"Fly on the Wall” Series – Episode 5: Professional Patient to Published Author with Melissa Rene

This is a series I created within Hot Takes on Healing: "Fly On a Wall", where you get an all-access pass to the deep, inspiring, & unfiltered conversations I’ve had with some of my closest friends. These are the moments we’ve always wished other people could hear—the real, *no edits*, NO-BS chats where nothing is off-limits. We’re talking about the stuff that hits you right in the gut, the kind of truths that stick with you, and the kind of honesty that’ll make you feel like you’re sitting right there with us.

This week’s Fly on the Wall episode takes a sharp left turn into truth-telling, breakdowns, and what it really looks like to come back to life after years of numbness. I’m joined by Melissa, a friend I’ve known since high school who I reconnected with just ten months ago when a mutual friend brought her to Sacred Circle. What followed wasn’t just a nostalgic reunion, but a deep, soul-level remembering.

Of who she was. And who she was becoming.

Melissa shares what it’s like to be completely disconnected from your body, your emotions, and everything that makes you you. After spending years institutionalized, medicated, and emotionally flatlined, she reached a breaking point—again. Not one, but two full-on mental breakdowns forced her to ask: “Is this really it? Because it can’t be.”

What unfolds is her raw story of unraveling, rebooting, and clawing her way back to feeling human. We talk about growing up in the perfectionist world of dance, chasing academic success at a prestigious college, and still finding herself totally lost. She opens up about what it looked like to be deeply unwell… and what it took to slowly, sacredly rebuild.

Melissa doesn’t sugarcoat her healing journey and that’s exactly why it hits. She also shares how Sacred Circle became part of her rebirth, helping her finally land back in her body after decades of dissociation. This episode is real, messy, moving, and deeply human. If you’ve ever felt too far gone, too numb, too broken to find your way back, then this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

*Also, please consider purchasing her book "Panic Attacks in Parking Lots" to help her and her kitties move into their new home!

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We will see you next Wednesday for our next episode!