The Wellness Compass Podcast

About The Wellness Compass Podcast

Each episode explores an aspect of personal and/or family wellness from a whole-person perspective with your hosts Scott Stoner, LMFT & Holly Hughes Stoner, LMFT. Scott and Holly each have four decades of experience helping individuals, couples, and families. Scott and Holly are the co-creators of the Wellness Compass Model for Well-Being and the non-profit Wellness Compass Initiative. The Wellness Compass Podcast shares the same name as our weekly column/blog. The podcast provides an opportunity to explore the content presented in the column in greater depth with your hosts Holly Hughes Stoner, LMFT, and Scott Stoner, LMFT.

Publisher

D. Scott Stoner, LMFT & Holly Hughes Stoner, LMFT

Category

health & fitness · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Oct 2021

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

161 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026

   "Mental Health: Name It. Claim It. Reframe It." Episode #181, October 2, 2026

   Mental Health: Name It. Claim It. Reframe It. October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in this episode of the Wellness Compass Podcast, marriage and family therapists Scott and Holly Stoner offer a simple, three-part way to think and talk about mental health: name it, claim it, and reframe it. Drawing on 40 years of clinical work and their own family experiences, they explore how mental health is something every one of us has, and how it shapes, and is shaped by, the families and relationships we live in. In this episode: We all have mental health. It isn't only a concern for some people. Like physical health, it's one dimension of well-being in the Wellness Compass Model, and it can vary from day to day and season to season. Name it. Just as cancer was once unspeakable, mental health is still often talked around with euphemisms. Naming a struggle the way we'd name a migraine or a family history of heart disease normalizes it, eases stigma, and helps others know how to respond. Many clients feel deep relief simply saying, "I think I'm depressed," for the first time. Claim it. Owning our story, letting the people close to us know what we're carrying, and tending our mental health proactively. Scott and Holly share personal examples of how claiming a sensitivity keeps us from externalizing it or blaming others. Reframe it. Thinking systemically, using the image of a mobile: stress anywhere in a family shows up in its individual members. Understanding this takes the blame off, gives hope, and helps us see the bigger picture, like why a recent move or a loved one's diagnosis might leave us feeling out of sorts. Our agency. We rarely choose the state of our mental health, but we always choose our response, including whether to be vulnerable, ask for support, or step back from commitments. A Wizard of Oz lesson. Healing came for the Wizard only when he was finally willing to name, claim, and reframe what he'd been hiding. For reflection: Is there something about your own mental health you've been hesitant to name? Is there someone in your family you'd like to talk with a little more openly? Is there something you'd like to share with a loved one? How's your family? Season 4's theme is "How's the Family?" We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, and topic ideas. Email us at connect@wellnesscompass.org, or reach us individually at scott@wellnesscompass.org and holly@wellnesscompass.org. Find all episodes and the companion column, published every other week, at wellnesscompass.org. Join us again in two weeks.

2. 

   18 Sept 2026

   "How's the Family?--Back to School and Lifelong Learning," Episode #180, September 18, 2026

   Wellness Compass Podcast: "How's the Family?" — Season Premiere Sep 18, 2026 Overview Holly and Scott Stoner return from their summer break to launch a new season of the Wellness Compass Podcast built around a single recurring question: "How's the Family?" For the year ahead, the husband-and-wife team of marriage and family therapists will focus every episode on family wellness across all ages, stages, and configurations. In this premiere, they explain why they chose the theme, share how nearly 50 years of marriage and decades of clinical practice have shaped their own family, and introduce this episode's framing idea: family as our first, lifelong school. In This Episode Welcome back & the new season theme. After a summer off (spent, in part, on their own well-being), Holly and Scott announce this year's focus: family wellness in every configuration, across the full life cycle — not just parenting. Why "How's the Family?" The question tested universally well because everyone already asks some version of it, and few things affect our own well-being more than the state of our family relationships. Why Holly loves this work. Families often arrive carrying unspoken history — old wounds, unresolved grief, things that happened but were never talked about. Every family has its own unique "culture," and helping them reconcile is, as Holly puts it, a sacred honor. Family as our first school. Timed to back-to-school season, Scott introduces the episode's central metaphor: family is the first school we attend, we don't choose our "teachers," and unlike traditional school, we never graduate — we're lifelong learners. Holly's evolving roles. From child to teenager to young wife, mother, and now grandmother, Holly reflects on her current growing edge: learning to let go as her adult children build lives (and marriages) of their own, and adjusting to becoming an elder in the family after losing both of their parents in recent years. The "multiple marriages" bit. A favorite line from their retreat days: every long marriage is really a series of marriages — pre-kids, raising kids, empty nest, mid-life, and now the post-parental-loss years. The relationship keeps evolving, and that's the point. Scott on grandparenting without a model. Scott grew up without any grandfathers (both of his grandfathers died at 40) and is now, 13 years into being a grandfather himself, "making it up as he goes" — including adjusting as his grandson approaches the teenage years. The core skill for family wellness. Humility, openness to learning, and flexibility — because change in family relationships is the norm. Closing thought: "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." Memorable Quotes "Few things affect our own well-being more — the quality of our own lives more — than the well-being and the quality and the state of our family." — Scott "Families hold so much... frequently without really talking about it and working through things. But they always seem to want to reconcile." — Holly "In the school of family life, we don't ever graduate, nor should we. We are lifelong learners." — Scott "I'm still learning how to let go... You'd think that maybe by now I'd have it." — Holly "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." — Scott Reflection Question for Listeners Holly and Scott close with a version of this season's core question: How are you a student right now? What lessons are you having the opportunity to learn within your family, or within a family relationship? Where are you the teacher right now? Where do you have opportunities to teach and influence others in your family? About the Hosts Holly and Scott Stoner are marriage and family therapists who have been married 49 years and have three adult children, two grandchildren, and three in-laws. Together they co-host the Wellness Compass Podcast, drawing on decades of clinical experience working with families of every configuration. Connect With Us Have a family story, question, or challenge you'd like Holly and Scott to address on the podcast? Send it in — anonymity and identifying details are always protected. Holly: holly@wellnesscompass.org Scott: scott@wellnesscompass.org This podcast and its companion column release every other week. Next episode in two weeks — same question: How's the family?

3. 

   22 May 2026

   "This Precious Summer," Episode #179, May 22, 2026

   Holly and Scott Stoner reflect on Mary Oliver's poem "The Summer Day," inspiring listeners to find their own precious moments this summer.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

19 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 61 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

88

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact The Wellness Compass Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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