PiZetta Media: Podcast with a Cause

School and clinical psychologist Christal Castagnozzi shares her deeply personal journey from high-achieving, anxious teen to receiving ADHD and autism diagnoses in adulthood — and how those discoveries transformed both her life and her clinical work. As a first-generation Canadian raised in a culture where mental health wasn’t openly discussed, Christal explains the impact of masking, burnout, perfectionism, and the emotional waves that can come with finally having language for your experience. She breaks down how thoughtful, person-centered assessments work, why lived experience matters in therapy, and how the right diagnosis isn’t a label — it’s a pathway to understanding, support, and sustainable mental health.

After losing his father to suicide following a late-life bipolar disorder diagnosis, Jono Wilde, Executive Director of the Good Life Movement, turned unimaginable grief into action. In this powerful conversation, he shares how watching his father struggle to access affordable care, navigate stigma, and face systemic barriers inspired a bold vision: a Mental Health Civil Rights Bill that treats mental health with the same urgency and respect as physical health. From decriminalizing mental illness to nationalizing proven community programs, Wilde outlines a plan to break down fragmented systems, reduce stigma, and normalize open conversations. This episode explores loss, lived experience, policy reform, and the belief that a mental health diagnosis is not a death sentence — but a call to build a better future.

Jeff Fladen’s life in mental health advocacy began at home, growing up with a father living with bipolar disorder and a mother who experienced depression—both of whom required hospitalization at different times. What started as a plan to become an electrical engineer shifted after discovering psychology, ultimately leading him into counseling, nonprofit leadership, and national advocacy. From serving as executive director of NAMI Tennessee to becoming president of the National Board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Fladen has helped expand one of the country’s largest grassroots mental health organizations. In this episode, he shares how lived experience, professional training, and leadership intersect—and why he believes recovery is possible, community changes lives, and no one facing mental health challenges should feel alone.

Kiki Fehling has always felt emotions deeply — a strength that shaped both her struggles and her calling as a licensed psychologist. Living with depression and anxiety, her life took a dramatic turn when she suffered a heart attack at just 29 years old, forcing her to confront not only physical recovery but intense waves of grief, fear, shame, and anger. In this powerful conversation, Fehling shares how dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) became both her professional foundation and personal lifeline, inspiring her book Self-Directed DBT Skills and upcoming LGBTQ+ mental health workbook. She opens up about the connection between physical and emotional healing, the lack of mental health support for heart disease survivors, and why DBT skills can help anyone navigate life’s hardest moments with resilience and self-compassion.

Teresa Gray is the Founder of Mobile Medics International. Mobile Medics International is a team of medical volunteers that travel the globe providing medical aid to people who have no access to care or are in crisis from man made or natural disasters.

Angelique Barthel is the Executive Director of Variety of Illinois. Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois helps children with disabilities, as well as their families, feel included in their community.

Tanisha Shorter-Lott is the Executive Director of the Black History 365 Education Foundation.Learn more about PiZetta Media here: https://pizettamedia.com/

The mission of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance is to collaborate, develop and implement behavioral health awareness, prevention, intervention, and post crisis strategies to provide firefighters with an easily accessible and confidential source of information.