Mamahood After Trauma | Healing Childhood Trauma, Parenting Triggers & Emotional Regulation for Moms

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes Joni Woods — trauma survivor, single mother, and author — for an honest and uplifting conversation about healing and self-discovery. Joni shares her journey through a difficult 15-year marriage, divorce, and rebuilding life after her ex-husband's passing. She opens up about breaking free from others' expectations, finding her authentic voice, and t...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn dismantles the damaging myth that cycle breakers must be fully healed before they can raise healthy children. With honesty and compassion, Emily reframes what breaking cycles truly means — not perfection, but intentionality. She walks listeners through practical steps including repairing after ruptures, learning emotional regulation, setting boundaries, and challenging inherited...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes Jessica Danel, whose journey through motherhood reads like a testament to unbreakable resilience. Jessica candidly shares navigating her daughter Piper's heart surgery, cerebral palsy, and autism diagnosis, her son's Asperger's, the devastating loss of her million-dollar preschool business, and surviving a high school shooting. Rather than surrendering to adversity, Jessica...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn explores how unresolved trauma shapes the lens through which mothers perceive their children's behavior. She explains that trauma-wired brains often assign negative meanings to neutral situations — interpreting independence as rejection or meltdowns as disrespect. Emily introduces a transformative tool: distinguishing between observation and interpretation. By as...

In this empowering episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes physician and digital wellbeing researcher Dr. Sanjita Setia for a vital conversation about navigating technology as trauma-surviving mothers. Dr. Setia reframes children's technology struggles not as "addiction" but as manipulation by intentionally designed platforms — relieving parents of unnecessary guilt. She offers practical strategies, i...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn — trauma survivor and cycle breaker — tackles one of the most painful realizations in parenting after trauma: unconsciously repeating the very patterns we promised to leave behind. Emily explains how trauma responses are rooted in the nervous system, not broken by willpower alone. She offers a compassionate, four-step pattern interruption practice to help mamas notice trig...

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes Jenny C. Cohen, a women's wellness expert whose path was shaped by infertility, her husband's cancer, endometriosis, breast cancer, and parenting children through trauma and gender transition. Jenny shares how these profound challenges led her to help women over 40 reconnect with their bodies during perimenopause and menopause. Through movement, play, and bod...

In this powerful episode, trauma recovery coach and host Emily Cleghorn tackles one of motherhood's most challenging realities: parenting while still healing. Emily explains how trauma survivors' nervous systems interpret everyday parenting moments as threats, creating overwhelming triggered responses followed by crushing guilt. Her transformative message reframes the experience entirely — a triggered response is informat...

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes Dr. Jordin Wiggins, naturopathic doctor and founder of The Pleasure Collective. Drawing from her own experience surviving an abusive relationship, Dr. Wiggins shares how she helps women reclaim pleasure and heal after toxic relationships. She introduces the concept of "super traits" — survival strategies that lead to self-abandonment and people-pleasing ...

In this powerful episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn opens up about one of motherhood's most unspoken struggles: shame. Drawing from her own experience following her daughter's birth, Emily shares how suppressed trauma surfaced and left her feeling isolated and overwhelmed. She vulnerably recounts admitting to her husband that she hated being a mother — and how his compassion became a turning point in her h...

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes hypnotherapist and mother Alix to explore the transformative power of Rapid Transformational Therapy. Alix shares her personal journey through identity loss, infertility, and emotional healing, explaining how hypnotherapy unlocks the subconscious mind—where 95% of our behaviors and beliefs originate. Together, they discuss breaking generational trauma ...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn addresses the shame and self-judgment trauma-surviving mothers experience when their nervous systems become overwhelmed. Emily compassionately distinguishes between mom guilt and mom shame, reminding listeners that reactive moments reflect nervous system responses — not character flaws. Rather than striving to "fix" themselves, she encourages mothers to learn their body's lang...

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes Mary, a certified mindfulness trainer and Rapid Resolution Therapy (RRT) specialist. Mary shares her journey from law of attraction coaching to trauma healing, explaining how unresolved emotional blocks prevent people from thriving. She breaks down how RRT works directly with the subconscious mind to clear emotional turmoil quickly — without re-traumatiz...

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn explores the deeply rooted pattern of hyper-awareness and self-blame that many trauma survivors carry into motherhood. She explains how these survival mechanisms, developed in childhood to maintain safety and connection, often manifest in adulthood as chronic guilt and emotional over-responsibility. Emily also introduces the "Peace Pack," a monthly trauma-informed to...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes licensed marriage and family therapist Kayla to explore how trauma profoundly influences our relationships. Kayla shares her personal healing journey and explains how childhood trauma creates unconscious beliefs and behavioral adaptations that drive adult relationship patterns. Together, they discuss practical tools—including mindfulness, self-inquiry, and inner child...

In this powerful episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn explores how shame rooted in childhood trauma follows survivors into motherhood. Drawing from her own experiences, Emily reframes shame not as proof of being broken, but as deeply ingrained conditioning. She candidly addresses feelings of overwhelm, overstimulation, and self-doubt that many trauma-survivor mothers face, reminding listeners that their struggles...

In this powerful episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes eating disorder recovery coach and author Ronnie Robinson, who shares her deeply personal journey of overcoming binge eating disorder rooted in childhood emotional neglect. After 30 years of struggle and 18 years of recovery, Ronnie offers invaluable insight into recognizing binge eating as a trauma response, identifying emotional triggers, and unders...

In this powerful episode, host Emily Cleghorn explores the deeply connected emotions of rage, overwhelm, and shutdown, revealing how these feelings often stem from unprocessed childhood trauma. When a child's behavior triggers a parent's unresolved wounds, the reaction goes far beyond the present moment. Emily encourages mamas to respond with compassion rather than self-criticism, recognizing both their child's needs and their ow...

In this episode of Mamahood After Trauma, host Emily Cleghorn welcomes Devorah Brinkerhoff, who shares her powerful journey of trauma healing—sparked by pregnancy and her children's own experiences. Devorah opens up about the jealousy of giving her children a better childhood than her own, and the grace required to move through that grief. She explores how art became her most profound healing tool, allowing her body to...