What does it actually take to forgive someone who took everything from you?

In this episode of Brokenish, we sit down for a raw and honest conversation about grief, anger, and the kind of forgiveness most people believe is impossible.

After losing her sister in a tragic accident, today’s guest carried years of hatred toward the man responsible. The pain was overwhelming. The anger was real. And for a long time, forgiveness felt completely out of reach.

At the same time, Roman shares his own story growing up in foster care, carrying deep resentment from abuse, and how holding onto that anger nearly destroyed his life.

This episode isn’t about pretending everything is okay. It’s about the truth most people avoid:

Forgiveness isn’t about them. It’s about setting yourself free.

Inside this conversation: • What grief and anger actually feel like after loss • The moment hate turns into something dangerous • Why forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person • The difference between forgiving and forgetting • How letting go can literally save your life

If you’ve ever struggled to forgive someone… or yourself… this episode is for you.

🎧 Subscribe for more real conversations about mental health, addiction, and recovery.

#forgiveness #grief #healing #mentalhealth #addictionrecovery #trauma #selfgrowth

This episode is different. Nine days before opening our doors, the largest payer in our community paused providers. Everything we built for over two years… gone overnight. Most programs would panic. Some would blame. Others would quietly fail. We did something different. In this episode of Inside Ava Health, we take you behind the scenes of one of the hardest moments we’ve faced and how it forced us to: Rethink our entire strategy in real time Get out of the “ivory tower” and onto the front lines with staff and clients Build tighter systems, better care, and stronger culture Turn a near-disaster into one of our biggest advantages You’ll hear how we: Sit down with clients over dinner and ask what’s actually broken Close the feedback loop instead of ignoring it Lead without blame, even when everything goes wrong Plan for worst-case scenarios instead of relying on hope This is what it really looks like to build a behavioral health company from the ground up. No fluff. No corporate spin. Just the truth. If you care about addiction treatment, mental health, or building something meaningful in a broken system… this episode is for you. 📍 Ava Health is building a new model for behavioral health care 📞 If you or someone you love needs help, reach out to our team Subscribe for more behind-the-scenes episodes as we build Ava Health in real time.

9 days before we opened, we got denied a contract to serve the exact community we were built to serve. Everything in place. Every box checked. And it didn't matter. This episode is for the operators, clinicians, and executives who are tired of pretending the system rewards integrity. It doesn't. Not automatically. Not without a fight. Christopher Bennett (CEO) and David Purinton (CFO) of Ava Health sit down to unpack what actually happened — the operational reality, the financial exposure, and the decisions we made when the ground disappeared beneath us. No spin. No retrospective wisdom that makes us sound smarter than we were in the moment. Just what it actually looks like when a major payor denies a contract at the worst possible time — and how you lead through it without transferring your fear to your team or abandoning the mission for the margin. Topics covered: – What a 9-day contract denial actually does to your financial model – How payors and regulators make decisions (and what most providers misunderstand) – The difference between fighting a system and navigating one – Where providers silently give away their leverage – How to protect the mission when financial pressure starts making decisions for you – What we did next — and why If you're building in this space, this will happen to you. The question is whether you're ready. Follow us: @HelloAvaHealth on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube