Genuine Life with Jodie Stevens

Why Do I Keep Losing Myself in Relationships? | Finding Your Way Out of Survival Mode (Ep. 194)

Why Do I Keep Losing Myself in Relationships? | Finding Your Way Out of Survival Mode with Amanda Hill

Why do so many of us keep repeating the same painful patterns?

Maybe you struggle to say no. Maybe you feel responsible for everyone else's emotions. Maybe you constantly question yourself, walk on eggshells around certain people, or wonder why healthy relationships feel so...uncomfortable.

The truth is, these patterns don't come out of nowhere.

In this conversation, licensed mental health counselor Amanda Hill joins me to unpack what happens when we spend years living in survival mode. We explore how childhood experiences, trauma, unhealthy attachment, and people-pleasing quietly shape our adult relationships—and why so many of us lose sight of who we really are along the way.

You'll learn:
• Why emotional safety is the foundation of healing
• How to recognize unhealthy relationship patterns
• Why we often attract relationships that reinforce old wounds
• The difference between healthy boundaries and shutting people out
• How faith and counseling can work together instead of competing with one another
• Practical ways to stop surviving and begin living authentically

One of my favorite moments is when Amanda explains that healing doesn't begin by fixing everyone around us—it begins when we slow down long enough to understand ourselves. We also talk about grieving the family we wish we had, learning to stop taking everything personally, and why you can't want someone else's healing more than they do.

If you've ever wondered, "Who am I beneath all these survival patterns?" this conversation is for you.

Guest: Amanda Hill, LMHC, NCC, BCC

🌐 Connections of Hope: https://connectionsofhope.com

📖 Book: Making Sense of Dysfunction: How to Heal, Take Control, and Move Forward (Available on Amazon)

🎙️ Podcast: Mental Health with Amanda

📧 Contact Amanda: Visit https://connectionsofhope.com for counseling services, podcast links, and contact information.

From Prisoner to Purpose: Breaking Cycles Through Faith, Recovery, and Hope with Kelsey Harris (Ep. 193)

From Prisoner to Purpose: Breaking Cycles Through Faith, Recovery, and Hope with Kelsey Harris (Ep. 193) 

What does it take to break the cycle of addiction, trauma, and incarceration? In this powerful episode of the Genuine Life Podcast, I'm joined by author, speaker, and prison minister Kelsey Harris for an honest conversation about recovery, redemption, and the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

Kelsey shares her remarkable journey from a childhood marked by addiction, violence, and chaos to years of meth addiction, homelessness, and incarceration. She opens up about the deeper wounds beneath addiction, the moment she encountered God during her recovery, and how faith transformed not only her sobriety but her identity.
Together, we discuss why addiction is often a symptom of deeper pain, the importance of healing trauma, replacing lies with God's truth, and learning to see ourselves through the lens of Scripture rather than shame. We explore practical tools for recovery, healthy relationships, boundaries, emotional healing, and the hope that comes from walking in community and trusting God's plan.
Kelsey also shares the vision behind The Girl on Fire Life-Skills Workshop, a seven-week, faith-based program she co-created with Teresa Nickell to help women break cycles of abuse, addiction, and incarceration while discovering their God-given identity and purpose.
Whether you're in recovery, supporting a loved one, or simply looking for hope, this conversation is a beautiful reminder that no one is beyond God's grace and that every story can be redeemed.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Why addiction is often rooted in unresolved trauma.

• The difference between sobriety and true freedom in Christ.

• How changing your thinking changes your life.

• Why healthy relationships and boundaries are essential for recovery.

• How God replaces shame with purpose and hope.

• Practical encouragement for anyone struggling with addiction or supporting someone who is.

Connect with Kelsey Harris

📖 Book: Touching Fire

🌐 Website: https://kelseyjharris.com

 

The Day I Chose Recovery Over Death — and Never Looked Back (Ep 192)

The Day I Chose Recovery Over Death — and Never Looked Back (Ep 192)

In this raw and deeply inspiring episode of Genuine Life Recovery, Sean Beem shares the powerful story of how he escaped a life shaped by trauma, addiction, violence, depression, and hopelessness — and found lasting freedom through recovery, faith, and purpose.

