Trauma Rewired
The Podcast that teaches you about your nervous system, how trauma gets stored in the body and what you can do to heal.
Episodes
Boundaries, Attachment, and the Fear of Losing Connection
Most people think boundaries are about saying "no," protecting themselves, or keeping others at a distance. But from a nervous system perspective, boundaries are something much deeper. They are not walls that separate us from connection—they are the foundation that makes authentic connection possible. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace, Elisabeth Kristof, and returning guest Margie Faltin explore b
Sexual Fawning: When Survival Gets Mistaken for Intimacy
Why do so many trauma survivors say "yes" when every part of their body is saying "no"? In this deeply compassionate episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by somatic educator Luis Mojica to explore one of the least understood trauma adaptations: sexual fawning. While many people recognize fawning as people-pleasing, sexual fawning often remains hidden beneath
The Fawn Response Explained
The fawn response is one of the most common—and most misunderstood—trauma adaptations. While many people recognize it as people-pleasing, saying yes too often, or avoiding conflict, fawning is far more than a personality trait. It is a deeply wired survival response designed to preserve attachment, reduce threat, and maintain connection when the nervous system believes belonging is at risk. In thi
Why Being Yourself Can Feel Dangerous After Trauma
What if authenticity isn't a personality trait—but a sign of nervous system capacity? Many people believe they struggle to be themselves because they lack confidence, boundaries, or self-awareness. But after trauma, authenticity can feel physiologically dangerous. When the nervous system has learned that honesty risks rejection, conflict, or abandonment, masking, performing, people-pleasing, perfe
Grief Is a Body Experience: The Neuroscience of Loss
Grief is often thought of as an emotional response to death, but grief is much more than that. It is a full-body physiological process that accompanies every meaningful loss, transition, and transformation we experience throughout life. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace, Elisabeth Kristof, and NSI Director of Operations and Continuing Education Piper Rose explore grief through the lens of neurosci
From Shame to Self Expression: Healing Body Boundaries After Trauma
Childhood sexual trauma doesn't end when the event is over. It can shape the nervous system for decades, influencing boundaries, shame, relationships, chronic pain, dissociation, and the way we experience safety in our own bodies. In this deeply personal episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by NSI practitioner Lovee Bradley to explore the lasting neurophysiological effects of
How Self-Compassion Changes the Brain and Rewires Shame
Shame is one of the most powerful forces shaping the nervous system. It can quietly influence how we think, relate, perform, heal, and even how we experience ourselves. Yet most approaches treat shame as something to challenge cognitively rather than something that has become embodied through years of protective adaptations. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof
Why You Shut Down: Freeze, Flop, and Tonic Immobility Explained
S5 E48 – Why You Shut Down: Freeze, Flop, and Tonic Immobility Explained Have you ever found yourself unable to speak during an important conversation? Staring at your computer for hours without being able to begin? Feeling emotionally numb, disconnected, or frozen even though you desperately want to move forward? These experiences are often misunderstood as laziness, burnout, or a lack of motivat
How Trauma Turns Fear Into Hustle, Overworking & Burnout; The Flight Response.
