Why do we spend so much of our lives at work, yet so rarely stop to ask how work shapes our identity?

In Episode 36 of Too Light Too Dark, Leon Eckford is joined once again by Simon Bennett, organisational coach and founder of Challenge Yourself, Kindly, for a thought-provoking exploration of workplace culture, leadership, identity, belonging and organisational psychology.

Together, they examine why culture is far more than policies or values written on a wall. Organisational culture is created through relationships, trust, healthy conflict and the everyday behaviours that either encourage people to flourish or slowly disengage.

Drawing on psychology, coaching and lived experience, Leon and Simon explore how identity at work, psychological safety, positive dissent, healthy leadership, emotional intelligence and belonging influence both individual wellbeing and organisational performance. They discuss why leaders must move beyond command-and-control thinking, embrace curiosity over certainty and create environments where difficult conversations become opportunities for growth rather than sources of fear.

This conversation sits firmly within the Identity & Transformation pillar of Too Light Too Dark, exploring how our relationship with work shapes our sense of self, purpose and meaning, and how healthier organisations begin with more self-aware leaders.

Whether you're a leader, manager, HR professional, coach or someone navigating your own career, this episode offers practical insights into creating healthier workplaces while challenging how we think about success, identity and human connection.

• Workplace culture
• Leadership development
• Identity at work
• Organisational psychology
• Psychological safety
• Positive dissent
• Emotional intelligence
• Belonging and inclusion
• Healthy workplace culture
• Organisational coaching
• Team dynamics
• High-performing teams
• Leadership mindset
• Self-awareness
• Organisational change
• Employee wellbeing
• Trust and accountability
• Systems thinking
• Reflective leadership

🌐 Too Light Too Dark
https://www.toolighttoodark.com

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🤝 Challenge Yourself, Kindly – Simon Bennett

Discover Simon's coaching, leadership development and organisational consultancy through Challenge Yourself, Kindly, supporting individuals and organisations to build healthier workplace cultures through reflection, compassion and courageous conversations.

https://challengeyourselfkindly.com

📧 Feedback & enquiries

contact@toolighttoodark.com

If this conversation resonated with you, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone passionate about leadership, psychology or creating better workplaces.

Stay gold, stay curious and stay connected.

What happens when someone living with mental illness, trauma, and suicidal ideation discovers that laughter can become a powerful tool for healing?

In Episode 35 of Too Light Too Dark, we sit down with Dave Mowry, author of OMG That's Me, to explore his remarkable journey through mental health challenges, trauma recovery, depression, and finding hope in life's darkest moments.

Dave speaks openly about living with an enduring mental health condition, learning to integrate it into everyday life rather than allowing it to define him, and how his experiences have shaped his purpose. Today, he gives back by working in peer-supported, recovery-focused mental health settings, helping others navigate their own journeys with compassion, lived experience, and understanding.

Together, we discuss:

• Mental health and recovery
• Suicidal ideation and finding hope
• Trauma and resilience
• Depression and emotional wellbeing
• The healing power of humour and laughter
• Living with a long-term mental health condition
• Peer support and recovery-focused care
• Why sharing lived experience matters
• Turning pain into purpose

Whether you're living with a mental health condition yourself, supporting someone who is, or simply interested in authentic conversations around mental health awareness, recovery, and resilience, this episode offers honesty, hope, and practical insight.

📖 Dave's book – OMG That's Me explores his personal story in greater depth and offers an inspiring account of resilience, recovery, and self-discovery.

If this conversation resonates with you:
👍 Like the video
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments
🔔 Subscribe to Too Light Too Dark for more honest conversations about mental health, trauma, recovery, resilience, and hope.

#MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidePrevention #Depression #Trauma #TraumaRecovery #Recovery #Resilience #Hope #Laughter #Comedy #Healing #PeerSupport #LivedExperience #MentalIllness #Wellbeing #Podcast #TooLightTooDark #DaveMowry

🎙️ Too Light Too Dark celebrates its 1-year anniversary with guest Rhett Nicholl in a deep, reflective conversation on healing, purpose, and identity.

