How We Can Heal

Today I’m joined by trauma therapist and EMDR trainer Thomas Zimmerman to talk about Flash technique, a fast-evolving approach that aims to process traumatic memories with dramatically less distress, especially for people with complex PTSD and dissociation who may struggle with the “admission cost” of standard EMDR.

We unpack what Flash is, why it can work even when someone cannot tolerate long activation, and how it diffe...

Pronouns can feel like a tiny detail until you realize they are a real-time test of safety. When someone’s identity has been questioned, policed, or punished, the smallest moments in a therapy office can signal either danger or relief. I sit down with Dr. Lou Himes, a licensed psychologist and certified specialist in transgender mental health, to get concrete about what gender-affirming care looks like when trauma, dissociation, an...

This episode is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is an international, non-profit, professional association organized to develop and promote comprehensive, clinically effective and empirically based resources and responses to trauma and dissociation and to address its relevance to other theoretical cons...

What if trauma healing is less about excavating one awful moment and more about learning how to move through life again with skill, support, and a steadier nervous system? I’m joined by Dr. Rochelle Sharpe Lohrasbe, a clinical counselor, educator, and supervisor with four decades of experience in complex trauma, dissociation, EMDR-informed work, and deeply somatic approaches to resilience. We talk about the philosophy behind her up...

This episode is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is an international, non-profit, professional association organized to develop and promote comprehensive, clinically effective and empirically based resources and responses to trauma and dissociation and to address its relevance to other theoretical cons...

This episode is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is an international, non-profit, professional association organized to develop and promote comprehensive, clinically effective and empirically based resources and responses to trauma and dissociation and to address its relevance to other theoretical cons...

When the world feels heavy and full of noise, how do we make space for breath, truth, and light? We invited mezzo soprano Molly Mahoney to share how singing— anything from opera to jazz to cabaret—became both her art and her way of meeting hard days with honest hope.

Molly’s new recording of Over the Rainbow with Grammy-winning pianist John Wilson anchors our conversation: not as a sugar-coated escape, but as a grounded a...

This episode is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is an international, non-profit, professional association organized to develop and promote comprehensive, clinically effective and empirically based resources and responses to trauma and dissociation and to address its relevance to other theoretical cons...

This episode is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is an international, non-profit, professional association organized to develop and promote comprehensive, clinically effective and empirically based resources and responses to trauma and dissociation and to address its relevance to other theoretical cons...

Are you a therapist looking to organize your business? Try SimplePractice! Start with a seven-day free trial, then get 50% off your first three months. 

Just go to https://www.simplepractice.com/ to claim the offer!

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Curiosity heals faster than control. That’s the thread we follow with Lynette Danylchuk, PhD—trailblazing psychologist, past ISSTD president, and coauthor of Treating Complex Trauma and Dissociation. We talk ...

Are you a therapist looking to organize your business? Try SimplePractice! Start with a seven-day free trial, then get 50% off your first three months.

Just go to https://www.simplepractice.com/ to claim the offer!

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What happens when accessibility stops being an afterthought and becomes the starting line? That question drives our conversation with journalist, podcast host, and disability rights advocate Laszlo Jacksai, w...

Are you a therapist looking to organize your business? Try SimplePractice! Start with a seven-day free trial, then get 50% off your first three months. 

Go to https://www.simplepractice.com/ to claim the offer!

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What happens when we stop treating child sexual abuse as isolated “bad apples” and start seeing it as organized crime shaped by networks, money flows, and technology? We sit down with Dr. Michael Salter—crimi...

A quiet shift in one enzyme may be steering how we age—and how strong we stay. Dr. Helen Blau, trailblazing Stanford scientist and 2025 National Medal of Science honoree, joins us to unpack a breakthrough decades in the making: prostaglandin E2 is essential for muscle stem cell repair, yet a degrading enzyme creeps up with age, draining that signal and eroding strength. Her team calls it a “gerozyme,” and blocking it with a targete...

What if the presence you practice in mindfulness is the same wiring that makes secure attachment possible? That question drives our conversation with clinician, author, and teacher Christine Forner, who introduces Securefulness—a relational state where an attuned nervous system helps another human co‑regulate. Christine explains why care isn’t sentimental; it’s a biologically essential force that organizes safety, regulation, and h...

What does it really take to endure when the air thins, the quads burn, and doubt gets loud? We sit down with ultrarunner Katharina Hartmuth—Hardrock and UTMB podium finisher and winner of the 330 km Tor des Géants—to unpack the mental game of mountain ultras and the deeper work that fuels lasting resilience. From long stretches above 12,000 feet to the rare quiet of a small, devoted race community, Katharina explains why Hardrock f...

When slowing down feels dangerous, your body might be living in Global High-Intensity Activation(GHIA): always on, always braced, always moving. Today we sit down with licensed marriage and family therapist and Somatic Experiencing faculty member Mahshid Hager to name that pattern, trace where it comes from, and chart a humane path back to rhythm. 

Mahshid explains why a body wired for survival often resists rest, and how to work wi...

What if the most powerful medicine starts with warmth, rhythm, and trust in your own body? Today we sit down  down with licensed acupuncturist, Chinese herbalist, and yoga teacher Tara Tonini to trace how trauma-informed Chinese medicine can steady the nervous system, smooth cycles, and support conception, pregnancy, birth prep, and postpartum in a way that fits into real life. From liver qi and kidney jing to the heart-mind connec...

Mothers are asked to offer the critical early childhood care that shapes people and impacts communities, while systems fail to offer them the basic care they need to thrive. 

We invited Dr. Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, health psychologist and IBCLC, to map the real drivers of maternal mental health and the surprisingly simple supports that change everything: responsive care, consistent follow‑through after screening, and communities de...