In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof explore the flight response through the lens of trauma, nervous system regulation, emotional processing, and Neurosomatic Intelligence. The flight response doesn't always look like physically running away. More often, it shows up as chronic busyness, overworking, overtraining, perfectionism, emotional avoidance, and the inab
The Fight Trauma Response: Suppressed Anger, Inner Critic & Nervous System Repatterning
Fight response isn't just anger or "being reactive." It's a nervous system adaptation shaped by experiences where safety, protection, repair, or authenticity were missing. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof explore the neuroscience of the fight response, how suppressed anger turns inward as a harsh inner critic or outward as criticism and control, and why the
How Trauma Shapes the Brain, Body, and Nervous System
What if your chronic stress, emotional triggers, anxiety, or exhaustion are not a mindset problem, but signs that your nervous system has learned protective survival patterns? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace explore the science of nervous system regulation and unpack a common phrase in trauma spaces: "trauma lives in the body." While the body plays a cent
When the Nervous System Rewrites Reality: Emotional Flashbacks and CPTSD
You are not overreacting. Your nervous system is not broken. It is doing exactly what it learned to do in environments where threat was the norm. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof close out Season Five with one of the most important and least understood concepts in complex trauma: emotional flashbacks. Not the cinematic kind, not a sudden memory of a specific event, but the q
When Social Anxiety Is Actually a Complex Trauma Response
Social anxiety is often framed as shyness, insecurity, or fear of judgment. But for many people living with complex trauma, social anxiety is a nervous system output shaped by chronic relational stress, sensory overwhelm, hypervigilance, masking, shame, and learned survival patterns. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof explore how complex trauma changes socia
Toxic Shame: When Complex Trauma Becomes Your Identity
There is a difference between feeling ashamed and living inside shame. One is a passing signal. The other is the background atmosphere of an entire nervous system. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof go deep on toxic shame as the next distinguishing characteristic of complex trauma in their CPT series. This is one of the most personal episodes they have recorded. Both hosts sha
Complex Trauma and the Inner Critic: Why You're So Hard on Yourself
Everyone has a critical inner voice. But if you grew up in an environment shaped by chronic relational stress, that voice does not just comment. It runs. It loops. It drives your body into a stress state before you have even finished the thought. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof explore the inner critic as the next distinguishing characteristic of complex trauma in their ong
Why You Leave Yourself: The Complex Trauma Pattern of Self Abandonment
The deepest wound in complex trauma is not emotional intensity. It is the learned loss of connection to yourself. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof open the next chapter of the CPT series by starting where the roots go deepest: self-abandonment. This is the pattern they chose to name first—and intentionally so—because when the nervous system learns that staying connected to t
From Complex Trauma to Post-Traumatic Growth: A New Way to Understand CPTSD
You could not think your way out of the pattern. That is not a failure of insight. That is the nature of complex trauma. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof return to one of the most resonant threads in Trauma Rewired's history: complex post-traumatic stress. Several years ago they recorded a series on CPT that changed how thousands of listeners understood themselves. This is t
Food Freedom: How Your Nervous System Uses Food for Regulation
You were not failing at your diet. Your nervous system was doing exactly what it learned to do to survive. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof go deep on one of the most personal and most pervasive patterns they have both lived through: the disordered relationship with food and the body. Building on their recent conversation with Luis Mojica, this is the episode where they go f
The Hidden Link Between Trauma, Food, and Your Stress Response
Food is not just fuel. It is one of the most powerful ways your nervous system regulates stress, emotion, and survival. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by somatic practitioner and author Luis Mojica to explore the hidden relationship between trauma, cravings, and the nervous system. Together, they unpack why food can become a coping strategy for
The Mother Wound: How It Shapes Your Relationships, Voice, and Emotional Expression
The mother wound is not just about your mother. It is about the first nervous system that shaped yours—the earliest relational field that told you whether you were safe, wanted, and free to take up space. And it lives in the body long before it lives in the story. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by Brooke Wolfe, somatic voice activation coach, musician of 20 year
Creativity, Trauma, and the Nervous System: Why Healing Expands What's Possible
What if healing from trauma is not just a psychological process, but a fundamentally creative one? In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by Laura Dawn, a psychedelic-informed author, researcher, and mentor who has spent more than two decades exploring how altered states can open creative pathways, support trauma recovery, and reconnect people with vision and possibilit
The Nervous System of Leadership: Why Strategy Isn't Enough
In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by Oren Shai, organizational psychologist, somatic executive coach, and NSI-certified practitioner, for a conversation about what happens when nervous system literacy meets the corporate world. After years working inside large organizations, including LinkedIn, Oren kept seeing the same pattern: all the right strategies, all the ri
Racial Trauma and the Nervous System: How Chronic Stress Shapes Our Bodies and Culture
This week on Trauma Rewired we step into a big and important conversation about how racism, historical trauma and systemic oppression impact nervous system health. Racism is often framed as a social or ideological issue, but neuroscience tells us something deeper. Chronic exposure to discrimination functions as a persistent threat signal to the nervous system. Over time, that threat shapes stress
The Sister Wound: How Relational Stress Shapes the Female Nervous System
The wound between women is not just interpersonal. It is neurobiological, historical, and deeply rooted in systems that were designed to divide us. In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined by Dr. Lovey Bradley, Msc.D., NSI certified practitioner, BrainBased facilitator, and facilitator of the NSI BIPOC Affinity Group, whose work sits at the intersection of female hormone
Why Authenticity Feels Unsafe After Trauma (And How Capacity Changes That)
What if authenticity isn't a personality trait — but a measurable marker of nervous system capacity? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore authenticity and forgiveness through the lens of post-traumatic growth. We unpack why telling the truth can feel physiologically threatening after trauma, how masking and performance develop as protective strategies, and why forgiveness is not a mindset
How Psychedelic Experiences Support Growth When the Nervous System Is Prepared and Integrated
Psychedelics are having a cultural moment. Research is promising. Stories of healing are everywhere. But here's the truth: these experiences aren't magic cures. And they aren't right for every nervous system at every time. In this episode, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace slow the conversation down. Instead of asking, "Do psychedelics heal trauma?" They explore a more grounded question: Wh
The Father Wound: How Paternal Absence Shapes Attachment and the Nervous System
In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof welcome author, speaker, and embodiment coach Preston Smiles for a powerful conversation on the Father Wound — and how paternal presence or absence shapes the nervous system. Together, they explore how a father's regulation, emotional availability, and play patterns influence brain development, stress physiology, attachment,
Why Boundaries Feel Like Rejection After Trauma (And How to Rewire That)
For many people with a history of chronic stress, attachment wounds, or complex trauma, boundaries don't land as neutral information — they register in the nervous system as abandonment, threat, or loss of connection. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore why that happens and what it actually takes to rewire those responses at the level that matters most: the body. This conversation refram
Autoimmunity and Post-Traumatic Growth: When the Body Becomes the Teacher
In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore autoimmune conditions through a nervous-system and psychoneuroimmunology lens—moving beyond the idea that the body is "attacking itself." Instead, we examine autoimmunity as an adaptive output of a system that has lived in chronic threat for too long. Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof unpack how immune response, emotional expression, boundaries, t
From Survival to Learning: Why Motivation Shuts Down Under Chronic Stress
Have you ever shared an idea, been met with silence, and felt your body instantly brace like something was wrong? Or walked to your car and suddenly felt flooded by an old fear, even though nothing "new" happened? In this episode, we explore how trauma and chronic stress can shift the brain from learning mode into survival mode, shaping what we remember, how we recall it, and how safe it feels to
The Difference Between Coping and Emotional Capacity
Have you ever felt like you have done everything "right" and you still hit a stress ceiling? You have gone to therapy, set boundaries, practiced self-care, learned regulation, and yet you still find yourself snapping, shutting down, or running on empty. This episode explores what it can look like to move beyond coping and into true emotional capacity. Not a life without stress, but a wider interna
Post Traumatic Growth Starts With Self Attunement
What if the places we have been hurt most, our relationships, can also become the places where we grow? In this episode, we explore relational healing as a powerful driver of post-traumatic growth. Together, we unpack why safe connection can feel threatening after complex trauma, how protective patterns like fight, freeze, and fawn are intelligent adaptations (not personal failures), and why "capa
What Post Traumatic Growth Really Is
Post-traumatic growth gets talked about like a mindset shift, but real change often starts somewhere else: the nervous system. In this episode, we explore why being around happy people can feel threatening, why "find the silver lining" pressure can lead to bypassing, and why growth is not the same as rushing to meaning. We also unpack the other trap: getting stuck in a healing loop that keeps re-e
What Happens When The Nervous System Opens Too Fast
You can have the most mind-blowing healing experience of your life and still find yourself right back in familiar patterns. Why? Because the nervous system defaults to what it knows. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore why insight alone does not create lasting change and why the most intense healing experiences do not start in the mind, they start in the body. Co-hosts Elisabeth Kristof,
Integration Is A Nervous System Skill - Not A Mindset
Integration is often treated as something that happens after a breakthrough — once insight, therapy, or a peak somatic or psychedelic experience is complete. But what if integration is actually the skill that determines whether healing lasts at all? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, co-hosts Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace explore integration as a nervous system process, not a mindset shif
Feeling Again: The Nervous System Science of Grief, Shame, and Joy
When Jennifer was asked how she felt getting her cancer diagnosis, her first word was not "scared," it was "shame." If you have ever felt like your emotions are too much, or you started processing feelings only to end up in pain, fatigue, or shutdown, this second part of our emotional expression series is for you. In part two of this essential two-part series on emotional health and post-traumatic
Why Repressed Emotions Distort Your Reality (According to Your Nervous System)
Have you ever found yourself immediately reaching for a coping behavior like scrolling or stress eating, without even realizing what emotion triggered it? That could be a sign of emotional repression—a survival mechanism that protects you, but at a huge cost to your health and boundaries. In part one of this essential two-part series on emotional health and post-traumatic growth, co-hosts Elisabet
The Childhood Pattern That Silence's Your Emotions
What if "nothing happened" in your childhood, yet you still feel numb, flooded, or stuck in people pleasing or hyper-independence? This episode explores childhood emotional neglect, an often overlooked Adverse Childhood Experience that can wire the nervous system away from felt safety, expression, and connection. We look at how a lack of attunement can shape brain function, stress responses, and a
Are You Living In An Emotional Flashback Without Knowing It
What if those sudden waves of fear, shame, or despair are not "too much," but your nervous system remembering something your mind cannot see yet? In this episode, co-hosts Elisabeth Kristof, founder of the Neurosomatic Intelligence framework and the NSI Coaching Certification, and Jennifer Wallace, NSI educator and founder of Sacred Synapse, return to one of Trauma Rewired's most downloaded episod
5 Nervous-System Errors We Make Every Holiday
What if your holiday stress wasn't about what's happening now—but about what your nervous system remembers? In this episode, co-hosts Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace unpack the neuroscience of the holidays, exploring how sensory cues like songs, smells, or family dynamics can reactivate old emotional patterns stored in the body. Together, they explain how neurotags—the networks of neurons l
The Neuroscience of Grief: How the Brain Rewrites Safety and Self After Loss
What if grief isn't something to "get over," but a biological process that reshapes your sense of self, capacity, and connection? In this episode, co-hosts Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace are joined by Piper Rose—founder of Shadowplay Coaching and Director of Operations and Continuing Education at NSI—to explore grief through the lens of neuroscience and the body. Together, they examine how
Inside the Jealous Mind: What Neuroscience Reveals About Threat, Envy, and the Drive for Connection
Post Traumatic Growth vs Post Traumatic Wisdom; Emotional Processing and Female Nervous System AUDIO
Functional healing isn't about bouncing back, it's about becoming more whole. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace are joined by somatic expert Veronica Rottman, founder of Soma School, to explore what happens when post-traumatic growth deepens into post-traumatic wisdom. Together, they unpack how healing often involves grief, identity shifts, and surrender, no
Self Compassion and How The Science of Kindness Changes Your Brain
In this conversation with Dr. Kristin Neff, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas and the pioneering researcher who introduced self-compassion into modern psychology, we explore why self-esteem is a fair-weather friend while self-compassion provides steady support through challenge and failure. Dr. Neff shares how her early mindfulness practice reshaped her own r
The Science of Feeling Safe In Your Body
"Fake it till you make it" can keep you moving, but there is a cost. When the prefrontal cortex tries to do the job of the whole brain, it burns fuel fast, cravings rise, and coping loops take over. This episode breaks down emotional regulation as a full-body, brain-wide process, not a mindset trick. Matt Bush, lead educator at the NSI certification and founder of Next Level Neuro, joins Elisabeth
