The Neuro's Journey
by Steve Sapourn
The Neuro's Journey is about the raw courage it takes to face ourselves, our wounds, our patterns, our truth, and transform into who we're meant to be. Host Steve Sapourn, a former hedge fund manager and crack addict who survived a childhood marked by sexual abuse, gun violence, and domestic violence, rebuilt his life through neuroscience-based healing and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Now he brings you raw, real conversations about trauma, recovery, and transformation. Through his own story and insights from leading experts, Steve explores how our past shapes us and how we can actively reshape our future. Each episode offers practical wisdom for understanding your emotions, calming your nervous system, and reconnecting with your purpose. This isn't about quick fixes or empty promises, it's about real change, grounded in both science and lived experience. Rewire your brain. Rewrite your story.
Episodes
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Why don't we get over grief? Leslie Strachan and Ava Diamond Dreyer on Grief and Work
If you have ever lost someone and wondered why you can't just get over it, grief is not you failing. It is your brain slowly learning a world without that person in it. Ava Diamond Dreyer is the founder of NQ, a former clinical director of a Yale Child Study Center program, and has spent years in...
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What Happens at a Psilocybin Retreat? Dr. Lance Cutsforth on Trauma, Safety and Horses
If you have ever wondered what actually happens at a psilocybin retreat for trauma healing, this is the whole thing, from the first intake call to the last integration circle. Dr. Lance Cutsforth is back for a second conversation. He served in Special Forces and as an infantry officer, holds...
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Moral Injury: When the System You Served Turns Its Back ft Dr. Lance Cutsforth
If you have served, or you love someone who has, this is a conversation about moral injury: what happens when the tribe and the system you served turn their back on you. Dr. Lance Cutsforth served on a Special Forces team as a communications sergeant, then as an infantry officer in Bosnia, a…
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Is Daily Cold Plunging Safe for Women? Kristin Weitzel on Cold, Breath and Psychedelics
Kristin Weitzel founded SHERPA Breath and Cold, hosts the WELLPOWER podcast and built the supplement company Vessel. She has put more than seven thousand people into a cold plunge one at a time, and three quarters of them were women. Her argument is that regulating your nervous system was never...
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What Chronic Stress Does to Your Brain (and Heart) ft Ava Diamond Dreyer
Ava Diamond Dreyer ran the addiction program at Yale's Child Study Center and has taught her own program at Yale Med School. Twenty years ago she built NQ, Neuroscience Intelligence, which she teaches in four pillars: nutritional psychology, specialized mindset, unique movement and restoration.…
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"Stop Trying So Hard": Sean McAllister on Estrangement, Control, and Coming Back Together
If your child stopped speaking to you, or you stopped speaking to a parent, this one is for you. Sean McAllister went six years without his daughter and nine without his son, and what brought them back was not trying harder. Sean McAllister is the Colorado attorney who helped write the state's...
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Becoming the CEO of Your Own Mind ft Laura Weiner-Kiser
Laura Weiner-Kiser is the founder of Change By Challenge, a behavior change specialist and a certified stress and mindset coach. She works underneath behavior, on the scripts and patterns and the nervous system that are running it, and she calls the goal becoming the CEO of your own mind. In this...
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Why Telling Men to "Just Talk" Never Works ft Neil Smith
You have been told to open up. You did not, and this is the episode about why that advice was never going to reach you. Neil Smith ran some of the biggest production companies in the UK, making The Apprentice, Grand Designs and The Undatables, and dozens of shows with Bear Grylls. At fifty he...
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The Reason That You Feel Lonely In A Crowded Room ft Jake Ross
You can be surrounded by people all day and still feel completely alone. Jake Ross has spent his career on why that happens, and on what actually fixes it. He founded BelongTogether, studied the psychology of belonging at UC Berkeley and at the University of Pennsylvania, and recently worked with...
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Why Healthy Aging Starts With Who You Refuse To Stop Being ft Greg Shindler
If you are doing the work, and you still catch yourself saying I used to be able to do that, this conversation is about the sentence underneath it. Greg Shindler is back for part two. Last week he told you his story. This week he tells you what he has built with it. He has spent a decade in...
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Your Story Explains You. It Doesn't Define You. | Ft. Greg Shindler
Identity is the thing running underneath almost everything you do, and Greg Shindler has spent most of his life working out how to change his. At 12, his world came apart. Then it happened again in 2010, in a completely different set of circumstances. For decades those events were not just his...
