I'm recording this one without makeup—not because I forgot, but because I need to practice what I'm about to preach: authentic vulnerability over comfortable validation. And what I'm seeing in my therapy practice lately has me genuinely concerned.

Couples are now bringing printed transcripts of their spouse's ChatGPT conversations to sessions. People are outsourcing their moral compass, their conflict resolution, and even their emotional intimacy to large language models. And here's what terrifies me: these tools are designed to always agree with you, to validate you, to keep you comfortable and coming back for more.

I'll walk you through:

✅ Why ChatGPT's constant validation is training us to be weaker, not wiser—and what virtues we're losing in the process

✅ The four-letter word (ending in K) that Dr. Anna Lembke says is essential for relationships, and why AI is replacing it

✅ How couples are choosing the comfort of a machine over the necessary discomfort of real conversation

✅ Why feelings have been promoted to the highest authority—and how that's destroying our ability to live morally

✅ The difference between being affirmed and being guided, between feeling understood and being told the truth

✅ What patience, perseverance, repentance, and humility have to do with your marriage's survival (and why AI will never ask these of you)

I'm not anti-technology—I use ChatGPT myself for grocery store calculations and meal planning. But when it comes to relationships, moral discernment, and the formation of your character, we need to understand what we're surrendering when we choose algorithmic comfort over human connection.

Featuring insights from psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke's conversation on The Diary of a CEO about the "drugification of human connection" and addiction to digital validation.

🔔 Remember: A machine that always agrees with you is not your friend. It's not a guide. And it can never replace your conscience. Real love—the kind that sustains a marriage and builds a family—requires the very things AI will never demand from you: patience, sacrifice, humility, and the willingness to be wrong.

The danger isn't that machines will become too powerful. It's that we'll become too passive—handing over our agency, our judgment, and our conscience, not because we're forced to, but because it feels easy.

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Dr. Anna Lembke reference: Psychiatrist and author of "Dopamine Nation" Featured on: The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett Topic discussed: Addiction, dopamine, and the drugification of human connection through AI

In this second conversation with Licensed Professional Counselor Eric Zeitler, we tackle one of the most frustrating dynamics in modern Catholic marriages: leadership. Or more accurately, the lack of it. Women tell me constantly that their husbands won't step up. Men tell Eric they don't know how—or worse, that they've tried and been shut down.

Eric doesn't sugarcoat it: leadership in marriage requires two things. First, a willingness to sacrifice—to fall on the sword first, to put your comfort second. Second, the ability to make a final decision and commit to it. But here's what most people miss: good leadership isn't authoritarian. It requires curiosity, communication, and humility. It means listening to your wife, understanding what's happening in your home, and making decisions together even when you're the one who has to take final responsibility.

We also dig into why so many men resort to sending their wives Instagram reels or YouTube videos instead of actually talking. Spoiler: it's not because they're trying to be hurtful. It's because they don't know how to ask for what they need. They're comparing themselves to other men, feeling powerless, and searching for a script that will finally make them feel heard.

I'll walk you through:

✅ What leadership actually means for a husband—and why it's not about being a tyrant

✅ Why fear (not laziness or apathy) is the real reason men won't step up

✅ How women unknowingly shut down their husband's authority—and what to do instead

✅ The role of recognition and appreciation in helping men feel seen (and why it matters more than you think)

✅ Why social media is poisoning marriages with unrealistic expectations on both sides

✅ How Eric and his wife navigated major career risks during pregnancy—and why trust mattered more than stability

✅ The discipline dilemma: why consistency between spouses is more important than being "the tough parent"

Whether your husband feels paralyzed by fear, you're frustrated by his silence, or you're both stuck in a pattern of criticism and withdrawal, this conversation offers real, practical insight into what's breaking down—and how to rebuild with humility, curiosity, and faith.

🔔 Remember: Marriage is risk. Leadership is risk. But stability doesn't come from avoiding risk—it comes from trusting each other enough to take it together.

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Eric's relevant links:

Website: https://imagodeihealinginstitute.com

Instagram: @imagodeihealinginstitute

In this first part of a two-part conversation, Licensed Professional Counselor Eric Zeitler opens up about his innovative approach to therapy that honors both psychological science and Catholic faith. As founder of the Imago Dei Healing Institute, Eric has dedicated his practice to helping clients heal deep wounds while respecting their deeply held values—a balance many Catholics struggle to find in traditional therapy settings.