Trauma Isn't Just In Your Head (It's In Your Cells)
Trauma is not a single moment. It is an ongoing dialogue between your brain, body, and environment. In this conversation, Dr. Mbemba Jabbi explains how neuroplasticity and affective neuroscience help us understand protective patterns like hypervigilance, shutdown, and dissociation. We explore the roles of the insula, amygdala, and cingulate networks in sensing threat, shaping emotions, and connect
The Emotional Block That No One Talks About
Have you ever drawn a blank when asked how you're feeling? Or maybe you experience constant inner buzzing, numbness, or anxiety without any words to describe it. You're not broken—and you're not alone. In this deeply informative and compassionately nuanced episode, Jennifer, Elizabeth, and guest Matt Bush unpack alexithymia: a common and often misunderstood trauma-related trait that involves diffi
The Duality of Emotions: Why Ambivalence Isn't Confusion
Ambivalence isn't confusion or weakness, it's your nervous system doing its job. Feeling both joy and grief, relief and loss, fear and excitement, is not dysfunction but survival wisdom. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace unpack ambivalence as a neurobiological phenomenon: how the brain and body construct emotions, why conflicting truths arise during transfor
When Attachment Overrides Authenticity: The Fawn Trauma Response
Fawn is a nervous system survival strategy, not a personality flaw. It helps you keep connection and avoid threat by overriding your needs, smiling through discomfort, and saying yes when you want to say no. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace unpack how fawn forms around attachment and safety, why it shows up in daily life and in sex, and how to gently rebuil
The Freeze and Flop Trauma Responses and What's Really Happening in Your Nervous System
Functional freeze is not laziness. It is a learned survival strategy that lets you function on the outside while feeling numb or shut down on the inside. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace unpack freeze, tonic immobility, and flop, and show how functional freeze can look like "getting by" while feeling numb inside. They map the differences between freeze and
High Performers and the Hidden Cost of Emotional Repression
Emotional repression is often invisible to high performers, and it can be one of the biggest barriers to sustainable success. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore how trauma-shaped survival responses like fight, flight, freeze, and fawn can create patterns of overwork, perfectionism, and emotional disconnection. You'll learn how subconscious repression differs from conscious suppression,
The Flight Trauma Response, Fear, and Your Nervous System Explained
Ready to break free from burnout and self-sabotage?Join The Capacity Gap Workshop, register FREE at https://rewirecapacity.com The flight response is often misunderstood as weakness or avoidance, but it's actually a deeply wired survival strategy shaped by fear and trauma. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we uncover how the nervous system uses constant motion, through overwork, hustle, and prod
The Neuroscience of the Fight Trauma Response, Anger, and Boundaries
Ready to break free from burnout and self-sabotage?Join The Capacity Gap Workshop, register FREE at https://rewirecapacity.com The fight response is often misunderstood as a personality flaw, but it's actually a deeply wired survival adaptation shaped by past experiences and trauma. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore the difference between healthy, time-bound anger and the chronic fight
Working with Neuroplasticity and Neurosomatics to Rewire Emotional Resilience in your Nervous System
Your brain is constantly scanning your body and environment, deciding in split seconds whether you're safe or unsafe, and those decisions shape everything from your emotions to your physical health. In this episode, we dive into Applied Neurology and Neuro Somatics, revealing how targeted sensory training can rewire your nervous system for greater safety, resilience, and growth. You'll discover th
How Trauma Lives in the Body and Why Heal Your Nervous System
What if your constant stress, emotional triggers, and exhaustion aren't a mindset problem, but a sign your nervous system is stuck in survival mode? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore the science of nervous system reset, nervous system regulation, and how to restore the nervous system after chronic stress and trauma. Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof unpack how the autonomic nervo
How the Nervous system translates emotions into symptoms
What if the emotions you were never allowed to feel are the same ones making you sick? In this powerful episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore the lifelong impact of emotional neglect and suppression, and why emotional processing is often the hardest part of healing. From childhood modeling to nervous system adaptations, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof break down how early emotional neglect
Sexual Abuse and Shame: How Trauma Shapes the Body and Boundaries
