Talk To Me: The Debra Fileta Podcast

In one of the most vulnerable conversations of the year, I sat down with Pastor Shawn Johnson and processed the moment that literally almost took his life -- the moment he broke mentally and emotionally. After suffering from intense and continuous panic attacks behind the scenes for many years, one day he could take it no more. Thank God he chose vulnerability in that dark and desperate moment, and reached out for help, because it ...

What do you do when your people pleasing tendencies continue to come up again and again? How do you navigate the desire to please people, but ultimately continue to strive to please God? Today, I talk to Judah Smith about his tendencies to care too much about what people think, and the self-serving, self-protecting, selfish nature behind being a person who cares too much about what people think. We unpack the idea that ultimately, ...

It's hard enough to deal with feeling offended by people, but what do you do when you feel offended by God? In this on-air session with Alexandra Hoover, we talk about healthy vs. unhealthy ways to handle offense from people who hurt us deeply, and then we move into healthy ways to deal with feeling offended by God. We talk about important mindset shifts that need to happen, in order for us to be able to...

We know God's heart is for a healthy marriage, but what happens when life has other plans? Today, I sit down with Lysa Terkeurst and unpack the series of events and discoveries leading up to the letting go of her marriage. She shares what she's learned along the way about boundaries, and her tendency to do more than her fair share of work in a relationship. We get to the root of the why, and what made her susceptible to this type o...

"I've always just wanted to be accepted". I think many of us can relate to that sentiment. Max Lucado certainly could. Much of his life was spent feeling "on the outside" and wanting to be accepted, which led to a series of unhealthy behaviors just to try and find acceptance. Today, he vulnerably unpacks where this belief system started in his childhood, how it led him down a very unhealthy path, and how it still creeps into his li...

We’re spending the last few weeks of 2025 reviewing our TOP 5 MOST DOWNLOADED episodes! 

Why do so many Christians struggle with boundaries? 

We are taught that boundaries are wrong, sinful, or selfish — and that we should always say YES and be ready to sacrifice and serve at a moment’s notice. 

But is this really the way of Jesus? Or could this lead us down a path of emotional burnout, codependency, and unhealthy relationships? 

T...

We talk about the struggles of life working in the adult industry, and the road that led him there for many years. Josh opens up about his absent relationship with his father, and how that impacted him in ways he didn’t even realize. We talk about the forming of identity and value, and the many things that can get in the way of believing the truth about who we are. It’s a powerful conversation about letting go of shame, and dealing...