Human connection is at the core of our well-being, but what happens in our brains when we bond, experience conflict, or work to repair a relationship? In this episode, Curt and Pepper unpack the fascinating neuroscience behind our need for connection, explaining how our brains are wired for relationships and why moments of rupture—whether small misunderstandings or significant emotional breaks—can feel so distressing.

By exploring the science of attachment, listeners will learn how early childhood experiences shape our ability to trust, communicate, and reconnect after conflict. Dr. Thompson dives into how relationships influence brain development, how unresolved ruptures can lead to long-term emotional patterns, and why the process of repair is essential for strengthening bonds. Whether in romantic relationships, friendships, or family dynamics, understanding this rhythm of disconnection and reconnection can help us navigate conflict with greater confidence, foster deeper emotional intimacy, and build lasting resilience.

Episode Links and References

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

Growth is often born from disruption, and in this episode, we explore how ruptures—whether in relationships, routines, or neural pathways—create opportunities for expansion and integration. We examine the physiological parallels of growth, from bone density to neuroplasticity, and dive deep into the critical role of repair in relationships.

Drawing on longitudinal studies of shy children and the biblical perspective on stress, we illustrate how intentional engagement and attunement pave the way for personal and communal transformation. Curt and Pepper offer person examples to illustrate how the stress of transition, from toddler tantrums to adolescent resistance, can be a gateway to deeper resilience and connection.

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

Trauma is more than a single event—it is the accumulation of unrepaired ruptures that we carry in our bodies and souls. In this episode, we explore how these ruptures—whether from minor conflicts or deeply wounding experiences—shape our lives and relationships.

Drawing from biblical stories and contemporary examples, we discuss the ways our unresolved pain influences our decisions, interactions, and sense of self. From the silent grief of barrenness in the lives of the matriarchs to modern challenges like road rage and smartphone dependency, we examine the pervasive impact of ruptures.

With thoughtful insights, we point to the hope of repair and the courage it takes to face the cost of healing. This week, Curt and Pepper invite you to reflect on your own journey and consider how God's redemptive work transforms even the most broken parts of our stories.

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

Episode Links and References

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

In this powerful live episode of the Being Known Podcast, Dr. Curt Thompson, Amy Cella, and Pepper Sweeney dive into the theme of "rupture and repair." This entire season we are exploring how brokenness impacts our relationships, imagination, and sense of self. Through stories, neuroscience, and biblical reflections, we'll discuss how repairing even small ruptures can lead to greater resilience, beauty, and connection.

Join the conversation on naming our longings, addressing unresolved pain, and embracing the transformative work of healing in community. This episode kicks off a season dedicated to helping us imagine—and incarnate—a future of hope and wholeness.

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

Welcome to season 10 of Being Known Podcast. This season we are taking a look back at where we have come over the last couple of years, to determine where we are headed in the future, and as a way to continue bringing you the best content for how to live a life being fully known.

Each week we are spotlighting one episode from a previous season (the best of the best, so to speak). This is just a sample of what that entire season was all about. We hope you have, or will, take the time to listen to all the episodes again.

This week we are looking at season 9 - The Deepest Place.

If you pick up a book on suffering, you might hope it will tell you how you can learn to suffer less, or even not at all. That’s not what we’re doing here. Instead, we will discover that before we even get to suffering, we must, as Christians, begin long before that, just as Paul does in Romans 5. Who knew that to talk about suffering, it is first really important for us to get a handle on how our attachment to Jesus—through our attachment to the members of his Body and the Spirit?

In this episode you are invited to imagine how Paul’s words of faith and justification reflect our real-life attachment processes, and how that lays the foundation for our forming hope in the presence of suffering.

. . . .

Episode Links and References

• The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

• Instagram, Facebook

Welcome to season 10 of Being Known Podcast. This season we are taking a look back at where we have come over the last couple of years, to determine where we are headed in the future, and as a way to continue bringing you the best content for how to live a life being fully known.

Each week we are spotlighting one episode from a previous season (the best of the best, so to speak). This is just a sample of what that entire season was all about. We hope you have, or will, take the time to listen to all the episodes again.

This week we are focusing on season 8 - In the Path of Oncoming Beauty.

There’s nothing quite like an encounter with beauty to remind us that we are temporal—and, temporary—creatures. Who hasn’t wanted the gorgeous sunset to just go on and on and on? Who has listened to Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, and not desired it to go on indefinitely?

Beauty is like that. It transports us into states of timelessness that remind us that we were made, not for this world—but for the world that is coming.

Join us as we look back at this last episode season 8 and be reminded of what it means that God has placed eternity in our hearts, and that putting ourselves in the path of oncoming beauty is the beginning of the time for which there will be no end.  

. . . .

Episode Links and References

• Artistic Offering discussed today: Nature in your own community... Get outside.

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

• Instagram, Facebook

Welcome to season 10 of Being Known Podcast. This season we are taking a look back at where we have come over the last couple of years, to determine where we are headed in the future, and as a way to continue bringing you the best content for how to live a life being fully known.

Each week we are spotlighting one episode from a previous season (the best of the best, so to speak). This is just a sample of what that entire season was all about. We hope you have, or will, take the time to listen to all the episodes again.

This week we are focusing on season 7 - Confessional Communities.

We have shared a great deal about confessional communities over the last several seasons on Being Known Podcast. We thought we would take this opportunity to dive in and take a closer look at their purpose and how they operate. Although the best way to discover these things is to actually participate in a confessional community, however, we  hope this season gets you a little closer to what it means—and what it takes—to be part of one.

. . . .

Episode Links and References

• Genesis 1-2

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

• Instagram, Facebook

Welcome to season 10 of Being Known Podcast. This season we are taking a look back at where we have come over the last couple of years, to determine where we are headed in the future, and as a way to continue bringing you the best content for how to live a life being fully known.

Each week we are spotlighting one episode from a previous season (the best of the best, so to speak). This is just a sample of what that entire season was all about. We hope you have, or will, take the time to listen to all the episodes again.

This week we are focusing on season 6 - The Beauty of Wisdom.

We often assume that wisdom is to be equated with knowing things. And indeed, knowing things is important. But only to the degree that it enables us to create beauty and goodness in the world, not least that of flourishing relationships.

Our challenge is that so often we are interested in acquiring knowledge because we are more concerned with being right than we are about being loving.

The horizontal domain of integration—that of the relationship between the right and left hemispheres of the brain—is the setting in which we learn that wisdom is so much more than knowing: it’s about being known. In this episode, Curt and Pepper will connect with their right and left brains—and with you—as we continue on this marvelous journey of becoming people of wisdom.

. . . . .

Episode Links and References

• Ecclesiastes 3

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

• Instagram, Facebook

Welcome to season 10 of Being Known Podcast. This season we are taking a look back at where we have come over the last couple of years, to determine where we are headed in the future, and as a way to continue bringing you the best content for how to live a life being fully known.

Each week we are spotlighting one episode from a previous season (the best of the best, so to speak). This is just a sample of what that entire season was all about. We hope you have, or will, take the time to listen to all the episodes again.

This week we are focusing on season 5 - The Soul of Shame.

It’s not enough to know what shame IS. We also have to know how and where it works. Our problem with shame is not just a sensation in which we feel bad. It’s about all the ways that it hijacks our mind, relationships, and mostly, the story in which we believe we’re living. Join us as we open up the hood and begin to look at the engine of this thing we call shame. You may be surprised to find that it’s so much more than a feeling.

Episode Links and References

• The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson, MD

 . . . . .

Stay connected:

• Instagram, Facebook