Why do couples keep having the same arguments even when they genuinely love each other?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Eric Williams, relationship expert, creator of DCIA — Done Carrying It Alone, and developer of the Origin Code framework.

Eric brings a unique perspective shaped by his background in Marriage and Family Therapy, five years as a U.S. Army paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, more than 20 years of marriage, and his experiences as both an “autism dad” and a “girl dad.”

We explore what actually causes relational disconnection and why fixing surface-level arguments may not address the real problem underneath.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• The hidden patterns that keep couples stuck in the same conflicts
• Why communication problems are often about more than communication
• The difference between building a healthy relationship and restoring a struggling one
• What the military can teach us about trust, teamwork, and relationships
• Why successful, high-achieving people can still struggle with connection at home
• What healthy conflict actually looks like
• How parenting can reshape our understanding of communication and connection
• One practical thing you can do this week to improve your relationship

If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying the emotional weight of your relationship alone, this conversation offers practical insight and a reminder that you don’t have to carry it alone.

Take Eric’s free 60-second relationship quiz to discover your #1 relationship fight pattern:

https://whywefight.coastalfamilymedia.com/quiz

Listen, share, and remember: sometimes the first step toward reconnecting is finding the language to understand what’s really happening underneath.

What if a child struggling with reading isn’t struggling because they aren’t smart—but because they haven’t been taught in a way that works for how they learn?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, host Tia Monday sits down with Russell Van Brocklen, known as the Dyslexia Professor, for an important conversation about dyslexia, learning, confidence, and helping children move from frustration to academic success.

Russell shares his experience helping dyslexic learners and explains why traditional approaches don’t always work, why multisensory and structured-literacy methods can make a difference, and how parents can begin supporting their child’s confidence at home.

Together, we explore:

📚 Why so many dyslexic children struggle despite trying hard

🧠 Why dyslexic learners are often “specialists, not generalists”

💛 How reading difficulties can affect a child’s self-esteem

🚫 Breaking the damaging belief of “I’m dumb”

🔤 Why multisensory learning can be more effective than generic worksheets

🌱 One practical thing parents can do to rebuild a child’s interest in learning

🏆 A real example of a student moving from frustration to confidence

✨ What “forever confidence” can look like for a dyslexic child

👨‍👩‍👧 What every parent should know about their child’s potential

🏫 How schools and educators can change the way they approach dyslexia

This episode is especially valuable for parents, teachers, caregivers, and anyone supporting a child with dyslexia.

If your child is struggling with reading, remember: the struggle doesn’t define their intelligence, their potential, or their future.

Get Russell’s free guide:

3 Reasons Your Child’s Dyslexic Education Isn’t Working

🎧 Beyond the Mind with Tia Monday — honest conversations about mental health, healing, personal growth, education, and the experiences that shape who we are.

If you found this conversation helpful, follow, share, and leave a review so this message can reach more families.

#BeyondTheMind #RussellVanBrocklen #Dyslexia #DyslexicKids #DyslexiaAwareness #Education #LearningDisabilities #Parenting #ChildConfidence #StructuredLiteracy #ReadingDifficulties #TiaMonday

What if understanding the hidden patterns behind human behavior could help us make better decisions, improve ourselves, and navigate our relationships more effectively?

In this episode, I’m joined by Jim Marshall, a Human Development Engineer, polymathic intellectual, researcher, and the creator of Septemics—a practical philosophic system designed to help people better understand human phenomena and personal development.

Jim has devoted more than 50,000 hours to the study and practice of human potential and has spent over 40 years working with people through his research, training, and professional practice.

We discuss:

• What Septemics is and how Jim discovered it

• How Septemics differs from conventional approaches to human development

• Why understanding human behavior matters

• How Septemics can be applied to personal growth and everyday life

• How the system can help us understand family, friends, colleagues, and business relationships

• One of the scales within Septemics and how it can be applied

• Jim’s insights from decades of studying human potential

If you’re interested in human behavior, personal development, psychology, philosophy, and understanding yourself and others, this conversation offers plenty to think about.

Learn more about Jim Marshall and Septemics: Septemics.com

What does foreign aid actually look like once you move beyond the headlines?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Clifford Brown, a former USAID legal advisor and senior manager who spent 27 years working in international development across Latin America, Central Asia, and Africa.

