Podcast Guests

Dr. Roya Pilcher is a pediatric dental specialist in Washington. As a three-time Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) mom, Dr. Pilcher is the founder of The Ava Potter Pilcher Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting positive psycho-social outcomes for families who have an infant in the NICU.

Brad Watts is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider (CSOTP) and specializes in working with individuals and families where sibling sexual abuse has occurred.

Brad is the author of the book, Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Guide for Confronting America’s Silent Epidemic.

Brad conducts trainings with communities and groups on how to recognize and respond to incidents of sibling sexual abuse. He’s helped hundreds of people on their journey to healing following sibling sexual abuse.

Antonio Myers is a trauma survivor and disabilities advocate. Myers has recently been appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to The District of Columbia State
Rehabilitation Council. “The SRC) advises DCRSA on the needs of District residents with disabilities
who receive, or are seeking, vocational services from DCRSA, and partners with DCRSA on strategies for expanding and increasing meaningful employment outcomes for all who are served by the agency.

Additionally, the SRC partners with DCRSA in developing the agency’s annual goals and priorities, in crafting and revising agency policies, and in tracking and evaluating DCRSA’s overall performance. Members of the DC SRC are appointed by the Mayor, and include consumers of DCRSA services, advocates, and other stakeholders in the DCRSA service delivery system.”

Ebonique Bethea, MSW, LMSW, CA currently serves as the Clinical Director at RAINN, where she provides guidance and oversight on the clinical, and trauma-informed services specifically related to hotline staff skill development, service provision and quality assurance. Prior to this position. she served in the role of program manager of RAINN’s 24/7 hotline, where she provided oversight of hotline services and led a team of direct service specialists to support survivors of sexual violence and their loved ones.

Ebonique has over 15 years of experience engaged in social work practice in the Washington Metropolitan area, as well as, 12 years as a licensed professional providing trauma-informed care to high risk populations including youth at-risk of out of home placement, in foster care, or in juvenile detention; persons with complex medical needs; homeless persons living with HIV; low income families seeking substance use and mental health services; and those impacted by domestic violence, both survivors and perpetrators. She has extensive experience facilitating psychoeducational and therapeutic groups, providing training on sexual violence, sexual health and wellness, and developing partnerships with community health and social service organizations.

Ebonique has served on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s Youth Committee, identifying factors that are unique to youth seeking prevention services. She currently serves on Maryland’s Human Trafficking Clinician Collaborative, which provides support to those providing direct care to survivors of human trafficking. She also is a credentialed advocate with specialized training in the areas of sexual violence, intimate partener violence, and child abuse and neglect.

Ebonique earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Master’s degree in Social Work- Mental Health, from Howard University.

Eduardo Cortina is a a somatic therapist and educator since 1998. Cortina is a licensed Alexander Technique Teacher, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Craniosacral Therapist and T’ai Chi instructor.

In October 2013, Cortina received his masters from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor in the District of Columbia. Cortina practices Somatic Psychology and Somatic Experiencing working primarily with trauma recovery, anxiety, and depression, and other mental health issues.

In his memoir, Ryan Harland brilliantly begins to describe to us what it feels like to have Emotional Intensity Disorder (EID) or Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD).

Once called Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Ryan was diagnosed with the condition as an adult after a lifetime of struggles.

After facing many traumatic events – including the loss of his beloved brother, Kevin, and a sexual assault by his father – Ryan finally understood why he felt and behaved in the way that he did.

And then, with the support of his devoted mother, he started the fight back…

In this bold and brave memoir, Ryan takes us on a journey of rage and revelation, anger and acceptance, love and betrayal.

Imani Kaliid is a childhood abuse survivor and advocate who details his experience with trauma in his memoir, There was Violence.

After coming to terms with his own violent trauma, he instinctively knew this was something he needed to share with the world. He is also the host of the Misconnected Podcast and Founder of the Invia Foundation.

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Kelly Roman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fisher Wallace Laboratories, an FDA-regulated manufacturer of a cutting edge wearable medtech device designed to treat insomnia, anxiety, and depression.

