✨ What We Talk About

• What it's like growing up undiagnosed autistic and ADHD in the 90s
• Masking, people-pleasing, and the cost of being "the good kid"
• Panic attacks, anxiety, and sensory overload that went unseen
• Why autism in women and girls has been historically missed
• Parenting neurodivergent kids while discovering your own diagnosis
• Sensory sensitivities (sound, food, textures, touch, water, heat)
• Learning to work with your brain instead of against it
• Redefining self-care, routines, food, hygiene, and daily expectations
• Letting go of shame and embracing a neuro-affirming life
• Why there is no "right way" to be human

💡 Memorable Takeaways

"I wasn't lazy. I didn't lack discipline. I just didn't have the words."

"Good food is food you can eat."

"It's not your job to dim yourself to make other people comfortable."

"Different is not wrong."

📚 About the Guest: Dr. Kristen Williamson

Dr. Kristen Williamson is a licensed professional counselor specializing in autism, ADHD, anxiety, and trauma. She works exclusively with neurodivergent clients and is passionate about normalizing late diagnosis — especially for women.

Kristen is also the creator of:

• Neuro-Spicy Workbooks designed to help adults understand their brains with compassion
• A forthcoming book on late-diagnosed autism in women, from puberty through menopause

You can find her educational content on TikTok and Instagram by searching Dr. Kristen Williamson.

🎧 Why This Episode Matters

So many adults — especially women — grew up without language, support, or validation for their neurodivergence. This conversation offers relief, understanding, and permission to stop forcing yourself into boxes that were never made for you.

You are not broken.
You are not behind.
You are not too much.

🌱 Call to Action

If this episode resonated with you, there are more conversations just like this waiting for you.

👉 Visit WalkWithMeConversations.com to explore episodes, resources, and stories that remind you that healing doesn't happen alone — it happens when we walk together.

And if you loved this episode, please subscribe, rate, and share it with someone who needs to hear they're not alone.

Guest: Matt Von Becklin – Founder of QuitKit

Episode Summary

In this deeply honest and powerful conversation, Matt Von Becklin shares his journey through addiction, identity loss, abandonment wounds, and ultimately recovery. From growing up with an absent father and feeling perpetually on the outside socially, to navigating substance use through alcohol, cigarettes, tramadol, and kratom, Matt opens up about how addiction became both a coping mechanism and a cage.

Matt explains how his lowest moment—facing suicidal thoughts—became the catalyst for radical self-responsibility and innovation. Drawing on his background in chemical engineering, he developed QuitKit, a non-prescription, research-backed supplement regimen designed to ease opioid and kratom withdrawal symptoms. What started as a personal survival tool quickly became a lifeline for others.

This episode explores the emotional roots of addiction, the dangers of socially accepted substances, the mind-body-spirit trifecta of healing, and how one person's willingness to stop abandoning themselves can ripple outward to help others reclaim their lives.

🧠 Topics We Cover

• Growing up with abandonment, loneliness, and feeling "different"
• The social pressure to fit in and how it fueled substance use
• Alcohol as a culturally normalized escape
• The transition from recreational use to dependency
• Tramadol and kratom addiction—and why kratom is dangerously misunderstood
• The moment suicidal ideation forced a life-or-death choice
• How Matt used science, research, and self-trust to heal himself
• Creating QuitKit as an alternative to traditional detox pathways
• The power of being just "one or two steps ahead" and reaching back
• Redefining self-worth through service, recovery, and integrity

✨ Key Takeaways

• Addiction often stems from unresolved emotional pain and self-abandonment
• Healing requires addressing the physical, mental, and emotional layers together
• Quick fixes train the brain to abandon long-term solutions
• You don't need to have everything figured out to help someone else—just be a step ahead
• True freedom comes from reclaiming agency and honoring who you really are

🔗 Connect & Learn More

To explore more conversations like this—focused on healing, resilience, and real human stories—visit:

👉 https://WalkWithMeConversations.com

You'll find podcast episodes, reflections, and resources designed to support meaningful growth and connection.

💬 Final Reflection

Matt's story is a powerful reminder that sometimes our darkest moments hold the blueprint for our purpose. When we stop abandoning ourselves, we create space not only for our own healing—but for the healing of others.

Episode Summary

In this episode of Walk With Me Conversations, I sit down with author Tony Stewart to explore a love story shaped by creativity, devotion, and the hardest kind of grace. Tony shares his background growing up as a free-range kid in Manhattan, driven by theater, filmmaking, and a lifelong impulse to create. But the heart of his story centers on his late wife, Lynn, and the seven-year journey they walked through her stage-four non-smoker's lung cancer.

With honesty and tenderness, Tony opens up about caregiving—the fear at diagnosis, becoming the "project manager" of treatments, pushing himself past his limits, and learning to accept help. He also reflects on the surprising beauty inside the hardest moments, especially during Lynn's home hospice, which he describes as sacred and deeply meaningful. Through it all, Tony shows what grief can teach us about love, presence, and the possibility of joy alongside sorrow.

What You'll Hear in This Episode

• Tony's early life in Manhattan and how creativity shaped his identity
• His path from lighting design and filmmaking to software and global consulting
• The unexpected way he met Lynn at a college swimming pool
• Lynn's humor, spirit, and the ease she brought into Tony's life
• The shock of her cancer diagnosis and the terrifying early days of uncertainty
• How caregiving reshaped their world—and Tony's sense of himself
• The role of CaringBridge in building community, documenting the journey, and staying connected
• Tony's breakdown after the first year, and the healing that came through openness and support
• The narrowing of life through illness, and the deepening of love within it
• Home hospice, Lynn's death, and the grief that followed
• Why Tony wrote Carrying the Tiger and what he hopes it offers others walking similar paths
• A powerful reminder: don't run away from the sacred parts of dying and grieving

Memorable Moments / Key Quotes (paraphrased)

• Lynn's wicked deadpan humor was part of what made Tony feel truly at home with her.
• Caregiving was both brutal and beautiful—filled with exhaustion, fear, intimacy, and love.
• Sharing the journey publicly helped them survive it privately.
• Grief and joy can coexist; joy doesn't betray love.
• Being present for a loved one's death can be one of life's most meaningful experiences.

About the Guest

Tony Stewart is the author of the memoir Carrying the Tiger: Living with Cancer, Dying with Grace, Finding Joy While Grieving. His book chronicles the caregiving and grief journey he shared with his wife Lynn, offering a compassionate, unfiltered look at illness, death, and the long road after loss.

Resources & Links

• Tony's memoir: Carrying the Tiger: Living with Cancer, Dying with Grace, Finding Joy While Grieving
• CaringBridge: A private community platform for sharing health journeys and receiving support

Call to Action

If today's conversation resonated with you, there are more stories like this waiting for you. Visit WalkWithMeConversations.Com to explore episodes, guest resources, and ways to stay connected to the community. And if this episode helped you, consider sharing it with someone who might need it too.