The Forge Within Podcast - Lived Experience Survivor Stories on Mental Health & Childhood Trauma

The Forge Within Podcast

Mental health stigma, addiction recovery, and survivor stories: The Forge Within Podcast breaks stigma through real conversations.

New episodes weekly. Real people. Real stories. Real conversations about mental health, recovery, resilience and survival.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to be the strong one…
If you’ve ever hidden what you were really going through…
If you’ve ever struggled in silence…

This podcast is for you.

Hosted by Sam David Wilkes, father, survivor, speaker, and author of The Forge Within: This Ain’t Therapy. This Is Real Talk.

Each episode features honest survivor stories from real people navigating anxiety, addiction, grief, chronic illness, identity struggles, trauma, recovery, and rebuilding their lives.

This isn’t about experts talking at you.
It’s about people being heard.

We explore:
• Mental health and identity
• Addiction and recovery
• Chronic pain and invisible illness
• Fatherhood, family and relationships
• Burnout, grief and resilience
• What happens when you finally stop pretending you’re okay

The goal is simple:
To break mental health stigma by normalising honest, lived-experience survivor stories..

Because healing often begins when someone says,

“Me too.”

You are not weak.
You are not broken.
And you are not alone.

Looking for guests who are survivors of childhood trauma and mental health challenges, willing to share their powerful stories of addiction recovery, resilience, and personal transformation to inspire others and break the stigma surrounding mental health on The Forge Within Podcast.

Note: Guest insights are created with AI assistance.