Rooted and Rising

What happens when you achieve everything you thought you wanted… and you're still unhappy?In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the quiet disappointment that can accompany success when the life you're living no longer aligns with who you truly are. From careers and relationships to family expectations and personal dreams, we examine what happens when we spend years climbing a ladder only to discover it was leaning against the wrong wall all along.Drawing from personal experience, Dr. Maxell reflects on the pressure to pursue a path that looked successful on paper but never felt fully her own. Together, we'll discuss the difference between achievement and fulfillment, the cost of abandoning ourselves to meet others' expectations, and how to begin reconnecting with the person beneath the titles, accomplishments, and obligations.If you've ever looked around at a life you've worked hard to build and wondered, "Why am I still not happy?" this conversation is for you.Because sometimes the bravest thing we can do isn't climb higher—it's choose a different wall.

How do you know when loyalty has crossed the line into self-abandonment?In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the relationships, friendships, jobs, and situations we stay committed to long after they've stopped serving us. Many of us wear devotion as a badge of honor, convincing ourselves that enduring pain is proof of our character. But what happens when our commitment comes at the cost of our peace, identity, and well-being?Join Dr. Maxell as she unpacks the difference between healthy perseverance and unhealthy attachment, the hidden ways people-pleasing keeps us stuck, and why walking away is sometimes the most loving thing we can do for ourselves.If you've ever found yourself holding on because of who someone used to be, what something once meant, or because leaving felt like failure, this conversation is for you.Because sometimes the bravest thing we can do is stop abandoning ourselves in the name of devotion.

What does it cost to survive systems that weren't built for you? In this episode Dr. Carmela Maxell explores the mental health impact of navigating institutions as a person of color or marginalized identity — examining weathering, racial battle fatigue, and intergenerational trauma. This isn't abstract. It lives in your body. And there are ways through.

In this first episode, Dr. Carmela Maxell introduces herself — not just the credentials, but the human underneath them. A clinician, author, professor, director, mother, and Black and Filipino woman who has been carrying a lot and finally decided to say something about it out loud.This episode covers who Dr. Maxell is beyond her titles, what Rooted and Rising is (and isn't), the publication of her debut novel Bereavement, and why done and imperfect will always beat perfect and silent.For the healers who need healing. The strong ones who are tired of being strong. The creatives who've been told to be practical. Welcome to Rooted and Rising.Connect:Instagram: @therealcarmelamaxellSearch: Bereavement by Carmela Maxell (on Amazon)Website: http://carmelamaxell.comEmail: [email protected]