Put a pin in it for 24 hours

Revisit to see if your perspective has shifted or held steady

Neither perspective is necessarily "wrong"

Meta Conversations
Pausing during disagreements to discuss how the conversation is happening

Addressing tone, communication style, and assumptions

Creating clarity about different communication preferences

Hi,⁠ I’m Catherine⁠. I’m grateful to share this time and space with you.
I’m a counselor living on the Emerald Coast of Florida, on the unceded land of the Muscogee. I am a creative, mystic, and neurodiverse adventurer. I love writing, creating, and connecting.
I love helping folx⁠ Befriend Your Inner Critic⁠,⁠ Become Your Own Best Friend⁠, and ⁠reclaim your untamed soul⁠.
Thank you for being here in this sacred space we get to co-create, as we come home to ourselves and enjoy the fruit of that self-belonging. I love hearing from you and⁠ walking alongside you⁠ on your journey.
My free gift to you: ⁠⁠3 steps to trust yourself⁠⁠.
With a full heart,
Catherine

Have you ever caught yourself in cycles of self-sabotage, then felt like this proved you were fundamentally flawed? For years, many of us were told this was evidence of our “sinful nature.” But what if that explanation isn’t just wrong—what if it’s creating the very problems it claims to solve?
This episode explores religious trauma through Internal Family Systems therapy, revealing how “dying to self” theology creates internal oppression, and offering a revolutionary alternative based on self-compassion rather than self-control.
What you’ll learn:
✓ How religious environments create the “Inner Controller”—an internal slave master
✓ Why “dying to self” doctrine is psychologically harmful, especially for sensitive minds
✓ The neuroscience showing self-compassion works better than self-control for growth
✓ Internal Family Systems alternative: parts with good intentions vs “sinful nature”
✓ Why your “self-sabotage” might actually be self-protection needing updates
✓ How to rebuild spirituality from wholeness rather than brokenness

Perfect for:
Religious trauma survivors questioning harmful theology

People deconstructing faith while wanting to maintain spiritual connection

Anyone taught their emotions, body, or instincts can’t be trusted

Those struggling with shame-based identity from religious conditioning

Individuals healing from spiritual abuse or authoritarian religious environments

Key theological reframes:
Human behavior stems from need-meeting, not cosmic battle between good/evil

Your core Self already embodies “fruits of the spirit”—they’re not borrowed from outside

Parts of you labeled “sinful” may actually be authentic aspects needing integration

Self-compassion isn’t self-indulgence—it’s neurologically necessary for growth

Important notes:
This episode respects diverse spiritual beliefs while addressing harmful applications

Focuses on psychological healing, not theological debate

Includes resources for religious trauma recovery

Content may be triggering for those with severe religious trauma

If you’re struggling with:
Depression or anxiety related to religious experiences

Thoughts of self-harm connected to religious shame

Severe religious trauma symptoms

Please reach out to mental health professionals trained in religious trauma recovery.

Part of the Befriending Your Inner Critics series: This penultimate episode addresses the Inner Controller—the critic formed in religious environments that taught you to distrust your own heart, mind, and instincts. Recovery involves updating these parts with compassionate truth.
Next steps: Befriend Your Inner Critic Course
Your worth is not contingent on your performance. You are loved exactly as you are.

Connect with Catherine: Website - Substack - Pinterest - YouTube

Hi, I’m Catherine. I’m grateful to share this time and space with you.
I’m a counselor living on the Emerald Coast of Florida, on the unceded land of the Muscogee. I am a creative, mystic, and neurodiverse adventurer. I love writing, creating, and connecting.
I love helping folx Befriend Your Inner Critic, Become Your Own Best Friend, and reclaim your untamed soul.
Thank you for being here in this sacred space we get to co-create, as we come home to ourselves and enjoy the fruit of that self-belonging. I love hearing from you and walking alongside you on your journey.
My free gift to you: ⁠3 steps to trust yourself⁠.
With a full heart,
Catherine