"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

For men and women seeking recovery from unwanted sexual behavior, few people have been as influential or helpful as Michael John Cusick. Greg, Stacey, and Bobby all share some of our experiences with how Michael's book and podcast have been invaluable in our own path forward. Greg first met Michael in 2014 when he spoke at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL.

Michael is a therapist, author, and Founder/CEO of Restoring the Soul, a counseling practice that provides opportunities for life-changing breakthrough with licensed and experienced therapists. Their holistic approach creates an atmosphere of safety and grace where people can explore their relationships, identity, emotions, and spirituality.

In 2012 Michael released the book Surfing For God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggles. It, along with Jay Stringer's book Unwanted, has been extraordinarily powerful in helping people discover what needs they are actually trying to meet when pursuing broken behavior. The book contains a story (that Greg and Michael talk about) that's part of the reason for our podcast's name!

Restoring the Soul offers individual and group intensive therapy experiences, as well as a blog, podcast, and other resources.

Restoring the Soul website
Restoring the Soul podcast
Surfing For God book (on Amazon)
Training Session at Beeson Divinity School (2014)

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

Anyone who has interacted with Drew Boa knows he's a very special man. Drew loves people, and he has a gift for helping people realize how valuable they are. Some people's encouragement involves empty platitudes. Others give back-door advice disguised as encouragement. People who get to know Drew know he's paying attention - his words are thoughtful and specific.

Drew founded Husband Material, a community that helps men outgrow porn and become mature through podcasts, videos, community, courses, and coaching. For men seeking freedom from unhealthy & unwanted sexual behavior, Husband Material provides a safe place to tell your story, ask questions, request prayer, make new friends, learn how to heal, and celebrate progress.

When I was talking with Drew about how this episode's focus on connection was going to be encouragement, he told me he prefers to use the terms "affirmation" and "blessing." Before you dismiss this distinction as just semantics, listen and you'll see why the distinction is important. Our words have the power to build or tear down, and carefully chosen words of affirmation and blessing call out the glory of God in each person who is made in his image.

Husband Material Community web site
Drew's personal web site

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

I'm really grateful to be able to share this conversation I had recently with my friend Darren. He is an alumnus of the Roots Retreat, and for the past several years has been actively growing in freedom and recovery from sexual addiction.

Darren shares very openly and vulnerably about some of the struggles he had that contributed to his life of addiction, and how his initial experience with recovery was half-hearted, primarily seeking to avoid consequence. He talks about his time at the Roots Retreat, and how it was pivotal to him getting in touch with deep wounds that had previously kept him from really seeking help and close, supportive connection.

Darren's story has helped many people in his own recovery community where he lives, and we hope it will encourage you to seek out the people who will support you no matter what you're walking through.

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

Greg & Bobby have a conversation with one of their spiritual heroes. Steve Brown has been a pastor, a seminary professor, an author, and a radio host, among other things. Other than his rich, deep, booming voice, probably the best known thing about Steve is his steadfast commitment to preaching about grace, freedom, and the fact that "God is not mad at you."

When many pastors and teachers are hesitant to preach "too much grace," Steve offers a refreshing take on how freeing it can be to really understand that for Christians, the shackles of righteousness by works have really been taken off. Living in the kind of grace and freedom Steve describes - while it risks abuse - also offers the opportunity to see the heart of God and to be drawn to it.

Steve is such an encouraging person, and he talks about how so many of us lack sufficient encouragement in our lives. Words of life from people who know us...ALL of us, can invite us to stronger connection with others, with ourselves, and with God.

Steve Brown's books on Amazon
Key Life (radio shows, articles, etc.)

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Stacey and Greg sat down with Jill Gullahorn at her dining room table to talk about life, pain, support, walking with others, and doing our own work. Jill knows a lot about all of these. She's a wife, mother of three, and therapist who has discovered the value of committing to a process of becoming a healthier person living in true authenticity and connection.

Many people will also know Jill by her performing (and maiden) name, Jill Phillips. She has been recording and releasing incredible music since 1999. Be sure to check out her music using the links below.

After begin involved in her own counseling, Jill decided to go back to school and become a counselor herself. She has also received extensive training in the Enneagram, which is an ancient approach to helping people understand their own particular way of relating to themselves and the world around them.

Jill's work with clients includes walking with many women who have experienced sexual betrayal trauma, and she provides a safe place for them to experience discovery and healing.

Jill Gullahorn website (counseling site)
Jill Phillips website (artist site)
Jill Phillips music on Spotify
Jill Phillips music on Apple Music
Enneagram Journey podcast with Suzanne Stabile
Typology podcast with Ian Cron

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

What is a recovery intensive? How is it different from weekly therapy or extended inpatient treatment? How could it help my recovery process? All of these are extremely good and important questions, and in this BONUS episode of What We Really Want, Greg enlists the help of three great friends and therapists who consistently staff the Roots Retreat Men's Recovery Intensive from Awaken.

Adam Calvert, James Horne, and Jason McNaughton are all counselors who are specifically and extensively trained to work with clients around areas of trauma and addiction. They all have been part of staffing and developing the Roots Retreat since its inception in 2016.

In this episode, Adam, James, Jason and Greg talk about why recovery intensives are so valuable, how their impact is different that that of ongoing individual therapy (and also complimentary of it), and why people seeking recovery from unwanted behaviors might want to consider attending.

If you are a man who struggles with unwanted or addictive sexual behavior, and you think the Roots Retreat - or an intensive like it - might be right for you, please reach out to us with any questions. We'd love to help you find the right resources to support your recovery!

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

This episode is a real treat for Greg & Stacey, because our guest is also our pastor. Isaac Adams is the Lead Pastor at Iron City Church in Birmingham AL; additionally he is an author and founder of a non-profit organization called "United? We Pray," which encourages and equips Christians to pursue racial reconciliation.

Isaac talks about his upbringing in Washington D.C., his journey to faith, and the difficult decision - as a Black man - to move to Birmingham (and all its painful history) to pastor his first church. The conversation covers a multitude of topics, eventually settling into a great discussion on the creative lies of our enemy, how hard it is to confess struggles within the church, and why it's so important we learn to do so. Christ is the vine and we are the branches, and as Isaac says in our conversation, "Honesty is the oxygen that makes the branches of the vine grow."

Iron City Church (Birmingham AL) web site
United? We Pray web site
Isaac Adams' books on Amazon

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)

"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Feelings would be great if they didn't make us feel so many things. Sometimes it seems like they are a nuisance, other times like they're just too much to bear. But what if we changed our relationship with our feelings and started to believe they were the megaphone telling us what our heart is experiencing and desires to experience?

In this episode, Phil Herndon (counselor and Clinical Director at Tin Man Ministries) talks about how beautiful and valuable our feelings are, and how getting to know them is critical to living a healthy, connected life. Opening ourselves up to the full range of our feelings allows us to walk through life knowing that at the end, as we "walk off the field with our uniform dirty," we'll be able to know we really lived.

Tin Man Ministries website

Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)