Never Perfect

What if the way we grow and choose our food could change not only our physical health—but our mental well-being too? Many of us feel disconnected from where our food comes from, yet the journey from soil to plate has a profound impact on our bodies, our communities, and even our emotional health. In this episode of the Never Perfect Podcast, Dr. Beth Capecchi sits down with farmer and entrepreneur...

What happens when faith is manipulated, truth is twisted, and the people you love most are turned against you? In this powerful episode, author and former sports broadcaster Peter Young shares the deeply personal story of how he unknowingly became entangled in a destructive religious cult—and how faith ultimately helped him find freedom and healing. Dr. Beth Capecchi sits down with Peter to explor...

In this episode of Never Perfect, Dr. Beth sits down with Brad Walsh—best-selling author and host of the top-rated podcast Empowerography—to explore how purpose often unfolds in unexpected ways. Together, they discuss how childhood experiences, life’s challenges, and career detours can merge to reveal a calling later in life. At age 50, Brad Walsh felt like he had won the lottery when the winding...

What happens when a world-class macromolecular scientist—who engineered innovations for NASA and the US Army—reaches the breaking point of burnout? You don’t just heal; you decode the biology of joy. In this powerhouse episode of Never Perfect, Dr. Beth sits down with Dr. Mamta Bhatt, a scientist and executive consultant for J&J and Nike turned holistic wellness pioneer. After spending 20 years in...

What is “wellness,” really—and how do we know who’s credible in a world full of modalities, certifications, and strong opinions?  In this episode, Dr. Beth sits down with Lawrence Ellyard, founder of the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT) and the International Institute for Reiki Training, to explore what complementary care is (and isn’t), why healing doesn’t have to be me...

What if we used money like a mirror in order to discover what your spending, saving, or your avoidance of financial matters reveals? What if the way you handle money isn’t about discipline or intelligence—but about what you learned growing up?  In this episode of Never Perfect, Dr. Beth sits down with Doug Lynam, TEDx speaker, author, former Marine, Benedictine monk, and now money manager. He's be...

What do you do when life tells you there’s no future left to plan for? In this powerful episode of Never Perfect, Dr. Beth sits down with Sean Swarner, a two-time terminal cancer survivor who was once given just days to live—and went on to redefine what’s possible. With one lung, Sean became the first cancer survivor to climb Mt Everest and the only person in history to climb the highest mountain...

Why does college feel so much harder than you expected it to be? This episode is about the struggles associated with adjusting to college, but many of the themes are universal and apply to other life stages and transitions as well.  Some of the biggest challenges in life involve managing expectations and dealing with disappointment. These challenges often come into play when you’re navigating unkn...

In this solo episode, Dr. Beth dives into a topic that touches every relationship we have—navigating differences, competing needs, and the tension between togetherness and independence. From dating to long-term marriage, friendships to family life, differences are inevitable—but how we think about them can make all the difference. Using real client conversations, personal reflections, and everyday...

In this episode, Dr. Beth tackles a topic she’s deeply passionate about—but has taken time to approach thoughtfully: conflict avoidance and peacemaking. While peacemakers often value kindness, harmony, and sensitivity, avoiding hard conversations can quietly erode relationships over time. Using real client stories, personal insight, and research from experts like Drs. John and Julie Gottman, Beth...

Today Dr. Beth sits down again with relationship expert Dr. Carol Stoney to explore one of the most common phrases couples use to describe their relationship: “We’re just not compatible.” Instead of couples seeing their differences as signs of failure, they unpack what actually lies beneath that thought—discouragement, unmet connection, and the skills we never learned but desperately need in relat...

Why is it so hard to start the things we know we need to do? In this quick, solo, and spontaneous episode, Dr. Beth shares practical ADHD-friendly strategies to break through procrastination without shaming yourself or waiting for perfect motivation. Using real-life examples from her own school days and a recent session with a late-twenties client, she talks about why big-picture thinkers with ADH...

In this episode, Dr. Beth sits down with her friends Amanda (a business owner) and Stephanie (a therapist) to tackle a tough, real-world question: How do you talk about a diagnosis with someone who doesn’t want one—especially when daily weed, anger outbursts, or past substance use are in the mix? Through the story of a 30-something creative with possible bipolar disorder, they unpack self-medicati...