Eric shares the powerful story that launched his mission: watching someone close to him refuse therapy after a counselor dismissed their faith during grief work. This experience shaped his commitment to creating a space where faith and healing work together, not against each other. His approach goes far beyond just being "faith-friendly"—it actively integrates Catholic anthropology with cutting-edge trauma therapies.

I'll walk you through:

✅ What Image Transformation Therapy is and how micro-exposure techniques can heal addiction and trauma at the root

✅ Why processing the feeling behind addictive behaviors is more effective than willpower alone

✅ How childhood trauma blocks our ability to receive God's love (and what to do about it)

✅ The surprising connection between masculine "toughness" and deep vulnerability—and why real strength requires both

✅ Why anger is often a man's default communication style and how to help him find alternatives

✅ The critical role of breathing and self-regulation in breaking destructive patterns

✅ How Catholic values shape therapeutic goals without turning therapy into spiritual direction

Whether you're searching for a therapist who respects your faith, struggling with unresolved trauma, or trying to understand why you can't seem to "just trust God" despite wanting to, Eric offers compassionate insight into the healing journey. His work reminds us that acknowledging our wounds isn't weakness—it's the pathway to authentic strength and deeper relationship with God and others.

🔔 Remember: Healing isn't about toughing it out alone. True courage means acknowledging where you need help, doing the hard work to understand your patterns, and trusting the process—even when it feels uncomfortable.

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Eric's relevant links:

Website: https://imagodeihealinginstitute.com

Instagram: @imagodeihealinginstitute

Note: This is Part 1 of 2. In Part 2, we'll dive deeper into how to practically integrate Catholic faith into the healing process.

In this solo episode, I'm addressing something that's been showing up constantly in my therapy room—and frankly, it's been irritating me more and more. Husbands are sending their wives viral videos that essentially say: "This is why I'm losing attraction to you. This is what you're doing wrong."

And I need to talk about why this isn't helping anyone.

I'll walk you through:

✅ Why sending your wife a video that blames her destroys communication before it even starts

✅ The dangerous message behind "men pull away because women lose their softness"

✅ Why understanding someone's unhappiness doesn't justify abandoning your marriage vows

✅ The truth about men being "visual" and why boundaries aren't insecurity

✅ How shaming women for having emotions won't lead to better conversations

✅ What my husband and sons actually said when I showed them these videos

✅ Why performative femininity designed to impress men doesn't help women at all

✅ How to respond when your husband sends you one of these videos (without starting World War III)

Here's what I want you to hear: Yes, women have blind spots. Yes, we can be defensive, overly emotional, and struggle with accountability. But so can men. And videos that frame everything as the wife's fault aren't designed to help marriages—they're designed to get views.

If you've been sent one of these videos, you're not crazy for feeling hurt. If you've sent one, I hope you'll understand why it landed the way it did. And if you're creating content about marriage, please—stop performing for one gender at the expense of the other.

Real growth happens when both people feel safe enough to be honest. Not when one person gets handed ammunition disguised as "truth."

🔔 Remember: Marriage isn't about winning. It's about coming back to the table over and over again, even when things get hard. Choose voices that help you speak honestly inside your relationship—not retreat from it.

In this episode, I sit down with Brenda Prato, a canon lawyer from Malta who serves as Defender of the Bond in the Archdiocese of Liverpool and as a collegial judge in the Archdiocese of Armagh. As a married mother of two pursuing her doctorate in canon law at KU Leuven, Brenda brings both professional expertise and deeply personal insight to one of the Church's most misunderstood processes: marriage annulments.

I'll walk you through:

✅ What consent actually means in marriage—and why it's so much more than romance

✅ The difference between covenant and contract in Catholic marriage theology

✅ How canon lawyers examine everything from childhood to the wedding day to understand validity

✅ Why "I got an annulment, so you will too" is a dangerous misconception

✅ What marriage consummation really means (and why most people get it wrong)

✅ The unique perspective women canon lawyers bring to tribunal work

✅ When the Church can dissolve a valid marriage (it's rare, but it happens)

✅ How pregnancy before marriage, doubts on the wedding day, and even being late to the ceremony reveal deeper truths

Whether you're navigating a difficult marriage, considering an annulment, or simply curious about what the Church actually teaches, Brenda offers clarity on a process shrouded in misconception. Her approach beautifully balances legal precision with pastoral compassion—she prays over every case, seeking moral certitude while honoring the human stories behind the paperwork.

🔔 Remember: The point of annulment isn't to punish or judge—it's to uncover truth. And truth, even when painful, is always rooted in love.

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Brenda's relevant links:

Website: https://brendaprato.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-prato/

As I record this on December 30th, I'm not in the space of big resolutions or grand declarations for 2025. Instead, I'm sitting with what I've been noticing—about aging, about faith, about what actually sustains us when life shifts beneath our feet.

At 57 (turning 58 in February), I'm discovering something unexpected: the less I try to control, the freer I feel. It's not that life has gotten easier—it hasn't. But I'm learning to trust more and grip less, and that shift has changed everything.

In this New Year's reflection, I share what's been on my heart:

✅ Why the 40s might be the hardest decade, but post-55 brings a different kind of freedom

✅ The quiet loneliness I'm witnessing in widowed parents—and what it's teaching me about companionship

✅ How my faith has deepened not despite suffering, but through learning to surrender it

✅ Why material things matter less and lasting relationships matter infinitely more

✅ The beauty hiding in ordinary moments—if we slow down enough to see them

✅ What's changing with this podcast in 2025 (hint: fewer topics, more life)

I'm also opening up about the realities of aging—the one-week vacation that now takes six days to recover from, the back pain that humbles me, the friend who just became a grandparent and made me realize that season isn't far off. These aren't complaints; they're invitations to pay attention to what we have while we have it.

This episode isn't about answers or advice. It's about reflection, gratitude, and the shift that happens when you stop trying to have everything figured out. Consider this less like a lesson and more like sitting down for coffee together on a cold Sunday morning.

🔔 Remember: Your life can change in seconds through a phone call, a text, an accident. What we have is precious. The question isn't whether we'll face suffering—it's whether we'll learn to surrender it and find meaning in the ordinary days we're given.

Thank you for listening, for being here, and for walking into this new year with me. I'll meet you back here in January.

In this episode, health and eating psychology coach Dani Spies shares her transformative journey from chronic dieting to food freedom. As the founder and host of Clean and Delicious, Dani helps women build healthier relationships with food, body, and weight—without restriction or rigid meal plans. Her turning point? Becoming pregnant and finally giving herself permission to stop trying to "fix" her body.

I'll walk you through:

✅ Why dieting from a young age created the very problems Dani was trying to solve

✅ How pregnancy became her pivotal transformation moment when she stopped fighting her body

✅ The surprising eight pounds Dani lost in Italy eating pasta and pesto (and what that taught her about stress and eating)

✅ Why chronic restriction creates a pendulum effect that leads to binge eating and food addiction

✅ How our nervous system state affects digestion, metabolism, and our ability to feel satisfied

✅ The overlooked power of sitting down, slowing down, and breathing before meals

✅ Why naturally sweet whole foods like sweet potatoes reduce sugar cravings more than restriction ever could

✅ How calorie counting and food tracking can disconnect you from your body's wisdom

✅ Why focusing on "what to eat" is actually the easiest part—it's the how and why that matter most

Whether you're exhausted from diet culture, struggling with emotional eating, or simply want to enjoy food without guilt, Dani offers a refreshingly practical approach to nourishment. Her story reminds us that our bodies aren't problems to be solved but allies seeking balance, and that true food freedom comes from kindness, not control.

🔔 Remember: Your body craves homeostasis. The tighter you grip, the harder it swings back. Peace with food begins when you stop fighting yourself and start listening.

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Dani's relevant links:

Website: https://cleananddelicious.com

Instagram: @clean_and_delicious

YouTube: @CleanandDeliciousDani

Facebook: @CleanAndDeliciousWithDaniSpies

In this solo episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on something that happened between my husband and me on our recent vacation in Mexico—a moment so small, so ordinary, that you might miss it entirely. But this is exactly the kind of moment that quietly erodes long-term relationships without anyone noticing until the distance has already set in.

This episode isn't about arguing better or fixing dramatic conflicts. It's about something far more subtle and far more common: what happens when one person moves ahead with a decision and the other falls silent. No raised voices. No obvious tension. Just... quiet. And that quiet? It's not indifference. It's resignation.

I'll walk you through:

✅ The real story of our last night in Mexico and the decision I made that shut my husband down

✅ Why I interpreted his silence as neutrality when it was actually withdrawal

✅ How women's efficiency and decisiveness can unintentionally crowd out their partner's voice

✅ Why men often wait to see if their perspective will be invited rather than stating what they want

✅ The childhood patterns that collide in these ordinary moments—and why my mom's "waste nothing" rule almost ruined our evening

✅ What to do when you realize your partner has gone quiet (hint: don't analyze, justify, or criticize)

✅ Why patience and humility—not perfect communication—are what actually save marriages

✅ The stabilizing power of staying present without becoming cold when distance creeps in

Here's what I learned: most communication breakdowns don't begin with words. They begin much earlier—when one person moves too quickly and the other falls quiet behind. And in long-term relationships, especially those 25+ years in, we think we know our spouse so well that we stop slowing down enough to actually check.