🧭 Pillar: Identity & Transformation
This episode is part of our Five Pillars framework - exploring personal change, rebuilding identity, and what it means to transform through lived experience.

In this anniversary episode, we reflect on a year of Too Light Too Dark and explore the inner process of growth, resilience, and becoming someone new through life’s challenges.

Rhett Nicholl shares grounded insight on emotional healing, self-understanding, and finding direction when life feels uncertain or fragmented.

• Healing and emotional transformation
• Purpose and identity
• Personal change and resilience
• Reflections on 1 year of Too Light Too Dark
• Living authentically through life transitions

This episode belongs to:

Identity & Transformation

Life after addiction • Reinvention • Personal change • Recovery • Becoming someone new

Explore the full series through our Five Pillars system - designed to help you find episodes that match where you are in your life.

🌐 Official Website:
https://www.toolighttoodark.com

🎧 Listen to previous episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL-wGWNul8iEfBvXmdlrB3g

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@toolighttoodark

Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@toolighttoodark

Subscribe to the newsletter - contact@toolighttoodark.com

healing podcast, identity podcast, personal growth, transformation stories, emotional healing, purpose and meaning, self development podcast, mental health conversations, resilience stories, deep conversations podcast, shadow work, life transition, authentic living

In Episode 34 of Too Light Too Dark, I sit down with Dr. Sarah Michaud for a powerful conversation about co-dependency, addiction, recovery, and the impact these patterns have on our relationships.

Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in addiction and codependency recovery, Dr. Sarah shares both professional insights and personal lessons from her own journey. We explore why co-dependent behaviours develop, how they can keep us trapped in unhealthy relationships, the connection between addiction and emotional dependency, and what genuine recovery looks like. Together, we discuss boundaries, self-awareness, responsibility, healing, and the path toward healthier, more authentic connections.

Whether you're navigating recovery yourself, supporting a loved one, or simply trying to understand relationship dynamics more deeply, this episode offers practical wisdom and hope for lasting change.

Dr. Sarah Michaud is a clinical psychologist, author, and recovery advocate who has worked in the field of addiction and codependency for over three decades. She is the author of Co-Crazy: One Psychologist's Recovery from Codependency and Addiction and co-hosts the Leaving CrazyTown podcast and YouTube channel, where she explores recovery, relationships, emotional health, and personal growth.

Learn more about Dr. Sarah Michaud:

🌐 Website: Dr Sarah Michaud Official Website

🎥 YouTube: Leaving CrazyTown YouTube Channel

📖 Book: Co-Crazy: One Psychologist's Recovery from Codependency and Addiction

🎙️ Too Light Too Dark explores the stories, struggles, and breakthroughs that shape our lives. If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, rate, and share the episode with someone who might benefit from it.

Retired FBI Agent Eric Robinson joins Too Light Too Dark for a gripping deep dive into the investigations, psychological pressure, and real-life cases that stayed with him long after the files were closed. In Episode 33, we explore the human side of criminal investigations, the pursuit of truth, and the emotional weight carried by those who work in the darkest corners of society.

From haunting memories to hard-earned lessons inside the FBI, this episode uncovers the realities behind true crime, human behavior, and the search for justice.

Feel disconnected from your body? Trauma might be the reason.

Sam Mishra breaks down how trauma shapes body perception and explains how to heal through nervous system regulation, dissociation awareness, and rebuilding self-awareness from the inside out.

In this episode:

• How trauma shapes body perception beyond appearance
• Dissociation as a survival response from childhood into adulthood
• The link between attachment styles and adult relationships
• Why nervous system regulation is key to trauma recovery
• The limits of talk therapy without somatic work
• Rethinking addiction through a trauma-informed lens
• Unlearning conditioned behaviors and rebuilding self-awareness
• The role of lived experience and storytelling in healing

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction: trauma & body perception
02:19 – Trauma’s role in shaping identity
03:09 – Nervous system and stress responses
05:26 – Social conditioning and loss of self
07:00 – Coping mechanisms: dissociation & self-harm
09:17 – Why therapy alone isn’t always enough
12:18 – Fragmentation and protection responses
15:56 – Attachment styles and relationships
20:45 – Emotional regulation challenges
23:41 – Communication, trust, and trauma
27:09 – Lifelong healing and self-work
32:35 – Accountability and self-compassion
38:20 – From victim to survivor mindset
44:05 – The myth of quick fixes
52:15 – Trauma in the body and physical tension
58:45 – Vulnerability and emotional disconnection
63:58 – Self-awareness and relationship patterns
69:20 – A message for those healing

Resources:

• Conscious Loving – Gay & Kathlyn Hendricks
• When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress - Gabor Mate

Takeaway:

Healing from trauma is not a quick fix—it’s a lifelong process of understanding your nervous system, unlearning survival patterns, and reconnecting with your body. A holistic approach that combines mind and body work is essential. Your story matters, and healing is possible.

You can find Sam's work and services in the links below

https://www.themedicalmassagelady.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/stories/themedicalmassagelady/

In this special bonus episode of Too Light Too Dark, we sit down with the unorthodox recovery coach Tony Crowe to explore his unconventional approach to healing, discipline, and personal transformation. Tony shares raw insights from his coaching journey, challenging traditional recovery methods and offering a fresh perspective on mindset, resilience, and rebuilding from adversity.

Check out Tony on socials and his own podcast

https://www.instagram.com/crowetony22/

https://www.tiktok.com/@unorthodox.recove

https://www.youtube.com/@tonycrowe7875

https://open.spotify.com/show/4ggN37cfC1g2wdGHgCKpKC

https://www.theturnaroundproject.org/

Tony Crowe, recovery coach, unorthodox recovery, addiction recovery, mental health recovery, Too Light Too Dark podcast, recovery journey, mindset coaching, relapse prevention, trauma recovery, Northern Ireland recovery, The Turnaround Project, personal development podcast, coaching mindset

#Recovery #MentalHealth #Podcast #TonyCrowe #AddictionRecovery #PersonalDevelopment

In this deeply personal episode of Too Light Too Dark, certified coach Jennifer Chase shares her lived experience as a person in long-term recovery, the child of an alcoholic, and a mother impacted by her son’s addiction. Her story spans addiction, abuse, generational trauma, and ultimately healing.

This is not a surface-level conversation about recovery. It’s an honest look at how addiction affects entire families, how shame and codependency keep cycles alive, and what it actually takes to begin breaking free.

Jennifer opens up about her journey through substance abuse and recovery, surviving childhood trauma and abuse, and how those experiences shaped her mission today: helping individuals and families navigate addiction with clarity, boundaries, and compassion.

In this episode, we explore:

• Addiction as a family system, not just an individual struggle
• Growing up in addiction and the long-term impact of childhood trauma
• The role of shame, denial, and codependency in keeping cycles alive
• What “supporting” a loved one with addiction actually looks like
• Why boundaries are essential in recovery—for both families and individuals
• How Jennifer now helps families move from crisis to healing

Jennifer’s work through Rise Addiction Life Coaching focuses on guiding families impacted by addiction toward understanding, resilience, and recovery support: https://www.riseaddictionlc.com

If you are struggling with addiction, supporting someone who is, or trying to make sense of family trauma, this conversation offers real-world insight and hope not theory.

Recovery is not just about stopping a behavior. It’s about rebuilding a life, and in many cases, rebuilding a family system.

Listen now and start breaking the cycle.

For socials

https://www.tiktok.com/@jenchase

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-chase-704b28243/