What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
Greg Oliver
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If it's true that "...the opposite of addiction is not sobriety...the opposite of addiction is connection," there are lots of people who need to discover what true, healthy connection looks like. Whether the struggle is with addiction, toxic relationship dynamics, or something else, we've all tried to meet our needs in unhealthy ways. Way too often, the things we run to for comfort leave us feeling even more disconnected and alone than before.
Through conversations about the many ways we can connect, we offer an invitation to discover and move toward what we really want, so we can live the lives we were created for.
Awaken (awakenrecovery.com) helps men and women whose lives have been wrecked by unwanted/addictive sexual behaviors and sexual betrayal trauma. We hope the podcast will help not only those struggling sexually, but anyone who seeks healthier ways of finding connection.
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Top 10 What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
24 | Mike Donehey: Feel It Before You Fix It
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
12/10/24 • 53 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"
Over the past 25 years in Christian music, few other bands have been as influential or have a sound as instantly recognizable as Tenth Avenue North. They have released multiple records with hope-filled songs for people who live with crippling shame.
Tenth Avenue North's "frontman," Mike Donehey, started the band while all the members were in college. For two decades their music was everywhere - on the radio, on people's iPods, and being sung & played in churches all over the world. Then in 2020, growing families and the toll of being on the road led the band to call it quits. As Mike says, they were committed "not to sacrifice family on the altar of our band."
After a short time as a solo artist, Mike really missed playing with a band, and in a gift to all of us recently relaunched Tenth Avenue North. The sound is fresh but still familiar, some of the other members are new, but the purpose is the same... as Mike puts it: "I just want to lift peoples' shame, one song at a time."
Our conversation chases down a lot of paths - a (literal) back-breaking high school injury that was the catalyst to Mike learning to play guitar, to the early days of the band, to the things he learned in transition, to what provides creative "irritation" for not only songwriting but also writing books. Throughout the conversation, though, what is constant is Mike's thoughtfulness and focus on things that really matter.
#mikedonehey #tenthavenuenorth #noshame #thestruggle #thelightmeetsthedark #followers #cathedrals #findinggodslifeformywill #graceinthegray #gospel #grace #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #connection #conversation
Tenth Avenue North band website
Mike Donehey artist website
Mike's books
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
04 | Phil Herndon: The Language of Connection & Attachment
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
05/15/24 • 51 min
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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.
Check out Phil's Tin Man link below, and PLEASE give us 5-stars and write a positive review wherever you get your podcasts!
Tin Man Ministries website
#PhilHerndon #TinManMinistries #feelings #emotions #therapy #counseling #gospel #recovery #sexaddiction #pornaddiction #sexualaddiction #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #grace #connection #conversation
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
35 | John Eldredge: What Your Soul is Made For
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
04/15/25 • 55 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"
What We Really Want for our first anniversary episode 🎂 🎉🎈 is to celebrate a year of Conversations About Connection with the one-and-only John Eldredge.
John is known for his work as a therapist, for his development of the immensely popular One-Minute Pause app, and for his MANY books (like Wild at Heart, The Sacred Romance, Get Your Life Back, Resilient) including his newest book Experience. Jesus. Really.
John has an important message for all of us. We have been conditioned AWAY from real connection, trust, and dependence; and conditioned FOR distraction, immediate answers, fear and anxiety. We had a rich, deep conversation about what we can notice and how we can move back toward a God who deeply loves us and wants us to connect with him, with others, and with our own souls.
Our souls were not made for the unsustainable pace of Internet discipleship. Our souls were made for union with God. We hope you'll slow the pace and take time to listen to this gracious call to remember what your soul is made for.
#johneldredge #wildatheart #experiencejesusreally #oneminutepause #pauseapp #unionwithgod #gospel #grace #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #recovery #connection #conversation
Wild at Heart (John's ministry web site)
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
PREVIEW | Chad & Melissa Barrett (coming April 1, 2025)
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
03/26/25 • 2 min
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Go to whatwereallywant.show and follow the podcast, to make sure you don't miss out on our conversation with Chad & Melissa Barrett, friends of Greg & Stacey for over 30 years. Chad & Melissa graciously share their heartbreaking but hopeful story of navigating their daughter's 4-year journey with cancer, and how it drew them closer in connection to God, to each other, and to their three other children.
Episode 34 | Chad & Melissa Barrett: Don't Edit This Out will be available Tuesday, April 1st!
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
12 | Sharon Hersh: Change is Seldom Spectacular
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
08/06/24 • 57 min
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We're really excited to welcome a guest who has been really helpful and influential in our lives, even though we'd never met before the podcast interview. Sharon Hersh is a therapist and author, whose book The Last Addiction: Why Self-Help is Not Enough was one of the first ones Stacey read when our lives changed in 2009.
In addition to being a therapist, author, and college professor, Sharon is also a recovering alcoholic. She has openly shared her story of addiction, recovery, and lessons learned about connection vs. isolation.
The conversation we had is NOT just for people with addictions. It's also for those who love people with addictions. It's for people who desire escape from and control over life's painful realities. In other words, it's for all of us.
Sharon is the author of several other books and a sought-after speaker. See the links below for her other resources and social media presence.
Check out Sharon's links below, and PLEASE give us 5-stars and write a positive review wherever you get your podcasts!
