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 may be steady. It may tremble. It may be matter-of-fact. It may sound detached. It may sound confused. But beneath the words, something enormous is happening. She is taking a risk. When a woman discloses harm, abuse, coercion or violence, her nervous system is already activated. Disclosure is not neutral.…

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 development spaces - moments of clarity, emotional release, insight, or relief - only to find that these changes do not always hold once the container ends and everyday life resumes. This experience can leave people feeling disillusioned. Not just with a particular modality, but with therapy or trauma work more…

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 hope. For others, relief. And for some people, very real changes in cravings and compulsive behaviours. I want to be clear from the outset. I am not anti-medication. I am not anti-science. And I am not dismissing the very real experiences of people who are finding benefit from these drugs.…

By Lou LebentzYou 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 child’. The one who didn’t need much.But you did need something - and it never came. This is for the ones who coped.The ones who stepped aside.The ones who learned - consciously or unconsciously - that there wasn’t space for them. There’s a term for this experience.They call it being a…

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 are not the wounds we carry.We are not the things that happened to us.There is always more to us than the pain we’ve lived through.But here’s the part that often gets missed:Healing doesn’t happen by transcending pain.It happens by turning toward it: gently, safely, and with reverence.Because the moment we…

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 surface. But if you tune in closely, especially through the body, something’s off

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 the rest of us are left to fight for the scraps.

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 surface. But if you tune in closely, especially through the body, something’s off

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 potent cocktail of longing, fantasy, fear, and unmet need, limerence isn’t about love. It’s about survival.

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, a nervous, unsure, and self-critical aspiring speaker. Though my glossophobia (fear of public speaking) had improved, I still felt vulnerable and not good enough. But I hoped this seasoned professional would boost my confidence and help me refine my skills.