I made a decision about dinner that seemed completely reasonable to me. We had plenty of food at the condo. Why waste it? But what I didn't see—what I couldn't see because I was moving too fast—was that for him, this was our last night. He'd worked hard all year. He never asks for much. And he wanted to go out.

The tragedy? If he had just said, "This is our last night. It's special to me. I'd really like to go out," I would have dealt with my food-waste anxiety and gone. Gladly. But he didn't say it. And I didn't slow down enough to ask.

This episode is for every couple who thinks their communication problems need to look dramatic to matter. They don't. The most damaging moments are often the quietest ones—the ones where nothing concrete seems wrong, but something is suddenly... off.

🔔 Remember: Marriage isn't built on perfect communication. It's built on patience, humility, and the willingness to yield to the small things before they grow into larger ones. Slow down. Notice the quiet. Give your spouse room to speak—and mean it when you ask.

In this episode, I sit down with Professor Caryn Zinn—a powerhouse nutrition researcher and registered dietitian from New Zealand who's spent over 25 years turning conventional dietary advice on its head. As a Professor at Auckland University of Technology, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Metabolic Health, and co-author of the bestselling "What the Fat?" series, Caryn has dedicated her career to helping people understand that the way we fuel our bodies directly impacts our capacity to show up in our relationships, our work, and our lives.

And here's what struck me most: Caryn gets it. She understands that you can't expect to be patient with your partner, present with your family, or passionate about your work when you're running on empty—or worse, running on the nutritional equivalent of fumes.

I'll walk you through:

✅ Why the low-fat, high-carb advice we've followed for decades has left us exhausted and disconnected

✅ How blood sugar crashes throughout the day affect your mood, patience, and ability to be emotionally present

✅ The reality of metabolic health—and why most of us have some degree of insulin resistance without even knowing it

✅ Why whole-food, carbohydrate-reduced eating isn't about restriction but about finding what actually works for YOUR body

✅ The shocking truth about hospital "diabetic diets" and why the system isn't set up to heal us

✅ How building muscle mass now sets you up for vitality, independence, and quality of life in your 70s and 80s

✅ Why your morning toast-and-jam routine might be sabotaging your energy for the entire day

✅ The difference between genuine hunger and habit—and how to tell them apart

✅ Why personalized nutrition matters more than any one-size-fits-all diet trend

Whether you're exhausted from conflicting nutrition advice, struggling to find energy for the people you love after long work days, or simply tired of feeling like your body is working against you, Caryn offers clear, science-backed wisdom without the overwhelm. Her approach reminds us that when we truly nourish ourselves—not deprive ourselves—we create the foundation for everything else: better relationships, sustained passion for our work, and the energy to actually enjoy this one precious life.

🔔 Remember: The head is connected to the body. You cannot abuse your body and expect your mind, your mood, or your relationships to thrive. When you optimize your metabolic health, you're not just changing what's on your plate—you're changing your capacity to love, work, and live fully.

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Caryn's relevant links:

Website: https://carynzinn.com/

In this solo episode, I dive deeper into what I started exploring last week—why our minds feel so chaotic despite our best intentions. As a psychotherapist, I've watched clients struggle with scattered thoughts, emotional volatility, and decision fatigue, assuming something is fundamentally broken. But what if nothing is wrong with you? What if your faculties are simply responding to impossible demands?

I'll walk you through:

✅ The Catholic map of your interior life—intellect, will, memory, imagination, passions, and body

✅ Why chaos happens when these faculties stop working together (and how to spot which one needs attention)

✅ The dangerous North American lifestyle that expects your lower faculties to lead instead of follow

✅ Real client stories that show how physical exhaustion, past trauma, and overstimulation create mental fog

✅ Simple daily practices for each faculty—three-minute body resets, naming your emotions, bringing memory into prayer

✅ Why a tired will isn't the same as a weak will (and what to do about it)

This episode builds on Thomas Aquinas and the great mystics who understood something we've forgotten: the soul has an order. When God is at the center, everything else falls into alignment. When He's not, we orbit too far from the nucleus and the whispers start.

You're not broken. You're not mentally ill. You're just out of rhythm—and rhythm can be restored.

🔔 Remember: Your faculties aren't working against you. They're responding to the demands being placed on them. Start with one small practice this week and watch what shifts.