A Better Pill To Swallow

37. From Broadway to Motherhood: Postpartum Depression and Finding Yourself Again

There’s a moment in this conversation where Emily says she doesn’t recognize herself anymore—and somehow, it opens the door to something more honest. Emily Walton—Broadway actress (Come From Away) turned mental health counselor—joins me for a conversation that moves between humor, identity, and what it means to stop performing in your own life. We talk about growing up in a world where performance and self blur together, the strange safety of playing someone else, and the pull toward something more authentic. And then parenthood enters—and everything shifts. Emily shares what it’s been like to become a mother while navigating postpartum depression, panic, and the disorienting experience of losing access to yourself while being responsible for someone else’s life. This is a conversation about transition—about letting go, showing up, and finding meaning on the other side of who you thought you had to be. And somehow, through all of it, we keep laughing. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2340586/support]

36. The Grief of Losing A Child: "You Lose The Future"

A healthy baby. A seizure in the middle of the night. And a reality no parent is prepared to face. Susan Weissman shares the story of losing her son Nathan just weeks before his second birthday — what it was like to bring him home knowing he would die, the silence and discomfort that followed, and the long, uneven path of learning to live again. We talk about denial, marriage under strain, faith, anger, ritual, and the myth that grief has a timeline. About what actually helps when someone you love is gone — and what absolutely doesn’t. This is a conversation about integration. About carrying loss without being defined by it. And about why the only way forward is through. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2340586/support]

35. Advanced Voice Biofeedback: How It Can Help Your Mental Health

At the heart of A Better Pill to Swallow is the belief that mental health in the modern era demands new modalities—approaches that go beyond insight alone and actually meet the body and brain where change happens. That’s what makes a conversation like this so important. Biofeedback therapy speaks directly to the subconscious, where most of our patterns, reactions, and choices are formed. Using subtle frequencies delivered through the hand, the technology communicates with the nervous system to help identify and release long-held blocks that traditional talk therapy often can’t reach. Deepak Chari has worked with people who’ve spent decades in therapy without lasting progress and watched them finally let go of what’s been keeping them stuck—often finding themselves naturally attracting healthier partners, friendships, and relationships once their internal environment is brought back into balance. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2340586/support]

34. Teaching Young Teens, Finding Purpose, and Shaping Our Future

On this week’s episode, I share my conversation with Karl Mauks-Kopke — eighth grade math teacher and not-so-secret philosopher. Karl is a dear friend and one of the most thoughtful people I know. (Some call him heaven.) We talk about Karl’s work inside the middle school classroom, including how he motivates kids who don’t always see the point of school, or math, and why learning math is a lot like weightlifting. Karl explains his reverence for his students and how he fuels his own sense of purpose in his work.  From there, we zoom out into some of the bigger things kids and adults are dealing with right now, including screen time, AI, and how automation continues to shift our cultural views of education and work. We zoom even further out to discuss his fundamentally optimistic outlook on where we might be headed as a culture. And our shared sense of humor does not take a back seat throughout.  Podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2340586/support]

Supporting a Mentally Ill Child, Grieving a Son, and Leaning on Community

Today’s episode cuts to the origin tale of how this very podcast was created. I’m interviewing my mother, Laine Neiman, about parenting a child with mental illness, handling the grief of losing him, and opening up to the community for support. Lainie (a.k.a. Mom Neiman) is an executive and leadership coach, as a family business consultant. More importantly, she spent the last 30 years in the trenches of loving someone with bipolar disorder. We tragically lost my brother, her son, Andy Neiman, 4 years ago last June. My mother saw him through his initial diagnosis and treatment, the chaotic first ten years of medication adjustments and hospital stays, his last ten years of marriage, fatherhood, and relative stability, up until his final descent during COVID.  We talk about the role of the pandemic in Andy’s demise, her bravery in choosing to speak out about his illness from the beginning, how she spiritually coped with the uncertainty of his life path, and how she’s handling the monumental grief since his untimely departure. If you’ve ever cared for someone struggling with mental health issues or know someone who has, you’re going to want to check this episode out. My momela is a warrior and an inspiration.  Please like/share/subscribe if this resonates with you. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2340586/support]