"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" When Stacey and I talked with Corinne Vance for Episode 41, we started recording early and the conversation got really interesting really quickly (at least for us). We got to know a lot about Corinne: how she came to faith, her early experiences with Christianity, and how that has impacted her as a therapist. We thought you might enjoy a little extra helping of our talk with Corinne, so here it is! Please keep listening in...we'll be giving you ne...
Jul 15, 2025•15 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" There are certain experiences that are excruciatingly hard to talk about, and from which healing is incredibly difficult. Sexual abuse is far more common than most people realize, yet survivors often feel isolated and carry shame over their abuse. They need kind, caring people to support their healing. Corinne Vance is that kind of person. She has worked therapeutically with men, women, and adolescents for over 20 years. She has provided training ...
Jul 08, 2025•47 min•Ep. 41
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" What do you do when your spouse tells you she wants a divorce and is in love with another man? That was a question Harrison Scott Key never thought he'd have to answer. But it's exactly what happened. Over the course of several years he navigated an excruciating saga of fighting for his marriage and for his sanity. He tells the story in his New York Times bestselling book How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told . In our conversat...
Jun 24, 2025•59 min•Ep. 40
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" During his years as a church worship pastor, Greg was heavily influenced by today's guest Todd Fields . As a worship leader associated with 7:22, a weekly worship gathering started in 1995 by Louie Giglio at Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, and as someone who has written and led worship music and produced multiple recordings over the years, Todd is a skilled musician who knows what he's talking about with corporate worship. More importantly...
Jun 10, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 39
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" When situations in life activate our emotions, it can be easy to stay on the surface, focusing on what's going on and how we can "fix it." But often, the parts of us being activated aren't above the surface. We have to go deeper. In this episode, Dr. Eddie Capparucci talks about how his Inner Child Model of therapy can give great understanding about how we process difficult and traumatic situations. Eddie is the author of several books, including ...
May 27, 2025•46 min•Ep. 38
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Raising kids in a way that nurtures them and sets them up for a healthy life is SO difficult. Most parents deeply desire to provide for their kids in the best ways they can. But often they feel like they're showing up with a deficit, not having received nurture, care, and attention from their parents to the extent they needed it. Our guest, David Thomas , has been helping parents, kids, and families navigate through these types of life struggles f...
May 13, 2025•49 min•Ep. 37
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" What do tacos have to do with making people feel valued, seen, and connected? Our guest Brooks Veazey has answers. As partner and CEO of Ladybird Taco , a Nashville-based restaurant (with locations in Birmingham AL and **soon** in Charlotte NC), Brooks is committed to cultivating an atmosphere that's about more than just good food. Providing true hospitality is in itself a means of offering connection. Brooks, and the rest of the leadership team a...
Apr 29, 2025•40 min•Ep. 36
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" We've just had a birthday, and we're celebrating by giving you a "Little Extra Helping" of the podcast. Bobby, Stacey and I sat down recently to reflect on this first year of What We Really Want... all the great conversations we've had, things we've heard from our listeners, things we hope for the future, etc. One thing we talked about was how simple the idea for this show really is. Let's just talk. About ways we connect. And by doing that, we're...
Apr 22, 2025•37 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" What We Really Want for our first anniversary episode 🎂 🎉🎈 is to celebrate a year of Conversations About Connection with the one-and-only John Eldredge . John is known for his work as a therapist, for his development of the immensely popular One-Minute Pause app, and for his MANY books (like Wild at Heart , The Sacred Romance , Get Your Life Back , Resilient ) including his newest book Experience. Jesus. Really. John has an important message fo...
Apr 15, 2025•56 min•Ep. 35
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" We've known our guests Chad & Melissa Barrett for over 30 years. From days in Bible college to early church ministry, the Barretts and their families have been special people to us. So it was wonderful to be able to catch up with them and ask them to tell their beautiful story. Chad and Melissa have four children. One of their kids, Kristina, bravely walked through a 4-year journey with cancer before passing away in 2014. During the time of he...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 34
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Our guests this week understand the tough path to be navigated by couples recovering from sexual betrayal. Joanna and Matthew Raabsmith walked through this themselves when, three years into marriage, Matthew confessed his sexual addiction while Joanna was in training to become a therapist. Out of their own healing experience they have created a counseling practice called The Raabsmith Team , located in Memphis TN. Joanna (as a therapist) and Matth...
