In this episode of Deepish Conversations, Brian Pierce sits down with Kelsey Martins to talk about growing up on antidepressants, navigating withdrawal, and finding yourself beyond the labels that have become part of your identity.

Kelsey started Zoloft at 12 and now shares her experience through Unmedicating Me, where she offers coaching and peer support. She describes both the help she experienced on medication and the difficulties she encountered when she wanted to come off.

Our conversation centers on a question that reaches beyond medication: when something has explained how you feel for years, how do you make room for a different understanding of yourself?

In this conversation:

• Growing up with anxiety and starting medication
• Kelsey’s difficult first discontinuation experience
• Separating what you feel from who you are
• Acceptance, rest, and the pressure to fix everything
• Getting to know yourself before the process is finished

Both of us share from experiences that are still unfolding. This is not a tapering guide or a claim that coming off medication is the right choice for everyone.

Links

Kelsey / Unmedicating Me: https://www.instagram.com/unmedicating_me/
Deepish Conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz35DCAJXu0CKvb08y2uvcNKSahc5A3eJ
Brian on Substack: https://brianpierce.substack.com/
Brian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodybepierced

This is a personal conversation, not medical advice. Discuss medication changes with a qualified prescribing clinician.

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

The conversation surrounding the Cornell Seven case made me think about myself as a young college man, the guidance I wish I’d had, and what I need to keep discussing with my teenage son.

For episode #005 of Deepish Conversations, Pat Barber from The Fathers Guild joins me again to talk about responsibility, relationships, sex, and respecting women. We’re not here to decide what happened in the case or speculate about the legal outcome. We’re asking what we can do as fathers.

I share how pornography shaped some of my expectations and why these conversations have felt uncomfortable. Pat brings it back to understanding power, using it to lift people up rather than hold them down, and living the values we want our sons to learn.

We also discuss peer pressure, speaking up, getting help, and keeping communication open. My hope is that fathers leave with something they can take into conversations with their own sons, even when it feels awkward.

If this could help a father or friend in your life, please share it with them.

Links & Resources

Learn more about Pat
Deepish Conversations on YouTube
Brian on Substack
Brian on Instagram

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

In this episode of Deepish Conversations, Brian Pierce sits down with Denise Hatch to talk about pressure, focus, confidence, and the practices that help us perform when it matters.

Denise is a mindset coach who works with athletes in motocross, off-road racing, and other high-performance environments. But this conversation is not only for athletes. It is for anyone who has felt capable of more, then watched nerves, self-doubt, overthinking, or old habits get in the way.

The conversation begins with a question about why we often train the body but give less attention to how we respond when pressure rises. From there, Brian and Denise discuss breath, visualization, focus, confidence, and the repetitive thoughts that can either help us perform or hold us back.

They talk about turning nerves into readiness, building a process you can trust, and learning from a bad result without letting it become a verdict on who you are. Whether you are on a start line, walking into a difficult conversation, or trying to show up for something important, this episode is about staying present when the moment gets big.

Topics covered

• Why awareness is the starting point for changing patterns and self-talk
• How breath can help bring attention back to the present moment
• Visualization, routine, and preparing for pressure before it arrives
• Turning nerves into readiness
• Building confidence without comparing yourself to everyone else
• Learning from a poor result without beating yourself up
• Why focus is a practice, not a personality trait

Links & Resources

Denise Hatch and Power of the Mind
Deepish Conversations on YouTube
Brian on Substack
Brian on Instagram

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.