KneeToKnee

From Arrested at 16 to Briefing U.S. Senators: Andrew Drasen's Full Story

Andrew Drasen, author, addiction advocate, and identity repair speaker, joins KneeToKnee to talk about rebuilding your sense of self after addiction, loss, and incarceration. Andrew went through eight treatment programs before finding any meaningful change. He finished writing his memoir five minutes before walking out of prison in 2019. He lost the woman he loved to suicide. And now he's briefing U.S. senators on drug policy reform and speaking at international conferences on identity and relapse prevention. This conversation goes past the usual addiction story. Andrew breaks down what recovery actually means (hint: stopping the behavior is just the beginning), why identity is at the root of addiction, loss, and every major life transition, and why the story you tell yourself matters more than almost anything else. Key moments in this episode: • Why eight treatments failed before one thing finally clicked • How writing a memoir inside prison changed the lens Andrew sees life through • What Andrew means when he says he's blown up the word 'recovery' • How losing Caroline to suicide became its own identity crisis and how Eva the dog helped him through it • Why self-talk is the most overlooked variable in how men change or stay stuck • What compassion has to do with building real connection with other men Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:05 High School, Arrests, and the Beginning of the Battle 03:51 Writing a Memoir in Prison and the Mindset Shift It Created 08:04 Honesty, Acceptance, and Releasing the Past 14:37 Blowing Up the Word Recovery 16:06 Speaking, Advocacy, and Briefing Senators on Drug Policy 19:03 The One Thing Men Can Do to Build Deeper Connection Find Andrew's book and more at avisionofhopebook.com [http://avisionofhopebook.com] 📩 Get The One Thing - a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf] More Like This - Suggested Playlists: • The Conversations Men Need to Be Having - This episode goes exactly where that playlist lives: honest, unfiltered, and covering loss, identity, purpose, and what it takes to show up differently. • Start Here: The Episodes That Change How Men Think About Connection - Andrew's message on self-talk, compassion, and identity repair makes this a strong anchor episode for any new listener.

What If Your Body Has Been Telling You Something You've Been Ignoring? - with StreTch Rayner

This episode of KneeToKnee sits at the intersection of men's health, functional medicine, and what it actually means to lead yourself well in midlife. Mark Marrott sits down with Stretch Rayner, a personal trainer and health coach from Australia, to talk male burnout, blood work for men, genetics testing, gut health, sauna benefits, testosterone decline, and the warrior to king shift that men in midlife need to hear about. Stretch built a 300-member gym in London, burned himself out doing it, and came home with chest pain, chronic fatigue, and no real answers. When he finally went looking, a deep dive into functional medicine, blood work, and genetics testing revealed mercury toxicity, hemochromatosis, the MTHFR gene variant affecting his detoxification pathways, and a histamine intolerance that was making his healthiest foods the problem. Within six weeks of the right protocol, including sauna therapy to clear the mercury and targeted dietary changes for his gut health, he felt like himself again. Now Stretch works with men in midlife through his Sustainable Training Method and the Midlife Mavericks program, helping them take ownership of their health, build accountability into their lives, and make the shift from warrior to king. In this conversation we get into what blood work and genetics testing actually reveal, why testosterone decline and male burnout are showing up earlier than ever, how masculine archetypes play into men's mental health, and why strength training for men might be the single best gateway habit for building deeper men's connection and male friendship. Stretch also shares why he believes most men in midlife are waiting too long to look under the bonnet, and what happens when they finally do. You can find Stretch and the Sustainable Training Method at tstmethod.com [http://tstmethod.com]. 00:00 Introduction 01:07 How Stretch Got His Nickname and His Origin Story 03:42 Burnout in London and the Decision to Go Home 05:02 The Blood Work That Changed Everything 09:16 What Men Should Actually Test and How to Start 16:06 Midlife Mavericks and the Warrior to King Framework 22:05 The One Thing: Strength as the Gateway Habit 📂 More Like This — Suggested Playlists: The Men Who Got Their Energy Back After 35 The Conversations Men Need to Be Having 📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf]

