Mental Health News Radio

Seven years after his original appearance on Mental Health News Radio, artist and author Motesem Mansur returns with an update on his life, his art, and the journey from surviving difficult environments to finding stability, purpose, and peace. He shares how leaving unsafe situations transformed his mental health, how becoming an artist-in-residence helped him rebuild his life, and why creating ar...

For many of us, over-functioning doesn't look like a problem. It looks like competence. It looks like generosity. It looks like being the reliable one. In this candid conversation, Kristin and Julie Raines explore the hidden costs of becoming the emotional engine behind relationships, families, friendships, and entire social systems. Together they unpack how over-functioning becomes automatic, why...

What happens when hyperfixation, fandom culture, loneliness, attraction, projection, and neurodivergence all collide online? In this wildly honest episode, Kristin sits down with Alicia Deer to talk about fangirling, parasocial relationships, emotional attachment, identity performance online, masking, attraction, internet intimacy, and why neurodivergent people often experience connection so inten...

What if intimacy isn’t primarily about sex — but about safety, presence, vulnerability, and finally feeling at home inside your own body? In this deeply honest episode, Kristin sits down with intimacy practitioner and surrogate partner therapist, Andre Lazarus, for a powerful conversation about touch, nervous system regulation, neurodivergence, masking, dissociation, body image, trauma, and what i...

In this episode, Kristin sits down with cohost Julie Raines (enjoy her gorgeous writing at https://substack.com/@julesraines ) and guest Jeff Thompson for a raw, unfiltered conversation about late-diagnosed autism, identity collapse, and what happens after the mask falls off. Jeff shares his powerful story—from being labeled with multiple diagnoses and told something was “wrong” with him, to disco...

What happens when an oil rig engineer walks away from “safe,” follows curiosity, tears his Achilles (literally), and accidentally builds a multi-million follower neurodivergent ecosystem? In this episode, we sit down with Jason Iyeke... founder of NeuroJumpstart and the mind behind several ADHD and autism platforms reaching over 2 million people... to talk about diagnosis, identity, masking, grief...

In this episode of Mental Health News Radio, I sit down with therapist and somatic practitioner Cody Gauthier to explore something we almost never talk about—the moment therapy starts to work. What happens when a client begins to change, set boundaries, and show up differently in their life… and it feels uncomfortable, destabilizing, or even worse than before? We talk about the lived reality of gr...

This is not a story about something that happened once. This is a story about what the body carries when the mind cannot. In this episode, Aspen Michael shares his lived experience of memory returning in midlife—after decades of success, stability, and a life that, by all appearances, was fully intact. At 52, everything changed. What had been held outside of awareness began to surface through the...

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of how people think, reflect, and process their lives. But what role should it actually play in mental health? In this episode, Kristin Sunanta sits down with therapist and technology expert Jeremy G. Schneider to explore the evolving relationship between AI and therapy. Jeremy is a licensed marriage and family therapist, trauma-informed mental heal...

What happens when a mother and daughter go no contact for four years — and actually find their way back? In this powerful and unfiltered conversation, I sit down with authors Leslie and Lindsey Glass, co-creators of The Mother-Daughter Relationship Makeover: 4 Steps to Bring Back the Love and its companion workbook for lasting change. Together, we dive deep into addiction, recovery, enmeshment, co...

What if your life isn’t happening to you — but for you? In this New Year’s Eve conversation, Kristin sits down again with evolutionary astrologer Robin Jillian, revisiting a dialogue that first took place years ago during a shared Dark Night of the Soul. This time, the lens is wider, deeper, and more precise. Together, they explore evolutionary astrology as a map of the soul’s long arc — not predi...

In this episode of Mental Health News Radio, I sit down with Dr. Judith Orloff — psychiatrist, bestselling author, and lifelong advocate for empaths — to talk about her beautiful new children’s book, The Highly Sensitive Rabbit . This story is written for every child who has ever felt “too sensitive,” “too much,” or like they didn’t quite fit the mold. Judith and I explore why sensitive kids strug...

In this unfiltered, soul-resonant episode of Mental Health News Radio, Kristin Sunanta Walker, sits down with her dear friend Chaya Mallavaram—artist, technologist, and founder of Spark Launch , the company behind the neurodivergent-centered platform Sparkade . What begins as a casual reconnection blooms into a radiant, multidimensional conversation about art, grief, ADHD, cultural legacy, and the...

