ANEW Insight

From Breakdown to Breakthrough: Francesca Reicherter on Suicide Survival, Youth Advocacy, and Redefining Mental Health | Ep. 73

• Dr. Supatra Tovar • Season 1 • Episode 73

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Welcome to Episode 73 of the ANEW Insight Podcast with your host, Dr. Supatra Tovar—licensed clinical psychologist, registered dietitian, fitness expert, and bestselling author of Deprogram Diet Culture. In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Dr. Tovar is joined by mental health advocate, author, and speaker Francesca Reicherter, founder of the nonprofit Inspiring My Generation and host of the podcast Normalize the Conversation.

At just 12 years old, Francesca launched a blog to cope with what she called “big emotions.” By 20, she had survived multiple suicide attempts, devastating personal losses, and a hospitalization that opened her eyes to systemic flaws in the mental health system. Instead of staying silent, Francesca transformed her pain into purpose by building tools, programs, and resources that now reach thousands of people in crisis.

In this episode, Francesca shares her unfiltered journey from childhood trauma to adult advocacy, including:

  • The early signs of mental health struggles often dismissed in kids
  • The suicide of her uncle and tragic loss of her grandfather
  • Her own hospitalization and the eye-opening realities of the mental health care system
  • How neurofeedback therapy and psychotherapy helped her begin to heal
  • Creating and sending over 21,000 hand-colored encouragement cards to psych wards across the country

Dr. Tovar and Francesca also explore the crucial need for early mental health intervention, insurance parity, and mental health education in schools. Listeners will learn about Francesca’s transformative workbooks like You Are Not Alone, I Am, and Self-Care, designed to provide practical, age-appropriate coping tools.

Other highlights include:

  • How to create meaningful conversations around mental health with friends and family
  • The difference between toxic positivity and realistic emotional validation
  • Navigating social media with conscious intent to protect your mental health
  • The power of creative tools like “Encourage Me” notebooks and self-care boxes
  • Why healing isn’t about thinking positive—but thinking expansively

This episode is a heartfelt reminder that you are never truly alone. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, therapist, teen, or survivor, Francesca’s story will inspire you to listen more deeply, speak more honestly, and hold space for those who are silently struggling.

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

📘 Connect with Francesca Reicherter: Website: https://www.inspiringmygeneration.org/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1vUZvdT1dMbN4E9v8Pfq0X Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/normalize.the.conversation/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Francesca-Reicherter/author/B0929KK99F

Ready to heal your relationship with food and body? Visit anew-insight.com and take Dr. Tovar’s sig

Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

I'm so excited. I was on Francesca's podcast and we decided to do a pod swap. She is incredible. And I want the world, if you don't already know about her, to know about her. She's incredible. So I'm going to read a little bit about Francesca and then we'll get on with it right into our questions, Francesca Reicheter is the founder and president of Inspiring My Generation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to normalizing mental health conversations, increasing access to mental health resources and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health challenges. Through her work, she empowers individuals to find their voice, seek support, and prioritize their well being. Francesca's initiatives include Encourage Me Notebooks, Mental Health Awareness Events, and an educational podcast, like I mentioned, called Normalize the Conversation, all designed to provide hope, tools, and understanding for those struggling with their mental health. Well, it's you. That is completely amazing. I would think for someone at such a young age to have these accomplishments is just really mind blowing. I know that it comes out of a darker place and I know that, this inspired this journey. And that I think is such an important thing to talk about. What actually inspired you to create.

Francesca Reicherter:

just crying. And that age, people would say grow up, get over it, big girls don't cry, all those things we like to say to kids, and that wasn't helping me. I couldn't just not cry. I don't know why I was crying. I couldn't put into words. I couldn't make it stop. I just felt so defeated all the time. And I had this feeling I wasn't going to live very long. So I called it Inspiring My Generation, hoping to inspire my peers. it and also it just not feel so alone in it. And of course, middle school people tease you and bully you for that. So by the time I was 15, I was still doing it and I felt okay, maybe people aren't hearing me. So let's talk about it. I was like, need to talk about it. Someone's got to understand their words have consequences, that what they say impacts how someone else feels. People have to understand that these moments that maybe feel so silly are actually very important. I was just like, there were all these things I wanted people to understand. I feel like, why can't people understand me and why I approach life this way? But then my parents separated and my life felt like it was falling apart. The stability and safety that I felt at home suddenly wasn't there. And that's when my mental health started to decline even more. I was really lucky, though. I had my grandparents and my aunt and uncle who were my whole world. And my aunt and uncle would pick me up for family movie nights and game nights and just made me feel so supported. And then my, grandparents, if I wasn't with my aunt and uncle, I was with my grandparents. the idea that life was going to be all better by then was not the case. I was feeling even worse. And three weeks before I was about to walk the stage, grandparents got into a car accident. I lost my grandfather on impact, almost lost my grandmother.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

Oh, my goodness.

