The Alchemy of Pain

In the powerful return of The Alchemy of Pain, Brenda Viola sits down with transformation coach and Catching Thoughts creator Jayne Boggs for a deeply honest conversation about emotional healing, self-awareness, and the science behind naming our feelings. Brenda opens up about growing up in an environment where emotions were suppressed rather than processed; a reality many listeners will recognize...

"Santa! I love you!" Those words, yelled out by a random car passenger driving past him brought clarity to a man whose white beard and demeanor immediately evoked the classic image of Santa Claus. He'd been praying about "what to do with all this." Playing the role at Christmas was one avenue he pursued, but the whole "ho ho ho" and commercialism didn't fulfill his spirit. "Santa! I love you!" Som...

"My mother didn't like me." Born ten months after her older brother died, Stephanie Smith grew up feeling like "the replacement baby." Only she wasn't a boy and her talkative, creative, and effervescent personality broke the mold of her mother's expectations and preferences. From passive-aggressive attempts to "marry her off" to refusing to sign the papers that would allow her to attend the dream...

When you're winning awards for crushing company goals, chosen to lead and mentor, and generating millions of dollars in revenue, the last thing you'd expect is to be terminated. Laura Krauss was blindsided. This politically charged layoff, rendered right before the holidays without even the courtesy of a face-to-face meeting left Laura bitter and grieving. Even her closest colleagues stopped talki...

He always felt "different."  His entire life? A quest to get to the bottom of what fueled chronic anxiety, depression, and alcohol abuse.  Appearances are deceiving. A high performer who enjoyed top-tier professional success, David Wetherelt masked his inner pain. The constant "extra steps of mental gyrations" necessary to fit in proved exhausting, ending in hospitalization.  His story took a dram...

He just celebrated the 9th anniversary of his last suicide attempt. Growing up in the Bronx, Herbie Mack was conditioned to be tough. If you feel it, don't show it - and don't talk about it. Caught in the crosshairs of a shootout, he knew he had to get out. A friend encouraged him to move to Tampa, FL, and begin a new life. But he soon learned that no matter where you go, you take yourself...

Survivor's guilt tormented Sarah Smith. At age 22, a night out with friends turned into a nightmare. When her Lyft driver exited the car to assist her, he was hit by a drunk driver and killed. She woke up in a hospital bed with no memory of the impact, but would deal with the traumatic repercussions for years. "Why am I still here and he isn't?" she questioned. Isolation...a murd...

Meeting Lance Cibik, you'd think the world was his oyster. Well-spoken, charming, attractive, educated... ...you'd never guess that at age 8, Lance Cibik tried to kill himself. Born in poverty to a high school dropout, his mother committed suicide four days before his first birthday. Throughout his childhood, his mother's family tried to convince Lance that his father had murdered her;...

"Let me die or find me a reason for living." This was the prayer Caryl Westmore prayed after losing her home and her beloved dog in a fire...and, soon after, facing the end of her marriage with no resources to rebuild a broken life. This series of traumas showed Caryl her heart, once closed, had been cracked open. And her prayer was answered when she found a book, The Journey by Brandon...

The minute you hear her voice you know you're experiencing an otherworldly gift. She's worked with Academy Award-winning actors, taught at Yale, and rubbed shoulders with the New York elite. But a psychotic break nearly ended her life. A toxic mixture of acid and marijuana unleashed latent mental illness and insights, "I wasn't ready for." Catching up to herself; refusing to...

She was celebrating the end of the school day and running toward her mother when a taxicab struck 11-year-old Michelle Kuei. Catapulted 100 feet by the impact, she spent the next four years in and out of hospitals. Rehab was grueling, but the pre-teen years presented the greatest challenge. "Do I even belong here?" Shorter and walking with a limp, Michelle so desperately wanted to fit in...

"Cancer wraps itself around a person...and changes them." Sarah Morgan knows. Her grandmother, mother, best friend, former fiance...it seemed everywhere she turned, someone else she loved was diagnosed. Back in the 80's when she discovered a lump on her breast, she thought it was a death sentence, because she walked with a cloud of fear over her life regarding the "c" word....

