Advertise on podcast: Step Out And Thrive with Bethany Joy (Radical Care For Christian Counselors)

You've been journaling, praying, and wondering in a vacuum. This week I'm talking about the loneliness of carrying it all alone, the moment I realized I needed a different room, and why your story is safe with women who get it. Your challenge: name one thing you've been carrying alone. This week, say it out loud to one person, even if that person is God in your journal.📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon 👉 https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Free Community 👉 https://community.stepoutandthrive.com☕ Schedule a free Coffee Chat 👉 https://go.stepoutandthrive.com/lite/friendsDare to do more than just survive,Step Out & Thrive!Walking with you,Bethany

The polished version of your testimony got applause, but it cost you real connection. This week I'm talking about what performing has cost me, the relationships where I've smiled through the hard stuff, and what it would look like to tell the truth in a room where nobody needs you to be shiny. Your challenge: think of one relationship where you've been performing. What's one true sentence you could say next time that you've been holding back?📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon 👉 https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Free Community 👉 https://community.stepoutandthrive.com☕ Schedule a free Coffee Chat 👉 https://go.stepoutandthrive.com/lite/friendsDare to do more than just survive,Step Out & Thrive!Walking with you,Bethany

We're kicking off a brand new series called Your Story, and episode one goes straight to the tender place: the story you stopped telling. I talk about what it means to shove something real back in the box because someone needed you to be strong, and the quiet pressure of fall that makes the polished version feel safer. My takeaway for you: what if the story you're hiding is the very one God wants to use most? Your challenge this week: write down one story you've stopped telling. Not the polished version. Just the raw sentence starting with "What I haven't said out loud is…"📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon 👉 https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Free Community 👉 https://community.stepoutandthrive.com☕ Schedule a free Coffee Chat 👉 https://go.stepoutandthrive.com/lite/friendsDare to do more than just survive,Step Out & Thrive!Walking with you,Bethany

The final episode of My Big Brave Beginning. Why does looking back with intention matter so much? I share a Zoom call where a woman asked, "How are you so confident?" — not knowing I'd written "I need to be more confident" in my journal at the very start of this journey. This episode closes the series with a prayer over wherever you are in your own dream. 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 Going back to the beginning of the beginning1:48 Why look back with intention2:20 The mountain-climbing metaphor4:26 The Zoom call with the woman who missed the cutoff5:25 "How are you so confident?"9:16 Closing prayer over you

Part 6 of My Big Brave Beginning. What happens when you want to retreat from a dream that's already in motion? I share a real moment from this week — a mix-up in front of my brand-new group that sent me straight into a shame spiral — and the two tools that brought me back: deep breathing, and asking for help. 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 What do you do when you want to back out?1:28 The Thrive Speaker Cohort mistake this week3:54 The shame spiral starts4:57 The deep breathing reset6:41 Takeaway #1: deep breathing7:49 Takeaway #2: ask for help

Part 5 of My Big Brave Beginning. In the middle of chasing a dream, tiny wins are so easy to skip past. I walk through a daily practice I call Interactive Appreciation — pausing to notice a moment of joy, sitting with it, and inviting Jesus into it — and why this one habit reminds me I'm not the one carrying it all. 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 We're talking about tiny wins today1:47 You're not alone in your dream2:23 Interactive Appreciation — what it is3:26 A real example from my Thrive Speaker Cohort5:20 Why tiny wins matter6:24 Weekly and team win rounds7:30 This week's question for you

Part 4 of My Big Brave Beginning. No dream happens completely alone — eventually you have to make the ask. I share the exact text template I use to reach out to people, the fear I had to work through before launching the Thrive Speaker Cohort publicly, and why reframing "the ask" as an invitation changes everything about how it feels. 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 What do you do when you're ready to make the first ask?1:30 No dream happens completely alone3:22 The personalized ask text template5:55 Fear of what my peers would think9:40 Getting crystal clear before you ask12:38 Reframing the ask as an invitation13:13 This week's challenge

Part 3 of My Big Brave Beginning. What do you do when you're moving forward but you hit the wall of fear and uncertainty? I share how I almost scrapped an entire year-long program idea, and the question that stopped me cold: "How do you know when you're done planning and it's time to move forward?" Spoiler — I didn't have an answer, and that was the point. 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 What do you do when you hit the wall?1:39 Fear and uncertainty set in3:31 The overbuilt, year-long program idea4:25 The question that stopped me6:36 The "what makes me feel most alive" filter8:23 Giving myself permission to not control everything9:59 How to decide: move forward or step back

Part 2 of My Big Brave Beginning. Once you're ready to share your dream out loud, who do you actually tell? I walk through the concept of "border busters" from The Dream Giver, and share the real story of a beach walk where God spoke clearly about people settling for the "condo view" instead of the ocean — and how I went home and Voxed my coach because I couldn't hold it in another minute. Connect with Laura Naiser here: https://lauranaiser.com/ 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 What do you do when you finally get the courage to share?1:13 The Dream Giver & "border busters"1:45 How do you choose who to share with?2:50 Coach Laura & what Voxer is3:49 The beach walk story begins6:15 The condo view — God's word to me7:58 What makes someone a safe person9:03 Two-step takeaway9:51 Avoiding "validation shopping"

