Airing September 1, 2026

What does it really mean to care for people as they age—not simply keeping them safe, but protecting their dignity, autonomy, identity, and right to continue directing their own lives?

In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell sits down with Alison Laird Craig, Program Manager of the Elder Education Institute at Sound Generations, for an important conversation about aging, mental health, and the ways older adults are too often overlooked in healthcare, behavioral health, and social service systems.

Together, they explore ageism and its impact on mental health, the growing need for professionals trained to work with older adults, decision-making capacity and the difference between protection and unnecessary loss of autonomy, and the unique challenges faced by older adults experiencing homelessness, incarceration and re-entry, poverty, disability, serious mental illness, and other forms of marginalization.

The conversation also examines an especially important distinction: making a poor decision is not the same as lacking the capacity to make decisions. Preserving dignity and civil rights must remain central to how families, clinicians, and systems support people throughout the aging process.

At the heart of this episode is a simple but powerful reminder: aging does not erase personhood. Older adults carry entire lifetimes of relationships, culture, loss, resilience, accomplishments, mistakes, identities, and stories. Good care should ask more than, “How do we keep this person safe?” It should also ask, “How do we help this person continue to live with dignity, autonomy, connection, and meaning?”

Elder Education Institute at Sound Generations
The Elder Education Institute provides continuing education and professional development focused on the mental health, autonomy, and unique needs of older adults.
https://soundgenerations.org/eldereducationinstitute/

Strategies of Support for Unhoused Older Adults
This workshop focuses on the unique challenges facing unhoused older adults and practical strategies for providing more effective, responsive, and dignity-centered support.
https://soundgenerations.org/strategies-of-support-for-unhoused-older-adults-with-jams-stuivenga-lswaic-gmhs/

It’s Complicated: How to Best Support Older Adult Clients Leaving the Carceral System
This workshop examines the complex realities facing older adults transitioning from incarceration back into the community, including mental health, housing, reintegration, and systemic barriers. Dr. Carmela Maxell will also be presenting as part of this workshop.
https://soundgenerations.org/its-complicated-how-to-best-support-older-adult-clients-leaving-the-carceral-system-with-lena-campagna-phd-angela-murolo-phd-and-special-guests/

Stay rooted in who you are, and keep rising into who you’re becoming.

What happens when something changes your life—but Tuesday is still Tuesday?

The emails keep coming. The bills are still due. People still need things from you. And somehow, while part of you is trying to understand what just happened, the rest of the world keeps moving.

In this deeply personal Sunday Seed, Dr. Carmela Maxell reflects on navigating pain while life refuses to pause—and the complicated reality of experiencing heartbreak and joy at the same time.

She explores the difference between functioning and healing, what it means to actually practice the grace we so easily offer other people, and the quiet ways we begin finding ourselves again after something has changed us.

Because healing isn’t always the moment the pain disappears.

Sometimes, it’s the moment your life becomes large enough to hold something besides the pain.

And sometimes rising isn’t a triumphant comeback.

Sometimes it’s simply realizing:

I’m still here.

🌱 Sunday Seeds of Thought — Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell

What if changing the systems around us requires us to first examine the systems within us?

In this powerful episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell sits down with educator, scholar, therapist, veteran, and advocate Dr. Jeremy Hollander for an unfiltered conversation about systemic inequality, privilege, oppression, accountability—and the uncomfortable work of looking inward.

Because it's easy to identify what's wrong with the world.

It's much harder to ask:

How am I participating in it?

Together, Dr. Carmela Maxell and Dr. Jeremy Hollander explore how racism, colonialism, patriarchy, education, economic inequality, and other systems shape the way we understand ourselves and one another—often in ways we don't consciously recognize.

But this conversation isn't about assigning one group all the blame.

It's about accountability.

Can someone experience hardship while still holding privilege?

Can marginalized people hold privilege in other areas of their lives?

What happens when advocacy becomes conversation without action?

And once we become aware of injustice, what responsibility do we have to do something about it?

Dr. Jeremy Hollander shares his own journey of confronting privilege and examining the systems that shaped him—from his military service and experiences in Iraq to his work as an educator, therapist, and scholar. He discusses the difficult process of examining his own identity, assumptions, discomfort, and responsibility rather than positioning himself outside the problem. 

Dr. Carmela Maxell reflects on her own experiences as a Black and Filipina woman, educator, clinician, and mother—and the complicated reality that people can simultaneously experience marginalization in some parts of their identities and privilege in others. 

And ultimately, they arrive at something deceptively simple:

Learning isn't just taking in information. Learning requires application.

Reading the books isn't enough.

Having the conversations isn't enough.

Calling ourselves allies isn't enough.

At some point, what we know has to change what we do.

This isn't a conversation asking anyone to arrive perfectly informed.

It's asking all of us to remain teachable.

Sometimes looking in the mirror isn't about liking everything we see.

It's about deciding what we're willing to do once we see it.

🎙️ Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell
🎤 Featuring Dr. Jeremy Hollander
🎧 Available on all major podcasting platforms.

If this conversation makes you think, challenges something you believed, or gives you a new way of looking at yourself or the world around you, please like, follow, subscribe, rate, and share Rooted & Rising.

And send this episode to someone who's willing to have the difficult conversations with you.

🌱 Stay rooted in who you are—and keep rising into who you're becoming.

Sunday Sleep Is NOT Your Rest

We put a lot of pressure on the weekend to save us from the week. We’ll catch up on sleep, finally slow down, take care of ourselves—and somehow emerge Monday completely restored.

But what happens when the weekend isn’t actually rest? It’s recovery.

In this Sunday Seed, Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the difference between resting and recovering from a life that repeatedly exhausts us, asking: What can we change about Tuesday so Sunday doesn’t have so much work to do?

Take the nap. Sleep in. Put your phone on silent. Read the book.

But don’t ask Sunday to save you from Monday through Saturday.

Maybe you don’t need a better weekend. Maybe you need a week you don’t have to spend the weekend recovering from.

🌱 Stay rooted in who you are, and keep rising into who you’re becoming.

What if the reason people keep pulling away isn’t because they’re intimidated, jealous, or incapable of handling the “real” you?

What if—stay with me—you’re sometimes just… not that likeable? 😂

In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell takes on the uncomfortable difference between authenticity and a complete lack of self-awareness. Because being unapologetically yourself doesn’t mean you never have to consider what it feels like for other people to experience you. 

We’re talking about confidence versus self-importance, vulnerability versus emotional dumping, honesty versus cruelty, and why your intentions don’t erase someone else’s experience of your behavior. We also get into the patterns we’d rather not examine—especially when the people and circumstances change, but somehow the same conflict keeps following us from room to room. 

And no, this isn’t about shrinking yourself, becoming more “palatable,” or trying to make everyone like you. It’s about something much harder: self-awareness.

The question at the center of this episode is simple:

What does it feel like to be on the other side of me?

Do people feel heard? Is there room for them? Can they disagree with you? Can they shine without you competing? Can they tell you that you hurt them without having to defend their experience in court? 

This one is funny, uncomfortable, occasionally a little ruthless—and probably going to make you think of at least one person you absolutely should not send it to. 😂

🎙️ Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell
You’re Just Not Likeable: The Difference Between Being Authentic and Being Insufferable

New episodes every Tuesday. 

Nothing extraordinary happened today.

There was no major milestone. No big announcement. No life-changing moment.

There was lavender growing in the front yard. A busy bee. Tiny hands helping cut flowers. Laughter. A vase by the window.

And somehow, that was enough.

In this Sunday Seed of Thought, Dr. Carmela Maxell reflects on how easily we can rush through the ordinary parts of our lives while waiting for something bigger to happen. We celebrate milestones, achievements, and major transitions—but most of a lifetime is made up of the quiet moments in between.

What if the life we're waiting to enjoy is already happening?

This episode is an invitation to slow down, notice what's around you, and stop treating the present like a waiting room for a better future.

Because one day, some of the ordinary things surrounding you right now may be the very things you'd give anything to experience again.

🌱 This week's seed:
The ordinary moments of today may become the treasures of tomorrow.

Listen, follow, and share Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell, and tune in every Tuesday for new full episodes.

And remember: stay rooted in who you are and keep rising into who you're becoming.

Content/Trigger Warning: This episode includes candid discussions of addiction, homelessness, incarceration, street violence, murder, sexual violence, exploitation, and other traumatic experiences. Please listen with care and take whatever space you need while listening.

What happens when surviving becomes a way of life—and then one day, you have to learn how to live again?

In this powerful episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell sits down with recovery advocate, mentor, drug court professional, and change maker Joe Barsana for an honest conversation about addiction, homelessness, street violence, incarceration, recovery, accountability, and second chances.

Joe shares pieces of his own journey—from addiction and life on the streets to incarceration, treatment, recovery, and eventually helping others navigate some of the same systems and struggles he once experienced himself.

Together, Dr. Carmela Maxell and Joe Barsana explore the complicated space between compassion and accountability.

What does survival mode do to a person?

What happens when violence becomes normal?

Can we hold people accountable for the harm they've caused while still recognizing their humanity?

And what does it actually take to rebuild a life when the world has already decided who you are?

This conversation doesn't romanticize addiction, violence, or life on the streets. It looks directly at the pain, consequences, trauma, and loss—but also at the possibility that a person's worst chapter does not have to become their final one.

Because sometimes survival isn't the finish line.

Sometimes it's where the real work begins.

🎙️ Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell
🎤 Featuring Joe Barsana

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Amazon Music, YouTube, Audible, and other major podcast platforms.

If this conversation resonates with you, please like, follow, subscribe, rate, and share Rooted & Rising with someone who may need to hear it.

🌱 Stay rooted in who you are—and keep rising into who you're becoming.

What if the life you keep trying to earn is already yours?

In this Sunday Seeds of Thought, Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the exhausting habit of constantly proving our worth—through productivity, perfectionism, achievement, relationships, and the need to feel deserving of the spaces we’ve already earned.

There’s a difference between growing because you’re curious about who you can become and performing because you’re afraid who you are still isn’t enough.

This week’s seed: You don’t have to keep proving you belong in a life you’ve already built.

🌱 Follow Rooted & Rising for new full episodes every Tuesday, Sunday Seeds of Thought every Sunday, and the occasional Midnight Reflection.

Listen, share, and send this episode to someone who needs permission to stop auditioning—and finally start living.

The Body Remembers: The Physical & Physiological Effects of Trauma — Especially for Women of Color

What happens when you’ve been “strong” for so long that your body finally says, enough?

In this powerful episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell sits down with author, speaker, and wellness advocate Dee Mosley for an honest conversation about the ways trauma can live far beyond our thoughts.

They explore what happens when survival mode becomes a way of life—and when the nervous system becomes accustomed to being constantly on alert.

For women of color, and Black women in particular, the expectation to be strong can carry an enormous cost. Carmela and Dee unpack the pressure to keep performing, caring for everyone else, pushing through exhaustion, and appearing okay even when the body is signaling otherwise.

Together, they discuss the connection between trauma and the body, chronic stress and exhaustion, the complicated relationship many women have with rest, faith and mental health care, workplace expectations, generational patterns, and the difference between being resilient and simply becoming very good at surviving.

Dee also shares her own journey of reaching a point where her body could no longer keep pace with what she was asking of it—and how that experience ultimately became part of her healing journey and her book, Grace & Glow.

This conversation asks an important question:

What if the strongest thing you can do is stop proving how much you can endure?

If you have ever been the dependable one, the high performer, the caregiver, the person everyone calls because “you can handle it”—this conversation is for you.

🎙️ Rooted & Rising with Dr. Carmela Maxell
Featuring Dee Mosley
📅 Streaming August 4, 2026
🎧 Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Dee Mosley is the author of Grace & Glow: My Nervous Breakdown Was Never Going to Win Against Me.

Get Grace & Glow on Amazon

And if this episode resonates with you, follow, subscribe, rate, and share Rooted & Rising with someone who has spent far too long being “the strong one.”

Sometimes the body remembers what we've spent years trying to push through. ❤️

What if the most productive thing you do this week... is protect your peace first?

In this week's Sunday Seeds of Thought, Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the quiet ways we lose ourselves before the workday even begins. From checking emails before getting out of bed to measuring our worth by how busy we are, we've normalized living in a constant state of reaction.

But what if peace isn't something you find—what if it's something you practice protecting?

Join Dr. Maxell for a thoughtful conversation about burnout, boundaries, nervous system health, and why the healthiest version of you will always accomplish more than the busiest one.

Take a deep breath. Slow down. Your inbox can wait.

🌱 New Sunday Seeds of Thought episodes release every Sunday.
🎙️ Full-length Rooted & Rising episodes release every Tuesday.

If this episode speaks to you, follow the podcast, leave a review, and share it with someone who could use a little more peace this week.

#MentalHealth #Burnout #SelfCare #Productivity #Mindfulness #MentalWellness #SundaySeeds #RootedAndRising #Psychology #Leadership #PersonalGrowth #NervousSystem #EmotionalWellness