The School of Greatness
Kerry Washington Opens Up: Mental Health Struggles, Her Spiritual Connection & The Secret That Changed EVERYTHING
Wed, 7 May 2025
Leave an Amazon Rating or Review for my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!Acclaimed actress Kerry Washington drops her Hollywood facade to reveal the startling truth about growing up with a family secret that shook her identity to its core. She opens up about the mental health battle that comes with discovering in her forties that she was conceived through a sperm donor—a revelation her parents had kept hidden her entire life. Through therapy, spiritual practice, and brutal honesty, Kerry transformed this family mystery into her greatest source of strength, allowing her to step fully into her power both on-screen in her new action film "Shadow Force" and in her personal life. This vulnerable conversation exposes how Kerry's mental health journey from feeling "not enough" to embracing her authentic self offers a blueprint for anyone seeking to break free from their own limiting beliefs.Official Trailer for Shadow ForceKerry’s book Thicker than Water: A MemoirIn this episode you will learn:How Kerry transformed her family's shocking DNA revelation from potential destruction to profound healingWhy therapy became Kerry's mental health sanctuary where she learned to separate excellence from feelings of inadequacyThe unexpected way Kerry's eating disorder recovery opened her spiritualityHow Kerry approaches marriage as a "third entity" requiring conscious investment from both partnersThe critical difference between pursuing greatness from a place of deficiency versus from joy and purposeFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1768For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson – greatness.lnk.to/1767SCEric Thomas – greatness.lnk.to/1696SCSarah Jakes Roberts – greatness.lnk.to/1606SC Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX
Chapter 1: What is Kerry Washington's family secret?
Now, do you feel like before that truth was revealed that you were able to fully relax into your relationship with your parents? Even though they were loving to you and supported you and encouraged you? No. You don't feel like you were able to? No.
And again, I've always had a really loving relationship with my parents. I have incredible parents and they have given me so many tools, consciously and unconsciously. They've been a tremendous part of the story of me getting to where I am today. I'm not where I am despite my parents. I'm mostly where I am because of my parents.
And then there is a little bit of despite those dynamics, I wound up here. Right. So I do, I think I've, I had a really good relationship with my parents, but I have a great relationship with my parents now because of the gift of truth that they've offered us.
You always felt like something was off. Yeah.
I felt like something was missing.
Did you ever ask them like, Hey guys, what's going on? Like in your twenties and thirties, like, is there something off? Are you guys not sharing something with me?
What's funny is that there were these kind of smaller revelations throughout my childhood. Like I talk about in the book, how my dad was kind of involved in this investigation. And so when I learned about that, I was like, oh, this is what it was, right?
They were hiding this.
Yes, there were these, I think, the culture of my family was kind of hide the truth to look good. And like, we should do whatever it takes to like look good in the world. So as I would learn these smaller truths along the way, I kept waiting to feel the revelatory feeling that I had when I got the big truth.
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Chapter 2: How did therapy help Kerry Washington?
And they were trying to protect you and they loved you and they wanted to keep you guys together. Yeah. It was part of their journey. Yeah. He must have let go of a huge weight.
Yeah.
Like, does he seem lighter and younger, just like emotionally?
You know, it's so funny when I think about it. It was a very important lesson for me and also how to metabolize fear and how to run toward the things that we think will destroy us. Because initially, he wouldn't even take a genetic test. He was like, I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I don't want anybody else to know. He literally said to me, if you do this, it will kill me. Oh, my gosh.
He didn't want me to write a book. He was like, nobody should know. Why do we have to talk about this? Nobody needs to talk about this. Nobody needs to know. Then I think about moments in my book tour where he's like standing in an auditorium getting a standing ovation. Oh, my gosh. celebrating his presence as a dad.
And the fact that despite the fact that I wasn't genetically his, that he has been such a force in my life and has loved me so fiercely. And, you know, he got that in like several cities, standing ovations, cheering him on and celebrating him. And on national television, people saying like, what an amazing thing you did. And even the fact that
that my parents made this choice to use a sperm donor in the seventies when nobody was doing that, that in itself is a testament of how much they wanted me. Right? So that journey for my dad to see him go from being somebody who he thought would lose all respect and credibility and masculinity and identity to see him be so celebrated and held up. It's a really important lesson, right?
Like the thing,
100%.
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