Podcast
The Gifts of Trauma
Hosted by Compassionate Inquiry · EN
Presented by Compassionate Inquiry®, the Gifts of Trauma is a weekly podcast that features personal stories of trauma healing and the gifts revealed on the path to authenticity. Compassionate Inquiry® is a psychotherapeutic approach created by Dr. Gabor Maté over several decades while working with both patients and retreat participants.Join us to hear what it was like for our guests to live with the tension of trauma, and what happened when they turned inward with compassionate curiosity. These highly relatable stories illustrate how they transformed their trauma generated fear, anger, pain or shame triggers into understanding, acceptance and love. www.compassionateinquiry.com
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What Running into the Fire Can Cost Firefighters, with Brandon Evans
Yesterday01:02:14Tap to summarizeHosted by Kevin Young and J'aime Rothbard. Produced by J'aime Rothbard More than 15 years spent running into burning buildings taught him that the hardest fires to face are the ones that follow you home. In the first of our five-part First Responders Series, Kevin and J'aime sit down with Brandon, a retired Canadian Firefighter, to explore what it really costs to be the one who shows up for others on the worst days of their lives. Brandon explains: - Why 'mental fitness' is a more useful frame than 'mental health' for firefighters - What his international research (104 fire chiefs across five continents) revealed about the gap between how firefighters train for fire and how they train for their own mental health - How the firehouse storytelling tradition could become the fire service's most powerful teaching tool - The five pillars of Fire to Light, and what 'operationalizing wellness' actually looks like Brandon shares a raw and unflinching perspective on what it costs to be the one who runs toward the fire, and why "We're not broken, we just need to train differently" might be the most important reframe first responders need to hear. Join us to hear what can change when a firefighter stops surviving their career and starts training for it. About Brandon Evans Executive Director, Fire to Light Foundation, Founder & CEO, Fire to Light Brandon Evans is a retired firefighter and the Founder of Fire to Light, an organisation dedicated to advancing preventative Mental Fitness training inside the fire service. Drawing on lived experience and independent global research involving over 104 fire chiefs and leaders across 13 countries and 5 continents, Brandon developed the Fire to Light Mental Fitness Training System, a practical operationalised approach to training Mental Fitness the same way fire departments train every other critical skill. Through the Fire to Light Foundation, a registered Canadian charity of which Brandon serves as Executive Director, the goal is to make Mental Fitness training accessible to every fire department, removing barriers so that Mental Fitness is systemised and embedded into fire service operations worldwide. not treated as a clinical afterthought, but trained, reinforced, and owned at every level of the organisation. Brandon's mission is to help reduce rates of suicide and psychological injury in the fire service through an upstream approach of Mental Fitness Training, Fitness before Therapy. Promotional Messages: Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, please tap this link to learn more. Suicide Attention Training The Compassionate Inquiry Suicide Attention Training is for therapists, health professionals and others working in therapeutic, healing, educational, medical, or coaching roles. If you're seeking sensitive training to help you recognize and support people in your communities who may be experiencing suicidal distress, please tap this link. It will take you to a web page where you can learn more about this training, and decide if it's a good fit for you. Resources: Websites: Fire to Light Foundation Fire to Light Website Support Fire to Light — Zeffy Fire to Light Research Study Crackyl Magazine Website Articles: Defining Resilience for Firefighters Firefighters and Mental Health: The Fear of Raising Your Hand The Current State of Mental Health in the Fire Service But There Is Nothing Wrong With Me Trauma: Who, What, Where, When and Why Podcasts: Upgrade Your Self Love (2025) Heroes are Also Human (2025) Transforming Challenges into Opportunities (2025) Brandon Evans - Fire to Light (2024) Discovering The Energy Of Love (2022) Videos: Firefighting and Mental Fitness (2025) Understanding Mental Health in the Fire Service (2024) Real Leadership Comes from Courage (2024) Don't Judge a Book (2024) Fire To Light with Brandon Evans (2024) How to Improve Your Mental Fitness (2023) Social Media: Facebook: Fire to Light Instagram: @firetolight_firefighters LinkedIn: Fire to Light Foundation
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From Colitis to Liver Transplant: Balancing on Shifting Ground, with Lizzie Reumont
1w ago00:57:43Tap to summarizeHosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard Diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at three, Lizzie grew up not feeling safe within her own body. A volatile home meant she didn't feel safe outside it either. This candid conversation traces a decades long journey from a childhood marked by chronic illness and family instability, through disordered eating and compulsive exercise to a liver transplant at 31, the long work of making a stranger's organ her own, and what it takes to keep finding, again and again, a small enough foothold to trust she can balance. Lizzie shares: - How a psyche and body under siege shaped a pattern of control through eating and exercise - What it took to wait for, survive, and recover from transplant surgery - What her transplanted 80-year-old liver is teaching her about time, aging and her own body - What drew her, a 20-year