In this powerful episode of Mental Health News Radio, host Kristin Walker reconnects with José Rosario — founder of The Phoenix Empowered — for a deeply human conversation on healing, identity, and the evolving language of mental health. They unpack what it really means to be minoritized instead of marginalized, explore the trauma of criminalizing homelessness, and discuss how neurodivergence shar...

In this special episode of Mental Health News Radio, host Kristin speaks with author and advocate Jonathan Kemp about his powerful new memoir and his upcoming seven-month Mental Health Walk across the UK and Ireland. Jonathan shares how five decades of lived experience with depression, bipolar disorder, addiction recovery, and dyslexia shaped his story — and why he redefined “wealth” as knowledge...

In this powerful episode of Mental Health News Radio, host Kristin Sunanta Walker sits down with Dr. Stephanie Holmes—counselor, author, and advocate—for an intimate look at the overlooked experiences of women on the autism spectrum. Stephanie shares her family’s multi-layered journey with neurodivergence, from her daughter’s diagnosis more than 20 years ago to her husband’s and her own later disc...

In this moving episode, Christal Pennic, LPC-MHSP—licensed therapist, grief advocate, and host of The GRIP Spot—shares her journey of surviving sibling loss and transforming pain into purpose. Christal founded The GRIP Spot (Grieve In Peace) to give voice to the often unspoken stories of grief and to remind us that healing is possible, even when life feels broken into pieces. Through her counselin...

In this powerful episode of Mental Health News Radio, Dr. Pamela J. Pine joins Kristin Sunanta Walker for a courageous conversation about child sexual abuse and the lifelong impact it has on survivors, families, and communities. Dr. Pine, founder of Stop the Silence and a leading voice in global prevention and healing efforts, shares insights from her book Stop the Silence: Thriving After Child Se...

In this heart-opening conversation, NeuroDuo’s Lauren and Tom share how their late diagnoses of autism and ADHD transformed not only their individual lives but their relationship, creativity, and self-acceptance. They talk about battling stigma, navigating sensory overload, and learning to create content that mirrors their real experience—not performative or polished, but real, resonant, and heali...

In this episode of Mental Health News Radio, host Kristin speaks with the co-hosts of the Unspoken Grief podcast and core members of the nonprofit Impacted Survivors of Murder-Suicide: Michael Vinton, Kristina Faulkner, and Tina Chevalier. Each of these advocates is also a survivor. Through deeply personal stories of loss, they illuminate what it means to live with—and speak from—the aftermath of...

What happens when a mother sees her son not as an individual, but as an extension of herself? In this powerful episode, we dive into the hidden dynamics between narcissistic mothers and their sons—and how this enmeshment can shape identity, independence, and relationships for decades. Author and psychotherapist Christine Louis de Cannonville joins us to explore the making of a so-called “mama’s bo...

In this episode of Mental Health News Radio, host Kristin Sunanta Walker sits down with Eddie Francis — marketing and communications consultant, broadcaster, and speaker — to explore what true ethical leadership looks like in today’s world. From his New Orleans roots to 30+ years in radio, Eddie shares candid stories of growth, self-awareness, and evolving into “Evolved Eddie.” Together, they dive...

Dr. Melinda Edwards—psychiatrist, author, and founder of the nonprofit Living Darshan—returns to share her deeply personal and professional journey through autism, motherhood, and spiritual healing. In this intimate conversation, she explores the sacred sensitivity of autistic individuals, the evolution of human consciousness, and how our deepest wounds often become the doorway back to love. Dr. E...

Our most popular and listened to guest for over a decade! Join Christine Louis de Canonville for a discussion about her newest book, The Ghost in the Machine: Unmasking the Hidden Psychology of Narcissistic Abuse . This will be done as a series for this podcast and also for Christine's YouTube channel.  Today we go in depth about Narcissistic Mothers and their Daughters.                           ...

Our most popular and listened to guest for over a decade! Join Christine Louis de Canonville for a discussion about her newest book, The Ghost in the Machine: Unmasking the Hidden Psychology of Narcissistic Abuse . This will be done as a series for this podcast and also for Christine's YouTube channel.  Today we go in depth on Chapter 17: INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT:                               ...