The Heart Helper

You did not just pick up your habits. You learned them through observation.

In this faith-based mental health conversation, Jodie Shannon, founder of The Heart Helper and counselor in training, explores Social Learning Theory, psychologist Albert Bandura’s research showing that we learn by watching others. We observe behavior, remember it, and then model it, especially when we see it rewarded. Bandura called this observational learning, and he identified four steps: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.

What we watch shapes what we do. Who we walk with shapes who we become. Science calls it modeling. Scripture calls it the company you keep.

Jodie aligns the theory with four key scriptures:

• 1 Corinthians 15:33, on why bad company ruins good morals
• Galatians 5:9, on how a little leaven leavens the whole lump, and how one small influence can spread through every area of your life
• Proverbs 13:20, on how walking with the wise makes us wise
• Philippians 4:9, where Paul says to practice what you have learned, heard, and seen in him, showing that modeling can be used on purpose for good

Science did not discover these truths. It confirmed them. As you listen, ask yourself: Who are you watching? Who is watching you? And what patterns are you modeling based on what you have been observing?

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Strengthen the spirit. Manage the mind. Honor the heart. Heighten the health.

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Are You Burying What God Told You to Build?

In Matthew 25, a master entrusts his servants with talents. Two of them build, and one buries what he was given. It wasn't because he had too little, since one talent was worth about 20 years of wages, or over a million dollars today. He buried it because fear handed him a shovel.

In this episode, we unpack what a talent meant in Bible times, what it means for us today, and how fear can disguise itself as "playing it safe." Whether it's a business you haven't launched, savings you haven't started, or a gift you haven't shared, God gave you the power to build. Not to bury.

Fear hands you a shovel. Faith hands you a blueprint.

Scriptures in this episode: Matthew 25:14–30, Deuteronomy 8:18

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Join us in prayer: Every Wednesday at 7am, we gather for prayer. To join, DM me or email [email protected].

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What if the person chasing the next high isn't chasing a drug at all? What if they're chasing God and just don't know it yet?

In this episode of The Heart Helper Podcast, Jodie brings together neuroscience, counseling research, and Scripture to uncover a powerful truth: the same reward circuit in the brain that lights up when we feel God's presence is the one that substances hijack. The high is a counterfeit of the Holy.

With more than 44 million Americans living with a substance use disorder, this conversation walks through four movements: how we were designed with eternity in our hearts, how addiction hijacks that longing, how a substance can quietly take God's place, and how grace, healing, and treatment can lead us back to the fountain of living waters.

If you've ever reached for something to quiet the ache, this one is for you.

How is your heart?

If you or someone you love is struggling: SAMHSA National Helpline, 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7). In a crisis, call or text 988.

References

Crosland, C., & Imhoff, B. (2024). [Chapter title]. In [First initial]. King-Ford (Ed.), Christian integration in counselor education (pp. 235–257). Kendall Hunt.

Ferguson, M. A., Nielsen, J. A., King, J. B., Dai, L., Giangrasso, D. M., Holman, R., Korenberg, J. R., & Anderson, J. S. (2018). Reward, salience, and attentional networks are activated by religious experience in devout Mormons. Social Neuroscience, 13(1), 104–116.

Jennings, T. R. (2017). The God-shaped brain: How changing your view of God transforms your life (Expanded ed.). InterVarsity Press.

May, G. G. (1988). Addiction and grace: Love and spirituality in the healing of addictions. HarperCollins.

Mohandas, E. (2008). Neurobiology of spirituality. Mens Sana Monographs, 6(1), 63–80.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2026). Highlights for the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-2025-Annual-Release/2025-nsduh-nnr-highlights.pdf

Thompson, C. (2021). The soul of desire: Discovering the neuroscience of longing, beauty, and community. InterVarsity Press.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway.

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Before bed one night, after prayer, a simple question stopped me in my tracks: "Can God rest within you comfortably?" In this episode, we're unpacking what it really means to be a temple of God — is your inner life clean and peaceful enough for Him to dwell there, or is it cluttered with the world?

We'll walk through what it would look like if God reviewed you like a hotel — would you get five stars? Is your fridge stocked with the fruit of the Spirit, or empty? Then we get practical: as someone currently in school to become a therapist, I break down the science of neural pathways and how you can actually rewire your mind toward the life God's calling you into — verse by verse, habit by habit.

If this episode speaks to you, grab a copy of my 40-day devotional, Out of Comfort, Into Calling, and don't forget to subscribe for more conversations on faith, healing, and wholeness.

Topics covered: being a temple of the Holy Spirit, bible verses on purity, renewing your mind, neural pathways and habit change, spiritual growth

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What happens when a man loses everything — and still chooses to rise?

In this powerful episode of The Heart Helper Podcast, host Jodie Shannon sits down with legendary luxury photographer Blue Franswa for one of the most honest and moving conversations we have ever had. Blue opens up about his Haitian heritage, what growing up as a child of a hearing impaired parent taught him about strength, and navigating a world that does not always make room for you.

