Alison Answers #MissionAwake

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This conversation will change how you think about trauma, healing, and what it actually means to be brave.

🔥 In this episode, you'll hear:
📍 How childhood beliefs like "I'm a burden" quietly run your adult life
📍 The "rooms" method — going back to the places that broke you to finally heal
📍 Why talk therapy alone wasn't enough (and what actually worked)
📍 April's darkest night and the moment she realized she didn't want to die
📍 Why "the hero you're looking for is you" — even when you feel like the least heroic person alive
📍 How to find joy when everything around you feels impossible
📍 Journaling as "therapy without performance" — and why it unlocks what sessions can't

🎯 This episode is for you if:
→ You've survived something but never actually healed from it
→ You feel like you're functioning fine on the outside but falling apart inside
→ You've been told to "just go to therapy" but it doesn't feel like enough
→ You struggle with guilt, shame, or the feeling of being a burden
→ You love someone who drinks too much and don't know how to help
→ You're looking for real, honest conversation about what healing actually looks like

👤 ABOUT THE GUEST
April Garcia is the author of "The Room to Be Brave" — a raw memoir about going back into the rooms that shaped her to finally heal. She's a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, Reiki practitioner, and founder of the Find Your Joy project. After surviving childhood abuse, meningitis, alcoholism, and a suicidal spiral, she rebuilt her life around one belief: joy is something you choose, especially when things are hard.
🌐 Website: aprildaygarcia.com
📚 Book: "The Room to Be Brave" — Available on Amazon & Barnes and Noble
📱 Social: @theroomtobebrave

🎙️ ABOUT THE HOST
Alison Lager is a psychotherapist, drug and alcohol counselor, bestselling author, and the Founder/CEO of Lager Counseling Services. With 30+ years in psychology and addictions, her mission is to help people rewrite their story and build a life they actually love. She hosts the Alison Answers podcast.
🌐 Website: lagercounseling.com
📱 Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
📺 YouTube: Alison Answers

🎙️ ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Alison Answers is where real conversations about mental health, healing, and personal transformation happen — without the clinical jargon. The mission is simple: help you discover the patterns that have been quietly running your life, and give you the tools to rewrite your story. New episodes weekly.

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

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Ever catch yourself wondering why the grind never pays off—like you're hustling hard but money, love, or joy keep slipping through your fingers in predictable ways? It's not karma or "your lot in life." It's subtle childhood programming from before age 7, absorbed in those super-suggestible theta brain waves, morphing kid fears into your everyday reality without a second thought.

In this real-talk episode of Alison Answers #MissionAwake, Alison Lager LCSW reads right from Chapter 2 of her book The Wake Up Call ("Facing the Truth: The Ultimate Power Move"), walking you through a straightforward "whole life inventory" across 8 everyday areas to uncover the hidden beliefs driving your repeats in money, love, health, joy, and purpose.

🎧 WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:
✅ Why you need that "you are here" dot on your life's map—and how quick snapshots show it
✅ Theta brain waves (0-7 hypnotic mode): How little-kid views secretly steer your grown-up world
✅ Outcomes mirror beliefs: Spot the debt loops or tough partners you're stuck tolerating
✅ The real culprits: People-pleasing fears, judgment worries, and that sneaky societal push toward "just okay"
✅ Simple 3-step breakout: Awareness → Acceptance ("thanks for the heads-up") → Action (break the old pull)

👤 WHO THIS IS FOR:
Folks grinding hard but quietly wondering "why me?" year after year. If your finances, relationships, or fun feel stuck on repeat... if those old hyper-alert or no-play childhood feels still linger... if you're done faking it and ready to turn your mess into something epic—this is your gentle nudge to wake up.

Perfect for: people in therapy, busy parents with big dreams, entrepreneurs tired of the "hustle struggle," anyone swapping victim vibes for creating alongside something bigger.

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

There’s a moment when your body tells you to stop, and your mind has to decide who’s in charge.

Angela shares that moment clearly. On a beach. Years after being diagnosed with MS. Crawling toward the ocean because the cane that helps her walk can’t help her swim. People watching. Every excuse to turn back.

She didn’t.

This episode isn’t about pretending pain away. It’s about choosing meaning, discipline, and faith when life stays hard longer than you expected.

Inside this conversation:
✅ Why “year six” can be harder than day one
✅ The power of deciding what’s non-negotiable
✅ How gratitude isn’t denial, it’s survival
✅ Why saving one person still changes the world

For anyone tired of “being strong.”
Sometimes strength looks like crawling.