veteran of structural bodywork, to Compassionate Inquiry® Join us to hear how three decades in the treatment room, five decades of living with chronic illness, and one organ transplant brought Lizzie to a practice built on trust, patience and staying gently curious about what her body is still holding. About Lizzie Reumont Yoga Teacher, Rolfer and Rolf Movement Practitioner, Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner, Private Mentor and Somatic Therapist Lizzie's interest in what it means to be in the body originated from an early age, as a young child living with an active auto-immune illness in an environment where her body never truly felt safe. After spending her teenage years doing everything possible to disconnect from her body, in her early twenties Lizzie attended her first yoga class. This became an entry point for what continues to unfold as a lifelong practice of uncovering new layers of understanding about what it means to be herself, and what it means to be human. Lizzie has been teaching yoga and working as a Rolfer, Rolf Movement practitioner and craniosacral therapist for over 20 years. During this time, she has also moved through an arc of personal circumstances that include a liver transplant, a cancer diagnosis and a colectomy. Whilst her body has changed form, her inner landscape has found clarity and depth. Her scope of work has also shifted, adding Compassionate Inquiry and Somatic Experiencing to the tools she uses as a multidisciplinary Somatic Therapist. Alongside her curiosity about what shapes the experience of being human, Lizzie is also an avid nature enthusiast, bird watcher, piano player and mother, which are all sources of inspiration and joy. Promotional Messages: Compassionate Inquiry® Conference—Vancouver 2026 If you've completed, or are currently enrolled in Compassionate Inquiry training, you're invited to attend the third international CI Conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 30 to November 1. Dr Gabor Maté is returning as our keynote speaker and master class presenter. Enjoy engaging workshops and inspiring demonstrations with Sat Dharam Kaur, CI Facilitators and Practitioners. Whether you join us in person for three days of shared inquiry with CI cohort partners, and colleagues from around the world, or attend virtually to focus on the teachings, tap this link to learn more and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, tap this link for more information. Resources: Websites: Professional Website Books: (Auto-Immune Illness, Chronic Pain, Female Studies) Between Two Kingdoms Unwell Woman The Invisible Kingdom Bodies of Truth Body Horror The Body Keeps The Score When The Body Says No (Authenticity) The Secret to Superhuman Strength Dying To Be Me A Matter of Death and Life The Roles We Play What It Means To Be Human Far From The Tree Daring Greatly (Trauma) <a href= "htt...
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Birth, Grief and the Threshold Moments of Life, with Anouk Wehli
2w ago00:53:39Tap to summarizeHosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. What do birth and grief have in common? For Anouk, they are different sides of the same coin; threshold moments where our bodies already know what to do, if our minds allow us to trust the process. Anouk's life has so many facets, layers, and redirects that it would have been easy for her to overlook the consistent theme, which is simply: "Everything was meant to happen." In this warm and wide-ranging conversation, Anouk explores: - What shifts grief from a natural and healthy human experience into pathology - What seeing birth and death as different sides of the same coin, taught her about life - How becoming a parent can activate unprocessed transgenerational wounds - What it means to grow up as a "third culture kid" - How her multicultural inheritance, Korean, Swiss and Taiwanese, shapes her perspectives Throughout this interview Anouk shares many of her beautiful facets: Two decades running a children's forest school. A lifetime of crossing cultural and emotional thresholds. Her work in 'The Portal.' A concept she calls Essence Recovery. And at the end, the gift she offers to anyone hesitating at a life threshold is simple and steadying: "You're not alone in this." About Anouk Wehli: Traumatologist Anouk brings a unique synthesis of clinical expertise and lived experience to the fields of growth and development. As a psychotherapist, trained midwife, grief specialist, massage therapist, outdoor educator and mother, her work is rooted in the belief that our personal histories and professional lives are fundamentally interconnected. She joined Compassionate Inquiry in 2020 and today works as a Portal Facilitator, Circle Leader and behind the scenes in administration. The trauma lens Compassionate Inquiry offers has deepened her work as a grief counsellor, birth worker, communications trainer and bodyworker. Having survived cultural and generational trauma, she knows first-hand the powerful effects of compassionately being with pain so suffering eases and life becomes more bearable… even enjoyable. Growing up in Taiwan and Hong Kong with a Korean mother and Swiss father endowed Anouk with an invaluable set of multicultural competencies. Her melting pot upbringing and education in international schools instilled open-mindedness which she embodies when working with clients from all around the world. Working virtually has opened up a cosmopolitan online practice which she invites you to step into, if you're drawn to start your recovery journey with a Compassionate Inquiry session. Promotional Messages The Portal Training If you've been listening to our podcast, you may have heard guests connect their birth experiences with enduring subconscious behavioural and emotional patterns. To help break this cycle, Compassionate Inquiry® offers The Portal, a 28-week trauma-informed training for perinatal health professionals; such as midwives, obstetricians, nurses and doulas, who want to empower their patients to trust their innate ability to birth, bond & nurture their child. Tap this link to learn more Spotlight Episodes Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes | Sponsorships Resources: Websites: Professional Website Compassionate Inquiry Profile Related Links: Grief Recovery Method The Grief Recovery Handbook Cruse Bereavement (UK) National Bereavement Alliance (UK) What's your Grief? Grief School The Beyond Addiction Program The Portal Training Compassionate Inquiry Professional Training Compassionate Inquiry Circles Science and Nonduality (SAND) The NVCI Circle Cat McCarthy's Interview Social Media Instagram @anoukwehli
