Love and Trauma the Real Deal

One holiday breakdown changed everything. Learn how I stopped fixing alone and started re-regulating our marriage—with real tools you can use now. Watch full episode: “I’m So Tired of Pretending Everything’s Fine” — What Happens Next

If you’re the partner of someone with a traumatic past, this episode explains why you feel so distant — and what to do about it. We unpack dysregulation (fight/flight/freeze/fawn), co-dysregulation loops, the four common patterns (Shutdown, Escalation, Avoidance, Numbing), and the P.A.U.S.E. reset to bring your body back to safety so connection is possible again. Take the free 2-Minute Disconnecti...

What does it really look like to heal from the inside out? In this special recap episode, I’m bringing you the most powerful insights from my conversations with Lev Amar and Carla Calderas — two experts who know what it means to walk through the fire and come out stronger. From Lev’s evidence-based approach to emotional healing to Carla’s heart-centered wisdom on boundaries, rest, and self-compass...

What do you do when the same fight keeps showing up in your relationship—no matter how much you both want things to change? In this episode, I sit down with Shalev Amar, who spent years winning cases in the courtroom before turning his focus to healing the battles inside himself. After a 9-year journey studying trauma, Shalev discovered powerful methods to release old wounds and stop trauma from r...

What do you do when the same fight keeps showing up in your relationship—no matter how much you both want things to change? In this episode, I sit down with Shalev Amar, who spent years winning cases in the courtroom before turning his focus to healing the battles inside himself. After a 9-year journey studying trauma, Shalev discovered powerful methods to release old wounds and stop trauma from r...

This one’s for the partners craving connection. Carla shares how to spot dysregulation early, pause without spiraling, and choose the “hard” that heals. Plus: therapy vs. coaching, retreats, and her book Healing Is Within You .

What do money fights, Navy SEAL discipline, and generational trauma have in common? More than you think. In this special highlights episode of Love & Trauma: The Real Deal, I’m pulling together my favorite moments from three powerhouse guests: 💰 Julia Myers on turning money from one of the biggest relationship triggers into a pathway for peace and legacy. ⚓ William Branum on Navy SEAL–level...

Pia Valenzuela Escudero grew up as an immigrant and went on to pioneer the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program, helping kids nationwide heal from PTSD and depression. In this episode, we unpack how trauma quietly shapes relationships, why “helping” often backfires, and the small shifts that can break painful cycles. This is a conversation about resilience, heali...

What happens when the mission, the team, and the purpose you’ve given your entire life to… disappears overnight? In this episode of Love and Trauma: The Real Deal , Navy SEAL veteran William Branum opens up about the invisible wounds of retirement, how trauma shows up in relationships, and the mindset shift that saved his life. 👉 Stay to the end—you’ll hear the one practice that helped him move f...

Money is one of the biggest triggers in relationships—and if you grew up in a chaotic or traumatic home, those old patterns often follow you into adulthood. In this episode of Love & Trauma: The Real Deal, I sit down with Julia Myers, PharmD, MBA, and founder of Generational Wisdom, to talk about how the money beliefs we inherit—scarcity, control, avoidance, overspending—show up in our marriag...

This week, I’m bringing you the most jaw-dropping, heart-shifting moments from three incredible guests on Love & Trauma: The Real Deal . You’ll hear how Maggie Weldon turned a life-changing encounter into her mission to help others heal, why Maddy Wright says “bad behavior” is really survival in disguise, and what Noha Mostafa wants every high-functioning, secretly struggling person to know ab...

You’re getting it all done—but your body’s a mess, your relationships feel like walking on eggshells, and you’re more defensive than you’d like to admit. In this powerful episode, trauma therapist Noha Mostafa unpacks what’s really going on beneath the surface for high-functioning people who are secretly running on empty. We talk about how chronic stress and unresolved trauma show up in your body,...

What if the child in front of you isn’t misbehaving—but simply trying to survive? In this eye-opening episode, trauma educator and founder of Connecting Stories LLC, Maddy Wright , shares how early trauma rewires a child’s brain, body, and belief system—and how those same survival patterns can follow us into adulthood. Drawing from her powerful journey as a foster sibling and certified TBRI practi...

