In this powerful episode of And Now Love, Cynthia Marks speaks with Dr. Niaz Kasravi, a national expert in criminal, racial, and social justice, about the often invisible crisis facing incarcerated women in the United States. Niaz explains that while women make up a smaller portion of the incarcerated population, they are the fastest growing—and the data, funding, and solutions remain largely centered on men. She describes the “trauma-to-prison pipeline,” noting that a staggering majority of incarcerated women have histories of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and other adverse childhood experiences—often with PTSD rates higher than returning veterans. The conversation challenges “they made a choice” narratives and reframes incarceration as the criminalization of trauma responses—especially for marginalized communities. They explore how incarceration devastates families: most incarcerated women are mothers and primary caregivers, and removing them creates rippling generational harm. Niaz also highlights systemic inequities like women being jailed pre-trial simply because they can’t afford bail, and the elevated risks of abuse inside facilities. Ultimately, the episode is a call to center women’s lived experience in policy, invest in real rehabilitation, and rebuild systems with dignity, love, and equity at the core.

0:00 — Women Are Overlooked

8:30 — Trauma Pipeline

16:30 — Context & Compassion

24:30 — Mothers & Generational Harm

32:30 — Bail & Pretrial Jail

40:30 — Gendered Punishment

48:00 — Programs & Reentry

56:00 — What You Can Do

In this powerful episode, Cynthia Marks and Dr. Loren Weiner name what most of us feel but rarely say out loud: the world doesn’t have a “politics problem” so much as a love problem. Loren defines love as the experience of being supported, nurtured, respected, and emotionally held—and explains that wherever love is absent, pathology takes over. They connect this to the earliest imprint: a baby unconsciously takes on the mother’s distress to survive and can walk away believing “I’m bad,” which later limits our ability to receive love (and therefore give it). The heart of the episode is a sequence of patient dreams showing how healing progresses—and how the internal saboteur fights back when someone gets closer to their true self. You’ll hear vivid symbols: bright colors that feel “creepy,” the feminine being “arrested,” a speech that can’t be found, a self put “on ice” behind closed doors, and finally a transcendent dream of being welcomed into love and growing taller. The takeaway is both confronting and hopeful: the outer world reflects inner turmoil, and the most radical change starts inside—by reclaiming feeling, learning what love actually is, and allowing yourself to receive it.0:00 — Love vs Pathology: Naming the Real Problem

7:50 — Imprint + Survival: Why We Think We’re “Bad”

15:10 — The Missing Feminine: Learning to Receive Love

22:05 — Spirit vs Religion: Pure Love vs Manmade Rules

28:55 — Why Dreams: A Direct Line Past the Intellect

34:25 — Dream #1: Bright Colors That Feel “Creepy” (Saboteur Shows Up)

42:10 — Dreams #2–4: Arrested Feminine, Lost Speech, Put on Ice

52:45 — Dream #5: Welcomed into Love (A Dream for All of Us)

In this quick bonus episode of And Now Love, Cynthia Marks and Dr. Loren Weiner tackle the most common therapy myths that keep people stuck, ashamed, or misinformed. Loren starts by dismantling the idea that “therapy is only for crazy people,” reframing therapy as a place to get in touch with your deepest feelings and build resiliency for a complicated world. Next, she addresses the myth that “my therapist will just tell me what to do,” explaining that real therapy helps you grow into someone who can make clear choices for yourself. They also unpack the unrealistic expectation that you can resolve everything in one or two sessions—because trust, safety, and meaningful transformation take time. Finally, Loren explains why “all therapy is the same” is simply false: modalities differ, and the right fit includes both method and the therapist’s personality. The takeaway is empowering and practical: therapy isn’t a last resort—it’s a growth tool, and you’re allowed to choose what serves you best.0:00 — Bonus: Therapy Myths with Dr. Loren Weiner

0:20 — Myth #1: “Therapy Is Only for Crazy People”

1:59 — Myth #2: “My Therapist Will Just Tell Me What to Do”

3:16 — Myth #3: “I Can Fix Everything in 1–2 Sessions”

4:54 — Myth #4: “All Therapy Is the Same”

In this special bonus episode of And Now Love, Cynthia Marks sits down with Dr. Loren Weiner for a focused Q&A on dreams, the unconscious, and how inner life shapes the world we live in. Loren defines the unconscious as a deep well that holds everything we’ve experienced—pain, joy, memory, and meaning—and even our potential connection to the divine. She explains why you can’t “prove” the unconscious like a lab result, but you can experience it through dreamwork and free association, where hidden connections become undeniable. They address a common fear: “What if my dreams open floodgates?”—and Loren reassures listeners that what’s buried is already impacting us; looking simply helps us place it correctly and choose wisely. Loren also outlines how life begins in utero in an “unconscious-to-unconscious” emotional conversation with the mother (and the father’s unconscious as well), shaping the baby’s sense of entitlement to love, safety, and success. The conversation turns toward responsibility and culture: treating women well, giving them a seat at the table, and building a society where love—not money and power—becomes the main goal. Cynthia closes with a personal story about her childhood love of new shoes, which later clicked as an unconscious echo of her mother’s poverty—showing how the unconscious reveals itself even outside dreams.

