In this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna sits down with psychologist and mental health leader Dr. Max Doshay to explore the identity shift that reshaped both his life and career. Max reflects on how losing a version of himself he once deeply identified with forced him to confront who he was beneath the roles, titles, and expectations he carried. What followed wasn’t a straight path, but a series of pivots that led him toward leadership, purpose, and deeper self-awareness. Together, they talk about humility, ambition, and the tension between striving and staying grounded. Max shares what it’s like to lead without ego, to build something meaningful without losing yourself in the process, and to remain open when life unfolds differently than planned. This conversation offers a thoughtful look at what can emerge when identity falls away — and something more honest takes its place.

Dr. Max’s Resources:

Websites

• DrMaxDoshay.com
• Monima Wellness Center
• Element Q Healing Center

Social Media

LinkedIn: Dr. Max Doshay
LinkedIn: Monima Wellness Center

Instagram: @drmaxdoshay
Instagram: @monimawellness
Instagram: @elementqhealingcenter

Facebook: Monima Wellness Center
Facebook: Element Q Healing Center

Books

• Second Firsts by Christina Rasmussen
• The Road Less Traveled — M. Scott Peck Simon & Schuster
• Daring Greatly — Brené Brown Brené Brown
• Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor E. Frankl Beacon Press
• Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes — William Bridges

Podcast / Talk

Element Q Podcast: Empowering LGBTQ+ Voices, One Story at a Time
ReThinking — Adam Grant

Connect with Joanna Lilley

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #

In this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna sits down with Arch Wright — former professional athlete, trauma therapist, and co-founder of One Elm at Horton Bay — for an honest and deeply human conversation about healing, identity, and what it truly means to live a successful life. Arch shares his journey through addiction, recovery, and emotional healing, reflecting on how success can mask unresolved trauma and how true fulfillment comes from learning to feel safe within ourselves and our relationships. Together, they discuss emotional sobriety, developmental trauma, and the courage it takes to do the deeper work. This conversation offers an honest look at growth, resilience, and redefining success from the inside out.

Arch’s Resources:

One Elm at Horton Bay

Adult Children of Alcoholics & Dysfunctional Families (ACA)

Al-Anon Family Groups

Connect with Joanna Lilley

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthAwareness #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #AddictionRecovery #RecoveryIsPossible #SobrietyIsBeautiful #SobrietyJourney

On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others. Today’s former participant is Jaysa Brown. In this episode, Jaysa reflects on entering the mental health system at a young age, navigating multiple treatment settings that didn’t always help, and the deep resistance she felt toward trying yet another program. She shares how relocating to Colorado became a turning point, the role community and support played in her healing, and how redefining success has allowed her to build a life rooted in stability, purpose, and self-trust. Now working as a mentor within the same program that helped her turn her life around, Jaysa offers an honest perspective on recovery, family dynamics, and what sustainable progress can truly look like.

NOTE: The podcasts in this series can include sensitive subjects such as suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, hospitalizations, psychotic episodes, and other traumatic experiences which include parts of the treatment journey. No topic is off limits and not all stories are positive but they are real, raw, and transparent.

**Listener discretion is advised**

Connect with Joanna Lilley

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthAwareness #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #AddictionRecovery #RecoveryIsPossible #SobrietyIsBeautiful #SobrietyJourney

In this conversation, Brian Sacks shares what it was like to grow up as the only child of parents who had him late in life—parents he would eventually care for emotionally, physically, and financially while still trying to become an adult himself. Brian opens up about the pressure of stepping into adulthood far too early, running his father’s business as a teenager, and learning to navigate life without the safety net most young people rely on. Brian also reflects on how those early hardships shaped him as a husband, father, and professional—and why breaking generational patterns became a non-negotiable part of raising his own children. Now, decades into a successful marriage and career, Brian has turned his lived experience into service, creating the Stuck in the Middle newsletter, podcast, and community for people balancing the simultaneous demands of aging parents, growing children, relationships, and work. This episode is a grounded, heartfelt reminder that success isn’t defined by ease—it’s defined by resilience, compassion, and the willingness to play the hand you’re dealt with integrity and grit.

Brian’s Resources:
Podcast: Stuck in the Middle
Episode: Guiding Young Adults Through Emotional Struggles and Family Transitions with Joanna Lilley
Newsletter: Stuck in the Middle
Facebook: Stuck in the Middle News

Connect with Joanna Lilley
Therapeutic Consulting Association
Lilley Consulting Website
Lilley Consulting on Facebook
Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #StuckInTheMiddle #StuckInTheMiddlePodcast #BrianSacks #TeenYears #TeenAnxiety #ParentingHelp #LifeTransitions #UpsAndDownsOfLife

In this week’s episode, Joanna sits down with Ann Coleman—attorney turned parent-educator and the host of Speaking of Teens. After years of struggling through her son’s anxiety, ADHD, and eventual placement in treatment, Ann realized that her own fear, misunderstanding, and emotional reactivity were driving the conflict at home. What happened next changed everything. Ann shares how she dove into adolescent neuropsychology, rewired her entire approach to parenting, and ultimately built a framework that has since helped thousands of families break destructive cycles. She talks openly about the grief of letting go of old expectations, the relief that comes from understanding the developing brain, and why “success” must be defined by the young person—not the parent. This conversation is an anchor for any parent navigating adolescence or young adulthood. Ann offers clarity, compassion, and the kind of perspective that can genuinely shift a family’s trajectory.

Ann’s Resources:
Website: https://speakingofteens.com/
Podcast: Speaking of Teens
Instagram: @speakingofteenspodcast
Facebook: Speaking of Teens Podcast

Connect with Joanna Lilley
Therapeutic Consulting Association
Lilley Consulting Website
Lilley Consulting on Facebook
Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #SpeakingOfTeensPodcast #TeenYears #MomEmotions #TeenAnxiety #ParentingHelp

In this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna sits down with author, advocate, and mother Stacy Ross, whose 28-year journey parenting a child with serious mental illness reshaped everything she thought she knew about success, family, and resilience. Stacy opens up about infertility, adoption, raising three children, navigating years of misdiagnoses, and ultimately learning how to parent through chaos, crisis, and transition.

She shares how writing became her lifeline during the early days of COVID, how her memoir emerged from 200 raw pages written in solitude, and how she rebuilt her sense of self, purpose, and balance along the way. Stacy’s story is honest, grounding, and deeply human — a reminder that success rarely follows the script we imagined, and that acceptance, boundaries, and connection can transform even the hardest chapters.

Stacy’s Resources:

Website: https://stacyrossspeaks.com/

Book: Searching for Slippers

Book: Where Do the Waves Come From?

Connect with Joanna Lilley

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #StacyRoss #StacyRossSpeaks #AdoptionAwareness #SearchingForSlippers #BPDAwareness #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder

On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others. Today’s former participant is Chris Kelley. Chris shares his honest journey from growing up in Cape Cod’s party culture, to court-ordered detox and time in county jail as a teenager, to finally entering long-term recovery at 29. Now 15 years sober and the Executive Director of Berkshire Transition Network, Chris talks with Joanna about the deeper emotional work behind recovery, the moment his “dam broke,” and how community, self-inquiry, and aligned purpose shaped the life he leads today. It’s a grounded, thoughtful conversation about transformation, trauma, and what “the work” really looks like. Chris also reflects on how unlearning old patterns became just as essential as building new ones.

NOTE: The podcasts in this series can include sensitive subjects such as suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, hospitalizations, psychotic episodes, and other traumatic experiences which include parts of the treatment journey. No topic is off limits and not all stories are positive but they are real, raw, and transparent.

**Listener discretion is advised**

Chris’s Resources:
Berkshire Transition Network
Newport Academy

Connect with Joanna Lilley

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #SoberLiving #SoberMovement #SobrietyJourney #SobrietyIsBeautiful #AddictionTreatment

On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others. Today’s former participant is Conor Gallagher Gray. Conor grew up on Chicago’s North Shore with every advantage and a clear path laid out for him—until addiction, stigma, and a collapsing sense of identity sent his life on a drastically different trajectory. After multiple treatment stays, arrests, a suicide attempt, and years of relapse and rebuilding, Conor eventually found long-term sobriety and a renewed sense of purpose. His journey took him from high academic and athletic expectations to living in a basement storage room, navigating psych episodes, and surviving several near-fatal moments that forced him to confront the reality of where his life was headed. Today, Conor co-owns men’s sober living homes in Los Angeles, where he channels his experience into community, accountability, and giving others the support he once needed. This conversation is honest, intense, and a powerful reminder that healing is rarely linear and purpose can grow from the most unexpected places.

NOTE: The podcasts in this series can include sensitive subjects such as suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, hospitalizations, psychotic episodes, and other traumatic experiences which include parts of the treatment journey. No topic is off limits and not all stories are positive but they are real, raw, and transparent.

**Listener discretion is advised**

Conor’s Resources:

Eric’s House Recovery
Menninger Clinic

Connect with Joanna Lilley

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

#TherapeuticConsulting #LilleyConsulting #Successful #TherapeuticPrograms #Therapy #MentalHealthMatters #Podcast #PodcastCommunity #TheJourney #SuccessIsSubjectivePodcast #TheUnpavedRoad #PFCAudioVideo #SoberLiving #SoberMovement #SobrietyJourney #SobrietyIsBeautiful #AddictionTreatment #EricsHouseRecovery