Beau Dooley: A Green Beret’s Mission to Inspire Through Creativity & Storytelling

Beyond the Green Beret — Healing, Creativity, and Advocacy

In this week’s powerful episode, Marcus and Melanie sit down with Beau Dooley, a former Green Beret whose journey has taken him from the frontlines of war to the frontlines of mental health advocacy. Clint reflects on his years cycling between combat zones and home life—navigating the difficult shift between being a soldier and a loving husband. Though proud of his military service, Clint shares why he no longer lets the title of Green Beret define him. Instead, he has embraced writing and public speaking to help remove the stigma surrounding mental health treatment for veterans. Clint opens up about the invisible battles many veterans face when trying to reintegrate into society and how creative outlets like poetry have been a source of healing and purpose. His mission: to encourage fellow veterans to find their own voices, their own paths, and a renewed sense of belonging.
Beau shares about his life as a Green Beret and the toll of constant transition, the identity struggles veterans face after service, the therapeutic power of creativity and poetry, breaking the stigma around PTSD and mental health treatment, and building a supportive community for veterans

In This Episode You Will Hear:
• That resentment or that hurt that you didn’t deal with is affecting every other relationship in your life. (10:51)
• A person that constantly needs to hide behind their successes is not gonna let you in emotionally. (12:06)
• It’s totally okay to just want to be where you need to be and then realize “Oh, it happened again”. It was knee jerk reaction. I’ve been doing this since I was younger. I kinda lost my way. I need to check in with myself spiritually. I need to take better care of myself. I need to go say I’m sorry to some people. (12:29)
• I was born with an innate wanting to know “What have you been through, and wonder what it’s like to be them. (14:30)
• You never want to make joining the military an emotional decision. (19:58)
• No one else can be you. (25:58)
• I don’t tell a single war story in the book. It’s a collection of poetry and prose, and the narrative about the healing process. I take people into my sickest, darkest spots. (40:01)
• You’re not you right now. Once they can convince me – I see it in their eyes – my brother – okay, you’re good. That was a dangerous spot and you needed for someone to sit on you for 72 hours, and just be there for you. Don’t let you keep drinking, take you guns, and make sure you’re okay before you give all that stuff back. (44:04)
• I realize my wife needed me, but there was no freaking way I was gonna let my team go back to Afghanistan without me. That’s when I realized I had 2 masters. (45:52)
• When you leave your heart at home and you go to a place like that, it’s easy to lose yourself in the violence, because you no longer have your moral compass leading the way. (46:18)
• I just reminded myself of all the times I didn’t pull the trigger. (47:25)
• There’s a great divide between “Do I go left, or do I go right?” sometimes, don’t go either way. You wait. Waiting is something, because you’re allowing the situation to develop. Who knows? There might be a door right there in front of you that you don’t see yet. (60:03)
• There’s a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path. (63:13)

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