I'm kicking off a brand new series — My Big Brave Beginning — and episode one is about that very first moment a dream sparks inside you, before you even know if it's real. I share the story of a small speaking group where two facilitators pulled me aside and asked, "Are you a coach?" — a question I never saw coming. My takeaway for you: not every dream needs action today, but every dream deserves a place where you can sit with it and get curious. 📖 Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🏡 Free Community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com CHAPTERS0:00 Introducing My Big Brave Beginning1:27 God allowed me to launch one of my dreams2:48 What do you do when an idea first sparks?3:31 The speaking group story begins7:26 The silent video review technique8:07 "Are you a coach?"9:51 The wedding toast — her story stuck with me10:45 Starting a Dreams Journal11:42 Comparison: the biggest barrier12:49 Today's takeaway13:29 The Inner Circle & how to join

This is it — the final episode of the Rooted series. Today we're talking about grieving, and not just the kind tied to losing someone. I'm sharing some of the things I've personally had to grieve over the last couple years — including a hard lesson about saying goodbye to volunteer commitments I loved, and what it actually looked like to grieve well. 🔑 5 Takeaways from this episode: Grieving isn't just about losing a person — it's about anything we have to say goodbye to: a business, a role, a season, a way of living.Grieving is a process, and it's actually how we love well — when we take the time to do it.Saying goodbye to opportunities you love — even good ones — because they're not in the right season can be one of the hardest kinds of grief.Endings can carry both joy and sadness at the same time, and being able to hold both is real emotional maturity.This week's (and series') question: are you ready to grieve well?📚 Grab my book, Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1 🌱 Join the free Step Out & Thrive community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com Dare to do more than just survive. Step Out & Thrive.

"Mom, are you listening?" Today's episode starts with a question my youngest asked me — one I couldn't answer, because I genuinely had no idea what he'd just said. I'm talking about presence, and who in our lives actually gets the best of us. 🔑 5 Takeaways from this episode: We can be physically present and still completely miss the people right in front of us — clients, schedules, and to-do lists can quietly take priority.Different people need different kinds of presence — what works for one of my boys doesn't work the same for another.The real question isn't just "am I listening" — it's "who is getting the best of me?" Clients? Strangers at Walmart? Or the people I do life with every day?Clients and circumstances come and go — but the people closest to you are constants, and they deserve to know they have your availability.This week's challenge: tell someone you do life with how important they are, and ask them honestly — "do you feel like I listen well?" Then just receive their answer.📚 Grab my book, Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1 🌱 Join the free Step Out & Thrive community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com Dare to do more than just survive. Step Out & Thrive.

"Did you see what she posted on Facebook?" Today we're talking about comparison — and I'm sharing a recent moment where I caught myself spiraling over a friend's posts, almost to the point of hiding her content... until a phone call with her completely shifted my perspective. 🔑 5 Takeaways from this episode: Comparison keeps us from living the actual story God has given us — and a lot of the time, the story we're seeing (and the one we're telling about ourselves) isn't even true.Comparison shows up everywhere — social media, emails other people get, family photos, houses, even goals we feel like we "should" have.The story I was telling myself — "my value isn't important because I don't show up like so-and-so" — wasn't true. I was never meant to show up as someone else.The more I show up as myself, the more I can actually see what God is doing — and the more people get to know the real me.This week's challenge: when comparison shows up, sit with it. Ask — what is this really saying about me? Would reaching that goal actually change my value?📚 Grab my book, Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1 🌱 Join the free Step Out & Thrive community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com Dare to do more than just survive. Step Out & Thrive.

Is it really possible to have hard conversations without everything falling apart? Today I'm digging into that — including a story about a group member who was ready to walk away completely, and what happened when she agreed to come back for one last thing first: a goodbye liturgy. I also start this one with a funny (and slightly painful) story about a giant bruise I didn't even know I had — until my guide dog accidentally found it. 🔑 5 Takeaways from this episode: Sometimes we don't know how big something is until it gets pressed right in that spot — and that's often what community is for.Avoiding hard conversations doesn't make things easier — it adds stress to your mind, body, and relationships.Hard conversations done well aren't about winning or being right — they're about both people feeling seen and understood.A "goodbye liturgy" — leaving well instead of just disappearing — can completely change the outcome of a hard moment.This week's challenge: is there a hard conversation you've been avoiding? What's it costing you to keep avoiding it?📚 Grab my book, Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1 🌱 Join the free Step Out & Thrive community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com Dare to do more than just survive. Step Out & Thrive.

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like with no speed limits? Today we're talking about limits — why they're not the enemy, and how one I set for myself just last fall completely changed how I show up for my boys and my clients. I'm sharing the story of finally taking Saturdays off after years of "working while someone else has the kids," what happened when I didn't know what to do with myself, and a recent book signing that taught me (the hard way) about my own limits with noise and migraines. 🔑 5 Takeaways from this episode: The most fruitful lives are often the most focused ones — limits aren't restrictions, they're protection from overextending.Working every "free" moment may look productive, but it can quietly cost you presence with the people who need you most.Learning to rest isn't always natural — sometimes it takes time just to figure out what rest even looks like for you.Limits aren't selfish — they come back to a simple question: if I truly believe I'm loved for who I am, do I need to do more to prove it?This week's challenge: what limits do you have — or need — in your life? What story is your relationship with limits telling about you?📚 Grab my book, Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1 🌱 Join the free Step Out & Thrive community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com Dare to do more than just survive. Step Out & Thrive.