Fresh Hope for Mental Health

In this episode, Pastor Brad talks with author and speaker Maria I. Morgan about her powerful journey through anxiety and depression. Maria shares how her first experience with anxiety and depression began in 2006 after a car accident. During that season she sought help quickly and spent about nine months receiving medication and therapy, but the deeper root of her struggles was not discovered at that time.
Years later, in 2020, Maria faced a second and much more severe episode after caring for her mother-in-law who had dementia. During this difficult period, she experienced intense depression, suicide attempts, and even a psychosis episode. Eventually, through treatment and deeper reflection, the root of her struggles was uncovered—pain connected to her childhood relationship with her father.
Through faith, support, and healing, Maria experienced restoration and now shares her story to help others who are struggling with anxiety and depression. This episode is a powerful and hope-filled conversation for anyone walking through similar challenges.
About the Guest:
Maria I. Morgan is the award-winning author of the Louie the Lawnmower children's series and Outrageously Fruitful, a women's Bible study. Passionate about helping women find freedom from anxiety and depression, her book Hope Ignited: Set Free from the Grip of Anxiety and Depression (available spring 2026) offers a faith-centered, holistic approach to healing—addressing body, soul, and spirit. Maria lives in Georgia with her husband, Steve, and their playful pets, who bring laughter and creativity to her journey.

In this episode, Pastor Brad interviews Donavan Wallenburg, a faith-based mental health advocate living with Bipolar I disorder. Donavan shares his personal journey, including his struggles with alcohol that began in high school, the impact of his parents' divorce at age 18, and later his use of marihuana. He also reflects on the devastating loss of his younger sister, which led him into a deep depression and eventually his first manic episode.
Through proper diagnosis, treatment, and a renewed relationship with God, Donavan found hope and healing. Today, he shares his story to encourage others living with mental illness, reminding them that their diagnosis does not define them and that recovery, purpose, and faith can coexist.

In this episode, Pastor Brad interviews Pastor Dustin Kleinschmidt, author of The Wilderness Way. Dustin shares his personal journey of faith, beginning with a childhood marked by trauma and growing up without a Christian background. As a teenager, he encountered Jesus through a Christian youth group, where he found the sense of community and belonging he had been missing.
During his college years, God continued to shape his life by placing mentors and people around him who discipled and encouraged him in his faith. During that time, Dustin also met his wife, and together they began building a beautiful family with their two sons. As his faith deepened, he sensed a calling into full-time ministry.
Years later, after a particularly stressful season of leadership, Dustin experienced a two-year struggle with anxiety and depression. In this conversation, he reflects on the lessons God taught him during that difficult season and how those experiences inspired his book, The Wilderness Way. Dustin shares how the wilderness seasons of life, though painful, can become places where God forms deeper faith, healing, and hope.

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Episode Description
In this episode, Pastor Brad sits down with Dr. Benjamin Long, a sleep medicine physician and author of Sleep Habits Journal: Practices, Prayers, and Devotions to Ease Your Sleepless Nights.
If you've struggled with insomnia, restless nights, or simply want to build healthier sleep habits for your physical and emotional well-being, this conversation is for you. 
Together, Pastor Brad and Dr. Long discuss how habits, and spiritual rhythms affect our ability to rest—and how God invites us into restorative sleep. Dr. Long shares the five practical rules outlined in his book that can help reset unhealthy sleep patterns: Cease before bedtime, rise from bed in you cannot sleep, connect with God, lie down and resist sleeping in and taking naps. 
This episode offers encouragement, clarity, and actionable steps for anyone longing for better rest—body, mind, and soul.
Learn more about Dr. Blog and the Sleep Habits Journal here:
https://thewholeheartedmd.com/sleep-habits-journal/

In this episode, Pastor Brad interviews Cody Deese, a pastor from Georgia and author of Discovering Your Internal Universe.
Cody opens up about his lifelong struggle with anxiety, which began in childhood. At 40 years old, he received his first diagnosis of panic disorder — the moment that marked the beginning of a deep and challenging journey toward healing.
He shares how he tried numerous approaches — from professional help to various methods and diets — but his real breakthrough came when he began addressing unprocessed pain. By revisiting his childhood memories through imagination and reconnecting with familiar spaces from his past, Cody discovered that his anxiety was not his enemy, but rather an alarm pointing to pain that needed to be healed.
This powerful conversation reminds us that true healing often begins when we have the courage to face what hurts most.