Untangling the Past: Dr. Joan Peters on Childhood Trauma and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Untangling the Past: Dr. Joan Peters on Psychoanalysis, Childhood Trauma, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Episode Summary:
In this powerful and thought-provoking episode of Linda's Corner: Inspiration for a Better Life, I’m joined by Dr. Joan Peters—professor emeritus of literature and writing at California State University and author of Untangling: A Memoir of Psychoanalysis. Together, we explore Joan’s deeply personal journey through psychoanalysis as she worked to understand the hidden roots of lifelong nightmares, inner turmoil, and a mystery that lingered since childhood.

From the outside, Joan’s family appeared ordinary—a mother, a stepfather, a brother, and a seemingly normal life. But beneath the surface, she was waking up screaming multiple times a week, haunted by dreams where someone was trying to kill her. Why?

The trauma didn’t come from abuse—it came from a little girl’s desperate attempt to make sense of the incomprehensible. When Joan was born, her father was dying of cancer. Her overwhelmed mother administered morphine shots to ease his suffering, often while Joan sat nearby in her high chair. Though she couldn’t understand what was happening, Joan felt that something was terribly wrong—and she internalized the grief, fear, and silence around her. When her father died just before her second birthday, his memory was erased from family life, never to be mentioned again.

Through decades of silence and self-blame, Joan carried the belief that she was responsible—that she was the "angel of death," and that someone would one day kill her because she was bad.

In this moving conversation, Joan shares how psychoanalysis helped her unravel the stories she created to explain her pain—and how retelling those stories with compassion became the key to healing. We also discuss the power of acknowledging trauma, the danger of unspoken grief, and how rewriting our inner narratives can transform our lives.

Learn more and connect with Dr. Peters at UntanglingJoan.com.

Key Topics Covered:

• The hidden impact of early childhood trauma
• How children internalize grief and pain
• The silence surrounding death and how it affects family dynamics
• The power of psychoanalysis in untangling subconscious fears
• Rewriting our personal narratives to find peace and healing
  
  

Connect with Linda:
Website: HopeForHealingFoundation.org
Podcast: Linda’s Corner: Inspiration for a Better Life
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