Trauma Rewired

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...

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...

"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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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 fig...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 perfect...

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 man...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...