After leaving a successful career as a commercial lawyer, Clifford embarked on a remarkable journey that took him through countries including Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

Drawing from his experiences and his book, Inside USAID: An Odyssey of Foreign Assistance, Clifford gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the realities of international development—including its successes, failures, bureaucracy, political challenges, and human consequences.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What USAID actually does and what foreign aid is designed to accomplish
• Whether foreign aid truly creates lasting change
• The challenges of working amid political instability, corruption, and military coups
• Bride kidnapping and Clifford’s experiences in Kyrgyzstan
• His wife’s abduction and how it changed his perspective
• The war on drugs and Plan Colombia
• How foreign aid can help create industries and economic opportunities
• Democracy, governance, and accountability
• The complex relationship between foreign assistance and religion
• Human trafficking and vulnerable communities
• What USAID got right—and what it got wrong
• The consequences of dismantling USAID
• Why foreign aid matters to Americans and the wider world
• What the future of international development should look like

This is a conversation about much more than government programs or international policy. It’s about people, communities, politics, resilience, and the difficult question of how nations can help one another without creating new problems in the process.

Learn more about Clifford and his work:

https://cliffordHbrown.com

Read Clifford’s Substack:

https://cliffordbrown.substack.com

If you’ve ever wondered whether foreign aid actually works—and what happens behind the scenes when countries try to create change across borders—this episode is for you.

What if healing doesn’t mean forgetting what we’ve lost, but learning how to carry it differently?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, host Tia Monday sits down with award-winning author and storyteller Holly B. Gutwillinger for a heartfelt conversation about grief, healing, second chances, creativity, and the extraordinary bond between humans and animals.

Holly is the author of North of Broken & Furever Home, a dual-narrative story that explores the emotional journey of both humans and rescue dogs as they navigate loss, healing, and the possibility of beginning again.

Holly also hosts Ramblings From the Little Shed, a podcast exploring the ways animals influence and inspire creative lives.

In this conversation, Holly shares insights into:

✨ How grief can change us and what healing can look like

🐾 The emotional and healing power of animals

📖 The inspiration behind North of Broken & Furever Home

💛 What rescue animals can teach us about trust and second chances

🌱 Reinvention, resilience, and beginning again

✍️ How storytelling and creativity can help us process difficult experiences

🎙️ The inspiration behind Ramblings From the Little Shed

❤️ Finding meaning and purpose through life’s difficult chapters

This is a beautiful conversation about loss, love, resilience, and the unexpected ways we find our way back to ourselves.

Connect with Holly:

Ramblings From the Little Shed

If this conversation resonates with you, don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, and share this episode with someone who may need to hear it.

🎧 Beyond the Mind with Tia Monday — honest conversations about mental health, healing, personal growth, and the experiences that shape who we are.

#BeyondTheMind #HollyGutwillinger #TiaMonday #GriefAndHealing #RescueDogs #AnimalHealing #SecondChances #MentalHealth #HealingJourney #PersonalGrowth #Storytelling #Resilience

What happens when a man is successful in his career and family life, but no longer feels like himself when he looks in the mirror?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Brian Parana, a health and lifestyle coach with more than 20 years of experience helping busy, high-performing men over 40 lose fat, improve their health markers, and regain their energy without turning fitness into a second job.

Brian and I talk about why successful men often struggle with weight gain and consistency—even when they already know what they should be doing.

We explore the importance of strength training, protein-first nutrition, daily movement, sleep, stress management, and accountability, and how these habits can fit into a demanding career, family life, travel, and leadership responsibilities.

We also discuss:

• Why men’s health often starts changing after 40
• The connection between health and leadership
• How to improve consistency when life gets chaotic
• Why extreme diets and “all-or-nothing” routines don’t work long-term
• What to prioritize if you only have 30 minutes a day
• How blood-work markers can be a warning sign that your lifestyle needs attention
• How successful men can build discipline without burnout
• Why taking care of your body isn’t just about looking better—it’s about becoming a better husband, father, and leader

Brian brings more than two decades of experience coaching real people, and his message is simple: your health shouldn’t require you to put your life on hold.

If you’re a busy professional, entrepreneur, leader, or dad who knows you need to take better care of yourself but struggles to make it sustainable, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Beyond the Mind and discover how small, consistent changes can help you feel like yourself again.

Learn more about Brian’s 100-day coaching program, The Call To Rise:

https://thecalltorise.com/

Sometimes…

the simplest things…

can make the biggest difference.

A handful of worms.

A jar of sprouts.

And…

a good laugh.

What if living a healthier, more joyful life doesn’t always have to be complicated?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Cathy Nesbitt, a Health and Wellness Advocate, environmental innovator, speaker, and founder of Cathy’s Crawly Composters, Cathy’s Sprouters, and Cathy’s Laughter Club.

Cathy has spent years showing people how simple, natural solutions can make a difference—not only for our environment, but also for our health and wellbeing.

We talk about vermicomposting and the surprising role worms can play in food waste, healthy soil, and food security. Cathy also introduces us to sprouts as a simple way to grow nutrient-rich food at home, school, or work.

But our conversation goes beyond sustainability and nutrition.

Cathy shares why laughter has become such an important part of her own wellness journey, how laughter yoga can help reduce stress and support wellbeing, and why she believes we should make daily joy a priority rather than something we wait for.

