MIDDLE GROUND - Real Conversations on Faith, Identity & Becoming — Through Brynne's LDS Lens of Curiosity, Love and Doubt

Brynne Erickson - Educator, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Life Coach, Mother
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If you're a spiritually-minded person in the beautiful, messy process of creating your life and asking the hard questions then you just found your people. Middle Ground is hosted by life coach and mom Brynne Erickson, and is a space for the real, honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about faith, identity, relationships, health, personal growth and much more. With roots in Latter-day Saint (Mormon) faith and culture, this show explores the full, multidimensional experience of being human and becoming more with genuine curiosity about the many other ways of living and believing. Because the more honestly we see each other, the better we love ourselves and the people around us.

  1. 5d ago

    Holding Love and Truth at the Same Time: Sexuality, Faith & Divorce — Evan Stewart

    In this episode, I sit down with my high school friend and therapist Evan Stewart to talk about three big topics: navigating bisexuality within a straight marriage and LDS faith, the fence sitter conversation around sexuality and religion, and discernment counseling for couples considering divorce. Evan shares his personal journey discovering he was bisexual, how his wife’s accepting response created safety for him to explore that identity, and how he holds his religious convictions and his love for the LGBTQ community without choosing sides. We talk about the fence having an opening where you can freely visit both sides. Professionally Evan shares the four horsemen of relationship apocalypse from Gottman research: criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling. He explains discernment counseling’s three paths and when to seek help before the hail mary moment. His best advice for better relationships is to understand your own values and honor the values of the person across from you. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/faith_in_process_comunity_offer Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction: High School Friends and Therapy 02:00 — What It Actually Means to Be Bisexual: Orientation vs Behavior vs Commitment 05:00 — When and How Evan Discovered He Was Bisexual 08:00 — Coming Out to His Wife and Her Response 10:00 — Navigating Bisexuality in a Straight LDS Marriage 13:00 — Holding the Tension of Love and Truth 16:00 — The Fence Sitter: Is There Even a Fence 20:00 — The Fence With an Opening: A Better Visual 23:00 — Transitioning to Divorce: The Grief Process 27:00 — Your 24 Hours Are Not My 24 Hours 30:00 — What Is Discernment Counseling and the Three Paths 35:00 — Main Reasons Couples Consider Divorce 40:00 — The Four Horsemen: Gottman’s Predictors of Divorce 45:00 — Soft Startup and I Statements in Communication 49:00 — When to Seek Help Before the Hail Mary 52:00 — Values Alignment as the Foundation of Better Relationships 55:00 — How to Find Evan at Fortitude Couples and Family Therapy

  2. Oct 21

    Can You Love Your Body and Still Want to Lose Weight? GLP-1 & Intuitive Eating - My Journey

    In this solo episode, I share that I put myself into body image therapy to work on my relationship with my body. I found myself stuck between two extremes: loving my body as it is through intuitive eating and also wanting a smaller body. Parts work in therapy helped me process three unexpected emotions that came up: grief about my changing body after kids, sadness about the body messaging I absorbed my whole life growing up in the nineties, and disappointment that the things that used to work for weight loss no longer work the same way. I also get honest about GLP-1 and where I’m at with considering it. The new thought I’ve landed on is I love my body no matter its size and I can also still want a smaller body. These do not have to be in conflict. I’m still figuring it out and I wanted you to know you’re not alone in this. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/faith_in_process_comunity_offer Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters: 00:00 — Why I Put Myself in Body Image Therapy 02:00 — Parts Work: How It Actually Works 04:00 — The Three Things That Came Up: Grief, Sadness, Disappointment 05:30 — Grief: My Changing Body After Three Kids 07:00 — Sadness: The Messaging I Was Soaked In Growing Up 09:30 — Disappointment: Why My Old Methods No Longer Work 11:30 — Being Exhausted by Food and Body Obsession 13:00 — GLP-1: Where I Actually Am With It 15:00 — The New Thought: I Can Love My Body and Still Want a Smaller One 17:00 — Intuitive Eating, Movement and What’s Actually Working 19:00 — Your 24 Hours Are Not My 24 Hours: Stop Comparing

  3. Oct 13

    The Marriage Constitution: How to Stop Fighting and Start Communicating — Krystal McCort

