Hi. I’m Candice Schutter. I started The Deeper Pulse podcast about a year into the pandemic when I was feeling lost and desperate for connection. I began with sharing personal stories, striving to make sense of life and my own stilted self-expression. In the process, I encountered some spiritual wounds and dove headfirst into the world of cult recovery, discovering that – not only did it hold the key to a door that I’d been banging on since I was a child – it may even offer us a way out of the royal mess we’re making of this whole being human thing.
On TDP, my guests and I talk about the everyday labor of self-expression, unpack what puts the ‘cult’ culture, and brave sweaty-palm truths to restore collective agency and self-dominion.
If you’re new to the pod, Ep.1-17 are all about recovering from feelings of stuckness. And if you’re recovering from a high-demand relationship, workplace, wellness ‘cult’ure, and/or just generally feeling passionate around issues of social justice – check out episodes 32+.
Candice Schutter has a BA in Psychology, an MA in Social Impact, and is a 2016 Graduate Fellow of the Atheneum Master Writing Program through The Attic Institute in Portland, Oregon. She’s trained extensively in mind-body fitness modalities and has worked as a teacher, trainer, and educational consultant for a variety of fitness and self-improvement organizations. However, in 2019, she stepped away from wellness ‘cult’ure to grapple with the moral injuries she experienced while working in various new age wellness circles – and then perpetuated herself through predatory sales practices and troubling rhetoric while working as a “life coach.”
On her podcast, she speaks openly about her own personal regrets and biases, shares about her lifelong struggles with complex PTSD, and blows the whistle on more than one culty ‘Org’ she was involved in. As a cult awareness advocate, Candice strives to provide a platform for folks to step outside the bounds of psychosocial indoctrination and restore a sense of personal agency. Her primary intention is to normalize conversations around everyday cult dynamics in our families, workplaces, and communities – AND speak to how cult biases shape everyday behaviors and humanity’s ongoing struggle to create a world of equity and justice. She lives in Arizona with her partner of ten years and their two furbaby kittos.
The Deeper Pulse Podcast is independently-produced, ad-free, and relies on the support of listeners and Patreon donors. Learn more about how to support this work.