A teenager stands up mid-sermon and yells “Boring!” and the room goes quiet. He was the smartest man in the room in my opinion.

We talk honestly about church and mental health, especially for people who are neurodivergent, carrying trauma, living with anxiety or depression, or simply feeling “different” in a space that is supposed to be safe.

Rather than more criticism: we name what the church can do well, and what it is already doing well in pockets. We share concrete examples of inclusion like building a sensory room with adjustable lighting and sound, and making simple accommodations during prayer so people with autism, ADHD, or high anxiety are not put on the spot. We also dig into why Jesus’ vision of community centers compassion, dignity, and welcome, not image management.

We explore the church’s history of social support and why hope-filled community can strengthen mental well-being, including the idea that church attendance can correlate with better mental health outcomes for teenagers. We also talk about how different church environments work for different people: quiet and contemplative, high-energy and expressive, small groups, and even online options for anyone not ready to walk through a door yet.

If you feel burned by church or unsure where you fit, this conversation offers practical next steps, including mental health first aid, showing up for someone without fixing them, and starting change with humility. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a safer community, and leave a review with one thing you wish churches understood about mental health.

If Sunburnt Souls has helped or blessed you in any way, can I ask a small favour? Would you consider telling someone about the podcast, reposting an episode link, or bringing it up over dinner with a mate sometime? Word of mouth is how this podcast spreads. We don’t have the budget for advertising, so every share genuinely helps more people discover the conversations we’re having around faith and mental health.

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

• Listen and Rate on Apple Podcasts
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Sunburnt Souls is produced by Pretty Podcasts — a Christian mental health production where faith meets real life through stories ...

Addiction is one of the most common realities families quietly carry. Dave Quak sits down with best selling author T.I. Lowe (Tonya) for an honest conversation about what happens when someone you love will not get clean, and how faith can stay real when life is anything but.

We dig into her novel South Of Somewhere and the choice to write addiction recovery with grit and grace: relapse pressure, toxic friendships, support meetings, and the exhausting mental math of “Am I helping or enabling?”

Tonya shares how personal grief shaped the story, why research matters when you’re writing about drug addiction, and how fiction can open a door to healing in a way arguments never will. If you care about Christian fiction, faith and mental health, recovery stories, and family dynamics around substance abuse, this chat is packed with insight you can actually use.

We also talk about breaking stereotypes by setting the book in wealthy Sullivan’s Island, the underrated power of AA style community, and why “professional” is often the enemy of connection. The conversation turns to calling and ambition too: choosing ministry over metrics, trusting God with impact, and letting stories land in the right hands at the right time. Stick around for a sneak peek of Tonya’s next book, A Southern Goodbye, and a closing prayer for courage and faithfulness.

If this encouraged you, subscribe to Sunburnt Souls, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations.

Here are the main ways to buy T.I. Lowe's books:

Buy directly / browse all titles:

• Her official website — tilowe.com/books
• Tyndale Fiction (her publisher) — includes hardcover and softcover editions

Major retailers:

• Amazon — her full author page
• Barnes & Noble — search "T.I. Lowe"

Deals & discovery:

• BookBub — follow her for sale alerts on ebooks

Libraries:

• Check your local library's app (Libby/OverDrive) — her titles are commonly available as ebooks and audiobooks through library membership, which is free.

If Sunburnt Souls has helped or blessed you in any way, can I ask a small favour? Would you consider telling someone about the podcast, reposting an episode link, or bringing it up over dinner with a mate sometime? Word of mouth is how this podcast spreads. We don’t have the budget for advertising, so every share genuinely helps more people discover the conversations we’re having around faith and mental health.

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

• Listen and Rate on Apple Podcasts
• Listen & Rate on Spotify

Sunburnt Souls is produced by Pretty Podcasts — a Christian mental health production where faith meets real life through stories ...

What happens when you first say “I got diagnosed?”

Jess and I talk candidly about the subtle ways people dismiss mental health and neurodiversity with phrases that sound harmless, like “Everyone’s a bit like that,” and why those lines can make a friend feel exposed, misunderstood, and less likely to ever share again.

We break down why a mental health diagnosis or neurodivergent diagnosis often shows up late, not early. Before anyone reaches a GP, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist, they’ve usually spent a long time trying to cope, doubting themselves, and wondering if their struggles are just personal failure.

We also get practical about what the path can look like: making the appointment, getting referrals, untangling overlapping symptoms, and the slow reality of medication trials and ongoing tweaks. Along the way, we explain masking in plain language and why it can leave people wiped out the moment they get home.

After talking about identity after diagnosis, when to share, and how a label can be a framework without becoming a prison. For us, faith shapes the tone: compassion like Jesus, truth without shame, and the belief that being “different” can carry real strengths, creativity, and purpose.

If you’ve ever responded the wrong way, there’s grace and there’s a next step. Listen, then share this with someone you want to love well, and if it helps, subscribe, leave a review, and send us your thoughts. What’s the most supportive response you’ve ever heard after a diagnosis?

If Sunburnt Souls has helped or blessed you in any way, can I ask a small favour? Would you consider telling someone about the podcast, reposting an episode link, or bringing it up over dinner with a mate sometime? Word of mouth is how this podcast spreads. We don’t have the budget for advertising, so every share genuinely helps more people discover the conversations we’re having around faith and mental health.

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

• Listen and Rate on Apple Podcasts
• Listen & Rate on Spotify

Sunburnt Souls is produced by Pretty Podcasts — a Christian mental health production where faith meets real life through stories ...