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From 'Difficult Child' To Healing Difficult Clients, with Anouk Bindels
3w ago00:59:58Tap to summarizeHosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Some healing journeys begin with a single crisis. This deeply moving conversation tracks a healing journey that spans more than 5 decades; from infant medical trauma, to being sent to a children's home, to losing her first husband to cancer, the sudden suicide of her second husband, myelitis-induced paralysis and incontinence, the esophageal cancer that followed years of dexamethasone treatment, and a near-death experience during chemotherapy. Anouk's life is one where extraordinary trauma coexists with luminous aliveness, intelligence and impeccable care. She shares: - How being 'fixated' as an infant wired her nervous system for survival, dissociation and a lifelong resistance to touch - What finally forced her body to say no, and the crack of light that initiated her return - How psychedelics, approached within a carefully held therapeutic container, opened childhood layers that nothing else had reached - What it means to build a healing model from the inside out, and why the safety of the container is everything For anyone considering legal psychedelic work, Anouk's retreat model, with its rigorous preparation, trauma-trained support team, and structured integration program, represents something rare and genuinely trustworthy in a landscape where harm is all too possible. Join us to hear how one woman's most shattering experiences seeded her most profound gifts. About Anouk Bindels A psychologist, systems therapist, coach and trainer, with a private practice based in the Netherlands, Anouk's work focuses on understanding the deep roots of trauma and the protective patterns people develop in order to survive difficult experiences. Having spent 40 years helping people heal from trauma, her Heart & Brain healing approach springs from firsthand experience, deep training, and a desire to offer something better.. Over the years, Anouk has continued to deepen her knowledge and professional skills through various international refresher courses and studying the works of: Jan Foudrenne, Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, Joe Dispenza, Kelly Turner, Bruce Lipton, James Fadiman, Stephen Porges, Dan Siegel, Gabor Maté, Janina Fisher and Frank Anderson. Anouk has also completed the Compassionate Inquiry® professional training and participated in the Kiyumi trauma-informed, psychedelic-assisted therapy, preparation, and integration programs developed in collaboration with Gabor Maté. By combining her versatile, international orientation with her professional insights and personal life experiences, Anouk developed the Heart & Brain healing process, which skilfully bridges the gaps between modern neuroscience and traditional Eastern philosophy, and between cognitive psychology and spirituality. Anouk's learnings gained through her personal experiences with loss, trauma and illness are woven throughout her book, Wisdom of Trauma. It is currently available in Dutch and German. However, English and Spanish translations are underway. In addition to her book, Anouk offers various forms of therapy, coaching, small groups and Heart and Brain Healing Camps (4.5 or 7 day psychedelic retreats with full preparation and integration elements). On her website, she offers an online trauma course (9 modules) and numerous meditations. Promotional Messages: Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, please tap this link. Spotlight Episodes Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes | Sponsorships Resources: Website: Professional Website Related Links: Therapy Offerings Coaching Offerings Meditations Free Meditation Journal Events Trauma-Sensitive Training (with New Mind Institute) Heart & Brain Healcamp (Retreats) Wisdom of Trauma (Podcast - 2025) Wisdom of Trauma (Book - 2021) When the Body Says No (Book) The Myth of Normal (Book) Radical Remission (Book) Radical Hope (Book) Gabor Mate, MD (YouTube) Howard Schubiner, MD (YouTube) Social Media: Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
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Your Nervous System Path to Intimacy and Aliveness, with Charon Normand-Widmer
4w ago00:59:35Tap to summarizeHosted by Kevin Young. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. What if the part of yourself you've been taught to suppress is actually the doorway to being fully alive? Charon has spent a lifetime exploring that question, as a somatic therapist, a shamanic bodyworker, through her training in Compassionate Inquiry® and her new book, Sovereign in Love: The Nervous System Path to Holding Desire, Power and Intimacy. (2026) In this Spotlight Episode, Kevin engages Charon in a wide-ranging conversation that flows from the body's quiet intelligence to the life force that animates everything, including our capacity to tolerate, connect, create and engage fully with the world around us. Charon shares: - How her life's work springs from reading bodily signals as a child, and watching her mother grieve - What it means to "drop into the body;" through a live demonstration - Why sexual energy is about life force, not intercourse, and why a healthy relationship with sexuality doesn't require a partner - How shame around sexuality can shrink our capacity for presence, connection and aliveness - What it means to be sovereign in love… and why pleasure is not a luxury but our birthright This episode offers both a map and a permission slip to anyone who has ever felt disconnected from their own intimacy and aliveness. Charon invites us to consider what we've been taught to suppress, and what might become possible if we free it. About Charon Normand-Widmer LMSW, Relationship Therapist A Licensed Master Social Worker and somatic psychotherapist, Charon is the founder of Luminous Ground, a body of work at the intersection of nervous system science, intimacy, and embodiment. For over a decade, she has worked with individuals and couples in the territory where most healing actually happens: the body. Her approach is trauma-informed, somatic, and deeply relational, drawing on attachment theory, polyvagal theory, and the practices of erotic embodiment. Charon believes that people are not broken, they are carrying nervous systems that learned, often very young, how to survive. The work, in her hands, is helping the body feel safe enough to come back online. Her practice offers a range of doorways into this work: 1:1 sessions, written therapy by letter, group containers including Embodied Tantra, live ceremonies and circles, and Empower Your Pathways, her ongoing WhatsApp community for those committed to longer-term integration. She also teaches and writes at the intersections of nervous system, intimacy, desire, and sovereignty, with essays appearing on her Substack and across her social platforms. Charon's first book, Sovereign in Love: The Nervous System Path to Holding Desire, Power and Intimacy, released on June 1, 2026 from Sovereign Press. It is available on Amazon and IngramSpark. Promotional Messages 3rd Compassionate Inquiry® Conference—Vancouver 2026 If you've completed, or are currently enrolled in Compassionate Inquiry training, you're invited to attend the third international CI Conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 30 to November 1. Dr Gabor Maté is returning as our keynote speaker and master class presenter. Enjoy engaging workshops and inspiring demonstrations with Sat Dharam Kaur, CI Facilitators and Practitioners. Whether you join us in person for three days of shared inquiry with CI cohort partners, and colleagues from around the world, or attend virtually to focus on the teachings, tap this link to learn more and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, please follow this link. Resources Professional Website Related Links Free 'Intimacy Without Armour' Masterclass Embodied Intimacy (Small-group sessions) Private 1:1 & Group Work Muse Codes 1-Month Audio Experience Empower Your Pathways WhatsApp Broadcast: Books Sovereign in Love: The Nervous System Path to Holding Desire, Power and Intimacy (Amazon) Sovereign in Love: The Nervous System Path to Holding Desire, Power and Intimacy (IngramSpark) The Power of Divine Eros: The Illuminating Force of Love in Everyday Life Articles Relationship Alchemy (Substack) Compassionate Inquiry Blog Library Social Media Facebook Instagram Tiktok
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25 Stops On the Line: Celebrating 2 Years and 100 Episodes
Jul 201:02:14Tap to summarizeHosted by J'aime Rothbard, Kevin Young & Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. What happens when you look back at a hundred conversations, a hundred faces, and a hundred stories? We're celebrating two years of The Gifts of Trauma with a taster menu; twenty-five small bites pulled froPlem our most listened to episodes. An astonishing range of topics have been covered; from math anxiety to menopause, to addiction and neurodiversity, war and racism to colonization/invasion, grief and wounds to diseases, relationships, masculinity and fatherhood, to adoption and childhood trauma, and so much more. We'd also like to acknowledge Diana Gharib for participating in an interview from the frontlines in Beirut, while drones were flying overhead. [Episode 87] In this special compilation episode, Rosemary, Kevin and J'aime reflect on: - Why each episodes focuses on the gifts trauma reveals, not just the trauma itself - Two beloved guests who passed shortly after their episodes published - The deep wisdom being shared in Spotlight Episodes by community members We all agree that the glory belongs to our guests: the people who showed up and shared their work, their compassion and their humanity. And as Sat Dharam says when this episode opens, sometimes arriving at the destination simply means one person, somewhere, realising they're not alone. Promotional Messages: Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, tap this link to learn more. Spotlight Episodes Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes | Sponsorships Resources: Compassionate Inquiry® Podcast, All Episodes Our Taster Menu: In Order of Appearance Episode 1: Gabor Maté, MD "There's nothing fundamentally wrong with anybody... the wounds that you carry can be healed." Episode 10: Sat Dharam Kaur, ND "I'm allowing something bigger to carry this whole ship... to make the impossible possible." Episode 2: Rhonda Nelson "I had this ability to drop the cane when I was around my family." Episode 5: Stephen Brown "I knew I was in the wrong place," on walking into a Protestant enclave in Belfast as a teenager during the Troubles. Episode 86: Rosemary Wanganeen "I had to empty my physical body of all that grief energy for my spirit to feel safe enough to come home. And between my physical body and my spirit, we've been able to sustain that connection." Episode 55: Reggie Hubbard "I grew up in a land that saw me as a threat when all I wanted to do was be a blessing." Episode 63: Juliano Innocenti "Most of humanity is our tribe. We just are taught to see difference and separate. We're not different. We've just been pulled apart." Episode 18: Vimalasara Mason-John "When did you lose your play? When did you lose your aliveness? When did you stop being enchanted by your own story?" Episode 25: Sat Dharam Kaur "What happened to you... what happened to your ancestors... you're not what happened to you." Episode 3: Luke Sniewski "I didn't even know what an emotion was until I turned 30." Episode 73: Silva Neves, Diana Safta "There are so many things about sex that people believe to be true [that] are just constructs that have [their] origins in religion." Episode 36: Wen Harper Harris While sitting at a stoplight in LA, scrolling, "There was no time to stop and pause and do nothing and be." Episode 11: Jordan Decker "Shame is a shortcut to change with long-term consequences, whereas love is a long road that ends in resilience." Episode 28: Dr. Louise Taylor "That would have possibly been quite handy to know prior." [On being diagnosed dyslexic in the final stretch of her PhD.] Episode 13: Sara Easterly "We live in a culture that tells us adoption is beautiful. And yes, it can be. But I also have a lot of really hard parts of my story. There's grief, there's loss that don't get acknowledged." Episode 29: Gordon Neufeld "We've never had more books... and we've never been so dumbed down." Episode 22: Matthew Green "The real edge of this is asking what role journalists can play in recognizing the role of trauma underneath the crises that we see in the news." Episode 85: Dr Kenneth Doka, Maria Estrada, Ellie Davis "Acknowledge life even with grief. There's lots to live for, lots to learn, lots to know." Episode 96: Efu Nyaki, Rennet Wong Gates "I'm not going to fix you. I'm sitting here with you so that you can learn something from me as I learn something from you." - Efu Nyaki Episode 16: Allison Creech "I have a visceral, felt sense awareness of that presence... I love that space." Episode 77: Zach Bush, MD, Eva Dalak "More so than the victim or the perpetrator, the savior is actually the one going in to poison the system and see who can survive." Episode 50: Inés Zabalaga "We've got you, honey bunny, we've got you... you don't have to do it alone." Episode 66: Kate Hazlitt, Inés Zabalaga "I'm pruning not just for myself, but for everyone that is coming up before me and after me." Epi...
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Weeds, Weevils and the Cultivation of Authenticity, with Sat Dharam Kaur
Jun 2500:55:32Tap to summarizeHosted by Kevin Young and Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Authenticity isn't something we build, but something we've always carried and spend our lifetimes learning to trust. Sat Dharam defines authenticity as fidelity to one's own personality, spirit and character, and traces hers back to early childhood where she showed up as; the leader, the organiser, the person who 'got things done'. But her path to trusting led her on a healing journey through shame and the fear of rejection. That healing, she says, is what Compassionate Inquiry offers at its core. In this wide-ranging and delightful conversation, Sat Dharam explores: - What it means to be true to one's personality, spirit and character, across a lifetime - Why shame is so corrosive, and how being accepted and received can loosen its grip - How safety, confidence and repetition build the capacity to act with authenticity - The balance between masculine boundary-setting and feminine collaborative trust. This is a conversation about gardens, weevils, bumblebees and Yellowstone wolves… all of which takes us back to what it takes to become fully ourselves. About Sat Dharam Kaur, ND Compassionate Inquiry® Co-Director, Training Facilitator, Circle Leader, Certified Practitioner A practicing naturopathic doctor (since 1989) with a focus on women's health, cancer and mind-body approaches to healing, since 2012, Sat Dharam has been studying, working and teaching with Dr. Gabor Maté. She structured his work in the Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Online Training, and since 2019, she has incorporated it into her naturopathic practice. Sat Dharam holds a BA (Psychology & English Literature) and a BSc (Biology). She completed her postgraduate studies at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine where she also taught stress management and women's health for 10 years. The author of multiple *books on women's health, Sat Dharam also presents at global events, including Oxford 2025, Europe's largest trauma, mental health and wellbeing conference. An expert instructor in Kundalini Yoga, which she has practiced and taught for over 45 years, Sat Dharam has developed yoga-based curricula in addiction recovery, trauma, and breast health; specialties in which she offers training to teachers around the world. Sat Dharam and her husband live in an off-grid home on 105 acres of beautiful land where she nurtures fruit trees and a large garden. She enjoys hiking, cycling, and communing with plants. She has three adult children and two grandchildren. Promotional Messages: 3rd Compassionate Inquiry® Conference, Vancouver, 2026 If you've completed, or are currently enrolled in Compassionate Inquiry training, you're invited to attend the third international CI Conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 30 to November 1. Dr Gabor Maté is returning as our keynote speaker and master class presenter. Enjoy engaging workshops and inspiring demonstrations with Sat Dharam Kaur, CI Facilitators and Practitioners. Whether you join us in person for three days of shared inquiry with CI cohort partners, and colleagues from around the world, or attend virtually to focus on the teachings, tap this link to learn more and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, tap this link Websites: Professional Site Compassionate Inquiry Profile Related Links: Wolf Reintroduction in Yellowstone Courses: Beyond Addiction Compassionate Inquiry Presentations: Oxford 2025 Books: *The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Women's Health *A Call to Women: The Healthy Breast Program & Workbook *A Naturopathic Guide to Preventing Breast Cancer *The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer Podcasts: Sat Dharam, Your Addiction Reveals Your Hidden Pain Sat Dharam, Compassionate Inquiry Training: The Origin Story Sat Dharam, Healing Addiction and Codependence in Community Sat Dharam, I'm All I Wanted to Be, Now What? Sat Dharam, Technology & AI: Benefits & Hazards Sat Dharam, Bridging the Gap Diana Gharib & James Gordon, MD, When Survival Usurps Grief Quotes: "Shame can only be reduced when we're accepted, we're received, we're understood, we're loved." - Sat Dharam Kaur "Confidence comes from safety, repetition, positive feedback and the support of peers. The greater the confidence, the greater the authenticity. So they work together, don't they?" - Sat Dharam Kaur 'With our mind we create the world.'- Buddhist Philosophy "Before we can create the world, the world creates our minds." - Gabor Maté "When we can feel safe, authenticity is allowed to blossom and bloom. Diversity is allowed to blossom and bloom. People who have a natural inclination to work in small or big teams, to be creative in different ways, all of that is supported, encouraged, and allowed, naturally/". - Kavin Young [Global regeneration] "It's not only possible, but I see it happening. Diana Gharib is practicing Compassionate Inquiry on the front lines in Beirut. We're taking calm, we're taking kindness, we're taking compassion into areas of chaos and unimaginable cruelty, horror and destruction. So it's already happening". - Rosemary Davies-Janes As A Man Thinketh Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:— He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking-glass. - James Allen. Social Media: Instagram
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"So Many Ways to Come Home" In the Journey to Belonging, with Stephanie Sheng
Jun 1800:52:33Tap to summarizeFor those of us who have never quite fit in the environments where we found ourselves, the search for home can extend beyond geography. Stephanie Sheng knows this intimately. Born in the US to a father from China and mother from Hong Kong, she belonged fully to neither culture. At age 10, when her father was diagnosed with stage four cancer, big questions arrived and never really left. A Compassionate Inquiry® Practitioner, Yoga Guide and Psychedelic Integration Specialist, Stephanie has spent years supporting others in finding their way back 'home' to themselves. Drawing on her own path which was shaped by displacement, loss, grief, and a decades-long inquiry into what it means to truly belong, in this thoughtful conversation, she reflects on: - How growing up between cultures, and her father's last 10 years, seeded her life's work - The moment in a Colombian Maloka that transformed her understanding of 'home' - Why homecoming is less a destination than a practice of returning to what we already are - How it can look and feel when we're longing for home, but don't know it If you have ever felt like a stranger in your own life, this episode shares gently profound wisdom. It often turns out that the way back home is not as far as it seems. About Stephanie Sheng, Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner, Psychedelic Preparation & Integration Coach, Nondual Tantra Yoga and Somatic Movement Facilitator Stephanie's work explores the intersections of somatics, Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed and trauma-informed therapeutic support, expanded states of consciousness, spirituality, and the wisdom and practices of indigenous and earth-based cultures. Currently based between Germany and Mexico, of Chinese and Cantonese ancestry, she was born in the US and primarily raised there, while also spending several years in Hong Kong. When she was 10, Stephanie's father was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. He navigated this for ten years before passing away. Accompanying her father through his process of embracing death opened her to a spiritual path and nudged her to begin learning, at an early age, how pain can be transformed into wisdom and healing. These formative experiences also laid the foundation for her lifelong exploration of home, belonging, death, life, and beyond. Through these explorations, she came to understand home as something far deeper than just a physical place. Inspired by her own path of homecoming, Stephanie's work offered through The Way Back Home, is devoted to accompanying others on their journey back home—home to what it means to be fully alive as a human on this earth; home to our fully felt, expressed, soulful, and authentic selves; and home to the essential depth of who and what we are beneath it all. Promotional Messages: Compassionate Inquiry Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry® approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, tap this link. Spotlight Episodes Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry® into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes | Sponsorships Resources: Website: Stephanie's Professional Website Stephanie's Compassionate Inquiry Profile Books: Women Who Run With the Wolves (Chapter 9: Homing) Braiding Sweetgrass To Bless the Space Between Us The Wayfinders I Am That The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi Podcasts: On Being Episode with John O'Donohue On Being Episode with David Whyte For The Wild Poems: By David Wagoner (audio reading) Lost By John O'Donohue Belonging For Presence By David Whyte Everything Is Waiting for YouThe House of Belonging Sweet Darkness By Mary Oliver Wild GeeseWhy I Wake Early By Rumi There is a Candle In Your Heart Meditation: With Tara Brach, Realizing Our True...
