Beyond Well With Sheila Hamilton is a podcast for people who want to learn tools for living better. Each week, we dive into a different aspect of mental health with our team of psychologists, psychiatrists, and people with lived experience. We cover: anxiety, bipolar disorder, chronic illness, depression, along with many other experiences that are not illness, but can be difficult: grief, relationships, self-esteem, and much more. We’d love to have you here.
Part2 Family members of people struggling with mental illness and addiction often ask themselves the same painful questions: What more should I have done? What did I miss? Why couldn’t I save them? Nigel Roberts knows those questions intimately. After losing both his daughter and former wife following their battles with bipolar disorder and addiction, the former World Bank director embarked on a two-month, 450-mile trek through Nepal. His new memoir, The Leopard and the Moon: A Journey in Dolpo, Nepal, chronicles that physical journey while exploring the emotional realities faced by countless caregivers whose efforts could not save the people they loved.
Part 1. Family members of people struggling with mental illness and addiction often ask themselves the same painful questions: What more should I have done? What did I miss? Why couldn’t I save them? Nigel Roberts knows those questions intimately. After losing both his daughter and former wife following their battles with bipolar disorder and addiction, the former World Bank director embarked on a two-month, 450-mile trek through Nepal. His new memoir, The Leopard and the Moon: A Journey in Dolpo, Nepal, chronicles that physical journey while exploring the emotional realities faced by countless caregivers whose efforts could not save the people they loved.
Part Two. I'm fascinated by high-functioning mental illness and addiction. David Shamszad knows that world firsthand. A Dartmouth graduate, entrepreneur, and founder of a successful real estate company, David appeared to have everything together. Behind the scenes, he was battling untreated bipolar disorder, addiction, and a life-threatening downward spiral that nearly cost him everything. Today, as conversations around mental health, addiction, loneliness, and recovery continue to intensify across America, David brings a perspective most experts can't: He lived it. This conversation goes far beyond awareness: • The hidden reality of high-functioning addiction • Why success often masks mental health struggles • What families miss before a crisis happens • The truth about bipolar disorder and stigma • Why recovery starts with honesty—not willpower • How someone can rebuild a meaningful life after hitting rock bottom His story is raw, timely, and deeply relatable for anyone who has struggled personally, or watched someone they love struggle in silence.
I'm fascinated by high-functioning mental illness and addiction. David Shamszad knows that world firsthand. A Dartmouth graduate, entrepreneur, and founder of a successful real estate company, David appeared to have everything together. Behind the scenes, he was battling untreated bipolar disorder, addiction, and a life-threatening downward spiral that nearly cost him everything. Today, as conversations around mental health, addiction, loneliness, and recovery continue to intensify across America, David brings a perspective most experts can't: He lived it. This conversation goes far beyond awareness: • The hidden reality of high-functioning addiction • Why success often masks mental health struggles • What families miss before a crisis happens • The truth about bipolar disorder and stigma • Why recovery starts with honesty—not willpower • How someone can rebuild a meaningful life after hitting rock bottom His story is raw, timely, and deeply relatable for anyone who has struggled personally, or watched someone they love struggle in silence.
Part Two. Brendan Mahan, M.Ed., M.S., is a dynamic ADHD/executive function consultant, coach, and speaker. A veteran educator and former teacher, principal, and mental health clinician, he specializes in helping people affected by ADHD, autism, and anxiety redesign their lives to lessen the impact of their struggles. An internationally recognized expert and engaging speaker and podcast where he helps individuals, families, and institutions better understand the emotional, productivity, and lifestyle impacts of ADHD and other neurodiversities. Drawing on well over a decade of experience coaching hundreds of clients, Brendan developed his groundbreaking Wall of Awful™ model, which helps people better understand the emotional barriers behind procrastination, avoidance, and overwhelm so they can solve challenges more effectively. Brendan works with entrepreneurs, nonprofits, educational institutions, mental health agencies, and businesses across the country and around the world. He has been featured in The New York Times , The Washington Post , ADDitude , Verywell Mind, How to ADHD, and other leading media outlets focused on mental health, parenting, and neurodiversity. Brendan’s new book, O vercoming the Wall of Awfu l (Balance/Hachette; September 1, 2026), greatly expands upon his groundbreaking Wall of Awful™ model, helping people understand the challenge they face at a deeper level so they can solve them more effectively.