After years of doing the hard work to heal her childhood trauma, a chance meeting with a dying friend shifted everything for Maggie Weldon. In that emotional moment, she realized just how different her life could have been—and how many others were still silently suffering. In this powerful episode of Love and Trauma: The Real Deal, Maggie shares how that encounter became the spark for her life’s m...

In this powerful recap episode, I’m sharing the most unforgettable moments from my conversations with three incredible men—Chris Sanders, John Mollura, and Matt Gerlach. From toxic relationships to panic attacks and hidden trauma beneath high achievement, each of these stories cracked something open. You’ll hear the real, raw truth about what it takes for men to heal—and what we can all learn abou...

Matt Gerlach was a high performer on the outside—but behind the scenes, his life was spiraling. When he ended up in the hospital, it forced him to face what he’d been resisting for years: his past wasn’t behind him—it was running the show. In this episode, Matt gets real about anxiety, burnout, and the moment he realized that healing meant finally turning toward the pain he never wanted to acknowl...

Watch Full Episode on YouTube: From Rocket Scientist to Real Talk: Unpacking the Trauma Behind Reactivity Learn more about John Mollura: Website: https://johnmollura.com

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Sapha Pardo, Women’s Embodiment + Empowerment Mentor, and we go all the way there—the self-abandonment so many of us don’t even realize we’re living with, how trauma fractures our relationship with ourselves, and what it really takes to start feeling whole again. Watch Full Episode on YouTube: The First Relationship to Break: Reclaiming the Self After...

He’s a tech innovator, endurance athlete, and devoted father who nearly lost himself in a toxic first marriage—until he chose to do the hard work of healing. In this raw, honest episode, Chris Sanders shares how he rebuilt his life through therapy, rediscovered his passions, learned to speak up about his story, and became the kind of partner who could love—and be loved—fully again. Don’t miss this...

What does healing really look like when you stop performing for the world and actually tell the truth? That question sat with me throughout these conversations—and it’s why I’m so excited to share this special Love and Trauma: The Real Deal recap episode. This week, I’m revisiting my favorite moments from interviews with three incredible women who don’t just talk about resilience—they live it. Eac...

You know those people who just radiate success? The ones who are crushing it in business, look polished on the outside, and seem like they have it all together? This week on Love and Trauma: The Real Deal, I sat down with one of those women—Elle Petrillo. And let me tell you… this episode is packed with wisdom, vulnerability, and the kind of truth that can change the way you see yourself. Elle is...

Emily is a writer, a mom, and someone who’s been quietly doing the messy, sacred work of healing in the middle of marriage, motherhood, and trauma. When I read her viral Substack post, Love Is a Battlefield, I instantly saw myself in her words. She described what it’s like to live in a relationship while wearing an emotional bomb suit—always ready to protect, perform, and survive, even when no one...

What happens when you survive the unimaginable — but spend decades convinced no one could ever really love the real you? In this episode of Love and Trauma: The Real Deal, I sat down with keynote speaker, marketing executive, and absolute powerhouse Sabrina Bier — and let me tell you, her story is one I’ll never forget. The day before college was supposed to start, Sabrina was hit by a drunk drive...

What do a trauma therapist, an orgasm coach, and a burned-out pediatrician have in common? More than you'd ever expect. This month on Love and Trauma: The Real Deal, we went there. Into the stories, the breakdowns, the breakthroughs—and the kind of healing that doesn’t come from reading a book, but from living the pain and choosing to come back home to yourself. In this special May recap episode,...

What happens when the woman trained to save others… realizes she can’t save herself? That was the wake-up call for Dr. Lamia Katbi—a high-achieving pediatrician, keynote speaker, TEDx presenter, and author of Just What the Doctor Ordered: Five Pillars of Optimal Health. After years of overgiving, perfectionism, and running on fumes, her body—and her life—hit a wall. In this deeply honest two-part...