Talking To Humans

Vicki, Mark, Robbin, and Gina get together to recap this season of Talking To Humans and highlight various points that stuck out to them.

What if healing isn’t about trying harder but about going deeper? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Gina Mendez talk with Hannah Cook-Kelly from Freedom Psychological Center about the slow, sacred work of healing sexual addiction and the trauma behind it. They explore denial, pride, and why real change takes years not quick fixes. They also highlight today’s reality: pornography is wid...

“What if you could struggle and still be loved?” In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress sit down with Laura Goodyear from Compassion Counseling to explore how faith and mental health truly intersect. Laura shares her heart for supporting Christians who feel anxious, perfectionistic, or stuck in tough relationships—and how God meets us with grace and compassion, even when we fee...

What if the thing you’re most desperate for right now isn’t better advice, more discipline, or even relief but to truly be seen and wanted? In this epidsode Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress talk with Joe Leavell, Director and Counselor of Biblical Counseling of Arizona (BCA).  So many people look put-together on the outside while quietly carrying anxiety, shame, broken relationships, or t...

What happens when faith meets real-life pain—and people are brave enough to talk about it? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress sit down with Gini Larsen, Owner and Director of Biblical Hope Counseling, for a heartfelt conversation about biblical counseling and why authentic, human connection matters more than ever in a digital age. Gini shares how creating safe, nonjudgmenta...

What if healing could begin with a piece of paper and a paintbrush? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Robbin Howey talk with Brittany Johnson, owner and therapist at The Well in Mesa, AZ, about how creativity can open powerful pathways to healing. They explore how art therapy helps create safety, regulate the nervous system, and express experiences that are hard to put into words. By e...

What if the struggle you’ve kept hidden isn’t the end of your story but the beginning of real healing? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress, sit down with John Hinson who is on the executive team at Family Strategies to unpack their Sexual Addiction and Betrayal Recovery (SABR), a faith-honoring, clinically grounded program that has helped over 2,000 individuals and couples o...

What if listening to the right sounds could calm the nervous system and bring healing to people with trauma, autism, or ADHD? In this powerful episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Robbin Howey talk with Pam Bonilla of Compassionate Heart Christian Counseling about the Safe and Sound Protocol and other faith-based, neuroscience-backed approaches to healing children and families. Pam explains how a...

What if you could be confident and comfortable right where God has placed you? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress welcome Gabby DeLong of Goodworks Counseling for a compelling conversation about identity, trauma, DBT (which teaches skills to manage intense emotions, improve interpersonal relationships, and tolerate distress) and what real healing actually looks like. Gabby...

Have you ever wondered why certain memories still have power over you even after years of faith, prayer, or therapy? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress, talk with Tony Ziolko, owner of Reclaim Counseling, a clinical practice rooted in gospel values and guided by the motto Restore. Rebuild. Reclaim. They serve individuals, couples, and children, focusing on trauma care using...

What if healing isn’t about fixing yourself, but about feeling safe enough to be fully human? In this episode, Vicki Diemert and guest host Mark Andress talk with Summer Fletcher, owner and therapist at Path of Life Counseling in Gilbert, AZ, about how healing happens through connection, presence, and understanding the nervous system. They explore trauma-informed and somatic approaches that help p...

The Talking To Humans Podcast is back!  This season, we’re kicking things off by introducing you to our host, Vicki Diemert, along with guest hosts Mark Andress and Robbin Howey. Get to know who they are, what they do at Ironwood Church, and why this podcast exists in the first place. We’ll share what this new season is all about and how we hope these conversations will encourage, connect, and ser...

Mark and Vicki discuss themes and takeaways from this season of Talking to Humans, all about conflict. 

Vicki and Mark talk with guest Gina Mendez on the importance of boundaries. What boundaries are, what it looks like to have them and hold them in a healthy way. 

Mark and guest host Gina Mendez welcome back guests Dustin and Tiffany Marsh to continue their conversation on repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation in their own story of conflict. 

This episode contains serious topics including pornography, listener discretion is advised.  Vicki and Mark talk with guests Dustin and Tiffany Marsh on the importance of repentance and forgiveness in conflict. They share their personal story of how this played out in their own marital conflict. 

Vicki and Mark talk with guest Matt Diemert on the importance of listening in conflict. We think we listen but does the other person feel heard? It takes humility to really listen.

Vicki and Mark talk with guests Joyce and Marty Lutrey on taking ownership and responsibility in conflict. Often our emotions get involved and we tend to blame shift or defend our actions. 

Vicki and Mark continue their discussion of conflict by speaking with guest Darcy Wilcoxson on our family of origin and how that shapes us and comes into play when we are facing conflict or hiding from it. 

Welcome back to Talking to Humans! Hosts Vicki Diemert and Mark Andress kick off Season 3, talking all about conflict. They welcome guest Luke Simmons to discuss the theology of conflict. They lay a foundation of the importance of conflict, why we are afraid of it and how it hasn't been modeled well. 

In this episode we talk all things trauma: little t trauma and Big T trauma, seeing the need behind the behavior, speaking our needs in honoring ways, being image bearers and vessels in God's hand.

In this episode we discuss negotiating our needs, recognizing our limits and capacity, being self aware when needs become a demand, learning to be disappointed, and working towards something vs demanding.

This episode puts flesh on the concepts Darcy walked us through in the first episode. How do all these things play out in an actual parent child relationship? We will hear Jakob's story and experience with mental health, self harm, shame, and navigating emotions. We hear how all of these things connect with Darcy's contribution as his mom, how trust was lost and rebuilt. This episode contains seri...

This episode is jam packed with parenting, attachment styles and understanding God's storyline for each individual within the same family. Guest, Darcy Wilcoxson, walks us through topics such as the importance of connection, are we enabling our children, earning trust, are our kids manipulating us, and helping our children process through emotions.

SEASON 2 FINALE! In this episode, we look back on our season on Engaging Emotions, we talk through some of our highlights, some common themes, and some of our thoughts that come to mind when we think back over the past 8 episodes. Thank you so much for listening, we hoped you enjoyed this season! We will see you later!