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Psychedelics Might Be Our Best Shot At Healing ft Joe Moore
What if psychedelics are not just a treatment, but one of our best shots at healing, as people, as communities, and maybe even as a planet? Joe Moore has spent over a decade at the center of the psychedelic renaissance. He co-founded Psychedelics Today, the biggest podcast in the space, and has...
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Why The Happiest People Aren't The Most Fulfilled ft Ben Rogers
The most meaningful lives are not the happiest ones. That is not a slogan. It is what the research keeps finding. Dr. Ben Rogers studies where meaning actually comes from, and he has built something rare: a psychological intervention, tested in randomized experiments, that measurably increases…
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Your Brain Decides Before You Do ft Howard Ross
You made the decision before you knew you were making it. Then your brain went back and built the reason. Howard says the field he helped build got something wrong. After 40 years studying why good people make decisions that do not match who they are, he has come to believe that wagging a finger…
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The 15% Principle That Rewires Your Brain For Good
If you could give someone you love a 15% better functioning brain, would you do it? That is the question Steve started with when he thought about what to give his son for turning 18. Not a watch, not a car. A better functioning brain, and the 40 years of focus, sleep, and calm that could come…
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The Truth About Trauma & Psychedelic Therapy | | ft. Dr. Will Van Derveer | The Neuro's Journey
Can trauma continue shaping your thoughts, emotions, and relationships long after the event itself has passed? In this episode of The Neuro's Journey, Steve Sapourn sits down with Dr. Will Van Derveer, board-certified psychiatrist, New York Times bestselling author, and pioneer in integrative...
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6 Practices That Pulled Me Out Of Collapse | The Neuro's Journey
Have you ever made a small mistake and felt every negative belief you've ever had suddenly take over? In this solo episode of The Neuro's Journey, Steve Sapourn shares a deeply personal story about a moment that could have sent him into a familiar pattern of shutdown, self-judgment, and emotional...
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ADHD, Dopamine & Burnout: The Hidden Struggle of High Achievers | Ian Mai
What if ADHD isn't just about attention? In this episode of The Neuro's Journey, Steve sits down with ADHD Performance Coach Ian Mai to explore the deeper connection between ADHD, dopamine, burnout, emotional regulation, addiction, focus, and mental performance. Ian shares his personal journey…
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The Childhood Trauma That Led To Addiction | ft. Laurie Dhue | The Neuro's Journey
What happens when childhood trauma shapes the course of an entire life? In this powerful conversation, Steve Sapourn sits down with Laurie Dhue, former CNN, NBC, and Fox News anchor, recovery advocate, and one of the most recognized voices in addiction recovery and trauma awareness. For the first...
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32. Why High Achievers Secretly Burn Out | ft. Kyle Emanuel Brown | The Neuro's Journey
What happens when the life you've spent years building suddenly falls apart? In this episode, Steve Sapourn and Kyle explore why so many successful men feel empty after achieving everything they wanted, the hidden costs of hustle culture, what burnout actually does to the nervous system, and how...
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31. The Three Acts of a Man's Life: Steve Sapourn on Trauma, Addiction, and Who He Is Becoming
This one is different .. Today Steve Sapourn switches seats. His brother from ten years of men's group, Bill Giebler, accomplished musician, award-winning memoirist, and journalist, takes the host chair and asks the questions Steve has never fully answered in public. What created this man? What…
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30. MDMA, Intimacy, and the Healing Men Did Not Know They Needed ft. Jonathan Robinson
What if the thing keeping you from the relationship you actually want was not a communication problem but a nervous system problem? And what if there was a tool that could get you there in one afternoon instead of two years? In this episode, Steve Sapourn sits down with Jonathan Robinson,...
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29. The Guy in the Glass: Suicide, Meaning, and the Men's Mental Health Crisis ft. Dr. Baruch Halevi
What do you do when the man in the mirror is a stranger? Dr. Baruch Halevi, known as Dr. B, knows that question from the inside. His father took his life. His grandmother before that. And possibly her father before her. Instead of becoming the next chapter in that story, he made a choice. In this...
