Podcast Summary: Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky

Episode: Gabrielle Union & Dr. Sophia Noori

Date: October 14, 2025
Host: Monica Lewinsky
Guests: Gabrielle Union, Dr. Sophia Noori

Overview

This deeply personal and illuminating episode of Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky explores trauma, healing, and the lifelong journey of reclaiming joy and agency after hardship. Monica welcomes actress and advocate Gabrielle Union, who shares her experiences with sexual assault, intergenerational trauma, and her ongoing mental health advocacy. Joined later by Dr. Sophia Noori, psychiatrist and co-founder of Nima Health, the conversation widens to discuss PTSD—what it is, how it shapes lives, and how new approaches are giving survivors hope. With candor and warmth, the trio confronts stigma, dispels myths, and highlights emergent avenues for healing.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Personal Histories & Defining Moments

• Monica and Gabrielle share a warm, supportive rapport, recounting their connection, childhood stories, and formative experiences.
• Gabrielle reflects on starring in "Bring It On", and how the film's themes of cultural appropriation and justice resonate across generations ([05:47]-[07:32]).
• Gabrielle discusses her original career path in law and the fortuitous internship that led her to acting ([07:38]-[08:09]).
• For her 50th birthday, Gabrielle created the documentary "My Journey to 50," chronicling a transformational trip through Africa with friends and family, designed to reclaim ancestral connections, process generational trauma, and foster communal reflection ([08:24]-[12:32]).

“Every time I set foot in the continent, I reemerge. I am reborn. And I get little pieces of myself. I reclaim them.”
—Gabrielle Union, [08:51]

• Gabrielle recounts a powerful, almost spiritual moment with her mother at the river in Ghana, emphasizing the visceral importance of listening to ancestral voices and honoring generational pain ([13:54]-[16:05]).

2. Intergenerational and Collective Trauma

• Monica and Gabrielle discuss shared experiences of historical trauma across Black and Jewish communities and the power of witnessing, using Gabrielle's visit to Dachau as an example ([17:04]-[19:54]).

“When you speed through your history, you're bound to repeat that history. And when you don’t fully understand the enormity of the destruction of a whole people, you are bound to repeat that.”
—Gabrielle Union, [18:45]-[18:49]

• Monica reflects on the persistence of collective threats, acknowledging that even once-in-a-lifetime events can recur ([19:54]-[20:43]).

3. Living with and Speaking About Trauma

• Monica invites Gabrielle to speak about the profound impact of trauma on her life, referencing a quote Gabrielle shared on feeling, for the first time at age 50, what life is like “in the absence of trauma” ([24:14]-[25:16]).
• Gabrielle recounts in detail her experience of being raped at gunpoint at 19, the subsequent survival response, and the lifelong work of integrating trauma into her life ([27:51]-[34:13]).

“That was day one. And...the next 33 years has been surviving and figuring out how to find peace consistently and just knowing what that feels like in my body.”
—Gabrielle Union, [33:52]

• Gabrielle shares how public storytelling and advocacy became tools for healing—not just for herself, but for others ([37:55]-[39:19]).
• The guests discuss trauma comparison, the legitimacy of different “types” of rape or assault, and the critical need to validate all survivor experiences ([37:07]-[37:53]).

4. Relationships, Healing, and Support Systems

• Monica asks Gabrielle about letting others into her trauma and how Dwayne Wade, her husband, actively supports her ever-evolving needs ([45:33]-[48:22]).

“He would just ask, what do you need today? Because it changes...And my friends are—I have the best friends in the world.”
—Gabrielle Union, [47:47]

• Gabrielle describes friends organizing a "rebirth" ceremony to mark the end of a triggering filming period, symbolizing support and communal processing ([48:23]-[48:49]).

5. PTSD: Definition, Experience, and Recovery

• Dr. Sophia Noori joins to explain PTSD:
  • Not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD.
  • PTSD is about the impact and how the trauma is internalized, not just the event itself ([56:18]-[57:56]).
  • Symptoms fall into four categories: re-experiencing, avoidance, negative mood and cognition, and hypervigilance ([58:16]-[60:31]).
  • Insomnia is the most common symptom; people may also lose the ability to imagine or dream ([60:31]-[60:47]).
• Both Monica and Dr. Noori discuss the phenomenon of disassociation and "accommodating" trauma, likening it to favoring an injured limb ([57:56]-[58:16]).
• Dr. Noori and Gabrielle address complex, compounded trauma—how multiple traumas interconnect in unexpected ways, and the particular resonance this has with fertility struggles and lost agency ([68:45]-[70:41]).

