EP63: Why Men Heal: Beauty, Vulnerability, and the Making of a Man
Release Date: 01/31/2026
EP63: Why Men Heal: Beauty, Vulnerability, and the Making of a Man
Loving Everything
An intimate conversation with writer Benjamin Baker on beauty, masculinity, desire, childhood, and the emotional labor of becoming a man who can finally be seen. This conversation explores the intersection of masculinity, beauty, and healing through the lens of emotional vulnerability. Andrea Love sits down with Benjamin Baker, a Portland-based writer, aesthetic philosopher, and emotional advocate, whose reflections on Threads have opened an honest dialogue about what it means for men to “do the work.” Together they unpack how beauty can be a form of truth-telling, how vulnerability...
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EP62: Life After Diagnosis: Navigating Hospitalization, Therapy & Hope
Loving Everything
What happens after the diagnosis After the hospitalization After the labels, the silence, and the fear In this deeply moving episode of Loving Everything, Andrea Love sits down with Renee Anderson, writer, conservationist, and creator of Wild Oregon Girl, for an honest conversation about life after schizoaffective disorder, dual diagnosis rehab, and the slow, courageous work of rebuilding a relationship with yourself. Renee shares what it was like to disappear from public life after a mental health crisis and what it took to return - not cured, not polished, but honest. Together, we explore...
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EP61: When Law Contradicts Faith: Ethics, Religion, and Freedom
Loving Everything
Aleksey Podlinov returns to explore the tension between religious obedience, personal truth, and the lived experience of spiritual transformation. Alex first shared the origins of his journey in Episode 40, The Gift of Self-Reliance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGmz-l0uSbQ&t=3s ), where he described how the sudden death of his father at 15 shattered his worldview and set him on a decades-long search for meaning through ancient Russian Christian writings, Greek and Egyptian spirituality, Hindu texts, and the lived realities of being a husband, father, and immigrant rebuilding identity...
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EP60: Overcoming Rejection: Hurt People Hurt People
Loving Everything
In this episode, I vulnerably share the deeper truth behind why rejection from the people we love cuts so painfully — and how unhealed trauma, attachment wounds, and generational patterns shape who we choose, how we love, and why we stay in relationships that minimize our worth. This episode is for women in midlife who have spent decades holding families together, surviving unequal relationships, betrayal, emotional immaturity, and high-conflict dynamics. If you've experienced feelings of abandonment, perfectionism, self-blame, or the belief that you’re “too much” or “not enough,”...
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EP59: Richelle Brigola - Surviving Breast Cancer
Loving Everything
What does it really mean to survive breast cancer — and come out the other side more alive than ever? In this intimate and soul-centered conversation, I sit down with Richelle Brigola, a Personal Mentor and breast cancer survivor, to explore her powerful journey through illness, healing, and transformation. With over 35 years in the beauty industry, Richelle has turned her pain into purpose — supporting midlife women in reclaiming their magic through intuitive mentorship, gratitude practices, and radical self-love. We talk about what it means to be naturally gifted, how trauma reshapes...
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EP58: Intimate Partner Violence - Dr. Sam Gioia
Loving Everything
Domestic Violence Intervention: Motivational Interviewing & Eye Movement Therapy explores how trauma-informed care and innovative therapeutic techniques transform lives. In this episode, I interview Dr. Sam Gioia, a respected educator, social worker, and Associate Professor of Social Work at Portland State University, who has decades of experience in batterer intervention, addiction treatment, and trauma recovery. Certified in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), he integrates motivational interviewing, client-centered approaches, and eye movement therapy to help clients move beyond...
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EP57: Connie Ramaekers - Planting Seeds Early
Loving Everything
Planting Seeds Early is a heart-centered interview with Connie Ramaekers, Prevention Specialist and Program Coordinator of the STUDD Club at Tigard High School. Connie is the Founder of Tigard Turns the Tide and one of Oregon’s first certified Prevention Specialists, with over 40 years of experience supporting young people and families. In this conversation, Connie shares her journey from childhood memories to becoming a leader in prevention and community building. She reflects on love, resilience, and the lessons that shaped her as a mother of 7, grandmother of 16, and...
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EP56: Mark Douglass - Why I'm An Addict
Loving Everything
Why I’m An Addict explores the deep roots of addiction through the lens of trauma, attachment, and neurobiology. In this powerful conversation with Mark Douglass, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oregon specializing in addiction treatment, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC III), and Certified Gambling Addiction Counselor (CGAC II), we uncover the science and lived experience behind addiction. Together, we discuss how maternal stress, fetal programming, and intergenerational trauma shape vulnerability to substance use. We look at how insecure attachment, emotional neglect,...
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EP55: Jorge Orozco-Roller - Who Am I Really?
Loving Everything
Who Am I Really? In this powerful interview, counseling graduate student, veteran, and mixed-culture community member Jorge Orozco-Roller explores identity, healing, and transformation. With openness and depth, Jorge reflects on childhood memories, family relationships, cultural roots in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and his journey through the US military. He shares how intergenerational trauma, machismo, addiction, and colonization shaped his view of himself—and how he is learning to unlearn, heal, and grow. We explore love, trust, and intimacy after trauma, and how grief, bereavement, and emotional...
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EP54: Collin King - Breaking the Cycle
Loving Everything
In this powerful episode, I sit down with Collin King, a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate based in Portland, Oregon. Collin shares his raw and deeply personal story of growing up in a fundamentalist religious environment in the South, navigating chronic suicidality, spiritual abuse, queer identity, and self-harm, and how he found his way to healing and wholeness. Collin brings both lived experience and clinical insight to the conversation. With a background in Counseling Psychology, Public Health, and languages, he specializes in trauma recovery, toxic masculinity, queer identity...
info_outlineAn intimate conversation with writer Benjamin Baker on beauty, masculinity, desire, childhood, and the emotional labor of becoming a man who can finally be seen.
This conversation explores the intersection of masculinity, beauty, and healing through the lens of emotional vulnerability. Andrea Love sits down with Benjamin Baker, a Portland-based writer, aesthetic philosopher, and emotional advocate, whose reflections on Threads have opened an honest dialogue about what it means for men to “do the work.”
Together they unpack how beauty can be a form of truth-telling, how vulnerability transforms relationships, and what happens when men reclaim the parts of themselves that have been shamed, silenced, or aestheticized.
This episode weaves together art, intimacy, somatics, and the inner architecture of becoming, inviting both men and women to see beauty not as a performance, but as presence.
@gentlemynmyles
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Find out more about Andrea Love and her services here: andrea.love
Find out more about The House of Healing & Love here: thehouseofhealing.love
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All production by Cody Maxwell.
sharkfyn.com
Artwork by Heather Grace Gordy.
Opening graphic assets by arakelov and Envato Elements.