    In this episode, I sit down with my cousin Krystal McCort, a marriage coach who teaches couples how to design their marriage constitution. Think of it like the actual US Constitution but for your relationship: a living breathing document that outlines the laws and rules that govern how you communicate in every area of marriage. Krystal shares her Kerfuffle Formula, a step-by-step process for how couples bring up disagreements, process them, and reach resolution. We talk about the big three areas she coaches: how to fight, money, and the bedroom. She shares how unwritten expectations are the source of most marital conflict and how most of us are trying to enforce rules we never actually said out loud. I get vulnerable about my own money dynamics with Dallin and what I’m working on. Krystal’s best advice: learn how to communicate vulnerability with your spouse and it changes everything. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/faith_in_process_comunity_offer Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Krystal’s Resources: Instagram: @krystal_mccourt https://www.instagram.com/krystal_mccort/ @marriageconstitutioncoaching https://www.instagram.com/marriageconstitutioncoaching/ Facebook: Krystal McCourt https://www.facebook.com/krystal.mccort Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction: What Is a Marriage Constitution 02:00 — The Kerfuffle Formula: How to Fight Without Destroying Your Marriage 05:00 — Who You Talk to During a Fight and Why That Matters 08:00 — Where the Constitution Idea Came From 10:00 — Shared Values and Why You Need a Foundation First 13:00 — The Big Three: Fighting, Money and the Bedroom 16:00 — Unwritten Expectations Are Ruining Your Marriage 20:00 — Brynne Gets Vulnerable About Money and Dallin 25:00 — Sexual Expectations and Rejection Without Taking It Personally 32:00 — Scheduled Sex, Back Cave Time and Bringing Physical Back In 36:00 — Predetermining Parenting Scenarios Together 40:00 — No-Go Topics: When to Leave Something Alone 45:00 — Vulnerability, Childhood Wounds and Finances 50:00 — How to Find Krystal and Work With Her

  4. Oct 3

    Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: How Your Thoughts Are Creating Your Life — Part 4/4

    In the final episode of the Thought Model series, I bring it all together with actions and results. The results in your life right now are not random. They are the output of a loop that has been running on autopilot. Thoughts generate feelings, feelings drive actions, actions create results, and results become new circumstances that trigger the loop again. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's research shows positive emotional states broaden our thinking and options while negative states narrow them. The loop becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where we literally create evidence for what we already believe. The most accessible place to interrupt it is at the thought. I walk through the difference between unintentional models running by default and intentional models that start with the result you want and work backward. Thanks to neuroplasticity, you are not stuck with the brain or the thoughts you have always had. Every intentional thought you choose is building a new neural pathway. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/faith_in_process_comunity_offer Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters: 00:00 — Your Results Are the Output of a Loop 01:30 — Feelings Drive Actions: Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's Research 03:00 — The Loop: How Results Become New Circumstances 04:30 — The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Why It Keeps Running 06:00 — Unintentional Models vs Intentional Models 07:30 — Working Backward From the Result You Actually Want 08:30 — Where Affirmations and the REACH Method Fit In 09:30 — Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together 10:30 — Neuroplasticity: You Are Not Stuck With the Brain You Have 11:30 — The Full Model One More Time: Let It Land 12:30 — You Are Not at the Mercy of Your Circumstances

  5. Sep 19

    Feelings Last 90 Seconds: The Science of Emotions in Your Body — Part 3/4

    In part three of the Thought Model series, I get into the actual science of what happens in your body when an emotion fires. An emotion has a 90-second physiological lifespan. After that, the only thing keeping a feeling alive is the thought that keeps retriggering it. Dr. Candace Pert showed that emotions are biochemical events happening throughout your entire body, not just your brain. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk showed the body stores emotional imprints that the thinking mind cannot fix on its own. When a strong emotion fires, your prefrontal cortex goes partially offline, which Dr. Daniel Siegel calls flipping your lid. Willpower does not work in that state. The sequence is: let the chemistry move through, breathe, regulate, and then examine the thought. Anxiety, grief, anger, and sadness are all messengers with information. You are not too emotional. You are human and your feelings are doing exactly what they were designed to do. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/waitlist Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters: 00:00 — The 90-Second Emotion: What That Actually Means 01:30 — Feelings Are Caused by Thoughts Not Circumstances 02:30 — The Biochemistry: Dr. Candace Pert and Molecules of Emotion 04:00 — Why Feelings Live in Your Body: Gut, Chest, Throat 05:00 — The Body Keeps the Score: You Cannot Think Your Way Out 06:00 — Flipping Your Lid: Why Willpower Fails Mid-Emotion 07:30 — The Sequence: Regulate First, Examine the Thought Second 08:00 — Feelings Are Information Not Problems 09:00 — Anxiety, Grief, Anger, Sadness: What Each One Is Telling You 10:00 — Emotional Intelligence and Why It Changes Everything 11:00 — Next Episode: Actions, Results and How to Change Your Life on Purpose

  6. Sep 17

    Your Thoughts Are Optional: Circumstances vs Thoughts in the Thought Model — Part 2/4

