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Summer is officially ON, so it's a great time to hear from YOU in another mailbag episode where Vanessa reads the texts you've sent us!

This batch pulls together a few threads from episodes we've released over the last few months - some will make you laugh, and some might make you tear up just as Vanessa did when reading them out.

And if you want to send us a message about the podcast or about something you'd like Vanessa to discuss over the summer - just tap the link right above/below!

Episodes mentioned:

• May 2026 - text from an inmate with the Prison Mathematics Project
• May 2026 - Vanessa's meltdown over tax season
• April 2026 - our last mailbag episode

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

Today's episode truly puts the "therapy" in Math Therapy! Vanessa chats with her friend Amy Johnston, a psychotherapist and empathic deep thinker, to discuss how trauma takes root in us, how it transfers through generations, and how being vulnerable about our own experiences can help us inspire students to rewrite their own narratives.

This is a truly heartfelt conversation exploring questions like:

• Why your own math trauma is actually your greatest teaching superpower
• How to use strategies like narration real-time in the classroom
• How intergenerational trauma is like a snowball rolling downhill - and how to finally stop it

About Amy: (Website, Instagram)

Amy Johnston, MSW, is an Integrative Therapist specializing in inner world explorations with her clients. She lives in a magical forest up in Northern Ontario, Canada.

*CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED* This episode is sponsored by Texas Instruments! Listen to the episode for instructions to enter to win an "Oh My Math" box featuring:

• the new TI-84 Evo graphing calculator + 4-yr license
• an adorable plushie TI calculator keychain!

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

Vanessa recently took one step closer to her dream of hosting a Netflix show, recording the first ever live Math Therapy interview!

For her session last week at Leander ISD's annual Math Joy Conference in Texas, she interviewed self-proclaimed "chaos-driven non-compliant educator" Chase Orton - and you can now hear their extremely unfiltered conversation in front of a room full of teachers whose gasps are VERY audible throughout!

Chase and Vanessa share a fearlessness in calling out the education as it is, and in this convo they cover hot topics like:

• how teachers can stay motivated in a broken system
• who standardized testing benefits (hint: not students or teachers!)
• how to follow the rules while rebelling against the status quo

About Chase: (Website, YouTube)

As an accomplished facilitator of lesson study for K-12 math teachers, Chase Orton partners with districts who are interested in taking a teacher-centered, teacher-directed approach to professional development. Chase is also the author of The Imperfect and Unfinished Teacher of Mathematics.

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here