In today's episode, we chat with Duane France. Duane is a retired Army Combat Veteran who has become a leader in veteran mental health both in Colorado and the country. Today he shares with us how he went from multiple deployments in combat zones to the counseling chair and national conferences. In the episode Duane and Tim chat about a few resourc…

For many of us, holidays can be hard. From the outside, it seems like everyone is celebrating. In an effort to not be reminded of hard times and to not ruin other's celebrations, we pull back and isolate ourselves. Tim's experiences on his birthdays made it hard for him to celebrate. He shares the painful stories that caused him to pull back from t…

Ben Obrien is a father, friend, and person in the world. He has also been a Fire Fighter and EMT for over two decades and has recently built a coaching business helping men develop the skills needed to meet and beat their personal goals. In this episode, Ben shares his story and struggles of joining the fire service, finding his needs for connectio…

Major life choices are difficult because they matter. Most folks getting out of the military to find themselves having to make major choices about what to do, where to live, and who they want to connect with. In this story, Tim shares how his transition out of the Air Force went and what those choices led to.…

Mindfulness Master, Chris Griffin came on to share his story of growing up as an Irish Catholic, moving from music to business, to counseling and how he blends those experiences into his successful life. In this episode, you will learn a lot about mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, and how Chris used those skills to improve his life and the…

In our thirteenth episode, Tim picks up from our seventh episode to sharing his lessons gained supporting survivors of sexual assault and his training on Bystander Intervention. With the MeToo movement encouraging survivors to share their stories with loved ones, many of us are struggling to hold the pain and learn how to help protect our loved one…

We are so lucky to have John Marx with us for this episode. John has a lifetime of service, 23 years as a police officer in Colorado who now works as an educator and advocate for the responder community. I know him from our work in ResponderStrong, an organization here in Colorado trying to coordinate and develop resources for first responders in C…

In this episode, Tim shares his story of settling into his new life in Denver at 19. Coming from the stress of his family, learning to just be a student came slowly, but it helped him learn how to enjoy stability and how to leave space for happiness.By Timothy Wienecke, MA, LPC, LAC

Jeff and I chat about how he knew he wanted to work with children, how fatherhood has impacted him, and how we often see fathers struggle in our work. If you’re in the Denver area and are looking for a therapist for your child, Jeff is a great resource. Here is his website: http://www.jeffsilvermanlpcc.com/ He also mentions Love and Logic. This is …

In our 9th episode, I share the story of coming back to Denver after college. This was a dark time in my life because, like many folks, college did not lead to the future I had planned on. I came back to find my friends moving on, a job market choked with other over-educated and under-qualified folks like myself, and a lack of purpose that I couldn…

Rick Blodgett, a friend from my college days, is switching careers into the helping profession. He will not be in practice for a few years as he's in the middle of his degree program, but he shared a great insight into life. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about our college days, our insights looking back now, and share some tools to fight the sadn…

In episode 7, I tell the story of how a getting furious at an overwhelmed woman trying to take on a prolific problem got me involved in fighting for survivors of sexual violence and how that same anger almost betrayed the moral imperative that empowered my work.

I recorded this on my brother's birthday because what better way to let him know I care than to share embarrassing stories from our youth. In this story, you'll hear about how we grew up, the ways we cared for each other, and about what it took for me to see my brother as a man. I hope you enjoy.By Timothy Wienecke, MA, LAC, NCC

Izzy Abbass, a man who has spent his entire adult life either in uniform or advocating for our servicemembers, comes on and shares how his first experience serving with a female soldier impacted him as a young infantryman.

Picking up where he left off in Episode 3, Tim finishes his story about Air Force Basic Training. He shares the surprising role he found cleaning toilets and how important it can be to find your role in a group. After settling into my new world at Basic Training, I was surprised to find both peace and purpose while scrubbing toilets. Additionally, …

I tried and tried to put a solid story together about my experience at basic in under 20 minutes and couldn't do it, so here's our first two-part episode. After graduating from the U, I had a hard time sorting out what I was going to do and who I was going to be. After a few years, I decided to join the United States Air Force at 27 years old. I kn…

Back in 2002, I looked great on paper and people generally thought I was doing everything right for a first-time college student. As most of us know, those struggling learn to hide their problems and I was no different. I was unable to be alone for any significant amount of time and I had just lost my main supporters to a work move. To fill the spa…

Tim tells a story about his first attempt to get involved in social justice. Like most first tries, it did not go entirely as planned.By Timothy Wienecke, MA, LAC, NCC

Stories and Lessons is a podcast where Timothy Wienecke shares personal stories from his life and collects stories from other people in the helping fields. These stories are chosen to be entertaining and normalizing. For more information about Tim and his guests, please visit www.empoweredchangece.com…