Podcast Summary

Podcast: What Are You Made Of?
Host: Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco
Episode: Never Perfect, Never Alone: Psychology, Faith, and Hope Through Life’s Struggles with Dr. Beth Capecchi
Date: December 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Dr. Beth Capecchi, a psychologist, Christian, and host of two podcasts: "Never Perfect" and "Never Perfect Faith". She and Mike "C-Roc" dive deeply into the themes of embracing imperfection, the intersection of psychology and faith, and finding hope while navigating life's struggles. Their conversation ranges from personal backstories to practical mental health strategies, with a strong focus on self-reflection, embracing vulnerability, and integrating spiritual and emotional well-being.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining “What Are You Made Of?”

• Dr. Beth’s Perspective:
  • The question acts like a psychological projective test, prompting deep self-reflection.
  • “I believe everyone is gifted, has special talents… but we also have weaknesses or even disabilities. […] People’s calling and who they are is a God-given package of strengths and weaknesses that we need to embrace.” [03:27]
  • Emphasizes candid self-acceptance over perfection.
  • Concrete self-description: “I’m a middle-aged woman, I’m a Christian, I’m a wife, a mother of three teenagers, a psychologist, and a podcast host.” [03:52]

2. Life’s Hardships: Belief, Perception, and Resilience

• C-Roc’s Challenge:

  • Explores whether seeing life as “hard” is self-fulfilling and if reframing that belief changes experience.
  • “Why don’t you just change the story?” – recalling his direct childhood observations about adults in his life. [07:16]

• Dr. Beth’s Response:

  • Holds a “both/and” view: acknowledges real challenges but stresses the importance of gratitude and faith.
  • “Life can be really disappointing… For someone who—I’m a little bit idealistic… But there is so much beauty and so much to be thankful for.” [05:27]
  • Stresses not letting negative expectations dictate experience.

• View on Adversity:

  • C-Roc reframes adversity as an “opportunity”—having “hope” that perseverance produces growth, referencing both psychology and biblical wisdom (James 1:2-4).
  • “[When adversity happens] I started thinking, wow, oh, this is amazing, because I know when I'm going through this, if I keep going, it gets bright and something amazing happens after this.” [08:31]

3. Faith & Psychological Tools as Hope Anchors

• Dr. Beth’s Principle:
  • “I have a lot of hope in the psychological principles and tools, but I also get my greatest hope from my spiritual faith.” [03:18]
  • Faith and psychology together help manage imperfection and suffering with peace.
  • “I’ve always loved the verse that says… always be ready to give a reason for the hope that you have.” [03:07]

4. Parenting, Regret, and Authenticity

• Parental Self-judgment:

  • Both discuss struggles with measuring up as parents and the importance of being vulnerable with children.
  • “Apologizing to our children is one of the greatest gifts we can give them… modeling that humility and that vulnerability.” [13:22]

• Resilience in Children:

  • They note the power of reframing suffering, as teens say, “as hard as it was, I would never give it up because of who I’ve become and what I’ve learned.” [10:51]

5. Origin Story: Why Psychology?

• Family Influence:
  • Dr. Beth grew up with anxiety, ADHD, and some addiction in her family (“most of us have some sort of addiction... whether it’s food or technology or work...”). [15:23]
  • Her Christian worldview: “Humans are created to worship… but we often worship things that aren’t the Creator.” [16:48]

6. Holistic Health, ADHD, and Medication

• C-Roc’s Interest in Biohacking:

  • He asks about ADHD, ultra-processed foods, and lifestyle medicine.

• Dr. Beth’s Approach:

  • Rates herself a “6-7 out of 10” on holistic health, advocates for lifestyle interventions before medications when possible.
  • “I do really, really encourage people to try what they can control… friendship, sleep, nutrition, exercise, sense of purpose, and downtime.” (acronym: SPINDS) [19:42]
  • But acknowledges: “If someone is so depressed… they just can’t get out of that mode, I do think that pharmaceuticals or natural versions… can be good.” [20:59]

• On Over-prescription:

  • Both express concern over the “quick fix” of medication vs. addressing root causes.
  • “As a kid, witnessing my grandmother being overprescribed... ended up overdosing and dying… it just hurts my heart to think about that.” (C-Roc) [18:22]

7. Neurofeedback and Brain Health

• Advances in brain science:
  • Mention of Dr. Daniel Amen’s brain scans, criminal rehabilitation, and Dr. Patrick Porter’s Braintap technology for cognitive growth.
  • Dr. Beth: “I love neurofeedback… retraining like neuroplasticity and helping different parts to communicate better…” [22:10]

8. People-Pleasing, Sensitivity, and The Highly Sensitive Person

• Dr. Beth:

  • Shares that being a “crippling empath” makes her attuned (sometimes overly) to others’ emotions.
  • References “The Highly Sensitive Person” by Elaine Aron.
  • “My 18-year-old daughter told my OB-GYN friend that I’m a crippling empath...” [25:11]

• Coping as a Therapist:

  • Relies on focusing on the present environment (helped by her own ADHD), tries to “leave it at work” except rare cases.

9. Gratitude, Perspective, and Resilience

• Power of Gratitude:

  • Both emphasize recognizing blessings alongside hardships, especially during holidays when loneliness can loom.
  • Dr. Beth: “Gratitude… that gratitude journal idea helped me so much.” [29:08]

• Reality Check:

  • “I think people need to acknowledge all the difficult, hard, hard things… but being thankful for the good.” [29:22]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Self-Acceptance (Projective Test):

  • “It’s a good introspective question… what defines you?” — Dr. Beth [03:00]

• On the Power of Perspective:

  • “You’re just basically causing, creating your future with this story. Why don’t you just change the story?” — C-Roc [07:17]

• On Integrating Faith and Adversity:

  • “Who am I not to suffer? Who am I not to have these moments where I need to learn something?” — C-Roc [09:03]
  • “Suffering develops perseverance and maturity and wisdom, and knowing that… God has a good plan and he will get us through…” — Dr. Beth [09:12]

• On Parenting Vulnerability:

  • “It’s not a matter if we’re going to mess up. It’s how.”— Dr. Beth [13:52]

• On Resilience:

  • “As hard as it was, I would never give it up because of who I’ve become and what I’ve learned...” — Dr. Beth [10:51]

Notable Timestamps

• 03:27 – Dr. Beth’s deep reflection on the "What are you made of?" question
• 07:16 – C-Roc’s childhood insights about the power of narrative and changing the story
• 10:01 – Discussion of James 1:2-4 and viewing adversity as pure joy
• 13:22 – Dr. Beth on apologizing to children and modeling vulnerability
• 15:23 – The interplay of anxiety, ADHD, addiction, and family dynamics
• 19:42 – Dr. Beth’s six-point lifestyle assessment (SPINDS)
• 25:11 – The personal cost and navigation of being a “crippling empath”
• 29:08 – Impact story: the power of gratitude journaling

Where to Find Dr. Beth

• Podcast websites:
  • neverperfect.org
  • Search “Never Perfect Dr. Beth” or “Never Perfect Faith”
• Practice:
  • Grounded Counseling in Chattanooga, TN

Summary

This episode spotlights the necessity of embracing both the strengths and weaknesses we are “made of,” using both psychological and spiritual tools to move through adversity. Dr. Beth and C-Roc’s conversation offers practical tactics (like gratitude journaling, lifestyle audits, and the power of reframing adversity), as well as honest admissions of imperfection as a parent, partner, or professional. Faith, community, and holistic health weave through the dialogue, making this episode both an invitation for radical honesty and a beacon of actionable hope for anyone on a personal development journey.