Part One. Brendan Mahan, M.Ed., M.S., is a dynamic ADHD/executive function consultant, coach, and speaker. A veteran educator and former teacher, principal, and mental health clinician, he specializes in helping people affected by ADHD, autism, and anxiety redesign their lives to lessen the impact of their struggles. An internationally recognized expert and engaging speaker and podcast where he helps individuals, families, and institutions better understand the emotional, productivity, and lifestyle impacts of ADHD and other neurodiversities. Drawing on well over a decade of experience coaching hundreds of clients, Brendan developed his groundbreaking Wall of Awful™ model, which helps people better understand the emotional barriers behind procrastination, avoidance, and overwhelm so they can solve challenges more effectively. Brendan works with entrepreneurs, nonprofits, educational institutions, mental health agencies, and businesses across the country and around the world. He has been featured in The New York Times , The Washington Post , ADDitude , Verywell Mind, How to ADHD, and other leading media outlets focused on mental health, parenting, and neurodiversity. Brendan’s new book, O vercoming the Wall of Awfu l (Balance/Hachette; September 1, 2026), greatly expands upon his groundbreaking Wall of Awful™ model, helping people understand the challenge they face at a deeper level so they can solve them more effectively.
This is part two of our revisit of the No-Stone Unturned with Dan Schilling. As you know, the Beyond Well No Stone Unturned series is where we root around in the basement of our old shows and find gems that for whatever reason may have gotten missed the first time around and this is just such an episode. So, if you missed it the first time or missed it when we re-visited it a couple years ago you are in luck. Dan Schilling has lived a life and career right out of an action movie, where jumping out of a plane is all in a days work. You’ll hear how he became part of Special Forces in the Military. You’ll hear him speak of many situations and also dodges a few questions because the story is still considered Classified. A life very Hollywood in it’s reality. He has a lot to say about what makes a person seek this type of livelihood serving the country, how the military defines ones “Self” and the unfortunate fallout of trauma and suicide among Veterans. It features in studio guests Doctors Brian Goff and Jenna LeJune. I would recommend listening to part one first but to be honest, Dan Schilling is so compelling even out of sequence this interview is incredible. Enjoy.
A re-visit of a No-stone unturned. Well what do you now about that? It better be good. Oh, it is. Dan Schilling has lived a life and career right out of an action movie, where jumping out of a plane is all in a days work. You’ll hear how he became part of Special Forces in the Military. You’ll hear him speak of many situations and also dodges a few questions because the story is still considered Classified. A life very Hollywood in it’s reality. He has a lot to say about what makes a person seek this type of livelihood serving the country, how the military defines ones “Self” and the unfortunate fallout of trauma and suicide among Veterans. It features in studio guests Doctors Brian Goff and Jenna LeJune. Beyond Well and “No Stone Unturned” part one of our interview with Dan Schilling. Enjoy.
Anirudh Bajaj, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft (based in San Francisco) and author of the upcoming book Indispensable: Your Career Guide for the Age of AI . Indispensable tackles one of today’s most urgent and widely debated questions: how artificial intelligence will truly impact our jobs. At the core of the book is a practical “Field Guide” that offers a clear, honest assessment of how specific roles are likely to evolve, something few AI career resources provide. The book is also paired with an interactive online tool that gives readers personalized insights into how their job may change and how they can start using AI today. Here is a link to the tool: Indispensable — Your Career Guide for the Age of AI
Part Two. Healing Unbridled. After struggling with her health and energy in her teens, KJ Atlas was finally diagnosed with Lupus. Forced to leave college and begin her healing journey at home, KJ became immensely interested in how autoimmune conditions are so often linked to toxic stress, trauma, and imbalances in the body. She is now a renowned certified astrologer who works at the intersection of behavioral health and whole-body healing, advising celebrities, athletes, and everyday people seeking a broader lens on their lives.
