If you are a healer and helper, do you sometimes get frustrated that trauma healing never ends?
In the early days of trauma healing, trauma meant life-threatening events. Now the definition of trauma includes neglect, unmet needs, and experiences that block personal growth and self-realization.
When we're done with the heaviest trauma, we notice layers of ancestral trauma. Vicarious (secondary) trauma we may carry from our clients or loved ones, collective trauma, past life trauma, and so on.
It's never done!
In this conversation with Alisa Gratcheva, a psychotherapist, trauma specialist, healer and spiritual seeker, we address trauma from the perspective of our soul journey and the power that is dormant underneath our traumatic experiences.
We share our personal journeys navigating transgenerational and personal trauma to becoming healers and helpers.
We discuss:
- The three stages of healing – Alisa Gracheva outlines a transformative process: self-awareness (“name it to tame it”), willingness to change, and readiness to step into discomfort—emphasizing that deep healing requires moving beyond comfort zones and habitual patterns.
- The spiritual dimension – Alisa highlights that lasting healing often demands reconnection with our Soul, with the Higher Self, shifting from a victim perspective to seeing challenges as catalysts for growth, and cultivating faith that even painful experiences can yield gifts.
- Community, nature, and ancestral roots – We explore the collective trauma of disconnection from land, ancestors, and communal living, noting how reconnection—through nature, tradition, or ancestral healing—can restore a sense of belonging and wholeness.
- Plant medicine as a tool – Drawing from her experience with over 100 ayahuasca ceremonies, Alisa describes how sacred medicine can accelerate healing by dissolving ego barriers and providing tools for transformation—while stressing that integration and personal responsibility are essential for lasting change.
You can connect with Alisa on her website, www.since.life
