Blog

Latest Writing

Lou writes on trauma, leadership, systems, and the human story. A selection of recent pieces:

The Moment of Disclosure: Without Sensationalism

Give to Gain Why Believing Women Is a Nervous System Intervention There is a moment that happens in thousands of rooms every day. A woman begins to speak. Her voice

Why Healing Takes Time

And why quick interventions often don’t land There is a growing frustration in the trauma and human development fields. Many people report powerful experiences in therapy, retreats, trainings, or personal

GLP-1s, Addiction, and the Danger of Miracle Language

Over the past year, there has been a noticeable rise in conversations positioning GLP-1 medications as a potential breakthrough in the treatment of addiction. For some, this has brought genuine

The Ones Who Were ‘Fine’: Glass Children and the Hidden Cost of Growing Up Invisible

By Lou Lebentz You were the one who didn’t rock the boat.You were the helper, the peacekeeper, the one who smiled even when your heart was breaking.You were ‘the easy

When Spirituality Bypasses the Body: The Wound Beneath the Wisdom

There’s a growing trend in the healing world that whispers: You are not your thoughts.You are not your trauma.You are not your story. And in many ways, I agree. We

Wounded Nations, Projected Shadows: A Trauma Lens on Rising Populism

There’s something I’ve been noticing lately, and maybe you have too. It’s the rise of healing that looks good but doesn’t necessarily feel good. It’s shiny. Branded. Empowering on the

Beyond Scarcity: Why the World Feels So Divided (And How We Heal)

There’s a growing sense of tension in the world, a feeling that we’re more divided than ever. Extreme wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of a few, while

Gloss vs. Depth: How to Tell the Difference in the Healing Space

There’s something I’ve been noticing lately, and maybe you have too. It’s the rise of healing that looks good but doesn’t necessarily feel good. It’s shiny. Branded. Empowering on the

Limerence, Trauma & the Longing to Be Chosen: A Clinician’s Guide to the Ache Beneath Obsession

As trauma-informed clinicians, we hear this kind of language often, especially from clients with complex trauma histories. What looks like infatuation, or even addiction, is often something deeper: limerence. A

The Power of Words…I was handed a humiliating experience I will never forget.

About ten years ago, before I delivered my first TEDx talk, I decided to take a speaker training course with a world-renowned speaker. At the time, I was a rookie,

Beyond Regulation: Why the Nervous System Isn’t the Whole Story

There’s no question that nervous system intelligence is having its moment, and thank goodness. For too long, we’ve tried to address emotional pain, leadership struggles, burnout, and breakdowns without understanding

Nobody Is Broken — Just Buried Beneath the Labels

Why even trauma-informed spaces must evolve beyond pathologising language Intro “What if the problem isn’t that you’re broken, but that you’ve been buried under diagnoses, descriptions, and labels that never

Trauma Isn’t What Happened To Us — It’s What Happens Inside Of Us

Reclaiming the truth about trauma so we can finally begin to heal A quiet revolution is happening, and it starts with how we define trauma. For far too long, trauma