Shame doesn't live in your head, it lives in your body. In this deeply vulnerable and enlightening episode, somatic practitioner Luis Mojica returns to Trauma Rewired to share the biological impact of trauma, the hidden costs of fawning, and how embodiment is not about peace, it's about presence. Together, we explore how unprocessed shame can drive chronic inflammation, gut dysfunction, and bounda
The Female Nervous System: Built For Bonding, Conditioned For Survival
Did you know that women are twice as likely to experience depression, yet less than 40 percent of research includes them? This statistic is staggering, highlighting society's inadequate attention to women's mental health and the complexities of their nervous systems. Often overlooked in scientific studies, women's experiences, particularly regarding menstrual cycles, create significant gaps in und
The Neuroscience Behind Chronic Pain and Trauma
Explore the Neurosomatic Intelligence Coaching Certification: https://neurosomaticintelligence.com/ Chronic pain isn't just about injury, it's a whole-body experience shaped by your brain, nervous system, and unresolved trauma. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace are joined by Matt Bush, educator and founder of Next Level Neuro, to unpack the neuroscience of p
Why Perfectionism Feels Like Survival for the Rejection-Sensitive Brain
Explore the Neurosomatic Intelligence Coaching Certification: https://neurosomaticintelligence.com/ What if perfectionism isn't ambition, but a nervous system reflex for survival? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we're joined by returning guest Piper Rose of ShadowPlay Coaching to explore perfectionism and rejection sensitivity through a neuroscience and trauma-informed lens. We reframe perfecti
What is Parentification? A nervous system deep dive
Explore the Neurosomatic Intelligence Coaching Certification: https://neurosomaticintelligence.com/ What if the invisible responsibilities you carried as a child are still shaping your adult life? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we explore parentification—a hidden form of childhood trauma where children are forced to become the emotional or physical caretakers of their parents. Whether you mana
Fear Memory, The Brain, And The Roots of PTSD
Why do some people develop PTSD after trauma while others recover? What if it's not about the trauma itself, but the state of your nervous system when it happens? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we're joined again by Matt Bush, founder of Next Level Neuro and a lead educator in the Neurosomatic Intelligence program, for a deep dive into the latest PTSD research and how it's reshaping what we kn
Overstimulated, Overwhelmed, Misunderstood; ADHD through the Neurosomatic Lens
When we think of ADHD, we often define it as a list of symptoms: distractibility, impulsivity, hyperactivity. But what if this view is incomplete? What if ADHD is not a deficit at all, but an intelligent set of adaptations your nervous system made to survive in a world that didn't feel safe? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we're joined by Mari De Luna, certified Neuro-Somatic Intelligence pract
The Hidden Link Between Trauma and Autoimmune Disease
When we think of autoimmune disease, we often hear the same story: the body is attacking itself. But what if that view is incomplete? What if autoimmune patterns are not self-attack, but an intelligent protective response of a nervous system shaped by trauma, chronic stress, and relational wounding? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we're joined by Anna Gieselman, neuro-somatic practitioner and f
The Untold Overlap of Autism, ADHD, and Complex Trauma
When we think of autism, ADHD, or even trauma, we often place them in separate boxes, as distinct diagnoses with different treatment paths. But what if the reality is far more connected? What if complex trauma itself is a form of neurodivergence? What if masking, sensory overwhelm, and dissociation are not flaws to be fixed, but intelligent adaptations of a nervous system doing its best to survive
Rewiring Shame, Stress & Survival Patterns: Season 4 Closeout
We often think of trauma healing as a personal journey, a solitary path shaped by diagnosis, insight, and effort. But what if true transformation isn't cognitive at all? What if the real healing starts in the nervous system, in the body, and in community? In this powerful close to Season 4 of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace reflect on the deepest insights and recurring theme
Trauma, Gut Function, and How Emotional Regulation Impacts Healing
We often think of gut health as a matter of diet. What we eat, how we digest, and how we eliminate. But what if your digestive issues, bloating, or IBS symptoms aren't just physical? What if your gut is holding onto unprocessed emotional trauma, stress, and nervous system dysregulation? In this episode of Trauma Rewired, we're joined by Christy Nault, a root cause health practitioner and founder o
How Structural Trauma Impacts Your Nervous System: From Birth to Collective Healing
We often think of trauma as a deeply personal experience, shaped by our childhood, relationships, and emotional wounds. But what if some of our deepest pain didn't start with us? What if trauma is embedded in the very systems we're born into - our medical institutions, cultural ideologies, and societal norms? In today's episode, we're joined by Dr. Tayla Shanaye, somatic therapist, scholar, and ex
What It Takes To Heal: Embodiment, Collective Trauma, and the Power of Presence