    In part two of the Thought Model series, I go deep on the difference between circumstances and thoughts. A circumstance is a neutral fact that could be captured on a video camera or stated in a court of law with no interpretation. A thought is the story your brain creates about that fact. My husband didn't take out the trash is a circumstance. My husband never listens and doesn't care is a thought. I share the neuroscience behind why your brain does this, including Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett's theory of the brain as a prediction machine and Dr. Daniel Kahneman's system one and system two thinking. Your brain is producing personalized interpretations based on your entire history, not objective truth. The most liberating idea: your thoughts are optional. This week's practice is the video camera test: when something gets a reaction out of you, pause and ask what would a camera actually capture here?  Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/waitlist Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction: There Was a Thought Between What Happened and How You Felt01:30 — What a Circumstance Actually Is (Neutral Facts Only)03:00 — Thought vs Circumstance: Real Life Examples04:30 — Why Your Thoughts Feel Like Facts: Cognitive Distortions05:30 — The Neuroscience: Your Brain Is a Prediction Machine07:00 — System One vs System Two Thinking08:30 — Your Thoughts Are Optional09:30 — How to Examine Your Thoughts: Cognitive Restructuring11:00 — The Video Camera Test: Your Assignment This Week12:00 — Next Episode: Where Feelings Live in Your Body

  7. Sep 10

    Why Your Life Is a Result of Your Thoughts Not Your Circumstances - Part 1/4

    In this first episode of a four-part series, I teach the Thought Model developed by Brooke Castillo of the Life Coach School, a tool that has been foundational to my own growth. The model has five components: circumstances lead to thoughts, which lead to feelings, which lead to actions, which create your results. Most of us assume our circumstances cause our feelings, but between every circumstance and feeling there is always a thought. I share how this idea goes back to Stoic philosophers like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, and how it became the foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy in the 1950s. The same critical feedback from a boss can make one person feel motivated and another feel shame, because the thought in between is different. Your assignment this week: when you notice a strong feeling, pause and ask what am I thinking right now? Next episode we go deep on circumstances and thoughts. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com/waitlist Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters00:00 — Introduction to the Thought Model 01:00 — The Five Components: Circumstances, Thoughts, Feelings, Actions, Results 02:30 — This Is Not New: Stoic Philosophy and 2000 Years of Proof 04:00 — How CBT and the Thought Model Are the Same Idea 05:00 — The Critical Feedback Example: Same Circumstance, Different Results 06:00 — Your Life Is Shaped by What You Think, Not What Happens 07:00 — Your Assignment This Week

  8. Sep 3

    My Dad Came Out as Gay in 1988: Growing Up, Forgiving & Choosing Love — Drey Hill

    In this episode, I sit down with my church friend Drey Hill.  Drey was born into the LDS church in 1987, and shortly after, his dad came out as gay to his mom. They divorced but remained incredibly close, with his dad attending every birthday, Christmas, and primary program while his boyfriend Brian became a regular part of family life. Growing up Drey kept it a complete secret at church, feeling he couldn't share during testimony meetings or anywhere else. He carried anger into his mission after learning how much his dad had hurt his mom. The turning point came in Wilton Manor, Florida's gay community, where a spontaneous encounter with a gay couple cracked his heart open. He also shares finding himself through an imposter syndrome breakthrough, surviving a devastating miscarriage, and what his dad taught him about God's love from a hospital bed. Brynne’s Resources: ✨Faith In Process Community: https://www.brynneerickson.com Facebook: @Brynne Erickson - my public page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573316550355 Instagram: @brynne_erickson https://www.instagram.com/brynne_erickson/ Threads: @brynne_erickson https://www.threads.com/@brynne_erickson?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction & How Drey and Brynne Met 02:00 — Dad Came Out as Gay in 1988: The Early Years 05:00 — Two Dads, One Secret: Growing Up Hiding the Truth 08:00 — Church, Youth Programs & the Rules We Couldn't Break 10:00 — Telling the Stake President Before His Mission 13:00 — How His Parents Stayed So Close After Divorce 17:00 — Dad Still Watched Conference: A Testimony That Never Left 20:00 — The Turning Point: Wilton Manor and Choosing Forgiveness 25:00 — Gay Missionaries and a Whole New Perspective 29:00 — Imposter Syndrome: The Instagram Influencer Who Took Over His Life 33:00 — Miscarriage, Anger at God & Finding His Way Back 38:00 — The Painting of Christ With No Handle on the Door 41:00 — His Dad's Final Years, HIV & What He Taught About Love 48:00 — Opening the Book: Telling the World About His Dad 55:00 — What Love Actually Looks Like at the End of the Day

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About

If you're a spiritually-minded person in the beautiful, messy process of creating your life and asking the hard questions then you just found your people. Middle Ground is hosted by life coach and mom Brynne Erickson, and is a space for the real, honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about faith, identity, relationships, health, personal growth and much more. With roots in Latter-day Saint (Mormon) faith and culture, this show explores the full, multidimensional experience of being human and becoming more with genuine curiosity about the many other ways of living and believing. Because the more honestly we see each other, the better we love ourselves and the people around us.

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