Joanna Hardis, LISW, LLC

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Joanna Hardis, LISW, LLC

Joanna Hardis, LISW-S, is a licensed therapist, author and speaker who helps people do hard things.

Her second book, “Just Do Nothing (for Parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less,” guides parents on building distress tolerance.

11/21/2025

Dreading the holiday dinner déjà vu? You’re not alone.

Instead of bracing for that meltdown, that question, or that relative, try this:
✨ Soften into the discomfort.
✨ Plan your response ahead of time.

You know it’s coming, so let’s stop being surprised and start being intentional. You can show up how you want to show up.

11/19/2025

Doing less never traveled so far. 🌎📚

Just Do Nothing (for Parents) is making its way around the country (and hopefully onto your reading list).

If you’ve bought, shared, talked about, recommended, posted, or messaged me about this book, thank you.

There’s nothing better than seeing your work land in the hands of the people it was written for.

11/17/2025

You can know the “right” thing to do as a parent and still not be able to do it.

Not because you don’t care or aren’t trying hard enough, but because in the moment, your discomfort feels too much.

Or your child is upset, disappointed, maybe even furious, and instead of holding the boundary, you cave (we’ve all been there). It’s rarely because we don’t know what to do. Often our fears about how our kids may react hijack our parenting.

That’s distress intolerance. And it’s a barriers to following through, especially when emotions are high.

The good news is you can build your tolerance. You can increase your capacity to feel discomfort without reacting or avoiding it. It’s a skill. And it changes everything.

👉 I talk more about this in my new book, Just Do Nothing (for Parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less. Get your copy today.

11/13/2025

Very few things in life are linear. Change certainly isn’t. 🌀

There’s this perception that if you return to an old behavior, you’re moving backwards or regressing. You’re not. Progress includes setbacks. It’s how we respond to that setback that matters.

Accept what happened, remind yourself this is part of the process (as much as it may suck), and find your next small step. You CAN do it.

11/10/2025

When people feel stuck, it’s often because they’re starting too high on the distress ladder.

Whether it’s changing a habit, setting a boundary, or tolerating a feeling, our brains need to build capacity, not just power through.

Try scaling the change. Pick a starting point that challenges you just enough, not so much that your nervous system shuts down.

That’s how you build distress tolerance, confidence, and momentum–one doable step at a time.

11/06/2025

Writing Just Do Nothing (for Parents) was harder than the first book in so many ways because this one felt personal.

It’s for the parents who know what to do but can’t seem to do it. Who lie awake replaying the moments they wish they’d handled differently. Who feel stuck in patterns that don't serve them (or their kids).

This book is for you. It’s also for me. Because I’ve been that parent. Still am, some days.

I wrote this to offer a skillset that most of us were never taught but so desperately need: how to tolerate discomfort so we can actually parent from our values, not our fears.

If you want to read it, Just Do Nothing (for Parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less is available now: https://www.amazon.com/Just-Do-Nothing-Parents-Parent/dp/B0FV3Q1CSV/?maas=maas_adg_DDB15A3BF4EAD1DB0868320FEE49739A_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas ✍🏻

11/04/2025

🧠 OCD is not an adjective.

When we throw around terms like “psycho” or “OCD” to describe someone’s behavior, we’re not just being flippant, we’re reinforcing stigma and spreading misinformation about serious mental health conditions.

OCD isn’t about being tidy. It’s a debilitating disorder that affects 1–3% of the population and often takes over a decade to receive effective treatment.

Language matters. Let’s do better.

10/31/2025

Most of us confuse fear with danger, but fear is a feeling, not always a fact.

Uncertainty, saying “no,” trying something new… these can all feel scary, but they’re not dangerous.

You can feel afraid and still take action.
You can be uncomfortable and still move forward.
Let’s stop letting fear call the shots.

10/30/2025

Parenting today feels like a minefield.

One minute, you’re told you’re doing too much. The next, not enough. No wonder it’s hard to know what the “right” move is.

Just Do Nothing (for parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less is about cutting through the noise.

It helps you pause before reacting so you’re not parenting from guilt, fear, or the discomfort of watching your child struggle.

This isn’t about being passive. It’s about staying grounded when your instinct is to rescue, fix, or explain away their feelings and learning to respond based on the moment, not your feelings about the moment.

Just Do Nothing (for parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less is out now! 📚✍️🎉

10/29/2025

Even if you're not a parent, this holds true.

When we're living on autopilot, chances are we're reacting to what's in front of us. If you're also someone who gets overwhelmed by your own emotions (or your child’s), you're more likely to react to your feelings rather than the situation. That’s distress intolerance: the feeling shows up, and we immediately try to make it go away by fixing, avoiding, distracting, or rescuing.

And yes, that might bring short-term relief, but long-term it reinforces the idea that big feelings are dangerous.

When we have the skill set to respond, we can respond to the situation without being distracted by our feelings.

That’s why the shift from reaction to response matters so much.

📚 This is the skill set I break down in my new book, Just Do Nothing (for parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less. Get your copy today!

10/28/2025

Parenting comes with a lot of noise on the outside and the inside.

My new book, Just Do Nothing (for Parents): How to Parent Better by Doing Less, is officially out! 🎉

This follow-up brings my “Just Do Nothing” process to the parenting space, giving you tools to build distress tolerance so you can model regulation, set boundaries, and stop getting stuck in those relentless worry spirals.

It’s hard. But it’s not impossible. 💛

Available now on Amazon.

10/24/2025

When our kids are upset, it can feel nearly impossible not to swoop in, fix it, or say yes just to make the distress go away.

On the latest episode of .anxious.truth podcast, I talk about how to recognize this instinct, why we fall into it, and what it looks like to pause instead of fix.

🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts!

Address

2460 Fairmount Boulevard Suite 320
Cleveland Heights, OH
44106

Telephone

+12166008696

Website

http://joannahardis.com/

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