Mar 18, 2025•55 min•Ep. 33
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" It can be terrifying to give another person full access to what we're thinking, feeling, believing, and struggling with. That's why almost no one does it. Even at our most vulnerable, most of us still withhold maybe 3% of what we really need to share. This is the foundation of a new company/community launching this week. The Three Percent Co. was founded by Jamie Haigh and today's guest, Blake Roberts . Jamie and Blake are therapists in Nashville ...
Mar 04, 2025•52 min•Ep. 32
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Walking through a life where so many things go wrong (often so early), it’s no wonder many people struggle to understand what they need or even who they really are. That’s why I was so excited to talk with Ian Morgan Cron . Ian is is an author, speaker, psychotherapist, songwriter, and Episcopal priest. He’s also known for popularizing the Enneagram, a personality typing system identifying nine types of people and how they relate to one another an...
Mar 01, 2025•42 min•Ep. 29
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" People say, "Pain has a purpose." While we all know that's true, statements like that are often pretty unhelpful for the person in pain. Physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual pain takes a toll and can push people to doubt or even walk away from what they once believed. Barnabas Piper is a pastor and author who has walked through a lot of his own pain. From the difficulties of growing up a pastor's kid (and a well-known pastor at that), to...
Feb 18, 2025•52 min•Ep. 31
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Greg & Stacey got to meet and talk with a couple we've wanted to know for a long time... a couple offering hope for men and women harmed by toxic messages. Sheila Wray Gregoire has been a writer and blogger for many years. But in 2021, with the release of The Great Sex Rescue (which she co-authored with Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach and Joanna Sawatsky), she became an "infamous" name in evangelical Christian circles. The book calls out by name C...
Feb 04, 2025•57 min•Ep. 30
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" For our first episode of 2025, Greg & Stacey talk about the first week of January, in which they have TWO significant anniversaries. The first is their wedding anniversary, but just two days later is the anniversary of Greg's "Fan Day," when his 20+ year-long addiction was exposed. Each year, the first week of January is a chance for Greg & Stacey to reflect on where they are, what healing has looked like, and what they've learned in recov...
Jan 07, 2025•54 min•Ep. 28
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" We're closing out 2024 with a conversation with a long-time friend of mine. David Graves is - among many other interests - a photographer who uses his camera to capture images that connect us with faith. This year he released a book, Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass. It's a collection of over 125 photos from almost 100 churches across the state of Alabama. David's desire for the book is that these pictures would remind people that there i...
Dec 31, 2024•35 min•Ep. 27
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Known as the "Mr. Rogers of personal development," Mike Foster is a best-selling author, speaker, and executive coach empowering people to build strong lives by turning their setbacks into superpowers. Mike is the creator of the Primal Question Framework, host of the highly acclaimed Primal Question podcast (formerly Fun Therapy), and creator of Rescue Academy , a training model for caregivers. In our conversation we talk about curiosity and how i...
Dec 24, 2024•52 min•Ep. 26
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" The best therapists are the ones who have done their own work. That's what I love about my guest Will Mooney. Will has his own story of unwanted sexual behavior, and also of serving in pastoral ministry. After finding his own help and recovery, his life went in a new direction, away from working in the church and into becoming a therapist. Not only A therapist, Will happens to be MY therapist. 😊 In our conversation (which is NOT bound by confiden...
Dec 17, 2024•53 min•Ep. 25
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Over the past 25 years in Christian music, few other bands have been as influential or have a sound as instantly recognizable as Tenth Avenue North. They have released multiple records with hope-filled songs for people who live with crippling shame. Tenth Avenue North's "frontman," Mike Donehey, started the band while all the members were in college. For two decades their music was everywhere - on the radio, on people's iPods, and being sung &...