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28. Are You Trying Too Hard? The Nervous System Reset Every Man Needs
You have been trying your whole life. To be more patient. More present. To keep the lid on. And if it is still not working, if you are still blowing up when you do not want to, or the wins never quite land the way you thought they would, this episode is for you. In this solo episode, Steve…
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27. From Public Failure to Financial Pioneer: Eric Letsinger on Neuroleadership, Masculinity, and Who You Become After the Fall
What happens to a man when his career collapses in public, at the height of his rise, in the middle of a political firestorm he did not create? Eric Letsinger knows that story from the inside. Fired as COO of Baltimore City Public Schools in 2006 after an internal investigation, he spent nearly…
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26. Is This All There Is? Men at the Crossroads of Midlife
You've checked all the boxes: career, income, the house, the family. So why does a quiet voice keep showing up at 2 a.m. asking: is this really all there is? In this episode, Steve Sapourn reframes midlife not as a crisis, but as a crossroads, a pivotal moment that research shows isn't a...
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25. The Nervous System, Breathwork, and Remembering Who You Are with Jake Whan
What if your nervous system isn’t just biological… but spiritual? In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with Jake, spiritual teacher and founder of Ascension University, to explore how breath, emotion, and the body reconnect us to our true self. Together, they unpack the deeper...
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24. How to Stop Blowing Up in Anger and then Shutting Down Emotionally
What if the parts of you that feel out of control… aren’t personality flaws, but brain adaptations? In this solo episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve breaks down the real reason behind: Sudden anger and emotional shutdown Feeling stuck in patterns you “can’t change” Addiction, anxiety, and...
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23. Mastering the Repair: How to Clean Up the Relational Messes We Make with Jayson Gaddis
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for the driven men who have achieved career success but find themselves hitting a ceiling in their personal relationships. Steve sits down with global relationship coach, author, and founder of The Relationship School, Jayson Gaddis, for a direct,...
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22. Healing Chronic Illness and Unlocking Your Longevity, Vitality and Highest Self with Ana Kulygin
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for the high-achievers who have built a life that looks perfect on paper, yet feel a persistent, quiet emptiness within. Steve sits down with Ana Kulygin, founder of In Me Wellness, for a deep exploration into the psychosomatic roots of chronic health...
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21. How to Have Healthy Relationships with Kaira Mayestra
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for the leaders and fathers who know exactly who they want to be, yet find themselves hijacked by self-sabotaging patterns when the pressure is on. Steve sits down with somatic therapist and embodiment teacher Kaira Mayestra for a profound…
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20. Why “Toughing it Out” is Killing Your Drive ft. Dr. Jenny Cundari
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for those who recognize that true courage isn't a mental choice, but a biological initiation. Steve sits down with naturopathic doctor and former doula, Dr. Jenny Cundari, for a raw conversation on the "primal thresholds" that define the human...
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19. Emotional Mastery for Men and Leaders, Bridging Science and Spirituality with Dr. Jay Dubois
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for the men who feel like traditional talk therapy is too static, those who are looking for a path that combines deep science with spiritual action. Steve sits down with anthropologist, professor, and spiritual innovator Dr. Jay Dubois, for a raw...
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18. From Heroin Addiction to Fitness Empire & Psychedelic Healing ft. Rachel Pastor
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for those of you in a "death or change" moment—feeling stuck in a loop of survival, even if you’ve traded destructive habits for healthier ones. Steve sits down with entrepreneur Rachel Pastor for a powerful conversation on her journey from being a...
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17. Hollywood Success to Psychedelic Healing in Midlife ft. Anne Philippi of The New Health Club
This week’s episode of The Neuro’s Journey is for those of you in midlife who feel a persistent void despite your accolades. Steve sits down with journalist-turned-advocate Anne Philippi for a raw conversation on radical self-reinvention after decades of interviewing global icons for Vanity Fair...
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16. Microtraumas, Money Fear, and Purpose: How to Build Inner Freedom as a Man with Dr. Joaquin Espinosa
What if the thing you call “your personality” is mostly just old programming… running unattended? In this conversation, Dr. Joaquin Espinosa, a global leader in Down syndrome research and a longtime brother in Steve’s men’s group, breaks down how microtraumas and conditioning shape behavior,...
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15. The Masculine Path to Feeling Your Emotions and Accessing Peace with Reuvain Bacal
Have you been curious about feeling your emotions safely? This conversation is an invitation to transform how you meet yourself and others. Join Steve and Reuvain Bacal, a coach and men’s group leader from Boulder, CO for a conversation about regulating yourself so you can be in control of your...
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14. Why You Feel Broken & The Brain Science That Proves You're Not with Dr. Naomi Rusk
This conversation is a blueprint for understanding how trauma lives in the body and how to finally change it. Dr. Naomi Rusk, a clinical neuropsychologist and trauma psychotherapist with 35 years of experience, breaks down the science of why behavior change feels impossible when your nervous…
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13. How Your Nervous System Learned to Survive with Kristin Weitzel
This conversation is a lived exploration of how trauma shapes the nervous system and how healing actually happens over time. Steve sits down with nervous system coach and breathwork facilitator Kristin Weitzel for an unfiltered conversation about vulnerability, survival, addiction, grief and what...