Raised around alcoholism, drugs, biker culture, and chaos, Sean’s life spiraled into years of partying, arrests, anxiety, and self-destruction. By age 27, despite living in beautiful Hawaii, he found himself sitting on a beach contemplating suicide, convinced he could never escape addiction or the pain inside his mind.

But one decision changed everything.

Sean opens up about the moment he walked into his first AA meeting, the people who helped save his life, and how over 26 years of sobriety transformed him into a mentor, husband, man of faith, and correctional officer helping others trapped in addiction and trauma find hope again.

This conversation dives deep into mental health, childhood wounds, recovery, faith, prison culture, healing, codependency, renewing the mind, and the life-changing power of helping other people. If you feel stuck, broken, overwhelmed, or beyond redemption, this episode is proof that healing is possible — and your story is not over yet. 

Powerful Podcast Highlights

• The moment he sat on a beach in Hawaii ready to end his life
• How one AA meeting changed the course of his entire future
• Growing up surrounded by addiction, violence, and trauma
• Why recovery is about healing the mind — not just quitting substances
• What working inside Folsom Prison taught him about hope and human brokenness
• How faith, sobriety, and helping others gave his life purpose
• Why no one heals alone — and asking for help changes everything
• The powerful truth: your past does not have to become your future

 

The Slow Fade Nobody Talks About (Ep. 191)

The Slow Fade Nobody Talks About (Ep. 191)

What happens when addiction slowly rewires your identity, relationships, thinking, and sense of self — and grace still finds you anyway? 

In this powerful episode of Genuine Life Recovery, author, speaker, and ministry leader Nikole Thompson shares her raw testimony of surviving methamphetamine addiction, pornography, destructive relationships, sexual brokenness, shame, and emotional chaos before discovering lasting healing through faith, recovery, and transformation.

Nikole and her husband have spent years serving in ministry across the country — from church planting in New Orleans to Celebrate Recovery leadership, prison outreach, and helping people rebuild their lives after addiction and trauma. In 2021, she released her book 50 Shades of Truth, a deeply honest account of her journey from darkness to freedom.

Now celebrating nearly 20 years free from methamphetamine and the destructive lifestyle surrounding addiction, Nikole speaks openly about mental wellness, identity, recovery, spiritual healing, toxic influences, and the slow compromises that can quietly pull people away from themselves and those they love.

This episode is honest, emotional, hopeful, and deeply encouraging for anyone struggling with addiction, shame, anxiety, codependency, pornography, identity confusion, or hopelessness.

No matter how far gone you feel, healing is possible. Find out more here! 

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Talking Points / Episode Highlights

• The “slow fade” into addiction and destructive thinking
• How trauma and culture shape identity
• Meth addiction and the chaos that followed
• Pornography, shame, and mental health struggles
• Recovery, healing, and rebuilding a marriage
• The connection between media, mindset, and emotional wellness
• What true freedom and restoration look like
• Celebrate Recovery and ministry after addiction
• How faith transformed her life and family
• Her book 50 Shades of Truth and why she wrote it
• Hope for anyone battling addiction or identity struggles
• Learning to rebuild your life one healthy decision at a time

You Don’t Have a Mental Health Problem… You Have an Identity Problem (Ep. 190)

You Don’t Have a Mental Health Problem… You Have an Identity Problem (Ep. 190)

What if nothing is “wrong” with you—but something deeper is off? In this episode of Genuine Life, I sit down with Dr. Eric Moyer and we go straight to the root of what so many of us are dealing with right now—the identity piece underneath anxiety, addiction, burnout, and people-pleasing. Because a lot of us have spent years trying to fix behaviors without ever asking who we’re actually operating from, and if your identity has been shaped by trauma, approval, fear, or survival, then even when you’re doing everything “right,” it’s still going to feel unstable.