Francesca Reicherter:

You lose your job, you lose your insurance. The bills are so high. The option is your family doesn't love, feel the same way about you after that sometimes because of the stigma. So many people end up either on the street or in the psych ward. And that made me so angry because the problems were so clear and yet it wasn't being, nothing was, it felt like nothing was being done, at least in my perspective at 20 years old.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

Do you feel like that helped you heal? Or did you also have a therapist that you were able to lean on? It's incredible. I think it's just incredible that you can take so much pain and turn it into so much good. And that had to have been difficult coming and just pulling yourself out of this depression.

Francesca Reicherter:

on top of that, my One of my uncles would actually pick me up and take me to the gym. And I would go to the gym a couple of times a day just to keep myself busy. So everyone was pitching in to make sure that Francesca wasn't alone and wasn't feeling like there was nothing to do other than hurt herself. So I will say I had an amazing support system. I read a lot of books, anything I could do to keep myself busy. Um, therapy was a big thing. Learning, I think neurofeedback therapy was really great because I learned how to calm my breath. And that wasn't The whole point was just finding stuff to keep me busy and trying to change the messages in my brain without forcing it because I felt very difficult when I'd see people say I looked in the mirror and said i'm enough and I believed. It wasn't working for me But giving myself cards that I could read of messages when i'm feeling like i'm not enough of something kind I said to myself or when i'm feeling like i'm alone that i'm not alone. Yeah. So neurofeedback therapy I thought was amazing. So they put a bunch of wires on my head, which felt very scary in the beginning, but it actually wasn't. So they put the wires on my head and they put a breathing belt around my waist and then they put like a heart monitor on my finger I would actually watch a movie. And whenever my racing thoughts would get really bad and my breathing wasn't staying on track. My heart rate was going up. The movie would either freeze or get smaller. So if I wanted to finish Bride Wars, I had to be able to learn to control my breath.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

I love that. And I think, people really feel like, especially when they have like panic attacks, that it's completely out of their control, but really, I think the, one of the main takeaways of biofeedback and neurofeedback is your attention to your breath is actually what can really you know, calm you down in that moment and regulate you and bring you back to the present.

Francesca Reicherter:

This is actually one of my favorite questions because the answer can be something so simple. Like when you say, how are you? Don't do it as a greeting. Actually look at someone, make eye contact. Say, how are you? And wait for them to answer. And then validate what they said and answer honestly yourself. They things that make us feel good. So it started with everyone like, oh, I like a face mask. And then it turned into, oh, I actually also reading a book when I'm struggling to fall asleep because it helps calm down those racing thoughts. Or actually having a blanket to snuggle with when I'm feeling really like scared and overwhelmed makes me feel a bit safe. So it just. I like to do small things like that incorporate mental health and then force it to go deeper without forcing it to go deeper. I think it's just so ingrained in society. I think that's just the answer you hear your parents say, and your teachers say, and your friends say. So then you just follow suit. I also think there's not enough. The conversations don't show TV shows don't really show vulnerabilities as strength, especially not earlier TVs.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

Yes. And I think you may have to be a little discerning when you do ask that question or you answer that question. Because I think some people just are used to that as a greeting and not ready to stop and actually have a conversation. So I think being discerning, I think is really important. When you do choose to answer that, honestly I think it takes a, it takes vulnerability, it takes trusting that person's gonna hold space for you, and that can be scary.

Francesca Reicherter:

Yeah, so I'd say I grew up not having conversations about mental health. I grew up not having any tools and resources. No one talked to me about what to do if I felt sad. Everyone was just like, well, get over it. Um, no one explained what anxiety was to me or panic. So I would end up in hospital swearing I was having a heart attack. When I really needed to learn how to do deep breathing exercises. There were so many things that I didn't know that I needed to learn. So I started just creating these tools for myself and then turning them into workbooks and then creating these of cards that you could open up and you could even fill in a message for yourself. Sometimes just putting on friends when I'm feeling really sad can just be a way to start laughing until I have a friend to talk to about it. Or if I'm feeling really jealous and I'm comparing myself to everyone online, doing some gratitude practices might actually help me feel a little more grounded in who I am and what I have going for me instead of seeing only what other people have going for them. So what if we just learn these small things that we could do to get through when these big emotions happen or. reframing negative thoughts. I, my big thing is I can't go, when someone says, ,think positive, it's very frustrating for me because my brain doesn't do that. I can have positive thoughts, but I can't think positive all the time. But one thing I can do is take negative thoughts and rewrite them to encouragement. So instead of feeling like I'm being discouraged and feeling like I'm not good enough and everything's hopeless. I could feel like, okay, there's hope for tomorrow. Okay, it can get better. Okay, I'm actually doing good enough and I'm just on my way figuring it out as I go. So I could do encouragement. I didn't have to always be just negative thoughts, but I couldn't think positive like everyone else was telling me to and not knowing where to find support. I didn't know what kind of support was available to me. I didn't know that actually, maybe the only thing I need right now is information. So let me call up some different therapists. Let me call up medical providers. Let me call my insurance company and see who's available to me. Let me look up a podcast like this that I can get some information from, or maybe I need physical support with a hug. Or maybe I need to learn coping skills or I need someone to validate me. Sometimes just putting on friends when I'm feeling really sad can just be a way to start laughing until I have a friend to talk to about it. Or if I'm feeling really jealous and I'm comparing myself to everyone online, doing some gratitude practices might actually help me feel a little more grounded in who I am and what I have going for me instead of seeing only what other people have going for them. So what if we just learn these small things that we could do to get through when these big emotions happen or. reframing negative thoughts. I, my big thing is I can't go, when someone says, ,think positive, it's very frustrating for me because my brain doesn't do that. I can have positive thoughts, but I can't think positive all the time. But one thing I can do is take negative thoughts and rewrite them to encouragement. So instead of feeling like I'm being discouraged and feeling like I'm not good enough and everything's hopeless. I could feel like, okay, there's hope for tomorrow. Okay, it can get better. Okay, I'm actually doing good enough and I'm just on my way figuring it out as I go. So I could do encouragement. I didn't have to always be just negative thoughts, but I couldn't think positive like everyone else was telling me to and not knowing where to find support. I didn't know what kind of support was available to me. I didn't know that actually, maybe the only thing I need right now is information. So let me call up some different therapists. Let me call up medical providers. Let me call my insurance company and see who's available to me. Let me look up a podcast like this that I can get some information from, or maybe I need physical support with a hug. Or maybe I need to learn coping skills or I need someone to validate me.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

I love this. I love this. And it's not, I do agree that I think a lot of people look at positive thinking and they roll their eyes because they're like, how is that going to really help? But you're actually advocating for is expanding the mindset. It's not about, narrowing it down and only thinking a certain way, it's about opening up different ways that you can view things. And I think that is so helpful and so realistic for people. So let's actually talk about the importance of early intervention and accessibility. I think this is something that you speak often about, but there are many systemic barriers. What do you think needs to be addressed to improve this early intervention and accessibility?

Francesca Reicherter:

One thing that always comes to mind is insurance parity. To begin with a lot of insurances don't want to cover treatment and that's tends to be more reactive to begin with. And a lot of times they require diagnosis to cover anything, and it may only be limited services. So, I'd like to see definitely more work with our insurance companies to support mental health treatment and preventative mental health treatment by just being able to work on figuring out who I am, who I want to be, how to learn stress management techniques resiliency skills. I also think our schools as a perfect place to be starting these conversations. We take PE, physical health, what if we just added an hour a week, or even an hour once a month, where we're talking a bit about mental health too, because they do go side by side. I think that there's a lot of things that seem so small that are so big, just like insurance companies needing to work with us. School is needing to offer prevention. Even in doctor's offices. A lot of times save that iPad. I remember getting the iPad. It was like, are you going to kill yourself? And then I'd put my mom sitting next to me and I'm like, Nope. Are you feeling depressed or anxious? Nope. And that was it. It was never a conversation.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

Yeah, I think we're living in, still in a medicalized health system, but they don't really have a connection to mental health. They think that it's physical health. Or mental health, but if there's copious amounts of research at this point, that proves that our mental health directly affects our physical health. But it, it's. It's not enough. We definitely need so much more. One more quick question before we end this part of this amazing episode. Tell us about your opinions on social media. It can be a double edged sword when it comes to mental health. In what ways can we leverage platforms like Instagram to promote mental wellbeing rather than exacerbate mental health issues?

Francesca Reicherter:

up being the difference between life and death. And then that way, when it shuts off for the night or for the day, I'm done and I'll open it again tomorrow.

Dr. Supatra Tovar:

Does it make me feel terrible about myself or does it inspire me? If it inspires me, it stays. If it makes you feel terrible, it goes. And when you do that, you really can go into your social media and feel good about it. Like pretty much mine's all like puppies and kittens and sloths and, panda bears and things like that.

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