Teens, Trust, & Transformation: How Peer Support Builds Mental Wellness with Dr. Cara McNulty – Episode 428

When communities lead, care works: culturally grounded support, early intervention, and multiple doors to emotional wellness. In this episode, host Sharlee Dixon sits down with Dr. Cara McNulty, CEO of Vibrant Emotional Health, the national organization behind the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, serving more than five million people each year. A population health scientist and nationally recognized leader, Cara is committed to breaking down stigma and democratizing access to mental health care across the country. Before joining Vibrant, she served as President of Behavioral Health and Mental Well-being at CVS Health, where she launched bold, data-driven initiatives, including a strategy to reduce suicide attempts by 20% among Aetna members, and helped spearhead Minnesota’s transformational population health legislation. With a doctorate in public administration and decades of experience translating evidence-based science into scalable solutions, Cara is passionate about building a society where emotional wellness is accessible to all. Together, Sharlee and Cara explore how community-driven peer support, led by people with lived experience, is reshaping youth mental health. They discuss how families can better navigate complex systems, access culturally competent care, recognize early warning signs, and create identity-affirming spaces where teens feel seen, supported, and empowered to thrive. The conversation also looks at the systemic changes needed to ensure emotional wellness isn’t a privilege, but a possibility for every young person.

The Art of Chaos: Motherhood, Trauma, and Finding Gold Within with Dr. Nicole Dolan – Episode 427

When life falls apart, the real work isn’t out there … it’s learning how to come home to your nervous system. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Dr. Nicole Dolan, writer, former clinician, and intuitive coach, whose work bridges depth psychology, spirituality, and lived experience as a mother. Nicole’s forthcoming book, “The Art of Chaos”, traces what happens when the life you planned unravels and invites you into something far more meaningful. Through her journey of trauma, motherhood, and raising a neurodivergent child, Nicole explores how breakdown can become initiation. Drawing from her background as a clinical director and her transition into holistic family coaching, she helps parents and families recognize nervous system patterns, heal generational wounds, and cultivate resilience through conscious parenting. Together, Sharlee and Nicole dive into nervous system regulation, ancestral healing, and the powerful reframe of “child as teacher.” Nicole shares how the sacred isn’t found outside of us, but within the body, and how peace becomes possible even when life feels messy, overwhelming, and uncertain. This episode is a reminder that meaning isn’t created after the chaos, it’s discovered inside of it.

BHT Bytes – From Hustle to Health: Burnout, Boundaries, and the Future of Work – Episode 426

What happened to the idea of staying at one job for 30 years and retiring with a gold watch? In this episode of BHT Bytes, host Sharlee Dixon is joined by Peter Fenger to unpack the rise of quiet quitting and what it really says about today’s workforce. Is it laziness and declining work ethic, or a rational response to an economy shaped by recessions, pandemics, inflation, and shrinking retirement security? We explore how generational shifts, stagnant wages, soaring healthcare and childcare costs, and a “yo-yo” labor market have changed the way people relate to work. From defining what quiet quitting actually looks like, doing your job without sacrificing your personal life, to examining emotional burnout and “economic PTSD,” this conversation looks at why many professionals are setting firmer boundaries instead of constantly going above and beyond. We also compare the loyalty of past generations with today’s job-hopping reality and ask whether long-term tenure was truly commitment, or simply the result of fewer options. Finally, we zoom out to the future of work and retirement. If career-long jobs are disappearing and success no longer means staying in one place forever, what does a healthy, sustainable career really look like? Maybe quiet quitting isn’t about quitting at all, it’s about reclaiming energy for family, health, and purpose in a system that no longer guarantees stability in return for sacrifice.