This episode, it’s just ME.

No guest, no back and forth, no distraction. Just me sitting inside the question that was left and actually answering it instead of dodging it.

When have I felt completely helpless and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.

I go back about eight years. On paper, everything was sorted. House, money, business, toys, family. The life most people are chasing. The top of the mountain I thought was going to fix everything.

And nothing changed, because I hadn’t changed.

That’s where it started to crack. I hit a point where everything I had built didn’t match how I felt. So I did what most people do. I started looking around for the problem. I changed locations, changed direction, tried to move my life around hoping something would shift.

It didn’t. It got worse.

I ended up back at my mum’s place in my early forties with my daughter. Everything I owned was tied up in court. COVID hit at the same time. No control, no direction, no idea what the fuck I was doing.

That was the collapse.

Not the one at 22 when I got sober. This was different. This was internal. Everything I thought I was fell apart.

And I didn’t want to hear any of the shit people were saying at the time. That there was a lesson in it. That I should stay with it. That I shouldn’t rush out of the suffering. I wanted it to stop.

But that was the turning point.

Because when everything else dropped away, I had nowhere left to look except at myself. Not the version I liked, not the story I told, but the actual patterns. The way I showed up in relationships, as a partner, as a father, as a boss, and even as someone trying to help others while still avoiding parts of myself.

This episode sits inside that shift. What happens when the life you built doesn’t save you. What happens when the story stops working. What happens when you run out of people to blame and the only place left to look is inward.

It also moves into what’s happening now. The world feels unstable, people are under pressure, and there’s a lot of fear around what’s coming next. Most people are looking for answers somewhere outside of themselves, hoping something out there will settle it.

What I’ve seen is the opposite.

Sometimes things have to collapse. Sometimes you have to feel helpless. Because that’s the only point where something real can actually change, not the surface version, not the image, but the foundation underneath it.

I don’t fix it.

I sit inside what that collapse actually did, what it showed me, and what it cost to stop running from it.

The question I leave for the next guest is this.

What is something you wish you were better at in relationships?

It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME. In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor. Author of It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, I’m joined by David Russell.

David is my supervisor. Decades in the field. Academic, therapist, teacher. More lived experience than most and not hiding behind it.

This conversation sits inside something deeper than most people want to go.

We go straight into the question that was left.

What does it mean when something is done out of love beyond good and evil.

And it doesn’t stay philosophical for long.

David breaks it down in a way that strips the bullshit out of it. Good and evil as ideas don’t hold much. They don’t carry imagination. They don’t carry depth. They are labels. Morality. Surface level.

We move into something else.

Soul.

Not as a word people throw around. As something that actually happens. In the moment. In connection. In presence.

Not something you learn.
Not something you perform.
Something you allow.

We also go into the danger in this work.

How easy it is to hide behind the identity of therapist, coach, psychologist. To use training as armour. To sit above instead of with.

And how quickly that kills any real connection.

This one hits on something I care about a lot.

Dropping the vertical relationship. Therapist above client. Parent above child. One person holding the power.

And moving it into something more honest. More equal. More human.

Not losing boundaries.
Not losing responsibility.

But actually meeting someone where they are instead of trying to manage them.

There’s also honesty in this.

The pull of ego.
The inflation that comes when someone tells you how good you are.
How easy it is to believe your own bullshit if you don’t check it.

No one is above that.

Not me.
Not him.
Not anyone.

This one slows things down.

Less talking.
More presence.

The question David leaves for the next guest is this.

When have you felt completely helpless and it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to you?

It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME. In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor. Author of It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, I’m joined by Josh Shay.

Josh is a coach who works with pornography addiction and the fallout that comes with it. Before that, he was what most people would call high functioning. Successful, visible, respected. All while hiding alcoholism and a porn addiction that was running his life underneath it.

This conversation sits inside illusion, validation, and what it costs to hold everything together.

Josh speaks about being an overachiever who could perform at a high level while everything underneath was falling apart. The energy it took just to maintain the image. To keep people seeing what he wanted them to see while hiding what was actually going on.

What stood out in this one is how much of his identity was built on external validation. Awards, recognition, status. Not because he was arrogant, but because he needed it to feel like he was enough. And how quickly that falls apart when the addiction catches up.

We go into the moment where everything collapsed. Losing his role, being confronted by the people around him, and having to make a decision. Keep going the way he was going or face what was actually there.

From there, the conversation moves into responsibility.

Not just stopping the behaviour.
Understanding how you got there in the first place.

Because putting something down is one thing.
Seeing why you needed it is something else entirely.

We also talk about ego.

How easy it is to chase attention.
How easy it is to build a version of yourself that looks good from the outside.
And how different it feels to step away from that and live a quieter life that is actually aligned.

This one is honest.

Not about perfection.
Not about having it all sorted.

About what it takes to go from performing your life to actually living it.

The question Josh leaves for the next guest is this.

What does it mean when something is done out of love and exists beyond good and evil?

It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME. In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor. Author of It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, it’s just me.

No guest. No back and forth. Just me marking something that actually matters.

25 years clean and sober.

This one is not about storytelling. It is more of a reflection. Not the polished version. The real one.

I talk about what it actually means to be sober. The difference between being abstinent and actually doing the work. Because putting the drink down is one thing. Changing how you live is something else entirely.

I go back to what drove it in the first place. Feeling different. Not fitting in. Needing something to bridge that gap. And how alcohol did that for a while until it didn’t.

This episode sits inside that shift. What it takes to live in the world without needing something external to make you feel okay. And how that is still a daily practice. Not something that gets ticked off and finished.

I also speak about selfishness. Not pretending it’s gone. Not pretending I’ve fixed it. Just being honest about the fact it’s still there. And that awareness is what keeps me from falling straight back into it.

There is also something deeper in this one. The idea that we are not broken. That the cracks are part of it. That the work is not about becoming perfect, but about being willing to look at yourself without turning away.

This is not a lesson. It is a check in. A reminder of where I came from and what it actually takes to stay on this path.

No fixing.
No wrapping it up.

Just being honest about the fact that if I forget who I am, I lose everything.

It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME. In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor

Author or It’s You. Oh Fuck. It’s ME.

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, I’m joined by Renee.

We trained together, but she’s taken a very different path. Less structure, less rules, more creativity and depth. This conversation sits inside identity, realness, and what happens when you strip away who you think you are.

Renee works with weaving as a therapeutic process. Not just the outcome, but the act itself. Sitting, creating, and allowing something deeper to come through. The product matters, but the process holds just as much weight.

What stood out straight away was how quickly identity starts to fall apart when you question it. Who are you without your work, without validation, without the story you tell yourself about who you are? She speaks openly about that space where everything external drops away and you’re left with something a bit more raw and a lot less certain.

We also go into realness. Not the polished version. The actual version. The part where you stop performing, stop following rules, and start being honest about what’s actually there. How most of us are conditioned into roles and expectations, and how easy it is to lose ourselves inside that.

There’s also a big piece around relationships. Not trying to fix or change the other person, but being able to sit with them exactly as they are. And the uncomfortable truth that if you can’t do that, you’ve got to question what you’re actually doing in the relationship in the first place.

This one moves deeper than surface level pretty quickly.

Less about answers, more about questioning the things you’ve been blindly accepting as truth.

The question Renee leaves for the next guest is this.

What question would you most often ask yourself if your consideration was self-honouring?

It’s You, Oh Fuck, It’s ME In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Renee can be found at

Web: https://weavery.com.au/author/admin/

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/weavehealconnected/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rene.bahloo/

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, it’s just me.

No guest, no buffer, no one to hide behind. Just me and the question that was left from the previous episode and where it took me.

This one moves into inaction, collapse, and what it actually takes to change. Not as ideas, but as lived experience.

The conversation comes straight out of Easter. Not the version most people focus on, not the story or the history, but the pattern underneath it. Death and rebirth. Collapse and what comes after it.