🎧 Watch the full episode — link in bio
💬 What’s one commitment you’re holding onto?
📤 Share with someone who needs permission to keep going

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

Ever feel like you're doing all the right things but still ending up in the same place? Like you're putting in the work but something invisible keeps holding you back? You're not alone—and it's not your fault. Most of us are living on autopilot, controlled by beliefs we picked up before we were 7 years old. Beliefs we never questioned. Beliefs that aren't even true.

In this episode, Alison Lager reads from her book The Wake Up Call and drops some serious truth bombs about why we stay stuck, how childhood programming literally rewires your brain, and what it takes to finally break free from mediocrity and victim mentality.

🎧 WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:
✅ Why your brain filters OUT success (the Reticular Activating System explained)
✅ The neurological reason childhood experiences control your adult life
✅ How to spot the #1 k*ller of lives (****** mentality) and escape it
✅ The simple 5-minute daily practice that can change everything
✅ How to reprogram limiting beliefs that keep you playing small

👤 WHO THIS IS FOR:
This episode is for anyone tired of feeling average. If you keep ending up in the same situations despite trying to change... if you're secretly ambitious but feel stuck... if you're done blaming external circumstances and ready to take back control—this is your wake-up call.

Perfect for: entrepreneurs, parents, anyone in therapy or personal development, people who feel like they're capable of more but can't break through their own glass ceiling.

🧠 ABOUT ALISON LAGER:
Alison is a licensed therapist (LCSW, CASAC) with 34+ years of experience in mental health and emotional well-being. She owns Lager Counseling Services in New York and has spent decades helping people understand the hidden power within them. Her mission? Wake up the planet and help people escape the autopilot life most are living.

This podcast is part of #MissionAwake—a movement to help people break free from limiting beliefs, take personal responsibility, and create lives they're actually excited about (not just settling for).

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

This man talked 200+ people back from the edge—and he never once said he "saved" them.

Kevin Briggs isn't your typical hero. The "Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge" spent 23 years as a California Highway Patrol sergeant kneeling beside strangers who'd lost all hope, no formal training at first—just raw humanity and a philosophy that changed everything: Listen to understand, not to fix.

His record? 99%+ success rate. FBI-trained crisis negotiator. TED Talk speaker. Author. Global mental health advocate. 

This conversation will rewire how you think about suicide, mental health, and what it actually takes to save a life.

Alison sits down with Kevin after losing her own husband to suicide. Two people who've lived the devastation and refuse to let it win.

Together they pull back the curtain on:

-Kevin's battlefield resume: Survived testicular cancer at 20 (37 of 45 lymph nodes cancerous), childhood sexual abuse, three heart surgeries, motorcycle crashes, PTSD nightmares, and family lost to suicide. 

-The suicide stats that'll gut you

-What actually works on the bridge

-Kevin Berthia's story:
22-year-old adopted man. Mental illness. Baby born premature with $250K hospital bill. Lost both jobs. Felt like a total failure. Jumped over the rail before Kevin could stop him but Kevin YELLED and Kevin grabbed the rail mid-air, landed on a tiny pipe 220 feet up.

-Jason Garber's story:
Highly intelligent. Well-versed in religion, philosophy, sports. No substance abuse. Despite Kevin's best efforts, Jason jumped.

-The false peace that kills

-Therapy truth bombs:
Kevin went to therapy with his son who had suicidal thoughts. The therapist WASN'T TRAINED in suicide assessment. Not all mental health professionals are qualified.

-Why intelligent minds break harder:
Alison and Kevin unpack why brilliant people are at higher suicide risk. 

-Alison's redemption mission:
Lost her husband to suicide. Transformed that soul-crushing loss into a lifeline for others.

-Post-traumatic GROWTH


-Faith that heals

---

🎧 Watch now. This will save lives 👆
💬 What's your hidden storm? Share below
📤 Send this to someone who needs to hear it #GuardianOfHope #ListenToUnderstand #SuicideIsPreventable

CONNECT WITH KEVIN BRIGGS:
Website: https://www.pivotal-points.com
Book: Guardian of the Golden Gate (2015)
TED Talk: "The Bridge Between Suicide and Life" (2014)
LinkedIn: Kevin Briggs - Pivotal Points

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

Ever doubt your spot in high-roller rooms after outworking everyone, heart whispering "fraud" while you fake the grin? Or watch your kid erupt in fury, choking back "stop it" knowing shutdown just fuels the fire? We've all toted those hidden hauls: Christmas delayed by empty pockets, faith-fights past suicidal shadows, intense feels society meds away fast.