After the Bridge Breaks, This is How You Rebuild - with Melissa Barton

Male intimacy, sex therapy, couples connection, emotional vulnerability, radical listening, men and loneliness, marriage advice, EFT therapy, attachment styles, KneeToKnee podcast   Melissa Barton is a licensed therapist, couples therapist, and sex therapist based in Utah. Her husband Brad was on KneeToKnee a few weeks back and told us we had to have her on. He was right.   This is one of the most honest conversations we have had on this show. Melissa works with men and couples every single day, and she knows something most men have never been told: the desire to feel connected, seen, and known does not go away with age. It just changes form. And if you are not building the language to talk about it, you and your partner end up living at the surface level for decades.   We get into what really drives conflict in relationships (hint: it is usually not the thing you are actually fighting about), why anger is often just sadness wearing a mask, and a simple concept called the bridge that can completely reframe how you handle hard conversations.   Melissa also gets into what happens in her office when men finally let their guard down. Spoiler: it is one of the most powerful things she ever gets to witness.   The one thing she leaves you with is simple. Take a breath first. Then listen like your relationship depends on it, because it does.   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:43 How intimacy and connection change from your 20s to your 50s 06:00 Why men were conditioned to never ask for help 10:27 Loneliness and its real impact on men's health 13:26 What anger looks like in couples and what is underneath it 21:17 The bridge concept: how to stop fighting and start hearing 28:31 The one thing: radical listening and the breath that changes everything   📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf]

How to Stay Curious When Every Instinct Tells You You're Right - with Eric Robinson

Eric Robinson spent years pastoring a church built for people who didn't normally go to church. The work was meaningful. The stress was unsustainable. So he made a call most people would never consider: he applied to the FBI. What followed was a 25-year career that included 15 years on FBI SWAT, roles as a tactics instructor, firearms instructor, and fitness instructor, and front-row seats to some of the deepest male bonds you can build. He retired a few months ago, and this is one of his first conversations since. In this episode, Mark and Eric get into the real stuff: how Eric managed stress that others couldn't, why the FBI felt like a relief after ministry, what SWAT brotherhood actually feels like from the inside, how his team handled a shooting, what "being curious" really means in practice, and how a man figures out who he is when the badge and the title are gone. Eric's closing answer to "the one thing" is simple, practical, and worth sitting with. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and the Running Connection 04:00 From Ministry to the FBI: The Pivot Nobody Saw Coming 07:00 Resilience, Trauma, and Underestimating Yourself 10:30 What FBI SWAT Brotherhood Actually Feels Like 13:30 The Hot Wash: How Eric's Team Processed a Shooting 19:00 Retirement, Identity, and Letting Go of the Badge 23:00 The One Thing: Stay Curious, Stay Open 📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf] 🎙️ KneeToKnee — connection that compounds. https://youtu.be/r_EpasCuWos [https://youtu.be/r_EpasCuWos] ☑ Find us most everywhere! https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee [https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee] #HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney

The Voice Your Ancestors Gave You - with Darren Perry

Darren Parry, former chairman of the Northwestern Band Shoshone Nation, on Bear River Massacre, indigenous wisdom, male leadership, service, brotherhood, and reconnecting men to purpose. What does it actually mean to lead? Not manage, not dominate, but lead. Darren Parry has spent his life carrying that answer. Darren is the former chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, an educator at Utah State University, and the author of the Bear River Massacre of Shoshone history. That book started with his grandmother, the tribal historian for their people. When she passed before she could finish it, Darren picked it up and carried it home. In this conversation we go deep on what indigenous culture understood about men and community that our modern world has slowly walked away from. Darren talks about the difference between hierarchical power and a circle of responsibility, what it means to build intergenerational bonds with your family before it's too late, the courage it takes to stand up for something even when the odds are against you, and the simple question his grandmother asked him as a boy that redefined what leadership actually looks like. His closing answer about eagle feathers and what it means to go be a chief is one of the best moments we've had on this show. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Darren's background and Shoshone history 03:54 The Bear River Massacre 06:13 What indigenous men knew about responsibility 09:26 How to rebuild intergenerational bonds 12:45 Oral history, elders, and the library that burns 14:10 Running for Congress to give a people a voice 18:18 Go be a chief — the eagle feather story 📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf [https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf] ☑ Find us most everywhere! https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee [https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee] #HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney