Content Warning: This episode discusses racism, depression, and sexual abuse.

At a young age, author Maud Newton was warned by her grandmother about the mental illness that ran through her family history. She was also told wild stories: an ancestor tried for being a witch, a Marxist in 1900s Texas, a grandfather married 13 times. The stories she uncovered in her best-selling book Ancestor Trouble shed some light on those tales and revealed plenty of complexity and surprises. Meanwhile, Maud has had to deal with her own mental health problems as well as issues among the living: a virulently racist and authoritarian father, a stepfather who molested her, and a mother who persistently looked the other way. She has found a loving and supportive family later in life with a loving husband, his extended family, and a step-sister and step-daughter to whom she is extremely close. It’s a testimony to the power of looking for answers, understanding your roots, and knowing yourself.

Content Warning: This episode discusses violence, rape, and hate crimes. Long before he won the Kirkus and Pushcart Prizes for his memoir writing, before he started teaching creative writing at Harvard Medical School and hosting the popular podcast Vibe Check, Saeed Jones was a kid growing up in Texas and realizing he was different than most people around him. He was raised Buddhist, for one thing, and when the other boys were lusting after a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, Saeed just thought she looked nice. His mom loved him very much and was pretty progressive but really struggled to accept that part of him, leaving Saeed pretty much alone to understand his identity and chart his own course. Which he did.

Content Warning: This episode discusses homelessness, child abuse, neglect, and sexual assault.

David Ambroz does not remember a time before being homeless with his mom and two siblings in New York City, cobbling together sleeps in train stations and emergency room lobbies, grabbing pizza crusts out of trash cans. It was an exciting life but not an easy one, especially given his mother’s schizoaffective disorder and physically abusive behavior. Eventually, he helped get himself and his siblings into foster care, which was often traumatic and abusive as well, especially when the state diagnosed his homosexuality as a disorder and tried to cure it. David learned from all of it, became resourceful, worked hard to make a better life for himself and even forgive his mother. Today, David is the author of the memoir A Place Called Home, a top executive at Amazon, recognized as an American Champion of Change by President Obama, a father, and a tireless advocate for kids in the foster care system.

Content Warning: This episode discusses substance abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and sexual assault.

Book club members who knock back a few bottles of wine are in for some soul searching if Jessica Guerrieri’s novels are picked for the group discussion. That’s because her books, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and the newly released Both Can Be True, both feature characters struggling with alcoholism. It’s a topic Jessica has done her research on. She’s been sober for 12 years and tells us about the drinking, the family intervention that she didn’t even understand was an intervention, and the frank discussion her husband had with her about their future and the idea of having kids. Jessica also talks about her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, her multiple experiences as a victim of sexual assault (no graphic language included), and a relapse with THC. It’s an honest discussion of the inter-connectedness of mental health conditions and how clear-eyed determination and honesty can go a long way.

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide, grief, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Adam and Lydia weren’t just siblings, they were comedy collaborators and best friends as well. While Adam had experienced some mental health issues over the years, Lydia’s took a very severe turn in her twenties, just as Adam’s career as a comedian, television show maker, and actor was getting off the ground. Just when he got his big break, Lydia died by suicide, Adam finding her afterwards. Adam’s life with Lydia, his grief, and a subsequent spiral of his own is now a film, See You When I See You, and he joins Dr. Michelle K. Murray about his efforts to promote mental health, dispel myths about suicide, and talk about the funny, caring, and wonderful person his sister was and how she lives on in the work he does.

Content Warning: This episode discusses substance use, depression, anxiety, and death by suicide.

Award-winning veteran journalist Meg Kissinger grew up as part of a close-knit family in a noisy and active house. That happens in a home with eight kids. Yet there was nothing but silence when it came to the pervasive bipolar disorder, substance use disorder, depression, and anxiety that heavily impacted the Kissingers. Meg, author of the moving memoir While You Were Out, tells how she persevered, found answers that were hard to come by, and got to a healthier place. It’s an inspiring conversation about mental illness, loss, healing, and hope.

This is an encore presentation first aired in October 2025.

Content Warning: This episode discusses addiction.

As a young resident at Duke University, Joseph Lee saw the profound change that people were capable of when dealing with addiction. He witnessed how people could become healthier than they had ever been with the benefit of skilled treatment, good support, and a lot of determination. Dr. Lee has been with Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation for 17 years, including serving as President and CEO for the last five years. He joins Nexus Family Healing President and CEO Dr. Michelle K. Murray for an enlightening discussion about how addiction works, the misconceptions about it, and some important, practical ways families can help in the recovery process. Dr. Lee says if families can overcome the guilt and shame that goes along with looking for causes and blame, they can be much better equipped to guide their loved one to a better tomorrow.

This is an encore presentation first aired in October 2025.

Content Warning: This episode discusses depression, anxiety, hospitalization, and traumatic experiences.

Gary Gulman has been making people laugh for many years as a top touring comedian and frequent guest on late night shows and star of multiple HBO specials. He’s a professional success by any measure. But that didn’t stop him from having a mental health crisis in his forties, where he gave up comedy, was hospitalized, and ultimately moved back in with his mother. In this revealing conversation with Nexus Family Healing CEO Dr. Michelle K. Murray, Gary reveals the depressive and anxious tendencies of his youth, his struggles connecting with his parents, and how a traumatic event fueled his depression.

This is an encore presentation first aired in October 2025.