We explore the connection between worms, sprouts, laughter, health, sustainability, and self-care—and how small changes can help us create a healthier relationship with ourselves and the world around us.

Because sometimes…

wellness isn’t about doing more.

It’s about rediscovering the simple things that make us feel alive.

🎧 Tune in to Beyond the Mind and discover why Cathy believes laughter, sustainability, and simple everyday choices can help us live a more joyful life.

Connect with Cathy Nesbitt https://www.cathysclub.com/

Sometimes…

being the “good child” means…

staying quiet.

Avoiding conflict.

Putting everyone else first.

And somewhere along the way, you can become so good at being agreeable that you forget to ask yourself what you actually want.

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Bradley L. Gabbert, author of The Agreeable Child: A Yogic Journey from Tragedy to Triumph, for a deeply personal conversation about childhood trauma, people-pleasing, emotional healing, and finding your voice later in life.

Bradley shares the extraordinary story of surviving a childhood accident that left him in a coma and forced him to relearn how to walk and speak—and how the experiences that followed shaped the person he became.

We explore what it means to grow up believing that keeping the peace is safer than speaking up, how people-pleasing can follow us into relationships and adulthood, and the difference between being genuinely kind and losing yourself to make others comfortable.

Bradley also opens up about the unexpected role of breathwork, yoga, meditation, and stillness in helping him reconnect with emotions he had carried for decades.

This is a conversation about the parts of ourselves we learn to silence in order to survive—and what can happen when we finally give ourselves permission to speak.

Because…

finding your voice isn’t about becoming louder.

It’s about finally becoming more fully yourself.

Connect with Bradley gabbert https://theagreeablechild.com/

Sometimes…

rock bottom isn’t the end.

Sometimes…

there’s another level beneath it.

And sometimes, hitting that place becomes the moment when everything has to change.

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Timothy Moylan, author of Rock Bottom Has a Basement, for a raw and honest conversation about addiction, alcoholism, homelessness, legal trouble, incarceration, faith, family, and the long road back to a meaningful life.

Timothy opens up about the choices and circumstances that took him to some of the darkest moments of his life—including a near-fatal heart failure—and the turning point that forced him to confront his addiction and take responsibility for where his life was heading.

Together, we explore what recovery really looks like beyond simply getting sober, the role of faith and accountability, rebuilding trust with family, and finding the courage to start again when you feel like you’ve lost everything.

We also talk about second chances, personal responsibility, and how the lessons Timothy learned through recovery continue to shape the way he lives, works, and shows up for the people around him.

Whether you or someone you love has struggled with addiction, or you’ve ever wondered whether a person can truly rebuild their life after losing everything, this conversation offers honesty, hope, and a powerful reminder:

Your lowest point does not have to be your final chapter.

Connect with Timothy Moylan http://amazon.com/author/rockbottom_76

Guest Introduction: Timothy Moylan & Rock Bottom Has a Basement

The Beginning of the Addiction Journey

When Addiction Takes Control

From Legal Trouble to Homelessness & Prison

Hitting Rock Bottom—and Discovering There Was More Beneath It

The Turning Point: Choosing Recovery

Faith, Accountability & Taking Responsibility

Rebuilding Trust With Family

Surviving a Near-Fatal Heart Failure

What Recovery Really Looks Like

Rebuilding Life, Work & Purpose

Second Chances: What Timothy Wants Others to Know

Final Reflection: Your Story Doesn’t End at Rock Bottom

Sometimes…

faith doesn’t disappear…

it gets buried beneath…

pain.

shame.

and the pressure to appear okay.

What happens when the person you believe you’re supposed to be becomes harder to maintain than simply being honest about who you are?

In this episode of Beyond the Mind, I’m joined by Jeff Dalton, author, poet, and speaker, for a deeply honest conversation about faith, mental health, healing, and finding your way back to an authentic relationship with Jesus.

Jeff shares his personal journey through depression, low self-esteem, bipolar disorder, suicidal episodes, church rejection, divorce, financial hardship, and a season when he questioned—and ultimately lost—his faith.

Together, we explore the difference between religious performance and genuine connection with Jesus, the shame that can surround mental illness, and why struggling with your mental health doesn’t mean you have weak faith.

We also talk about what it means to bring our brokenness into the light, how honest conversations with Jesus can transform the way we understand healing, and why sometimes the most powerful step in faith is simply being real.

Whether you’ve struggled with your faith, battled shame or mental health challenges, felt rejected by religious communities, or simply wondered whether Jesus can meet you in the middle of your mess, this conversation offers a message of hope, honesty, and grace.

Because…

you don’t have to hide your brokenness to be worthy of healing.

Connect with Jeff https://a.co/d/08VZox7l