In this special role-reversal episode, Beth hands the mic to her longtime friend of 40+ years, OB-GYN Dr. Patricia “Tricia” McClelland—a familiar voice on the podcast from past episodes on hormones and menopause. This time, Tricia interviews Beth, asking the questions Beth usually asks everyone else. Together they dive into the values that quietly steer Beth’s life—love, kindness, community, authe...

What if your pain is real—and also not the whole story? In this episode, Dr. Beth sits down with two “pain whisperers” who bridge medicine and recovery: Dr. Matt McClanahan, an osteopathic physician (Neuromusculoskeletal & Family Medicine; Center for Insight Medicine), and Joe Timberlake, a 35-year sober addictions specialist and chronic-pain coach. Together, they explore how the brain processes d...

Parenting teens isn’t about perfection—it’s about presence, honesty, and learning to let go. In this conversation, Beth welcomes Randi Crawford, a straight-talking parenting coach who brings humor, vulnerability, and decades of life experience to the table. From co-founding a women’s health company with her father to becoming an empty-nester, Randi shares her journey of reinvention and what it tau...

Figs o’Sullivan and his wife Teale are marriage therapists and relationship experts who developed the Empathi method. They are the architects of the Empathi Method and they think of themselves as “wounded healers and fellow strugglers.” Figs takes a casual approach in his work with couples and see himself as “just another wounded person trying to make his own relationships work.” Figs believes tha...

Today Dr. Carol Stoney, Beth’s most frequent (and very likely one of the most popular ) podcast guests returns to the show to talk about marriage. She likes to encourage married couples to ask themselves the question regularly: “ Why did we get  married?” Like when things get hard  or when transitions happen, she urges them to sit down and have a conversation “What’s our purpose?” Sometimes couple...

What is the difference between unconditional love and conditional love? Does healthy love have to include approval of all choices? Are we showing love to our children or our loved ones even when we don’t approve of their choices, or when we grieve their choices? Is our love for them more selfish or more selfless? Are we wanting them to make choices that are good for US or for THEM? How do we handl...

What do we need to know about midlife and how to navigate it? How does wellness intersect with women’s experiences of midlife? Today Beth discusses these topics with counselor Elizabeth O’Brien, the author of “The Power in the Middle”. Check out links to her book at sign up for her monthly  newsletter at her website HERE Listen to this episode and more: ⁠⁠⁠⁠neverperfect.org⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on instag...

John Wang, a leadership coach, corporate speaker, Podcast host and book author, is on a mission to empower Asian Americans to break through external and internal limitations in order to reach their full potential professionally and personally. Many of them get overlooked for leadership positions in spite of their brilliance and conscientiousness. John’s book, “Big Asian Energy: An Unapologetic Gui...

Before becoming a high performance relationship coach and gender dynamics social scientist Katarina Polonska struggled in her own relationship journey, calling off her first engagement. And today, this Oxford, trained therapist and relationship coach specializes in helping people figure out when to stay or when to go. She helps individuals as well as couples identify blind spots in their relations...

Julie Baumgardner has spent 35 years helping guide people to create healthy vibrant marriage relationships. Almost 28 years ago, she helped launch First Things First, an award-winning nonprofit dedicated to helping people have healthy relationships. In this episode,  she addresses some common myths about marriage and shares some of her favorite research and advice, for walking through hard seasons...

Today Dr. Beth and her husband Remo experience the benefits of Enneagram coaching with Kat Smith, certified Enneagram teacher and co-host of the Enneagram + Yoga podcast.  Kat gives an overview of the Enneagram test and how it helps us in our journey of self discovery and understanding our loved ones better, and how it can help us reframe narratives. She then shares an overview of Beth’s type, whi...

Today Dr. Beth and one of her clients (a man in his 70’s) spontaneously record their conversation about nonverbal communication and its impact on relationships. Researchers suggest that nonverbal communication is more important than verbal communication, and comprises 70 to 93% of communication. Today’s conversation stemmed from a comment he made about two tour guides on a trip who didn’t seem to...