Season Three Of The Teaching Through Emotions Podcast: Listeners Hotline

 Teaching through Emotions is an award-winning podcast created and hosted by Betsy Burris, a teacher educator and psychotherapist, and co-hosted by Joe Johnson, a veteran Spanish teacher. The podcast provides a psychodynamic perspective on education, helping teachers build resilience and find success by sharing familiar stories and practical insights. The show is produced by Jullian Androkae, with audience development by Andreea Coscai, and music by Tom
Burris/Jabbering Trout.

Teaching through Emotions just won a 2025 Women Who Podcast Award, and was nominated for Best Education Podcast in the Ear Worthy Awards. 

Betsy Burris, the show's creator, has announced the launch of its third season, premiering on September 4th, 2025. This season introduces a significant new interactive element, inviting educators to share their own stories via a dedicated voicemail line, and expands its support offerings through a new premium subscription model.

Studies indicate that approximately 44% of K-12 teachers often or always feel burned out. This is higher than the average burnout rate for other professions. A 2022 Gallup poll reported that K-12 workers have the highest burnout rate in the US.

There are 500,000+ fewer educators in the American public school systems post-pandemic. 43% of educator job postings are going unfilled.

Teaching through Emotions provides a rare form of relief for educators by examining the profession through a psychodynamic lens: one that views challenging feelings and behaviors as meaningful and useful. Hosted by psychotherapist and teacher educator Betsy Burris and her co-host, long-time Spanish teacher Joe Johnson, the podcast shares real-life stories of difficult teaching moments and their often miraculous, happy endings.

The biggest change for season three is the direct inclusion of the listener community. Educators are encouraged to share their own stories of worries, successes, and classroom challenges by calling the new listener hotline at 413.239.4158. These voicemails will be featured and discussed in upcoming episodes, creating a collaborative space for teachers to process their experiences.

“Our mission is always the same: to dive into those difficult, overwhelming stories that make you want to quit and show how simple reframing can lead to miraculous outcomes,ˮ says host Betsy Burris. “This season, we're not just telling stories;
we're creating a space for our listeners' stories to be heard, validated, and learned from. When that 'new school year energy' runs out, whether it's mid-October or the first day of school, we're here for you.ˮ

Co-host Joe Johnson adds, “We know our listeners have their own incredible stories, and we want to help them make the most of them. We're inviting teachers to call us and share that thing they've lost sleep over or their worst teaching moment ever. We mean it!ˮ

In conjunction with the new season, Teaching through Emotions is expanding its Substack offerings with a paid subscription designed to provide deeper support for educators. Subscribers will gain access to the back catalog of over 150 blog posts, exclusive bonus episodes, and discounts on Burrisʼs book, The Feeling of Teaching.

To celebrate the launch, the podcast is announcing a special limited-time offer. New yearly subscribers who sign up on Substack by the end of September 2025 can request a free, one-hour, one-on-one online consultation with Betsy Burris—a $250 value.

New episodes of Teaching through Emotions will be released every two weeks throughout the school year. Listeners can access premium content HERE. 

In a nutshell, Teaching through Emotions is about using your emotions to feel better and teach better. In today's turgid educational environment with entitled parents, conspiracy theories about cat boxes in schools, book banning, culture wars exploiting children, and anti-intellectualism transforming teachers from heroes into political enemies, this podcast is more needed than ever before.