Being Human with Steve Cuss

In this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss interviews trauma counselor and author Adam Young about his book, Make Sense of Your Story. Together, they explore how personal stories and trauma shape relationships with ourselves, others, and God. Adam shares his own journey of understanding childhood wounds, the importance of self-kindness, and how faith can become entangled with coping mechanisms. They discuss the body’s role in healing, the impact of certainty in theology, and practical steps toward emotional freedom. The conversation offers hope, insight, and tools for listeners seeking healing and deeper connection. Biblical Passages Genesis 37-50 (ESV) -The Joseph Story Episode Resources: Nervous System Regulation What is Polyvagal Theory? Understanding the Window of Tolerance More From Adam Young: Adam Young’s Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Past with Kindness Changes Everything Adam Young’s website Adam Young’s The Places We Find Ourselves podcast Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders: Capable Life Newsletter New Candles and Journals: https://www.stevecusswords.com/ Get the Communication Styles Guide: https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive:  Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this season-opening episode of Being Human, Steve Cuss and Clarissa Moll explore how communication styles can either fuel anxiety and reactivity—or reduce it through deeper connection. Instead of focusing on what we say, they examine how we say it: the hidden subtext, assumptions, and “static” that cause people (especially leaders, couples, and teams) to mishear one another. Steve shares a practical framework for identifying three key communication patterns—rigid vs. fluid, rapid vs. deliberate, and external vs. internal processing—and explains how these differences show up in marriages, workplaces, and conflict. The goal isn’t to label anyone as “right” or “wrong,” but to build awareness that leads to humility, curiosity, and spiritually grounded connection. Biblical Passages 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (ESV) Ephesians 4:26 (ESV)  Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders: Capable Life Newsletter New Candles and Journals: https://www.stevecusswords.com/ Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive:  Capable Life Intensives Get the Communication Styles Guide: https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Find out what the “Six White Boomers” means for Australians during the holidays in this special Christmas week episode of Being Human with Steve Cuss. Steve gets cozy alongside The Bulletin co-hosts Russell Moore and Clarissa Moll for a candid, funny, and deeply comforting conversation about Advent, Christmas carols, and the “mental and emotional load” many people carry this season. Together they explore joy and grief at the manger, the hope of Emmanuel (God with us), and how the nativity story—through figures like Joseph, the shepherds, and the light in John 1—invites us to bring our whole selves to Jesus and be “human-sized” again.  Episode Resources: Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God How A Charlie Brown Christmas Almost Wasn’t (The New Yorker) Bing Crosby - Christmas Classics “In the Bleak Midwinter” (Christina Rossetti poem + Gustav Holst tune) Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/just-drop-the-blanket/ A Charlie Brown Christmas: Linus reciting Luke 2:8-20 Russell Moore’s Always Festivus and Never Christmas (article) White Christmas (movie trailer) The Bells of St. Mary’s (movie trailer) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (trailer) The Nightmare Before Christmas (“What’s This?” clip) Six White Boomers (Australian Christmas song about kangaroos) Wombat Divine (Australian children’s Christmas story) Biblical Passages Luke 2:8-10 (ESV) Matthew 2 (ESV) John 1 (ESV) Romans 8 (ESV) Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders: Capable Life Newsletter Get Your Copy: The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals: https://www.stevecusswords.com/ Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive:  Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host Steve Cuss explores the mental and emotional burdens we carry, drawing on Jesus’ teaching about a light yoke. Reflecting on the Christmas story from Luke 2, Steve shares personal traditions and discusses how God enters our struggles. He connects the nativity’s humble setting to themes of power, history, and care for the marginalized. The episode blends spiritual insight, personal anecdotes, and cultural commentary, inviting listeners to find hope and rest during the Christmas season. Episode Resources: The Long and Winding Road moment from the Get Back documentary More about Augustus (63 BC - AD 14) Oh Holy Night performed by Vince Gill O Come, O Come Emmanuel performed by Shane & Shane Books & Biblical Passages Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV) - Jesus’ teaching about burden & yoke Luke 2:1–20  (ESV) - The birth of Jesus and its surrounding circumstances Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV) - Jesus took the form of a servant Luke 15:3–7 (ESV) - The parable of the lost sheep John 10:1–18 - The Good Shepherd Luke 10:25-37 (ESV) - The Good Samaritan Story Luke 2:41–52 (ESV) - the “lost boy Jesus”  Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders: Capable Life Newsletter Get Your Copy: The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals: https://www.stevecusswords.com/ Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive:  Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts Steve and Lisa Cuss share five practical tips for maintaining emotional and mental well-being during the Christmas season. They discuss handling family tensions, grief, and the pressures of holiday preparations, emphasizing self-awareness, emotional preparation, and setting boundaries. Blending personal stories and spiritual reflections, they encourage listeners to notice their emotional states, manage reactions, and make space for both joy and sadness. The episode offers compassionate, human-sized advice to help listeners create a peaceful, connected, and meaningful holiday experience, even amid challenges.  Episode Resources: Secure your copy of The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF Listen: Anxiety, the Nervous System, and Your Window of Tolerance: Lisa Cuss & Clarissa Moll John Chapter 1 (ESV)  Revelation 21:3-4 (Eugene Peterson’s The Message) AA Meeting Guidelines Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders: Capable Life Newsletter New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals: https://www.stevecusswords.com/ Join Steve at an upcoming intensive:  Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices