This week on Mind What Matters, Nikki DeLoach and Elizabeth Humphreys sit down with author, educator, and caregiver Sarah Maguire Marston to talk about one of the hardest conversations many families never expect to have: explaining dementia to children.

After Sarah's mother was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and Primary Progressive Aphasia, she struggled to help her young children understand why their grandmother could no longer speak, play, or tell them she loved them. That experience inspired her to write When I Can't Say I Love You, a children's book created to help families navigate dementia with honesty, compassion, and hope.

Together, Sarah, Nikki, and Liz share their own caregiving experiences, discuss the unique challenges of Frontotemporal Dementia, and explore why children often understand more than we realize. They also talk about anticipatory grief, family communication, memory care, and the lasting connection that remains even after words are gone.

This episode is a reminder that while dementia changes how we communicate, it never changes the love that remains.

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

This week on Mind What Matters, Nikki DeLoach sits down with nationally recognized gerontologist, social worker, and dementia care expert Dr. Macie Smith for one of the most practical conversations we've had about caregiving.

With more than 25 years of experience supporting families living with dementia, Dr. Macie shares the advice she wishes every caregiver received long before a crisis begins. From healthcare power of attorney and family conflict to caregiver burnout, advocacy, and navigating a diagnosis, she offers clear, compassionate guidance rooted in both professional expertise and personal experience.

Nikki and Dr. Macie also explore why so many caregivers feel like they have to do everything alone, how to ask for help without guilt, and why authentic education, not fear, is one of the greatest tools families have.

Whether you're caring for someone with dementia today or simply want to prepare for the future, this conversation is filled with practical wisdom that can help you navigate one of life's most challenging seasons with greater confidence and grace.

Learn more about Dr. Macie Smith and her caregiving resources:

https://drmaciesmith.com

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

Walking in Her World: Ty Lewis on Faith, Dementia Care, and Sacred Advocacy week on Mind What Matters, Elizabeth Humphreys and Nikki DeLoach sit down with caregiver, educator, and certified dementia practitioner Ty Lewis, the voice behind I Am Gertrude Jordan.

Ty has been sharing her mother’s late-stage dementia journey with honesty, tenderness, and deep wisdom, offering other caregivers a window into what it means to care with both fierce advocacy and extraordinary love.

With a background in special education, Ty brings a uniquely research-informed approach to dementia care, using strategies rooted in patience, adaptation, assistive tools, and meeting her mother exactly where she is.

Ty opens up about the emotional toll of caregiving, the role of faith in helping her stay present, and the sacred responsibility of walking with a loved one through the hardest parts of life. This episode is a powerful reminder that caregiving is not about getting back to who someone used to be. Sometimes, it is about learning how to enter their world with grace.

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

What if the thing that's keeping you stuck is the very thing you've been taught to do your whole life: hold it together?

In this deeply personal conversation, Liz Humphreys and Nikki DeLoach explore the emotional cost of caregiving, the dangers of numbness, and why so many caregivers feel like they have to suffer in silence. Through stories of Alzheimer's caregiving, childhood conditioning, burnout, grief, and resilience, they unpack the messages many of us received growing up, that emotions should be hidden, pain should be pushed through, and vulnerability is weakness.

Liz reflects on moments from her caregiving journey that she now sees differently, including opportunities for healing that were missed because survival mode left no room to feel. Nikki shares why grief isn't something to "get over," but something that changes us and how allowing ourselves to experience difficult emotions may be the key to avoiding burnout and reclaiming our humanity.

Together, they offer a powerful reminder that caregiving doesn't have to destroy you. You can care deeply for someone else while also caring for yourself.

If you've ever felt exhausted, resentful, guilty, numb, or overwhelmed as a caregiver, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• Why caregivers often isolate when they need support most
• The hidden connection between emotional numbness and burnout
• How grief can become a pathway to healing
• The impact of childhood messages about emotions
• Why "holding it together" isn't always healthy
• Practical ways to process difficult feelings before they consume you

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

This week on Mind What Matters, Elizabeth Humphreys and Nikki DeLoach sit down with mindfulness teacher, author, and host of the Listen to Sleep podcast, Erik Ireland, for a conversation about identity, suffering, purpose, and what it means to stay present when life doesn't unfold the way we expected.

Drawing from his own experiences of reinvention, self-discovery, and personal growth, Erik shares how mindfulness helped him move beyond the identities he spent years trying to build and instead learn how to live with greater curiosity, compassion, and self-acceptance.

Together, Liz, Nikki, and Erik explore why so many caregivers find themselves questioning who they are after years of caring for someone else, how grief and change can become part of our personal growth, and why peace is not something we achieve someday, but something we learn to recognize in the middle of life's hardest moments.

This episode is a reminder that even when life feels uncertain, overwhelming, or completely different than what we imagined, there is still meaning to be found in the journey.

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

This week on Mind What Matters, Elizabeth Humphreys sits down with Mariana, a 20-year-old nursing student and caregiver whose story is both heartbreaking and deeply inspiring. Mariana grew up watching her mother live with Huntington’s disease, a genetic neurological illness that can affect movement, mood, memory, and independence. At 18, Mariana made the decision to get tested herself and learned that she also carries the Huntington’s gene.

In this raw and honest conversation, Mariana shares what it has meant to care for her mother through the progression of the disease, the emotional weight of hospice and end-of-life care, and the complicated reality of loving someone while also needing to protect yourself. She opens up about family, grief, advocacy, and the support systems that have helped her keep going. Together, Elizabeth and Mariana also talk about the hope surrounding Huntington’s research, including current clinical trials, and what it means to keep showing up with love, courage, and honesty when there are no easy answers.

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

This week on Mind What Matters, Elizabeth Humphreys and Nikki DeLoach sit down with caregiver, advocate, and podcast host Beth Jones for an honest conversation about frontotemporal dementia, isolation, and what happens when your parent slowly becomes someone you no longer recognize.

Beth shares the story of her mom’s early-onset FTD diagnosis at just 65 years old, including the subtle personality changes that first raised concern, the years spent searching for answers, and the overwhelming loneliness that followed after diagnosis.

Together, Liz, Nikki, and Beth talk about the reality many caregivers experience but rarely discuss openly: feeling dismissed before diagnosis, navigating a healthcare system that offers little guidance, and trying to hold onto yourself while watching someone you love slowly change.

They also explore the importance of community, practical planning, caregiver mental health, and why finding people who truly understand your experience can change everything.

This episode is deeply personal, validating, and full of the kind of honesty caregivers often need most.

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.

This week on Mind What Matters, Elizabeth Humphreys and Nikki DeLoach sit down with entrepreneur, technologist, and healthcare innovator Indu Navar for one of the most eye-opening conversations the podcast has had to date.

After losing her husband Peter to ALS, Indu found herself confronting a healthcare system that felt outdated, disconnected, and devastatingly slow. Instead of walking away from that experience, she decided to challenge the system itself.

Indu shares how her background in technology, AI, and entrepreneurship led her to create a new model focused on patient-driven research, faster collaboration, and better connections between caregivers, researchers, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies. Together, Liz, Nikki, and Indu unpack the deep frustrations families experience during diagnosis, why so many caregivers feel powerless inside healthcare systems, and how innovation could radically change the future of diseases like ALS and Alzheimer’s.

This conversation is emotional, deeply personal, and ultimately hopeful. It’s about refusing to accept “this is just how it’s done” when families’ lives are on the line.

To learn more about Mind What Matters or to support our mission head to our website.

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Mind What Matters is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.