0:26 — Bonus Q&A: What Is the Unconscious?

3:06 — How do you know the unconscious exists?

5:14 — Why should I look to my dreams to heal?

6:57 — Significance of the Mother-Child Relationship

13:41 — What can men do to bring more love?

17:41— Do signs of our unconscious show up in our conscious, waking lives?

In this urgent and hope-filled episode of And Now Love, Cynthia Marks speaks with Erika Hartman, CEO of Safe Place for Youth (SPY), about the realities of youth homelessness in Los Angeles and what actually helps young people stabilize. Erika explains that around 3,000 young people experience homelessness on any given night in LA—many of them unsheltered and exposed to exploitation and danger. She shares a core truth: youth homelessness often begins with the absence of loving, supportive adults, including youth aging out of child welfare and LGBTQ+ youth rejected at home. Together they explore why “bootstraps” thinking fails—without safety, showers, sleep, and a place to store belongings, it’s nearly impossible to get a job or keep appointments. Erika walks through SPY’s wraparound model, from street outreach and drop-in services to emergency shelter and transitional housing, plus trauma-informed healing arts that build trust before therapy ever begins. The conversation also tackles policy: how systems can criminalize exploited minors, why youth funding set-asides matter, and why prevention is the only way to stop adult homelessness from growing. Ultimately, Erika’s message is clear—young people are resilient, and when we show up consistently with care, they can recalibrate, rebuild, and thrive.00:00 — Who Erika Is + What SPY Does

06:50 — Why Youth Become Homeless (and who’s most vulnerable)

13:40 — “Bootstraps” Myth + Why Housing First Matters

20:30 — SPY’s Drop-In Model: Services Under One Roof

27:20 — Trust + Peer Mentors + Jobs as a Pathway

34:10 — Mental Health + Healing Arts as the Entry Point

41:00 — Prevention: Youth Homelessness Becomes Adult Homelessness

48:00 — Policy, Funding, and How the Community Can Help

Dr. Lauren Dolinsky returns to And Now Love for a conversation all about hope—especially the kind that shows up when we’re doing the harder inner work and feel tempted to give up. Together with Cynthia, she explores how the unconscious speaks in symbolic language, offering “messages of hope” alongside the darker material we’re often trying to heal. They unpack a striking dream of a small, angelic-looking woman in a white gown who simply promises, “I will do it,” as an image of support that bypasses the intellect and lands in the body as reassurance. The discussion turns toward what happens when we challenge a “false North Star”—old beliefs that once protected us, but later keep us stuck—and why fear can intensify right before real change. You’ll hear how dreams can mirror liberation: from the image of a “real feeling self” no longer smashed into a suitcase, to learning what it means to give yourself permission to be you. Lauren also shares poignant patient-dream snapshots—like a foundation being painted pink and a bowl of heart-shaped cereal floating in milk—as simple symbols that remind us we can take in love and rebuild from the inside out. The episode closes with a grounded invitation: look for the “gold” in your dreams, and let hope be part of the process—not a prize you earn at the end.

00:00 – Why “Hope” (and why we need it now)

07:20 – The angel dream: “I will do it”

14:40 – When healing gets scary (and why that can be a sign)

22:01 – Symbols, numbers, and personal meaning

29:21 – Rebuilding the foundation: water + a “fresh start”

36:41 – “Living near the unconscious” (the white house)