Alison & Matt's Christmas Eve talk pulls no punches over certainty, billionaire emotional flops, storm-sitting for real toughness, parenting prodigies without the crush.

Pull these direct hits:
-Matt's toughness layers: Champ wrestler frame, study-sharp mind, kid-faith anchor, emo-iron from lows (suicide thoughts beaten—grandpa bailed, dad numbed, he stood)
-Alison's tile therapy: Knees hit floor, cry like clearing sinuses—peace surges when purged, not battled
-Rage redirect: Kid snarls "kill them?"—map consequences (jail? ruin?), empower their call like teacher talk
-Wave-riding wisdom: Breathe easy like grass in the breeze, one foot then the next—God turns squeezes into solid ground

Folks faking confidence through their daily grind, parents hanging on tight during kid meltdowns, hearts weighed down by all that bottled-up hurt. The pain doesn't just stick around—it shapes you tougher and wiser.

🎧 Watch now. Claim your worthy spot 👆
💬 What's your hidden storm? Spill below
📤 Send to someone hurting #HeartGrit #RoughRoadReal

Connect with Matt Berthot:
Website: https://voicebymatt.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicebymatt/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-berthot-b836a49
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@voicebymatt
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Nz3wo8h0Hxs1WmhfJTGcI

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

Ever wake up sweating from those old nightmares—racing to lock doors in your childhood home that never felt safe, danger closing in no matter how fast you move? Or slump against a cold coliseum wall after your big win turns to dust, family up in the stands not even checking on you, that heavy "I'm done" settling in your chest? We've all got those body-stored memories from growing up—messy houses full of chaos, highs crashing to burnout, quiet wonders if we even steer our own lives.

Alison & Matt get real about turning pain into power, no movie fluff needed. They share how to spot your quiet impacts and turn despair right around—no fancy stuff, just real talk.

You'll walk away with:
-Angels pleading "We gotta help him" like desperate friends—because your absence leaves a hole no one fills
-Imagine your hurt on a movie screen, step in like a loving parent hugging scared little you, and rewrite that ending
-Track your daily wins: That employee you saved from the edge, pet cuddles, cashier smiles—you touch lives without knowing
-Christmas real talk: Ditch "poor me" vibes; "being alone isn't the tragedy—it's how you think about it."
​
For tired parents beating themselves up, dreamers questioning worth, anyone staring down shadows. It doesn't get easier—it gets meaningful when you own your spot.

🎧 Listen now—feel your ripple
💬 What's one win you overlook?
📤 Share with a friend in pain #RealLifeLessons #TurnPainToPower

Connect with Matt Berthot:
Website: https://voicebymatt.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicebymatt/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-berthot-b836a49
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@voicebymatt
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Nz3wo8h0Hxs1WmhfJTGcI

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

Ever feel like you're racing through the day, only to crash at night wondering "What did I even accomplish?" You're not alone. Alison gets it too. She shares her real struggles with feeling "all over the place," visionary overwhelm, and that nagging voice saying you're not enough. But here's the good news: simple end-of-day habits can quiet the chaos and help you own your peace.

In this honest solo episode, Alison wraps 2025 with heart-on-sleeve honesty. She admits her struggles with visionary restlessness and outcome obsession, then lists practical end-of-day rituals like writing wins, gratitude, and speaking to your body.

You’ll discover:
- Write down your daily wins. See what you really accomplished, even on chaotic days.
- Turn regrets around: Ask "What would I do differently tomorrow?" instead of beating yourself up.
- Start gratitude with "this moment," and appreciate fully: "What we do not appreciate does not exist."
- Thank your body, talk to your cells, organs, legs—to end self-bullying and ease pains.
- Skip the crowd: "Don't do what everybody else is doing" to beat mediocrity.
- Morning habit: Write 1/3/5/10-year goals, affirmations, and cherish your breath.

🎧 Subscribe for tools weekly
📤 Share with someone needing no-excuses accountability

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

Most of us are one decision away from giving up. We're at the breaking point, questioning if we're qualified, if our pain has purpose, if it's even worth continuing. And in that moment—when you're about to quit—everything changes. Or nothing does. It depends on what you choose next.

In this life-altering episode, mental health professional Alison Lager and voice coach Matt Berthot sit down to discuss the exact moment when most people walk away from their calling. They've both been there. Alison survived her husband's suicide, childhood abuse, eating disorders, and a murder trial. Matt inherited generational trauma from his grandfather's suicide and his father's alcoholism. Both were broken. Both were about to quit. Both chose differently.

And they're here to tell you: The moment you're about to quit is exactly when you must keep going.

But they're not just offering motivation. They're offering a framework—one rooted in neuroscience, Scripture, and lived experience—for what to do when the eclipse of despair gets too dark to see through.

You'll discover:

• Why "God qualifies the called" means your inadequacy is the invitation
• How the suicide mind works (and it's not what you think)
• The one skill that prevents emotional collapse: emotional sobriety
• The three-step framework that transforms your worst pain into your life's work
• Why bigger growth always means bigger storms—and how to prepare
• The Hadestown lesson: How to sing your sad song and still find hope
• How to practice resilience in small moments so you have it in big crises
• What happens when you finally say yes to that small, still voice inside you
• Why receiving help is harder than giving it (and why that's destroying you)
• The difference between reaction and response (it's a 10-second pause)

This episode is for anyone standing at the edge. For the burnt-out parent, struggling entrepreneur, the person in crisis. It's for people who've lost people to suicide. It's for people who've thought about it themselves.

Alison and Matt aren't here to tell you it gets easier. They're here to tell you it gets meaningful. And that changes everything.

🎧 Subscribe now—you might need this episode tomorrow
💬 Tell us in the comments: What's one reason you almost quit?
📤 Share this with someone who's at their breaking point

Connect with Matt Berthot:
Website: https://voicebymatt.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicebymatt/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-berthot-b836a49
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@voicebymatt
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Nz3wo8h0Hxs1WmhfJTGcI

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org

Send us Fan Mail

Most of us don't realize how deeply grief can reshape our identity. When someone we love dies by suicide, we often unconsciously believe that staying broken honors them—that abandoning our joy, our hobbies, our future is some kind of loyalty. But here's the hard truth: that's not honoring them. That's joining them in death.

In this raw and unflinching episode, therapist and suicide loss survivor Alison Lager pulls back the curtain on the invisible second death—the one that happens to survivors. Drawing from her own devastating experience losing her husband to suicide, neuroscience, spiritual wisdom, and years of clinical practice, Alison shares the actionable blueprint she used to refuse suicide a second victim.

You'll discover:

• Why "secondary loss" happens—and how your abandoned dreams become collateral damage to grief
• The dangerous comfort of the "victim" identity—and why you have to eventually let it go to survive
• The "boardwalk principle": How to reclaim the places and activities you loved without betraying your loved one
• Why staying in grief is a form of spiritual death—and how to recognize when you're joining the same darkness that took them
• The science of "gaining more than you lost"—the neuroscience behind why this actually works
• How to ride waves of grief instead of drowning in one long emotional response
• The "heavier weights" metaphor: Why your pain can become your greatest strength
• Practical strategies for processing rage, anger, and the emotions grief tries to hide
• Why living fully is the ultimate honor to those we've lost—not a betrayal

This episode is for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one to suicide, anyone supporting a widow or survivor, and anyone who's ever wondered if there's a way out of the darkness. If you've felt like staying sad is loyalty, or believed that you can never be happy again—this conversation will change everything.

Because here's what Alison knows: Suicide didn't just take their life. It's trying to take yours too. And you have the power to say no.

🎧 Subscribe now for life-changing conversations on grief, resilience, and transformation
💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments—what's one thing you're reclaiming?
📤 Send this to someone who needs to hear: You are not a victim. You will survive this.

Connect with Alison:

• Instagram: @alisonanswers | @lagercounseling
• Website: LagerCounseling.com
• YouTube: Alison Answers
• Facebook: Alison Lager Lcsw Casac
• Purchase Alison’s book: “The Wake Up Call”
• Alison Answers Facebook Group: Join HERE
• Women of Excellence FB group: Join HERE

⚠️ Crisis Resources:
Lager Counseling Services
Call: 516-221-2123
Text: (914) 363-0381
Wantagh: 3408 Park Ave. Wantagh, NY 11793

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential)
Call or text 988 | Visit 988lifeline.org