He gets real about the bad decisions that could have derailed his destiny, the season where he lost everything he loved — his family, his business, his footing — and what it looks like to rebuild when all you have left is faith.

But this episode is about more than the comeback. Blue speaks directly to men who are carrying weight they were never meant to carry alone. He challenges the idea that vulnerability is weakness and instead invites men into something deeper — acknowledgment. Feeling what you feel. Finding a sacred community that can hold you while you heal.

Too often men are handed armor and told to keep moving. On this episode we give men something different. A place to exhale. A place to be honest. A place to soften their shoulders.

If you are a man in the middle of your storm, or you love one — this episode is for you.

Connect with Blue Franswa:
Instagram: instagram.com/bluefranswa
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/bluefranswa
Facebook: facebook.com/bluefranswa
Website: www.bluefranswa.com

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Website: www.thehearthelper.com

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On this episode of The Heart Helper Podcast, host Jodie Shannon sits down with Fierra Johnson-Graham, co-author of Mirror Wounds: A Mother and Daughter's Journey to Healing — a raw and unflinching memoir told in the alternating voices of a mother and daughter bound by love, scarred by trauma, and determined to find freedom. Darlene and Fierra share parallel yet intertwined stories of childhood abuse, family secrets, and the generational silence that kept them bound. Through letters to their younger selves, they pull back the veil on shame and survival — showing that healing is possible even when the scars run deep.

This is one of those conversations that will stay with you.

In this episode we discuss:

• The story behind Mirror Wounds and what it meant for a mother and daughter to write their truth together in alternating voices
• How sexual abuse within a family creates wounds that are silently passed down — and how that silence secretly destroys families generation after generation
• What happens when the person who hurt you is a family member, and that same person has harmed others, yet no one has had the courage to speak
• How shame thrives in silence — and how truth is the door to freedom
• The mirror wounds Fierra discovered her mother was carrying — and how their healing became intertwined across generations
• Why Fierra made the conscious decision to get well not just for herself, but to properly steward the gift God placed inside her and to show up whole for her children
• The truth that you cannot carry hurt and expect it not to bleed on the people you love
• How to heal unapologetically — giving yourself full permission to pursue wholeness without shrinking for the comfort of others
• The benefits of therapy and why getting professional support is not a sign of weakness but an act of courage and self-stewardship
• How Fierra stopped being a victim and became a victor — and how she did it with God

This episode is for anyone who:

• Has been carrying a wound they were told to keep quiet
• Loves someone who is still in their silence
• Needs permission to stop smiling while broken
• Has been hesitant about therapy and needs to hear why it changed everything
• Needs to know that healing is not just possible — it is available to them right now

While wounds may mirror from mother to daughter — healing, too, can be mirrored and multiplied. Fierra's story is proof.

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The Empress of Entrepreneurship | Honeysuckle Moon on Faith, Floods & Legacy

L'Angela Lee, also known as Honeysuckle Moon, is not your average entrepreneur. Born from deep Louisiana roots and shaped by Jamaican culture and Rastafarian philosophy, she built a plant-based skin spa in the historic West End of Atlanta as a love letter to her city and her community.

Then the flood came.

What could have ended everything became the catalyst for a bigger vision. Grounded in faith, motherhood, and an unshakable refusal to quit, L'Angela shares the raw and real journey of building a wellness brand that serves the whole person — body, mind, and spirit.

In this episode, host Jodie Smith sits down with Honeysuckle Moon to talk about what it truly means to be a powerful woman, how Jamaica and Rastafarianism shaped her approach to wellness, and why she believes your greatest setback is simply preparation for your greatest legacy.

She did not just survive the flood. She is building an empire from it.

If you have ever felt like giving up, this episode is for you.

Topics Covered:

• The origin of Honeysuckle Moon and her roots in culture and community
• How Jamaica and Rastafarianism influence her life and brand
• Overcoming a devastating business setback with faith and purpose
• Entrepreneurship, motherhood, and preserving yourself through it all
• What it means to be a powerful woman on your own terms
• Her international expansion as a wholesale wellness distributor

New episodes of The Heart Helper Podcast drop regularly. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

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Prepared. Surrendered. Filled & Overflowing. | ft. Life Coach Bri Boyd

Twelve years of suffering. Lamps burning low. A river with no end. What do they all have in common? They all point to one truth — God is not withholding. He is flowing. But there is a move you have to make.

If you have been running on empty, trying every solution, and still coming up short — this episode is for you. If you have been going through the motions but feel like something is missing in your relationship with God — this episode is for you. If you are ready to stop standing on the bank and actually step into what God has for you — this one is for you.

In this conversation, Jodie sits down with life coach Bri Boyd to walk through three powerful scriptures that tell one story — what it looks like to be prepared, surrender everything, and come out filled and overflowing.

The Woman with the Issue of Blood had been suffering for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors, on treatments, on answers that never came. She was ceremonially unclean, isolated from her community, and had no business being in that crowd. But she had heard about Jesus — and faith without action is dead. So she moved. She pressed through the crowd, reached out, and touched the hem of His garment. The power that went out of Him met the faith that was moving in her. Jesus stopped, turned, and called her Daughter. She didn't just receive healing — she received her identity back.