44:01 – Inside-out change + hopeful patient dreams

51:21 – Closing thoughts + invitation to look for hope

What if the way we write laws becomes the imprint that heals—not harms—the human soul?
In this episode of And Now Love, host Cynthia Marks speaks with California Assemblywoman Sade Elhawary about the intersection of power, policy, and trauma in Los Angeles—especially Skid Row and the 57th District. Elhawary shares her path from South Central community organizing and education into the State Assembly, shaped by mentors like Mayor Karen Bass, and explains her office’s two pillars: wellness equity (mental health, substance use treatment, environmental justice, clean air/water/green space) and restorative justice (prevention, community intervention, alternatives to incarceration, parole reform, reentry, employment, and housing).
She discusses foster care and family reunification through her experience as a foster mom to McKayla, arguing systems often remove children without adequately supporting parents’ underlying needs. Elhawary describes current challenges including state budget deficits, federal funding cuts, and threats to programs like Medicare and SNAP, emphasizing the human impact on families, childcare, students, immigrants, and farmworkers. She highlights the need for grassroots collaboration, revenue generation, and accountability for corporate greed and extreme wealth, and shares work on a bill addressing the mental health–homelessness intersection by centering Skid Row residents and service providers, including insights from the Skid Row Care Center.
Elhawary also recounts the moment she decided to run for office after leaked racist LA City Council recordings, creating “I’m with the Blacks” solidarity t-shirts that led to her speaking publicly and being encouraged to lead. She closes by inviting community involvement in many forms and shares how to reach her on Instagram: @sadeelhawaryHost: Cynthia Marks, creator/host of And Now Love.
Featured Guests: Sade Elhawary, member of the California State Assembly representing the 57th district.
Core ideas: Systemic erasure, Mother’s imprint, Internal wandering, Punitive legacy, Wellness equity, The biology of policy, Radical trust, Restorative justice, Zip code destiny, Community-centered government, Overwriting incarceration, Human dignity
Episode length: 00:50:08
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#AndNowLove #SadeElhawary #SkidRow #SouthCentralLA #RestorativeJustice #MentalHealth #Homelessness #CommunityOrganizing #FosterCare #FamilyReunification #PublicHealth #EnvironmentalJustice #CaliforniaPolitics #WellnessEquity #Reentry #HousingJustice

What If Homelessness Isn’t a Choice—But a Trauma We Refuse to See?
What if the most dangerous myth about homelessness is that people choose it—or deserve it? In this powerful episode of the And Now Love podcast, Cynthia Marks (Holistic Psychoanalysis Foundation) speaks with Amy Turk, CEO of the Downtown Women’s Center, about women’s homelessness on Skid Row and how trauma-informed care, trust, and dignity create real change. Amy shares how the Downtown Women’s Center began in 1978 after its founder met Rosa, a woman left without support after mental health institutions were defunded, and how the organization grew from a day center into housing, health services, employment pathways, and advocacy. They discuss why women’s homelessness is rising (about 30% of the unhoused population; ~22,000 women in LA on any given night), the role of gender-based violence and chronic trauma, and why “real change happens at the pace of trust.” The conversation covers outreach strategies tailored to women’s safety, supportive housing that includes long-term clinical and medical support (with a 98% housing-retention rate), the social enterprise “Made by DWC,” and policy solutions like rent subsidies, prevention funding, and investing in affordable/public housing. Amy also explains funding challenges (about 60% government-funded and increasingly precarious), why cuts may increase homelessness, and how listeners can help through volunteering, donating from the DWC wishlist, and calling elected officials to support housing. Visit: downtownwomenscenter.org

Host: Cynthia Marks, creator/host of And Now Love.
Featured Guests: Amy Turk, Chief Executive Officer at Downtown Women's Center

Core ideas: biomarkers, epigenetics, pregnancy and trauma research

Episode length: 50:08

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Facebook / / And Now Love Podcast

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Timestamps:
00:00 Radical Care Meets Deep Psychology (Cynthia’s Introduction)
01:59 How the Downtown Women’s Center Began: Rosa, Skid Row & a Daytime Sanctuary
04:47 What Women Need Most: Trauma, Violence, and the Rising Numbers
06:46 Change Happens at the Pace of Trust: Trauma-Informed Support in Action
11:11 Advocacy & Systems Change: Taking the Fight Upstream to DC
16:38 Supportive Housing That Works: Long-Term Care + Health & Mental Health Services
17:58 Work as Healing: The ‘Made by DWC’ Social Enterprise & Employment Pathways
20:44 ‘It’s Not What’s Wrong With You’: Trauma-Informed Care, Therapy Options & Women’s Safety
25:31 Street Outreach That Actually Connects: Building Trust, One Woman at a Time
38:37 A Day at DWC: Breakfast, Showers, Case Management, and Community Activities
40:24 When the Day Center Closes: The Hardest Part Is Nightfall
41:51 Permanent Housing & Campus Expansion: 119 Units, 500 Supported, +97 More
42:52 How Homelessness Accelerates Aging: Stress, Trauma, and Health Decline
44:27 Day Programs That Create Exits: Financial Literacy, Certifications, and Dignity
46:38 Keeping Families Together: Kids, Reunification, and the Housing Bottleneck
50:36 Funding Cuts & Rising Need: Why More People Will Be Turned Away
53:46 Policy Fixes That Work: Rent Subsidies, Prevention, and Basic Income
56:55 Why Supportive Housing Sticks: Relationships, Healthcare, and Advocacy
01:00:53 Love as Leadership: Trauma-Informed Culture and Hiring the Right People
01:03:29 How You Can Help: Volunteering, Smart Donations, and Calling Officials
01:06:32 Rewriting Trust & Identity After Homelessness: Healing, Breathwork, and Hope
01:09:23 Final Thanks & How to Find Downtown Women’s Center