I had the amazing experience of being a guest on Free Thinking with Montel Williams! My heart was pounding that morning as I waited to click “Join” in the Streamyard app. I adjusted my lighting several times. I reminded myself that I was doing what my heart and soul longed to do. And I prayed many prayers that I could simply say what is mine to say and be of service. 

I had listened to several of Montel’s other podcasts to get a feel for what he does and I know that like so many of us, he has had his fair share of suffering. I found him to be relaxed, thoughtful, down-to-earth, and real. And so when I entered the digital studio, I knew I could just speak about my book and my message that our collective mental health is the big missing piece in politics, that we act out our unhealed wounds on ourselves and each other in our personal lives and in our national policies, and that healing our most disturbed human relations is the key not only to our thrival as Americans but also to our ultimate sustainability as a species. And so much more. 

We could have talked a long time. Montel was a wonderful host. He asked great questions and freely voiced some of the reservations many people have about whether or not we can actually heal the roots of escalating hatred and violence and restore ourselves to safety, cooperation, peace, and love before it is too late.

At the end, Montel asked me who my publicist is and why I’m not yet on CNN and all the major news outlets. What!!!! He invited me to come back to his show and bring other therapists so we can expand the conversation. It was thrilling to hear his responses and I share them with you now, not to boast but to acknowledge that the more I talk about what I have learned as a therapist that could be implemented now to heal human relations everywhere, the more I realize just how many people are hungry to understand the roots of violence and eager for the tools to interrupt that cycle. I left the interview with Montel with deep gratitude that what is profoundly meaningful to me is indeed part of a growing consciousness that we are indeed all in this together… 

My prayer is that we help each other salvage compassion from our most painful experiences so that we don’t repeat them, and that we become more accessible to each other the way Montel is, more human and more equal, with no wall of either fame or anonymity separating us. 

Feeling grateful and very blessed… 

“On the path to peace, we will close the gap between Love and Politics” (America in Therapy)