Sharon's website
Sharon's books on Amazon
Sharon's Facebook page
Sharon's Instagram page
#SharonHersh #LastAddiction #Belonging #counseling #therapy #gospel #recovery #alcoholism #sexaddiction #pornaddiction #sexualaddiction #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #grace #connection #conversation
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
36 | Brooks Veazey: A Friendly Emptiness
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
04/29/25 • 40 min
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What do tacos have to do with making people feel valued, seen, and connected? Our guest Brooks Veazey has answers. As partner and CEO of Ladybird Taco, a Nashville-based restaurant (with locations in Birmingham AL and **soon** in Charlotte NC), Brooks is committed to cultivating an atmosphere that's about more than just good food.
Providing true hospitality is in itself a means of offering connection. Brooks, and the rest of the leadership team at Ladybird (including founder Gabe Scott, our guest on Episode 3) have worked since the start to make and maintain a space where people can meet, laugh, cry, connect, and be seen & known.
Listening to the passion and purpose that has gone into their commitment to hospitality, there's something we can all learn as we seek to create safe places for the people we know and love.
#brooksveazey #gabescott #ladybirdtaco #ladybird #hospitality #henrinouwen #gospel #grace #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #recovery #connection #conversation
Ladybird Taco web site
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
07 | Jill Gullahorn: Trust the Process
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
06/11/24 • 54 min
"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.
Check out Jill's links below, and PLEASE give us 5-stars and write a positive review wherever you get your podcasts!
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
#JillGullahorn #JillPhillips #enneagram #counseling #therapy #gospel #recovery #sexaddiction #pornaddiction #sexualaddiction #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #grace #connection #conversation
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
25 | Will Mooney: I Won't Try to Fix You
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
12/17/24 • 53 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"
The best therapists are the ones who have done their own work. That's what I love about my guest Will Mooney. Will has his own story of unwanted sexual behavior, and also of serving in pastoral ministry. After finding his own help and recovery, his life went in a new direction, away from working in the church and into becoming a therapist. Not only A therapist, Will happens to be MY therapist. 😊
In our conversation (which is NOT bound by confidentiality), we discuss how Will made the decision to pivot to counseling, our own relationship as therapist and client, and about the tendency many helpers have to "fix" clients instead of support them.
Will is deeply trained in the Neuro-Affective Relational Model (NARM), which employs curiosity, support, and the encouragement of self-agency on the part of the client. He is the founder and director of Made and Matter Counseling, and lives in the Nashville TN area with his wife and kids.
#willmooney #madeandmattercounseling #therapy #counseling #narm #narmtraining #gospel #recovery #sexaddiction #pornaddiction #sexualaddiction #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #grace #connection #conversation
Made and Matter Counseling (Will's counseling practice)
NARM Training Institute (counseling modality we discussed, including how to find a NARM practitioner in your area or virtually)
Questions For Jesus (book Will referenced)
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
26 | Mike Foster: Begging the Question
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
12/24/24 • 52 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"
Known as the "Mr. Rogers of personal development," Mike Foster is a best-selling author, speaker, and executive coach empowering people to build strong lives by turning their setbacks into superpowers.
Mike is the creator of the Primal Question Framework, host of the highly acclaimed Primal Question podcast (formerly Fun Therapy), and creator of Rescue Academy, a training model for caregivers.
In our conversation we talk about curiosity and how it is an essential PRE-step to action. Curiosity helps us understand what we and others are going through, and also helps us determine what healthy actions we want and need to take. We also talk about his most recent passion, helping people identify their Primal Question, the one question that drives everything in life.
Mike lives in San Diego. He and his wife Jennifer have two grown children and live with their fluffy dogs.
#mikefoster #primalquestion #peopleofthesecondchance #rescueacademy #funtherapy #purpose #gospel #grace #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #connection #conversation
Mike Foster's website (mikefoster.tv)
The Seven Primal Questions book (on Amazon)
Primal Question free assessment (5-7 minutes to complete)
Primal Question podcast (formerly called "Fun Therapy")
Rescue Academy (coaching tools for caregivers)
People of the Second Chance
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
A Little Extra Helping with Greg, Stacey, and Bobby (Birthday Bonus)
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection
04/22/25 • 36 min
"Send us a message! (questions, feedback, etc.)"
We've just had a birthday, and we're celebrating by giving you a "Little Extra Helping" of the podcast.
Bobby, Stacey and I sat down recently to reflect on this first year of What We Really Want... all the great conversations we've had, things we've heard from our listeners, things we hope for the future, etc. One thing we talked about was how simple the idea for this show really is.
Let's just talk. About ways we connect. And by doing that, we're actually connecting and modeling for our listeners what that can look like.
We're incredibly grateful for all of you who have been along for the ride this first year. We have more great conversations with wonderful guests in the weeks to come, so please keep listening in. Even better, please support the show by writing a positive review and giving us 5 stars where you get your podcasts.
#Greg Oliver #StaceyOliver #BobbyWest #podcastbirthday #podcastanniversary #celebration #reflection #lookingback #oneyear #recovery #healing #sexaddiction #pornaddiction #sexualaddiction #betrayaltrauma #awaken #awakenrecovery #awakenpodcast #whatwereallywant #wwrw #grace #connection #conversation
Awaken website
Roots Retreat Men's Intensive
Roots Retreat Women's Workshop
Awaken Men & Women's support meeting info (including virtual)
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FAQ
How many episodes does What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection have?
What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection currently has 46 episodes available.
What topics does What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection cover?
The podcast is about Addiction, Health & Fitness, Christianity, Spirituality, Mental Health, Religion & Spirituality, Podcasts, Connection, Relationships and Recovery.
What is the most popular episode on What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection?
The episode title '02 | Bobby West: What WE Really Want, part 2' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection?
The average episode length on What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection is 42 minutes.
How often are episodes of What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection released?
Episodes of What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection?
The first episode of What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection was released on Apr 16, 2024.
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