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12. The Inner Operating System of a Sober, Spirit Led Leader with JOJO ABOT
This conversation is a masterclass in empowered leadership.. not as a title, but as a way of operating. JOJO ABOT breaks down what it means to be an “oracle” and a “portal” in practical terms: someone who helps create an environment where clarity and transformation become possible, without...
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11. How Art Transforms Trauma: Cancer Survivor's Guide to Rewire Your Brain with Nerissa Balland
In this episode, Steve sits down with artist Nerissa Balland, who also happens to be his niece, for one of the most honest and tender conversations you'll hear on this podcast. Nerissa opens up about her path from being a kid who loved to create, to working in the corporate art world, to…
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10. “I Can't Worry Anymore" Lia Mix on How Ibogaine Rewired Her Brain
In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with Lia for a deeply honest conversation about what happens after Ibogaine. Four months after her treatment, Lia shares what healing has actually looked like in her day to day life. Less fear. Less over functioning. More calm, clarity, and...
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9. 22 Veterans Die by Suicide Every Day. He's Doing Something About It. Tony Glace
In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with Tony Glace, founder of One And Done, for a conversation about veteran suicide, trauma, and what happens when someone stops talking about change and starts building it. Support One And Done: Website: https://oneanddone.org Tony shares…
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8. The Masks That Are Killing Us With Lia Mix & Omani Carson Live in Boulder
The masks we wear to survive can become prisons. And the same patterns that drove us to achieve can quietly disconnect us from love, joy, and the people we care about most. In this live episode recorded in Boulder, Colorado, Steve is joined by Lia Mix and Omani Carson for a raw conversation about...
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7. She Was Addicted to Opiates at 21 And Now She Runs an Ibogaine Clinic with Tom Feegel & Talia Eisenberg
In this episode, Steve sits down with Talia and Tom, the co-founders of Beond, in Cancun, Mexico for a deeply personal conversation about healing, purpose and building a space where people can truly feel safe enough to change. Together, they share how intergenerational trauma, addiction and early...
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6. The Addict's Body And Why Willpower Fails
In this deeply personal episode, Steve opens up about his decades long battle with addiction and shares groundbreaking research on Ibogaine, a treatment showing an 88% reduction in PTSD symptoms after just one dose. Steve traces the path from childhood trauma to compulsive comfort seeking and...
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5. Her Sister Died from Heroin Now She's Doing Ibogaine with Lia Mix
In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with his partner, Lia, for an intimate and vulnerable conversation about trauma, safety, love and healing while in relationship. Together, they explore how past experiences shape present reactions, how fear can take over even in moments of...
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4. I Thought Vulnerability Was Streaking Across a Football Field
In this solo episode, Steve opens the door to a story he has carried for decades. What begins with a humorous memory from childhood quickly turns into a profound exploration of vulnerability, trauma and the armor we learn to build long before we understand what it costs us. With honesty and…
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3. His Father Was a Mass Shooter & Now He Heals Men with Dr. Ryan Phillips
In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with Dr. Ryan Phillips to explore the profound experiences that shaped his life, his purpose and his work healing men in a system that was never built for them. A physician specializing in men’s mental health, trauma, and nervous system...
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2. $40 Billion Empire & Still Felt Like a Fraud with Omani Carson
In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with Omani Carson to explore the powerful transformation that shaped his life and mission. Once living the outward dream as the founder of a multi-billion dollar company, Omani opens up about the trauma, fear and emptiness that fueled his...
About this show
The Neuro's Journey is about the raw courage it takes to face ourselves, our wounds, our patterns, our truth, and transform into who we're meant to be. Host Steve Sapourn, a former hedge fund manager and crack addict who survived a childhood marked by sexual abuse, gun violence, and domestic violence, rebuilt his life through neuroscience-based healing and psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Now he brings you raw, real conversations about trauma, recovery, and transformation. Through his own story and insights from leading experts, Steve explores how our past shapes us and how we can actively reshape our future. Each episode offers practical wisdom for understanding your emotions, calming your nervous system, and reconnecting with your purpose.
This isn't about quick fixes or empty promises, it's about real change, grounded in both science and lived experience. Rewire your brain. Rewrite your story.
Hosted by
Steve Sapourn