🎙️ Sculpt N Create — Episode 16 w/ Allison Bonilla
In this episode, Trea Da Fit Artist sits down with Allison Bonilla, a Professional Life Strategist, former Psychotherapist, and Relationship Alignment Coach ... for a grounded conversation about love, ambition, communication, and emotional well-being.
Allison breaks down the difference between clinical depression and the emotional weight that comes from life pressure, especially in Black and brown communities where mental health stigma still runs deep.
Together, they explore how to maintain connection while growing individually, how emotional strain shows up in the body, and why communication is maintenance, not something you only do when things fall apart.
Whether you're an artist, entertainer, entrepreneur, or someone navigating love while chasing your vision, this one is going to hit home.
🎯 Key Takeaways
Not everyone needs clinical therapy — coaching supports growth before crisis.
Understanding the difference between clinical depression & overwhelm is essential.
Mental health stigma still prevents many from seeking help.
Emotional stress often shows up physically — the mind and body are connected.
Proactive relationship maintenance prevents emotional distance.
Communication ain't about being right, it’s about staying connected.
Silence in a relationship is usually a signal, not comfort.
Shared goals keep relationships aligned during growth.
Work-life balance requires clarity, communication & intention.
- Creativity thrives when you have community and emotional safety.
🎤 Bars From the Episode
“Communication ain't just talking, it’s maintaining the connection.”
“Love doesn’t collapse under ambition; it collapses under silence.”
“If we’re growing, we have to grow together.”
“Your relationship can be your peace or your pressure... it depends on how you communicate.”
- “We don’t wait on a breakdown to go to the gym, so why wait to maintain the relationship?”
🕰️ Episode Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Allison Bonilla
03:17 Transitioning from Psychotherapy to Coaching
04:30 Understanding Professional Life Strategy
07:56 The Distinction Between Therapy and Coaching
09:36 Recognizing Clinical Depression
11:53 Stigmas Surrounding Mental Health
14:28 Mental Health in the African American Community
16:54 The Connection Between Mental and Physical Health
19:10 The Role of Faith in Mental Health
22:30 Navigating the Path to Seeking Help
26:03 Allison's Journey into Therapy
29:29 Relationship Coaching for Artists and Entrepreneurs
32:47 Understanding Relationship Dynamics
33:39 The Shift from Counseling to Coaching
35:20 Identifying Relationship Challenges
37:43 The Importance of Communication in Relationships
39:22 Proactive Relationship Maintenance
40:51 Engaging Conversations for Connection
44:13 Navigating Long-Distance Relationships
47:43 The Value of Commitment and Communication
49:29 Balancing Careers and Relationships
55:11 The Role of Communication in Relationship Success
58:52 Navigating Relationship Insecurities
01:03:37 Balancing Family and Career
01:10:07 The Role of a Professional Life Strategist
01:16:11 Communicating for Success
01:22:10 The Importance of Community and Connection
01:27:19 Introduction to the Podcast and Community Engagement
🌐 Connect with Allison Bonilla
🌍 Website: https://www.allisonbcoaching.com
🌱 Garden of Growth Program: https://www.allisonbcoaching.com/garden-of-growth-2025.html
📸 Instagram: https://w
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.