Mastering Change | The trauma, mental health & wellbeing podcast

For people who have spent years in survival mode, joy can feel uncomfortable.   Here, Melita Stancil explains why (as well as how we can experience joy more readily). She is the creator of Anthelum, a framework designed to help people move out of survival mode by looking at families, schools, workplaces and communities as interconnected parts of healing.  A central theme in her work is joy. She sh...

Have you ever noticed how some stress seems to not just dictate your mood, but your whole sense of presence? That’s because, according to craniosacral therapist Lulu Ferrand, we’re operating on a spectrum of vibrational frequency.  On this week’s episode, Lulu speaks to us about how what we engage with, moment to moment, can raise or lower our sense of freedom, safety and connection.  She explains...

Sometimes, talking therapy isn’t enough.  This week on Mastering Change, we speak with neurofeedback specialist Stuart Black, whose work focuses on trauma, PTSD and the patterns the nervous system can’t shift through traditional talking therapy alone.  Stuart explains how neurofeedback helps a dysregulated nervous system re-regulate, especially when trauma has left people stuck in survival mode. H...

Christmas can intensify grief. Familiar rituals, memories and traditions can exacerbate the feelings of absence and bring more emotional pain to the surface.  In this episode of Mastering Change, psychotherapist Julia Samuel shares what years of supporting grieving individuals have taught her about love, loss and the support people need most. She explains how grief is held in the body, how the bra...

Why are so many women only discovering their ADHD in adulthood?  In this episode of Mastering Change , Dr. Samantha Hiew , founder of ADHD Girls , explores the gender bias in psychiatry and the ways in which hormones, stress and trauma intersect with neurodivergent experience.  Through her own story and research, Samantha reveals how hormonal shifts and perimenopause can alter stress tolerance, wh...

Perimenopause is often described as a hormonal shift – but what if it’s also a neurological and emotional one?  In this episode of Mastering Change , Paula Rastrick , founder of The Brain-Body Method , explores how trauma, stress sensitivity and hormonal health are intricately linked.  Paula explains how our stress profiles begin developing in the womb , shaped by our mother’s nervous system and e...

What happens when the part of us that wants to heal becomes the thing that gets in the way?  In this episode, we speak with Laura Patryas , a nondual IFS practitioner who sees our inner parts as expressions of awareness rather than problems to fix.  Laura explains how trauma disconnects us from presence and how, in both therapy and life, healing begins when we can rest in awareness rather than try...

How do we talk about trauma without retraumatising? Through animation might be one answer.  In this episode, we speak with Quint Boa , founder of Synima , a production company creating short-form animation for mental health communication and education.  Quint shares how metaphor in animation allows us to explore emotional and traumatic experiences safely, helping people engage with difficult mater...

What happens when the person in crisis isn’t the only one who needs help – but the entire family system?  In this episode of Mastering Change, Louise Stanger – known as “the family whisperer” – shares her trauma-informed approach to working with families in addiction recovery and crisis intervention.  Louise explains that healing often begins before any formal session takes place: by preparing fam...

How can therapists help clients give voice to what the body remembers, when words fall short?  In this episode of Mastering Change , Dr. Tian Dayton explores how psychodrama can become a powerful trauma-informed tool for healing.  “When trauma happens, the story is held in the body – it doesn’t get fully told. In psychodrama, we give the body a chance to tell its part of the story.”  Tian shares h...

What does it feel like to live without support – not emotionally, but physically, in your body?  This week on Mastering Change , Betsy Polatin , somatic educator and breathwork specialist, explores how trauma takes away our sense of being supported – and how to reconnect with the forces that hold us.  “Trauma takes away our universal support. When we feel ourselves be supported, we don’t need to h...

Imagine if fear wasn’t something we needed to manage – but something we could unlearn?  This week on Mastering Change , we speak with Matt Hudson , creator of Split-Second Unlearning , about fear, hypnotic states, and how to interrupt patterns held in the body and mind. He explains why he aims to spark curiosity rather than reinforce fear, and how state shifts open the door to different choices. H...

When we talk about mental health, we often forget one major ingredient – sugar.  In this episode of Mastering Change , neuroscientist Sophie Hascher joins us to explore how sugar addiction affects emotional wellbeing – and what happens when we start reconnecting to the body.  Sophie shares research showing that people higher on the sugar addiction scale are much more likely to experience anxiety,...

The traditional model of therapy tends to be one hour, once a week. But how effective is this?  This week on Mastering Change , we speak with psychotherapist Priscilla Short , who’s challenging the way we think about relationship and trauma therapy.  She introduces us to the world of intensive therapy – where months of work are condensed into a few focused days. It’s immersive, honest and allows b...

What happens when silence becomes a survival strategy – and healing means finding your voice again?  This week on Mastering Change , we speak with therapist, author and founder of the Washington Therapy Fund Foundation Ashley McGirt about the impact of racial and intergenerational trauma.  Ashley shares how trauma rooted in racism and injustice can echo through generations, shaping families, relat...

What if healing meant slowing down, softening, and coming back to your body?  This week on Mastering Change , we speak with Chen Lizra – somatic practitioner and founder of The Power of Somatic Intelligence – about how trauma pulls us away from ourselves and how presence, movement, and pleasure can guide us back.  Chen explains why safety is the foundation for any healing process, how to recognise...

What if healing meant slowing down, softening, and coming home to your body This week on Mastering Change , we speak with Chen Lizra – somatic practitioner and founder of The Power of Somatic Intelligence – about how trauma disconnects us from ourselves, and how movement, pleasure, and presence can guide us back. Chen explains how working with the nervous system, rather than overriding it, creates...

How do we stop working at “the wrong end of the spectrum” – only intervening when it’s too late?  This week on Mastering Change, clinical psychologist and Innovating Minds founder Dr. Asha Patel shares her journey from working in forensic services to building trauma-informed systems for schools and community-based organisations.   Asha explains how behaviour is always a form of communication, why...

What happens when silence becomes survival? This week on Mastering Change, sisters Cipriana and TK Quann share their journey of surviving over a decade of childhood abuse – and what it has meant to finally speak the unspeakable. They discuss the long shadow of shame, the healing impact of psychedelic plant medicines, and why sisterhood has been their most powerful form of therapy. With honesty and...

What does it take to heal after abuse, assault or complex PTSD?  This week on Mastering Change, trauma therapist, speaker and author Shari Botwin joins us for a candid conversation about dismantling shame and speaking the unspeakable.  She draws on her own journey as a survivor as well as 25 years of clinical work, sharing how shame takes hold and how to recognise and move through it.  Compassion...

We know about the five stages of grief – but did you know there’s a sixth? David Kessler speaks to us in this episode about how finding meaning can become one of the most powerful steps in healing after loss.  Kessler is one of the world’s leading grief experts and author of On Grief and Grieving and Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Drawing on decades of experience and his own personal j...

Why do we keep falling into the same family roles – even as adults?  This week we speak with systems therapist and family recovery coach Jerry Wise about how to break free from emotional enmeshment, codependency and the unspoken rules that keep us stuck.  Drawing on decades of clinical and coaching experience, Jerry introduces the concept of self-differentiation – the process of becoming your own...

Could just a few minutes of intention, presence and energy work change everything?  This week on Mastering Change , we speak with Poppy Delbridge – energy psychologist, rapid tapping practitioner and author of TAP – to explore how energy-based practices like EFT (emotional freedom technique) can shift trauma and regulate the nervous system.  Poppy explains how belief systems are stored in the body...

Before we can speak our pain, our bodies have already carried it – which means, often, talking through trauma isn’t enough.  This week on Mastering Change , we sit down with Erica Hornthal , licensed clinical professional counselor, board-certified dance/movement therapist, and author of Body Aware and the brand-new BodyTalk . Known as “The Therapist Who Moves You,” Erica explores how trauma lives...

Romance novels aren’t just escapism – they can help process trauma too. Academic, writer and trauma theorist Dr. Alicia Kindleysides invites us to think differently about healing – examining how reading and writing can offer safe spaces for processing pain. Her PhD research explores trauma responses through the world of romance fiction. She has found that romance fiction gives people a place to sa...