Start Younger: Outgrow Porn At Any Age
Teens shouldn't have to wait until adulthood to start outgrowing porn. Because porn is reaching boys sooner than ever, healing should start sooner, too. If you’re a young man who feels stuck in a cycle of sexual shame or a parent who wants to help, this podcast is for you. Each episode empowers fathers and sons to heal together and find lasting freedom from porn through vulnerability, curiosity, and compassion from a Christian perspective. Join author Drew Boa, clinical psychologist Dr. Doug Carpenter, and youth recovery expert Blake Brinkman for the conversations most of us never had—but desperately need...
Why Teen Resistance to Recovery is an Invitation to Intimacy
When a young person is hesitant, resistant, or completely uninterested in outgrowing porn, parental responses often lead to power struggles. This conversation flips that script. Rather than viewing resistance as rebellion or a moral failure, we explore how to reframe it as courageous honesty and an invitation to build real trust. Learn why connection must always come first, how to uncover the underlying emotional needs porn is attempting to solve, and how parents can create a safe space for open dialogue.
What we cover in this episode:
Replacing Control with Curiosity: Why...The Teen Brain in Porn Recovery: Why Neurobiology Changes Everything
Teens aren't sexually struggling due to a lack of willpower or moral character. The four-part model of the brain (Bottom, Top, Left, and Right) explains why: the heavily developed "bottom brain" (survival and safety) and "right brain" (emotions and non-verbal cues) are constantly seeking soothing in a hypersexualized world, while the "top brain" (logical decision-making) isn't fully developed until age 25 or 26.
"The largest, most powerful sexual organ in your body is not below your belt; it is between your ears." —Drew BoaWhat we cover in this episode:
The 4-Part Brain Mo...Feel It To Heal It: Why Boys Turn to Porn and How to Process Sexualized Emotions
Why do uncomfortable emotions like fear, anxiety, anger, or deep loneliness so easily morph into sudden sexual urges?
Let's deconstruct the toxic myth that "men don't have feelings" and reveal the link between unprocessed emotions and pornography use. When boys and men lack the tools or safe spaces to process uncomfortable feelings, the brain often defaults to sexualization—using porn or masturbation as a quick "dopamine lever" to balance out discomfort and numb pain.
Join us to learn the definition of alexithymia, witness a live "feelings & needs check-in" using feeling wheel pillows, and get practical, cr...
What Every Boy Needs From His Mom: Support Without Shame, Pressure, or Enmeshment
What does a teenage boy truly need from his mother when navigating sexuality, pornography, and recovery?
Mothers play a vital role in their sons' emotional, spiritual, and sexual development. Especially when many teens in recovery lack an engaged father figure, a safe and validating mother can change everything. Learn how moms can offer nurturing connection without falling into common traps like shame, purity culture lectures, or emotional enmeshment.
"When in doubt, normalize and validate the heck out of it." —Craig CashwellWhat we cover in this episode:
The Po...What Every Boy Needs From His Dad: Unconditional Affirmation, Quantity Time, Shame-Free Sexual Guidance, and More
What do boys crave from fathers and male role models? Whether you are a dad looking to build a safer relationship with your son, a teenager navigating these struggles right now, or an adult who grew up "under-fathered," this episode offers a recipe for creating emotional connection and safety to talk about sexual topics.
Father-son relationships have a profound impact on sexual recovery because emotional disconnection, conditional praise, and neglect (the "carbon monoxide of childhood trauma") create a sense of emptiness that pornography promises to fill.
What we cover in this episode:
Sharing our Sexual Stories of Shame, Healing, and Freedom
The best way to help a young man feel safe enough to share his sexual story is to appropriately share your sexual story first. That's why in this episode, we put our core value of "leaders going first" into practice. Through radical vulnerability, we hope to prove that no sexual secret is too dark to disqualify anyone from community, grace, and love.
Our Stories
Drew’s Story: Drew opens up about moving from Toronto to Texas at age 13. Facing intense loneliness and isolation, he fell into a cycle of using pornography and dev...Start Younger: Why Porn Recovery Can't Wait Until Adulthood
Welcome to Start Younger, the podcast that helps boys, young men, and their fathers start healing and outgrowing porn younger.
Meet Your Hosts:
Drew Boa: Founder of Husband Material Ministries. Author of Outgrow Porn and Redeemed Sexuality. Drew believes that if porn is reaching boys earlier than ever, healing should reach them earlier than ever, too. Connect with Drew at drewboa.comDr. Douglas Carpenter: Licensed clinical psychologist with nearly 30 years of experience specializing in addiction, childhood trauma, and male sexual development. Author of Secret Shame and Childhood Tr...