Fisher Wallace has over 70,000 patients and 10,000 subscribers using their devices and has continued to run three sizable clinical trials during the pandemic, investigating how neurostimulation is a strong contender as a treatment for anxiety and depression compared to drug use.

Emily Golden helps today’s emerging leaders and executives shift underlying beliefs, find their sweet spot, and bring newfound value to their careers.

Recognized as an expert in emotional intelligence in the workplace, Emily incorporates her years of corporate human resources experience into her high-performance coaching practice.

She is familiar with the challenges executives face, including time management, overwork, and the potential for burnout. Her clients emerge re-energized, equipped with the tools that help them create a balanced and meaningful life inside and outside of work.

No stranger to the delicate balance of work-life juggling, Emily was a top performer when a troubling diagnosis struck her family. Her daughter was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome in 2010. Despite the emotional toll, Emily’s perfectionism kicked in and she was determined to be the best employee, mother, and partner for her husband.

The trouble was, at home, she was thinking about work. At work, she was thinking about what she needed to do for her kids at home. When her son was also diagnosed with the same syndrome, Emily shifted her focus to finding a workable balance that honored her capacity in her work and personal life.

She realized that her talents for seeing both the blind spots and the skills in others in her corporate position translated seamlessly into coaching high performers looking to advance professionally while avoiding the trap of burnout or golden handcuffs.

Combining her leadership and work in human resources for over 17 years, Emily created a powerful coaching method not typically offered in corporate America.

Eric Osborne has been working professionally with psilocybin mushrooms as a cultivator and session facilitator for over twenty years. Founder of MycoMeditations legal psilocybin retreats in Jamaica, PLEDG Inc, a 501c3 organization providing scholarships for access to psilocybin treatment, and now Psanctuary Incorporated, a Kentucky based sacred mushroom church, Eric endeavors to improve the quality of human life by helping to relieve suffering and recovery from trauma through the safe and respectful use of psilocybin mushrooms.

Grateful Deb is a master bodyworker and teacher for over 40 years with a Masters in Education, an experienced Transformational Life Mastery Coach, mentored by Mary Morrissey and Certified by the Brave Thinking Institute, and Rebirther trained in Conscious Breathwork since 1989. I have the tools and understanding to help you change your perception of life, raise your vibration, and live life in alignment with your truest self to manifest everything you want.

D. John Jackson is a Fortune 50 leader with global responsibilities that include strategic planning, engineering, data science, and artificial intelligence. A creative visionary, he’s an executive producer of documentary films, an author, a strategist, a futurist thinker, a lecturer, and a motivational speaker. His speaking topics are diverse and range from leadership and world history to emerging technologies, economics, and competition in the global marketplace. He is also the founder of 5J Entertainment, a company committed to educating, informing, entertaining, and promoting positive images of African Americans through various forms of media. Its first film documentary, What About Me, explores the untold, unheard, distorted, and misunderstood stories of Black men in America.

Kathy Picard is an inspiring award-winning advocate whose work centers on increasing awareness of the harsh realities of sexual child abuse.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, through her own process of trying to understand what happened to her, Kathy discovered that there was very little information about the subject of sexual abuse—even in the library. It was as if sexual abuse was “a secret” no one was willing to talk about! Since then, she has educated herself, and now actively seeks opportunities to speak about the importance of awareness, to share the resources she’s personally vetted, to educate people who want to know and do more, and to offer information and encouragement to fellow survivors and their family and friends.

Tonya Harris is an award-winning environmental toxin expert, the founder of Slightly Greener and the creator of the Slightly Greener Method™, offering busy moms simple solutions to reduce toxins without turning their lifestyle upside-down.

As a childhood leukemia survivor and mother of three (including one with multiple learning disabilities), Tonya helps parents learn how toxins in the home can affect their family’s health. In addition to Board certification and a Master’s degree in holistic nutrition, she holds multiple certificates in the environmental health field. She has been featured in various media outlets including Dr. Oz, CBS, Parents, Bustle, Reader’s Digest, Martha Stewart Living, The Spruce, and more.