We talk about the Four P’s—principles, perspectives, purposes, and priorities—and how they quietly drive everything in your life, why so many people feel stuck in the same patterns, and what it actually looks like to begin changing from the inside out without forcing it or beating yourself up.

This isn’t about saying something is wrong with you—it’s about finally understanding why things haven’t been working and how to rebuild something solid. If you’ve ever thought “why do I keep ending up here?” this one will hit home.

Website: https://redeemingidentity.com

Book: Redeeming Identity: Restoring the Heart of God’s Design

 

 

How to Live the Serenity Prayer - Step By Step (Ep. 189)

How to Live the Serenity Prayer - Step By Step (Ep. 189)

This short (blast from the past) solo episode is being shared between guest episodes as a quick, meaningful pause for reflection. It’s based on one of the most-watched and most-resonant videos on my YouTube channel, and I wanted to make it available here as a Genuine Life episode for anyone who may need it. In this conversation, I talk about the Serenity Prayer, acceptance, courage, and the power of focusing on what we can actually change. If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or weighed down by trying to control things that aren’t in your hands, this episode is for you. Sometimes the most healing thing we can do is slow down, let go, and take one honest step forward. I hope this short episode gives you encouragement, clarity, and a little peace in the middle of your day.

God Doesn’t Plant Seeds He Doesn’t Intend to Grow: Breaking Approval Addiction & Learning to Lead (Ep. 188)

God Doesn’t Plant Seeds He Doesn’t Intend to Grow: Breaking Approval Addiction & Learning to Lead (Ep. 188)

What if the reason you don’t feel loved… is because the real you has never been fully seen?

In this powerful episode, with relationship coach and author Lionel Moses, we unpack the connection between approval addiction, imposter syndrome, and leadership—and how so many of us are showing up in life, relationships, and even faith from a place of insecurity rather than identity. When we don’t truly love or know ourselves, we perform. We people-please. We lead reactively. And deep down, we wonder why love never quite reaches us.

But here’s the truth: God doesn’t plant seeds He doesn’t intend to grow.

Through honest conversation and real-life insight, we explore what it means to stop striving for approval and start leading from authenticity—rooted in who God says you are. This episode dives into healing the fear of not being enough, breaking cycles of over-performing, and learning to trust that what God has placed inside you is intentional, purposeful, and meant to flourish.

If you’ve ever felt like an imposter, struggled to feel truly loved, or questioned your ability to lead—this conversation will meet you right where you are and gently call you higher.

This episode features relationship coach and author Lionel Moses, whose book The Marriage Seed: How to Cultivate Relationships You Desire and Deserve explores how to build deeper, more authentic connections in every area of life. 

We Lost Our Son—Now We’re Fighting to Save Yours (Ep. 187)

In this powerful episode of Genuine Life, I talk with Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kay and Murray Sumner, creators of the award-winning documentary Survivors.

After losing their son Josh—a gifted musician—to opioid addiction, the Sumners turned unimaginable grief into purpose. Through their film and mission, they’re working to break the stigma, raise awareness, and save lives in the midst of the opioid/fentanyl crisis.

This conversation goes beyond headlines. It reveals the truth about addiction—how it can impact any family, how quickly things can spiral, and why awareness and honest conversations matter now more than ever.

You’ll hear:

• The real story behind their son Josh and the inspiration for Survivors
• How addiction often begins in unexpected ways
• The devastating impact of fentanyl in today’s world
• Why breaking the stigma can save lives
• And where hope, healing, and purpose can still be found

This episode is heartbreaking, eye-opening, and ultimately uplifting—it's a reminder that even in the darkest moments, light can still break through.

🔗 Learn more and watch the film: https://www.notonemoretime.com/

​You can watch the award-winning Survivors documentary for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. It is also available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime. For the latest news on the opioid crisis in America, please follow @NotOneMoreTimeNonProfit on Instagram.