You have a beautiful soul with Miriam Putnam

The Hotflash inc Podcast menopause + midlife by Ann Marie McQueen

0:00

-40:26

You have a beautiful soul with Miriam Putnam

Episode 191

Hotflash Inc

Dec 25, 2025

SPONSOR: Thank you to our sponsor, Timeline Nutrition – makers of Mitopure™, the first clinically tested Urolithin A supplement that supports cellular energy and muscle strength.Visit www.timeline.com and use the code HOTFLASH for 20% off your first order.

Miriam Putnam is a certified wellness coach, spiritual mentor and freedom-from-stress counselor with more than 25 years of experience in holistic mental health advocacy. Miriam’s life’s work was shaped by the heartbreaking loss of her mother, who struggled with mental illness, misdiagnosis and pharmaceutical harm during her own midlife transition.

Their raw and deeply honest conversation explores the intersections of mental health, spiritual health, body health and perimenopause – and what can happen when we begin to question the systems we’ve trusted. Miriam shares her unique perspective on underlying causes of mental anguish, the danger of holding tight to a diagnosis and how midlife can become a powerful catalyst for transformation and truth-seeking.

If you’ve ever felt like you were losing yourself in perimenopause, or you’re supporting someone who is, this conversation will help you feel less alone –and remind you of your strength

Highlights

1:00 – Why Ann Marie took Miriam’s pitch and the shared loss that connects them
2:45 – Miriam describes her mom’s shift during midlife and what led to mental health crises
5:20 – How menopause, health issues, and trauma combined to destabilize her mother
8:10 – The overlooked risks of marijuana use and its role in Miriam’s mother’s psychosis
10:15 – Underlying physical conditions that can mimic or trigger “mental illness”
13:30 – Miriam’s mother’s resistance to pharmaceutical treatment and her spiritual drive
16:45 – “The drugs didn’t heal – they wore her out”
18:40 – The brutal toll of grief and loss, especially when unsupported
20:50 – The trap of staying stuck in grief out of loyalty to the one we lost
22:30 – How Miriam works with clients to break free from spiritual stagnation and misdiagnosis
25:15 – The challenge of facing perimenopause without numbing or bypassing
27:45 – What happens when clients take full responsibility for their healing
29:00 – Exercises to strengthen the “mind muscle” and shift out of negative thinking
32:10 – Why visualizing your future requires emotional presence and clarity
35:00 – The power of remembering we are more than our hormones and diagnoses
37:20 – Miriam’s practical approach to staying conscious and spiritually well
38:30 – How to work with Miriam and begin your own path to healing

Fact check
Cannabis use is consistently linked to psychotic symptoms and disorders. Multiple studies and reviews show a strong and consistent association between cannabis use and psychosis, including schizophrenia-like symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions (Gage & Hickman, 2016); (Pearson & Berry, 2019). Genetic and environmental factors moderate vulnerability. Genetic variations (such as in COMT and AKT1 genes), family history of psychosis, and childhood trauma amplify the risk of psychosis following cannabis use (Radhakrishnan & Wilkinson, 2014); (Quattrone, 2022); (Trotta & Spinazzola, 2025).
SPONSOR: A big thank you to Kion Aminos, gold sponsor of the first-ever Hotflash inc Summit. Kion’s essential amino acids provide a clean, clinically-backed formula to support muscle repair and recovery.
Get 20% off at getkion.com/hotflash.