We often think of healing as an individual journey—going inward to process unresolved trauma, grief, and pain from our past. But what about collective trauma, grief, and pain? We rarely consider the healing that must take place beyond ourselves, addressing the unprocessed wounds we carry as a community. True healing requires creating safety both within and around us, allowing us to move beyond our
Peak Somatic Experiences, Complex Trauma, and the Nervous System
What happens when your body feels more than your mind can make sense of?In this deeply grounding episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth and Jennifer open up a necessary and often overlooked conversation about peak somatic experiences—powerful moments of healing that happen in the body, not the mind. Whether you're drawn to psychedelics, breathwork, or trauma release exercises, this episode unpacks t
Integration, Neuroplasticity, and the Art of Rewiring
"Integration" is a word that gets thrown around in the healing world, but what does it really mean? In this powerful episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth and Jennifer unravel the true meaning of integration, not as a final step, but as the heart of sustained transformation. Without integration, even the most profound somatic release, emotional breakthrough, or psychedelic insight can quickly fade
Addiction Is An Adaptation: The Neurobiology of Survival and Shame
Society has long framed addiction as a character flaw—but at Trauma Rewired, we know that couldn't be further from the truth. Addiction isn't about who we are at our core; it's about how we've learned to survive in chaotic, neglectful, or unsupported environments. As humans, we're always seeking homeostasis. When we don't have the tools—or the environment—to support that, we adapt in the ways we k
Depersonalization-Derealization Explained; Understanding This Hidden Trauma Response
Our brain and nervous systems are incredibly protective—they can shield us from overwhelming stimuli by shutting out sensations. This mechanism plays a central role in depersonalization and derealization (DPDR), causing you to feel detached and like you are observing yourself from a distance. While these dissociative states can offer short-term protection, chronic experiences can lead to further d
Borderline, Unresolved Trauma, And The Nervous System; Rewiring Stigma and Rewriting The Story
Did you know that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) wasn't "discovered" but actually created? A group of male psychiatrists voted to define it as a diagnosis, and women, in particular, are disproportionately labeled with it, and it's often weaponized against them. What if we told you that BPD isn't a disorder at all, but rather a logical and rational response to repressed emotions and shame ca
Unraveling OCD: the Neurosomatic Roots of Obsession, Compulsion, and Trauma
OCD is often reduced to intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors, but let's be real—it's so much more than that. These are just the surface-level symptoms of a much deeper survival mechanism rooted in childhood brain development and trauma stored in the nervous system. This limited view is part of what keeps so many stuck in the cycle of OCD, struggling to find true relief. But here's the trut
The Truth About Rest, Trauma, And Success
Join us for a special re-release of a profound conversation with Kate Northrup, renowned author of "Do Less," an expert in creating easeful financial business strategies, and a NSI coach. This episode remains one of our most beloved, resonating deeply with many who grapple with the concept of rest in a culture that glorifies constant productivity as the path to success and abundance. In this re-r
How Your Nervous System Shapes Your Money Story
In today's episode, we're bringing you something truly transformative. Our host, Elisabeth Kristoff, recently joined Kate Northrup on her podcast, Plenty, for a raw and eye-opening conversation that dives deep into the intricate relationship between the nervous system and financial success. The insights were so powerful, we knew we had to share this rich discussion with the Trauma Rewired audience
What is Financial Trauma? The Nervous System & Your Money Patterns
Why is it that financial abundance comes easier for some, while others struggle? What if we told you it's not about how hard you work for money, but about how your nervous system is patterned? Money is a tricky subject, because it is the foundation for our survival and security. So we can unconsciously create unhealthy relationships with money that are formed from what we have been taught about mo
Navigating Shame and Boundaries After Trauma
The statistics on early childhood sexual abuse are heartbreaking. One in four girls and one in thirteen boys have experienced some form of childhood sexual trauma—at least the cases that get reported. It's hard to wrap your head around how something so dark can be happening so often. This is why talking about childhood sexual trauma is so difficult and often carries so much shame—it feels so unima
Cancer Risk and Childhood Trauma:A Neurosomatic Perspective
When unresolved trauma lingers in our bodies, it often manifests as chronic health issues or diseases, such as cancer. The medical community is just beginning to uncover the powerful link between trauma, ACE scores, and cancer. With trauma-informed care now being integrated into medical practices, we're seeing a shift towards more holistic approaches to healing—something the healing community has
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