6. Innovative Treatment Approaches and Nima Health

• Gabrielle shares her personal journey with Nima Health—a trauma recovery clinic offering high-dosage, trauma-focused therapy, often multiple times per week, combined with peer support and family education ([52:59]-[55:04]).
• Dr. Noori outlines the evidence-based therapies offered at Nima Health, including EMDR, cognitive processing therapy, and prolonged exposure. The clinic’s approach is optimistic: with the right treatment, many survivors can achieve complete and lasting recovery ([72:00]-[74:39]).
• Dr. Noori notes research showing that PTSD is the only mental health condition with a clear cause and potential for complete recovery, challenging the fatalistic views surrounding trauma ([72:25]-[74:39]).

“The prognosis is actually really good for folks if they’re able to get trauma therapy...You can’t unthink yourself back into the PTSD after you see it in a different light.”
—Dr. Sophia Noori, [73:53]-[74:39]

7. Hope, Identity, and Reclaiming Life

• Gabrielle and Dr. Noori discuss what gives them hope:
  • For Gabrielle, accessible, focused treatment with a finite timeline is transformative and offers the possibility of knowing herself anew ([80:31]-[81:18]):

    "It's giving me a freedom I have not known since I was 19...Who am I without this 800-pound gorilla on my back? I'm excited to know her."

  • For Dr. Noori, witnessing patients rediscover joy and hope is sustaining ([81:29]-[82:16]).
• When asked what they are currently working on reclaiming:
  • Gabrielle hopes to reclaim the ability to confidently drive her child ([82:36]-[82:48]).
  • Dr. Noori, new mother, is focused on reclaiming a sense of security and nurturing a family that breaks the cycle of inherited anxiety ([83:04]-[83:40]).

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “If I’m introducing the world to who I am, this is a part of who I am...There are layers and they’re complex and they’re not all easy to digest. But if you really see me, you need to see all of me.”
  —Gabrielle Union, [00:18]

• "When you speed through your history, you are bound to repeat that history."
  —Gabrielle Union, [18:45]

• "For so long, I thought I was no longer disassociated...Turns out I was disassociated, but I was crying."
  —Gabrielle Union, [25:38]

• “This does not have to be your whole life. There is joy on the other side. There's peace on the other side.”
  —Gabrielle Union, [78:58]

• “The healing is about there being more space between the triggers, and the recovery being faster.”
  —Monica Lewinsky, [71:34]

• “PTSD is the only mental health condition where there is a cause...You can actually recover from PTSD because you were different at some other point.”
  —Dr. Sophia Noori, [72:25]

• “Most people do not develop PTSD after a trauma...You can write the rest of your book.”
  —Dr. Sophia Noori, [73:06] & [73:53]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [05:47] “Bring It On,” cultural appropriation, and lasting impact
• [08:24] Gabrielle’s “Journey to 50” in Africa and transformational experiences
• [13:54] Emotional moment with Gabrielle’s mother at the river in Ghana
• [18:45] The importance of not rushing through history and its lessons
• [24:14] Gabrielle on experiencing, for the first time, life “in the absence of trauma”
• [27:51] Detailed account of Gabrielle’s assault and survival response
• [37:07] The legitimacy of all survivor experiences and trauma comparison
• [47:47] Gabrielle on Dwayne Wade’s support and evolving needs in partnership
• [52:59] Introduction to Nima Health and the need for new PTSD solutions
• [56:18] Dr. Noori defines PTSD and the process of internalization
• [60:31] PTSD symptoms, insomnia, and impact on dreaming/imagination
• [68:45] Connectedness of traumas: infertility and sexual assault
• [72:25] Dr. Noori on the optimism within PTSD research and the possibility of recovery
• [78:58] Hope and the message for survivors: healing is possible and joy can return

Tone & Dynamics

• The conversation is honest, raw, and empathetic, with moments of humor and levity that balance the gravity.
• Monica and Gabrielle share a mutual understanding of what it’s like to be defined by trauma in the public sphere and to reclaim—sometimes painfully—that narrative for themselves.
• Dr. Noori’s clinical insight and lived experience bring clarity and hope, effectively destigmatizing both the experience of PTSD and the treatment options available.

Conclusion

This episode provides an unflinching yet hopeful look into trauma’s lingering shadows, the courage of speaking honestly about survival, and the evolving possibilities for true recovery. By bridging powerful personal stories with expert guidance, Monica and her guests illuminate a path forward—not just for themselves but for anyone hoping to reclaim lost parts and find a life defined by more than pain.

[Listen to this episode for a deeper understanding of trauma, healing, and the reclaiming of one’s narrative.]