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Tending to Our Wounds: Where Science Meets Spirit, with Solea Anani & Dr Aimie Apigian
Jun 1100:55:21Tap to summarizeHosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. What is the body actually holding, and how does it release it? While every Wounded Healer episode has touched on this inquiry, this final conversation brings it firmly into focus. Solea Anani, who opened this series with myth, prayer and an invocation to the wound's own intelligence, returns to close the circle. She's joined by Dr Aimie Apigian, a double board certified physician whose Biology of Trauma framework maps what happens at the cellular level when the body stores survival. Coming from two very different perspectives, they hold aligned understandings on: - What blocks our bodies from their innate ability to recover fully from injuries or illness - How to unravel the legacies of epigenetics and its spiritual counterpart, the karmic bundle - Why the nervous system 'braces', and why healing cannot begin until the brace is released - What home feels like in the body, and why arriving there, in yourself, is what healing actually is - What Chiron says about the moment the wound has finished its teaching Solea opens and closes this conversation ceremonially, holding the container she created in Episode 1. Her closing, an invocation for everyone who is creating new antidotes in a world being birthed anew, brings the series to a quietly luminous end. About Dr Aimie Aipigian, MD, MS, MPH A double board-certified physician in Preventive and Addiction Medicine, with advanced training in biochemistry, public health, and functional medicine, Dr. Aimie is known for making trauma healing both precise and deeply human—bridging functional medicine, attachment science, and trauma therapy to show how the body stores survival patterns and what it specifically needs to heal. Through her Biology of Trauma® framework, she integrates somatic work, parts work, and targeted biology to identify where the system is blocked and restore its capacity for healing through a structured, measurable sequence. The founder of Trauma Healing AcceleratedTM Dr. Aimie trains individuals and practitioners worldwide to move beyond insight into real, lasting change. She also hosts the Biology of Trauma® Podcast [linked below] and authored the multiple-aware winning book, The Biology of Trauma (foreword by Gabor Maté), a national bestseller featured on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Book list. About Solea Anani, Spiritual Mentor Solea Anani is the founder and guide of ANAM, a living sanctuary devoted to supporting the emerging human in deep relationship with the intelligence of the Soul. Her work is rooted in the interwoven lineages of Animism, Depth Psychology, and Mysticism, offering a path that bridges the inner and outer worlds through embodied awareness and relational attunement. Born of Taíno, West African, Chinese, and Spanish ancestry, Solea's work is informed by a reverence for ancestral wisdom and the living world. She walks as a practitioner of Animism, perceiving life as a field of relationship with both human and other-than-human beings—earth, elements, ancestors, and unseen realms. Through ANAM, Solea offers mentorship, somatic attunement practices, ancestral reverence work, and evolutionary astrology as pathways into deeper coherence, relational intelligence, and embodied wholeness. She accompanies individuals and groups in the sacred process of becoming—where soul, body, and cosmos meet in living co-creation. Promotional Messages: Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, tap this link to learn more Spotlight Episodes Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes | Sponsorships Resources: Websites: Solea's ANAM Website Dr Aimie's Biology of Trauma Website Related Links: Ancestral Reverence Somatic Attunement Evolutionary Astrology Solea's Free Somatic Attunement Meditation Classes Solea's Core Resonance Mentorship Introduction What is Collective Healing? (Podcast) Biology of Trauma Professional Training The Essential Trauma Release Sequence Guide The Attachment Trauma Roadmap Biology of Trauma Podcast The Biology of Trauma Book Dr Aimie's YouTube Channel Quotes: "It really is an illusion to separate anything, mind from body or emotions from physiology. It is so interconnected that more repair can be made much faster than in any form of siloed approach." - Dr Aimie Apigian "The immune system is in an environment and its response is very normal for the environment it is in." - Dr Aimie Apigian "Bracing will block the feelings that we need to feel to be able to move through them and heal." - Dr Aimie Apigian "The healing process actually is arriving in ourselves, in a way that we feel safe and at home." - Dr Aimie Apigian "For me, home is rhythm and being in contact with that rhythm, the unique, essential cadence we were born into… Every human has their own movement and jazz and rhythm…" - Solea Anani "We're not just dropped into this chaotic existence. We are born with the tools and the skills to unravel it." - Solea Anani "Healing doesn't fully complete. It has radiuses of information and wisdom that it's continuously bringing into our life form." - Solea Anani "To proudly carry our wounds and to be with our grief and to be with the places in life that are messy is allowing ourselves to be fully human." - Solea Anani Social Media: Dr Aimie's Facebook Dr Aimie's Instagram Dr Aimie's LinkedIn Solea's Instagram Solea's LinkedIn
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The Teacher's Wound: Beyond the Therapy Room, with Allison Creech, Rachèl Hughes & Dr Mays Imad