"You can't overcome what you're not willing to face." Kris Hammons is 4’ 5’’ tall and was born with dwarfism. Doctors told his parents he would never make it. After he survived, doctors then told his mom to place him in an institution because he'd never walk, talk, or live a “normal” life. It didn’t turn out that way. “Challenge accepted” has been his mantra. So has faith in...

Everyone told him it would be the happiest time in his life. "You'll see your child and feel a love like never before." It didn't happen. And the disconnection between "What I should feel and what I did feel" grew as Michael Anderson hid behind being busy. A crisis point in his marriage forced him to look at his own need for healing. "Parenthood shines a light on a...

This is a love story about a man and his dog, Rafa the Frenchie. Rafa's sensitive tummy (as well as his brother, Roddick's) inspired a man whose background was NOT baking to create healthy treats for them. It's always a joy to see the smiling face of Ron Wittman at the La Jolla and Little Italy farmers markets in San Diego. But for several weeks in 2024, he just couldn't bring hims...

A successful disc jockey with fans in DC, San Antonio, and all over the country, "Kid" Curry had reached the pinnacle of his career running the #1 rated radio station in Miami. He was 50 and in the sweet spot of success... ...when the diagnosis came. Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Within three years he went from walking with a cane to using crutches to needing a wheelchair. Not only affecting...

If you've ever struggled with the question, "Am I fulfilling my purpose in life?" you'll find this interview with Evans Duren thought-provoking. Author of the book, Send Me, he recounts the tension between thinking "serving God" had to look one particular way - a way quite different than the hugely successful sales career he'd established. For a Christian like himse...

"We will either spend money on this therapy or we will be paying for her funeral." There was no way out. Shirlee DiBacco's daughter was slowly dying from addiction. The doctor's answer? A suboxone prescription. As she watched her once vibrant daughter fade into suicidal depression, she frantically searched for answers. The lifeline of hope she found was illegal in the United Stat...

Oh no...what did I say? What did I do? And then, the apology tour begins. For many who don't identify as alcoholics, they struggle with the hangxiety of the day after. And because cultural norms often link a good time with alcohol consumption, many are trapped. In this thought-provoking episode, Brenda shares her complicated relationship with alcohol, particularly in the aftermath of losing he...

"My worst fear is that my child would grow up to feel about herself the way that I feel about myself." This revelation changed the course of Britt Elam's life; a life that to observers looked perfect: a beautiful baby, life partner, a good job. Though all of the boxes of a happy life seemed checked, what others couldn't see or hear was the harsh, internal chatter pummeling her ev...

A prisoner of a chair. For a woman who thrived on being active her entire life, the crushing blow advised by her doctor was almost as debilitating as the disease taking over her body - lipedema. You know someone with lipedema. Everyone does. Over 10% of all women have the condition, though most remain undiagnosed and filled with shame. For these women, it's not "calories in, calories out&...

All she could do was lie in bed and sob. The diagnosis? A psychotic break. But this is where Pat Tallman's story actually begins. You might recognize her from 1990's Night of the Living Dead, or maybe her appearances on Babylon 5. With over 50 appearances in Star Trek franchises, her following of sci-fi enthusiasts is immense. "I was doing everything right and yet my life wasn't w...

"Mom...am I going to die?" A little boy's curiosity playing with gasoline led to an explosion that propelled him 20 feet across the garage and burned 100% of his body. With less than a 1% chance of survival, his mother didn't sugarcoat the answer. Instead, she asked a question. "Do you want to die?" "No!" "Then you must do your part and fight..." Joh...

“Grief has been my middle name for 47 years.” Leslie Weirich shares the profound series of multiple losses she has faced in her lifetime, but the pain that has become her purpose followed the shocking suicide of her 20-year-old son, Austin in 2016. A star student and athlete, there were no obvious warning signs, but Leslie learned after the fact the devastating link between high achievers and high...

Ten years ago, she was in the best shape of her life. Then, suddenly, she couldn’t walk. For a Master Fitness Coach and busy mom of little ones, this debilitating turn of events led her from doctor to doctor and through a series of dismissals and missed diagnoses. Finally, the answer came, and the news was grave. Robyn Tanner had a rare form of strep and MRSA that had infiltrated her blood, bones,...