Part One. After struggling with her health and energy in her teens, KJ Atlas was finally diagnosed with Lupus. Forced to leave college and begin her healing journey at home, KJ became immensely interested in how autoimmune conditions are so often linked to toxic stress, trauma, and imbalances in the body. She is now a renowned certified astrologer who works at the intersection of behavioral health and whole-body healing, advising celebrities, athletes, and everyday people seeking a broader lens on their lives.
A Re-Visit from 2019. Way before the pandemic. Way before the current political climate. It's an interesting point of view of where we were when looking at things from where we are now. Do “Trigger warnings” and “Safe Spaces” really keep us safe? Dr Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff discuss the dangerous trend toward identifying feelings as painful and thoughts as dangerous and harmful. But what are meant to be “safe-spaces” turn into echo chambers, shutting down any diversity of perspective or thought. New research suggests that trigger warnings may actually result in increased anxiety and Increased stigmatizing beliefs.
Many people who are deep in the throes of depression or anxiety can't recognize how sick they've become, and they resist help. Here's a simple guide for broaching the subject of well-being, when and how to get professional help, and the language of love that should be used again and again in dealing with someone's mental health disorder.
Google compiles the most frequently asked questions regarding mental health, and the #1 question is: What is Anxiety? Everyone has a different experience of anxiety but Dr. Leslie Dobson explains the most common symptoms of anxiety and the most effective, evidence-based treatments.
This is a Revisit with Cathleen Beerkens , founder of A Wellness Revolution and the author of Your Creator Matrix. She shares new research and techniques to achieve optimal wellness. Your Creator Matrix is the interconnected framework that links your mind, body, and spirit on all levels (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) with the Unified Field. When we master our stories—the deeply-held narratives and beliefs that influence all of our choices and creations—and learn how to digest our life experiences in new ways, we gain the power to choose new future timelines and manifest the wellness, abundance, and love we truly desire.In this thought-provoking book, researcher and integrative health coach Cathleen Beerkens shows us how quantum physics and the new sciences of epigenetics, glycobiology, and nutrigenetics can support us to create optimal cellular health, digest and assimilate our old storylines, nourish ourselves at all levels for optimal wellness, and begin to operate fully as the Creator in our lives for the good of all.
A Revisit with Dr. Leslie Dobson. In 2024 the New York Times investigated the proliferation of pedophiles who stalk minor’s instagram pages, accounts that are managed by the minor child’s parents. Reporters found high numbers of registered pedophiles who were not only liking and commenting on children's photos and videos, but saving them to their own personal profiles. What is a safe approach to social media for kids? In case you missed it, Dr. Leslie Dobson had a lot to say about it.
Maya Schumer earned her PhD studying the very disorder she carries, using neuroimaging and machine learning to map the neural signatures of mania and emotional impulsivity at the University of Pittsburgh. She is now a postdoctoral fellow at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School's flagship psychiatric institution. She also lives with Bipolar I. So when Maya began a modified ketogenic diet and noticed her cognition sharpening, her mood stabilizing, her daily life becoming simply less effortful, she understood the implications in a way few patients could. Today on Beyond Well, Maya Schumer talks about what twenty-first-century psychiatric treatment gets right, what it still gets wrong, and why the emerging field of metabolic psychiatry may be closing a gap that millions of people have been falling through.
Michael F. Kay is an author, Certified Life Coach, and host of the retirement podcast Chapter X . After more than 25 years as a financial professional, he shifted his focus to the inner side of retirement, particularly the identity, purpose, and emotional challenges people face when they step away from full‑time work. His writing has appeared in Forbes , The Wall Street Journal , and other outlets, and his new book, How to Craft Your Chapter X .
Kara Infante, host of Bookish Flights, discusses the link between reading and mental health. Kara shares her personal journey of being a military wife, a transplant, and a new mom, and how reading helped her build community and shore up her new identity. Kara offers tips for people who have turned away from reading for many years, but are now interested in starting a reading habit. Find Kara’s community at https://bookishflights.com