Jun 400:58:56Tap to summarizeHosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. This fourth episode of the Wounded Healer Series welcomes three educators whose wounds shaped not just how, but why, they teach. Mays, a Palestinian-Iraqi neuroscientist and educator, lost her home and homeland. She has carried that wound into every classroom ever since. Allison, a teacher and naturopathic doctor worked through her shadows and learned, in her graduate classrooms, what it means to teach from a place of security. Rachèl Hughes, a trauma-informed educator, came to teaching through personal tragedy and found that the most meaningful lessons she offers her students have nothing to do with their curriculums. Together our three guests discuss: - The nature of the teacher's wound - Why the classroom, at its best, is a sanctuary, and what the costs is when it isn't - What the brain does differently when a student feels seen, through the neuroscience lens - Why resiliency is a double-edged sword - The difference between delivering content and being present to who is in the room What does it mean to teach from a wounded place? And what becomes possible when a teacher stops delivering content and starts presencing themselves? Join us, if these questions resonate with you. About Allison Creech M.ED, ND As a licensed naturopathic doctor with 20 years of experience, Allison's work focuses on empowering people to establish healthy mind-body patterns that support whole-being wellness. She is a professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine and a Certified Compassionate Inquiry® Practitioner with advanced training in somatic, relational, and psychedelic therapies. Allison is also a member of the Compassionate Inquiry educational team supporting the work of Gabor Maté, MD. She facilitates the year-long Compassionate Inquiry professional program and provides mentorship for practitioners looking to deepen their practice. About Rachèl Hughes, BA Psyc, B.Ed, OCT, CT. Rachèl works with students at secondary and post-secondary levels, drawn to the places where trauma, identity, belonging and human development intersect and open opportunities for genuine learning and healing. A Certified Compassionate Inquiry (CI) Practitioner, CI Circle Leader, Mindfulness Facilitator and Counselling Therapist (practising under the ACTA framework) Rachèl offers private sessions and mentorship to individuals seeking meaningful support. She also contributes to curriculum development and educator support initiatives aimed at bringing trauma-informed practices into schools and learning communities, both in person and online. Over the years Rachèl has come to believe that our tender places, when we stop hiding them, can become our most generous gifts—to the students we teach, the people we mentor, and the wider circles we are privileged to hold. The conviction that sits at the heart of her work: Feeling truly seen is not a luxury in learning or healing, but the very ground from which both become possible. About Mays Imad, PhD, Associate Professor and Neuroscience Program Director, Connecticut College An educator who deeply believes in and is committed to education as a path for healing, liberation, and transformation, Mays is interested in understanding the social determinants of student well-being and success. She conducts research on biofeedback, stress and burnout, and trauma-informed care. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to tend to intergenerational trauma and to prioritize repair, healing, and intergenerational well-being. An Associate Professor in the biology department and the Neuroscience Program Director at Connecticut College, Mays serves as the Association of American Colleges & University Senior STEM Fellow, as a scholar in residence at the Red House at Georgetown University and a research fellow with the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest at Stellenbosch University. Promotional Messages: 3rd Biennial CI Conference—Vancouver 2026 If you've completed, or are currently enrolled in Compassionate Inquiry® training, you're invited to attend the third international CI Conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 30 to November 1. Dr Gabor Maté is returning as our keynote speaker and master class presenter. Enjoy engaging workshops and inspiring demonstrations with Sat Dharam Kaur, CI Facilitators and Practitioners. Whether you join us in person for three days of shared inquiry with CI cohort partners, and colleagues from around the world, or attend virtually to focus on the teachings, tap this link to learn more and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. Spotlight Episodes Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes | Sponsorships Websites: Allison's Professional Site Rachèl's Professional Site Mays' Professional Site Mays' Personal Site Related Links: Compassionate Inquiry Dr Bea Bleile's Interview Bell Hooks Mays on Witnessing & Wonder; Moral Wounds in Higher Education Mays on Higher Education Mays on Teaching & Learning Mays on Trauma & Repair Quotes: "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop." - Rumi "I can track my movement through different layers of shadow to a place that feels like security in myself and much more permission to be authentic." - Allison Creech "Resiliency means there's a chronic presence of adversity. Thriving is a different kind of energy." - Allison Creech "Teaching is a relational field, not just a knowledge delivery system." - Rachèl Hughes "'Having a teacher who cared about my feelings, and knowing tears did not diminish your view of me, made me feel comfortable.' When I have doubts, that sentence is all that matters. That's why we do it." - Rachèl Hughes "I am an agent of the system and I fully believe in its power to liberate us, them and the world." - Dr Mays Imad "Sometimes it's been a stranger's nod that realigns me, helps me remember where I come from. These are glorious glimmers." - Dr Mays Imad Social Media: Allison's LinkedIn Allison's Instagram Allison's Facebook Rachèl's LinkedIn Rachèl's Facebook Mays' LinkedIn Mays' X
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