I go back to a moment in my own life where everything had fallen apart. Addiction, violence, blame, running the same story over and over again with different people and getting the same outcome every time. Eventually there was nowhere left to run. That point where inaction is no longer an option. That point where something in you either breaks or changes.

The shift from believing everyone else is the problem to realising the common denominator might actually be me. Not as shame, but as responsibility. And how confronting that is when the story you have built your life around starts to fall apart.

I also go into something that gets missed a lot.

That what I was chasing in addiction was not the substance. It was the feeling. The connection. The relief. And how easily that gets transferred into something else. Work, success, money, relationships. Different form, same pattern.

This is not about recovery as a concept.

It is about what it actually costs to stop running. What it takes to drop the story. What it takes to stop needing to be right and start looking at what is actually happening.

I talk about the moment where the ego cracks and something deeper has a chance to come through.

The question I leave for the next guest is this.

What would collapse if you stopped being right?

It’s You, Oh Fuck, It’s ME In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah G.

Sarah is a university student working full time, with a strong interest in self improvement, introspection, and understanding herself beyond surface level thinking.

We sit inside intuition, overthinking, and inaction.

Not as concepts.
As lived experience.

We talk about the split most of us are taught early on.

Mind over body.
Logic over feeling.
Thinking over knowing.

Sarah speaks about growing up trusting thought above everything else. Over analysing. Interrogating every decision. Delaying action until everything felt certain.

And what that cost her.

We stay with that tension.

The gap between knowing and doing.
The hesitation that looks intelligent but keeps you stuck.
The subtle way overthinking becomes avoidance.

We talk about intuition.

Not as something mystical.
As something practical.

The ability to move.
To decide.
To trust without needing complete certainty.

This conversation also touches on anxiety and depression.

Not as something broken.
As a response.

A response to living in the past.
A response to living in the future.
A response to being disconnected from the present moment.

We do not fix it.

We sit inside the cost of not trusting yourself.
The cost of waiting.
The cost of staying safe.

And what starts to shift when you finally move anyway.

The question Sarah leaves for the next guest is this.

At what point in your life did inaction cost you?

It’s You, Oh Fuck, It’s ME In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Sarah can be found at

Email: sarahgiannou2@gmail.com

Instagram: @sarahgiannou

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com

In this episode, I’m joined by Di Black.

Di is a psychotherapist and someone who was also my therapist for a period of time. She brings depth, honesty, and a willingness to sit in uncomfortable spaces without needing to rush to answers.

We sit inside fear, identity, and vulnerability.

Not as concepts.
As lived experience.

We start with a question that hits hard.

Share your most guarded secret.
Your most embarrassing fear.
The thing you least want to say out loud.

We stay with what that brings up.

Di speaks about recurring dreams. Feeling lost. Losing identity. Not knowing who she is or where home is. The fear of losing memory, losing self, and what it means to exist without the structure we rely on.

We sit with that.

Not to analyse it.
Not to fix it.
Just to be in it.

We move into addiction.

Not just substances.
Addiction to thinking.
Addiction to being right.
Addiction to our own perspective.

We talk about how hard it is to step outside of that. How we live inside our own version of reality and mistake it for truth.

And how relationships force us to confront that.

To step into someone else’s experience.
To drop the certainty.
To admit we might not see the full picture.

We also touch on vulnerability in therapy.

The idea that therapists are not above the work.
That hiding behind the role can become another defence.
And that real connection comes from being human first.

We do not solve anything.

We sit inside the discomfort of not knowing.
Of not being as together as we think we should be.
Of recognising that the work never really ends.

The question Di leaves for the next guest is this.

If you could have your life over again, what would you change?

It’s You, Oh Fuck, It’s ME In Session with a Psychotherapist
Hosted by Chad Taylor

No tips.
No fixing.
Just real conversations.

Di Black is a Psychotherapist and can be found at

Website: https://www.facebook.com/zenconnect9/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenconnect9/?hl=en

Book- https://cxv22j-gy.myshopify.com/ Discount Code: PODCAST20

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chadtaylor.itsyou/?hl=en

Tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@chadtaylor.itsyou?lang=en

Email- chadtaylorpsychotherapy@gmail.com