The Ten Virgins remind us that intimacy with God is not something you can borrow. Matthew 25:1-4 tells us five were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil. The wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. Preparation is not a one-time event — it is a daily, sustained posture of staying close to Him. You cannot pour from an empty lamp, and you cannot enter on someone else's relationship with God.

Ezekiel 47 gives us a picture of what full surrender looks like. A river flows from the threshold of the temple — ankle-deep, then knee-deep, then waist-deep, then too deep to cross. This is the river of God. Living water. Where it flows, everything lives. The invitation is not to stand on the bank and admire it. Step in, go deeper, and let it carry you. We decrease. He increases. We empty ourselves and He fills us with living water that overflows into everything around us.

In This Episode:

• Why preparation is a daily posture, not a one-time act
• How the woman with the issue of blood models faith with action
• What it means to decrease so God can increase
• How to stop standing on the bank and go deeper with God

"Where the river flows, everything will live." — Ezekiel 47:9

"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within them." — John 7:37-38

If this episode blessed you, share it with someone who needs to hear it and leave a review — it helps more women find the show.

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Guest: Bri Boyd, Life Coach @BriBoydCoaching Host: Jodie Shannon @IamJodieShannon | Show: The Heart Helper Podcast @thehearthelperpodcast

www.thehearthelper.com

The Heart Helper Podcast is faith-rooted conversations for women ready to move from being to becoming.

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Quiet the Noise | Seen to Serve, Hidden to Hear The Heart Helper Podcast | Bible Discovery Series

You were sent to serve people — but you cannot serve from an empty cup. When you pour constantly without returning to the Father, you stop being filled by God and start being shaped by the crowd. Slowly you will start to look like the world when you were sent to transform it.

In this episode of The Heart Helper Podcast, Jodie Shannon takes you deep into what it means to show up for people with purpose, protect your assignment with discernment, and return to God so you can be refilled before you pour again. Jesus often stepped away to be alone. This episode gives you permission and the blueprint to do the same.

In this episode you will discover:

• Why separation is a spiritual discipline and not a sign of weakness
• How Jesus modeled the balance between serving the crowd and withdrawing from it
• Why not everyone deserves access to your most vulnerable moments
• How the crowd can slowly shape you into someone God never called you to be
• Why the loner is often the leader — and what that means for your calling
• How to return to the Father as your source so you can serve from overflow

Bible Verses Referenced in This Episode:

• Mark 1:35 — "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
• Luke 5:16 — "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."
• Mark 5:37 — "He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James."
• Proverbs 13:20 — "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm."
• 1 Corinthians 15:33 — "Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character."
• John 6:15 — "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."
• Isaiah 45:3 — "I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."
• Romans 12:2 — "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
• Jeremiah 1:5 — "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."
• Galatians 1:15–17 — "My immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia."
• Isaiah 43:19 — "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"
• Lamentations 3:26 — "It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

This episode is for you if:

• You are a natural giver who pours into everyone but feels consistently empty
• You have been feeling guilty about needing space and solitude
• You are struggling to hear God clearly because the noise around you is too loud
• You know you are called to lead but feel pressure to stay connected to everyone
• You need permission to step back without stepping away from your purpose

Connect with The Heart Helper:

• Instagram: @thehearthelperpodcast @iamjodieshannon
• Website: www.thehearthelper.com
• Free 5-Day Devotional: From Comfortable to Called 

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What happens when the people who were supposed to pour into you — didn't? In this episode, Jodie sits down with executive function coach Bri Boyd for a raw, real, and deeply necessary conversation about what it takes to rewrite your story when the first chapters were written by people who weren't healed themselves.

We're going there — toxic parental relationships, unsupportive family systems, mother wounds, and the silent ways enmeshment and parentification shape who we become. And yes, we're talking about something that doesn't get said enough: no one taught us how to date. As Black women, navigating love and relationships while carrying generational wounds is its own journey — and we don't shy away from it.

But this episode isn't just about what happened to you. It's about who you decide to be because of it.

Bri brings her coaching lens as they unpack attachment styles, self-betrayal, nervous system regulation, and what it truly means to become the architect of your own mind. Whether you're leaving a toxic environment, healing from a narcissistic family system, or simply ready to show up as the highest version of yourself — this one was made for you.

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Resources for This Episode:

• Codependent No More — Melody Beattie
  • https://www.amazon.com/Codependent-No-More-Controlling-Others/dp/0894864025
• The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk
  • https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748
• Sacred Woman — Queen Afua
  • https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Woman-Guide-Healing-Feminine/dp/0345434080
• Dr. Ramani — Narcissist Recovery
  • https://www.youtube.com/@DoctorRamani
• Heidi Priebe — Attachment Styles
  • https://www.youtube.com/@heidipriebe1
• Tim Fletcher — Complex Trauma & Recovery
  • https://www.youtube.com/@TimFletcher

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