What happens when a seasoned therapist loses his footing and chooses to walk straight into the world’s darkest rooms? We sit down with Dr Chad Scott, a psychologist, prison therapist, and author, to trace a journey from illness and anxiety to a practice he calls reflective dark tourism—visiting sites of profound suffering with reverence to learn how to live.Chad takes us through the steps into an Auschwitz gas chamber, the mirror-stillness of Hiroshima’s museum, and the bone-lined halls of the Paris Catacombs. He explains why these places aren’t morbid attractions but moral classrooms, where memento mori becomes a practical guide: remember you must die to remember to live. Along the way, he connects the dots between exposure in therapy and walking through history’s hardest truths, showing how facing what we fear can expand emotional intelligence, cultivate resilience, and shrink the grip of anxiety.We also explore the ethics of dark tourism, the criminalisation of mental illness he witnessed as a prison therapist, and the stories told at sites like Whitney Plantation and Little Bighorn. Chad shares honest advice for aspiring counsellors, the craft of leaving work at work, and how these journeys helped him through end-stage liver disease and the uncertainty of a transplant call. His message is simple and challenging: avoidance narrows your world; reckoning restores it.If this conversation resonates, tap follow, share it with someone who needs courage today, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Then tell us: which place changed the way you see life?Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/chadscottauthor/Chad’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chad-Scott/author/B0DDDGVCPBSend us a textIf you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star rating and review, and tell a friend about the show. WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected], or send a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176029491486798797fb4df61

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