Dec 10, 2024•53 min•Ep. 24
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" After what we hope was a great Thanksgiving, please enjoy this "Little Extra Helping" of the podcast. While recording the intro to Episode 23 with Carol Sheets, Stacey and I talked for quite a long time. Too long to include it all in the episode itself. But we felt like what we talked about could be helpful for other people, so we're sharing that entire part of our conversation with you now. Don't forget to listen to Carol's episode, "The Gift of ...
Dec 03, 2024•20 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" People being introduced to today's wealth of resources for sexual addiction and sexual betrayal trauma recovery owe a lot to our guest. Carol Sheets, also known to her radio, podcast, and YouTube audiences as "Carol the Coach," was among the first therapists to become a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist (CSAT). For years she has been offering encouragement, advice, and resources not only for recovering sex addicts, but also for their partners r...
Nov 26, 2024•47 min•Ep. 23
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Have you ever gotten lost in a conversation, unaware of how much time has passed, or even exactly what you were talking about? That's kind of how I felt talking with my John Lynch. It's easy to get pulled into John's warmth and sincerity, but he's also intense when talking about God's love for his children. John co-wrote a book that changed my life several years ago. The Cure: What if God isn't Who You Think He Is and Neither Are You? had a radica...
Nov 12, 2024•56 min•Ep. 22
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" One of the best ways parents can prepare their kids to live healthy, connected lives is to be honest and open with them about important topics. Few topics are more important for parents to bravely engage than teaching their kids about sex. And yet still so many parents are terrified and embarrassed to "go there." Moms and Dads, the time has come to stop using cutesy, slang terms that dance around anatomy and sexuality, and to get real with our kid...
Nov 05, 2024•49 min•Ep. 21
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" There are times when you know you're hearing/reading/experiencing something very important . That's how I felt as I read through Sam Jolman's book The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality . Men's sexual desire has been attacked, abused, neglected, and misunderstood for as long as it's existed. Men have been stereotyped as uncontrollable lust monsters who cannot control themselves. Purity culture and other harmful mes...
Oct 29, 2024•56 min•Ep. 20
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" When I think of Shawn, I sometimes have to remind myself we've never actually met in person. Shawn is the kind of person who's easy to get to know quickly. He is kind & curious, and also open & vulnerable. Shawn has a compelling sexual recovery story. Growing up impacted by family of origin trauma (like so many), Shawn turned to pornography as a comfort and became addicted. Like so many other young men, he experienced an unexpected physica...
Oct 15, 2024•46 min•Ep. 19
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Ashley Chesnut moved to Birmingham with a certain future in mind. Graduate from seminary, then get a job as a professor and/or Old Testament commentary writer. But you know what they say about "the best laid plans..." During her time in seminary, Ashley led a small group at her church, for single women. During that time, some of these women began to share about secret struggles with unwanted sexual behavior: things they'd never been able to share ...
Oct 01, 2024•49 min•Ep. 18
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" What is a sexual betrayal trauma workshop? And why - if you are a woman going through the pain of having been betrayed by your husband/partner - should you consider attending one? In this BONUS episode, Greg & Stacey are joined by Paige and Brittney, two friends who are part of our Awaken community in Birmingham AL, to talk about their experiences in recovery and having attended our workshop. Like we did when we addressed our Roots Retreat Men...
Sep 24, 2024•48 min•Ep. 17
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Tullian Tchividjian is a name that elicits strong reactions from people, some positive and some negative. As the grandson of Billy Graham, he grew up in a family that was very familiar with public ministry. For years he has been a provocative voice in evangelical Christianity, writing books, preaching sermons, and using social media to promote a consistent and loud message of grace. Then, in 2015, his life blew up. Revelations of an affair, the lo...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 16
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)" Gordon Bals has a bit of a reputation around Birmingham Alabama. Many people have referred to him as "that counselor who cries with you." I can't think of too many higher compliments a person could receive. Gordon founded Daymark Pastoral Counseling in Birmingham AL, and is on faculty at Beeson Divinity School. In the Fall of 2024, under Gordon's direction, Beeson has launched a new program, a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling. This new progr...
Sep 03, 2024•51 min•Ep. 15
