Send us a text Description In this episode of the Get Trauma Informed Podcast, Peer-to-Peer Wellness Coach Liz Blanding explores why trauma-informed leadership is essential in every environment — the workplace, church, schools, and community. Liz shares a personal story of returning to work too soon after her first car accident and being re-traumatized by a supervisor’s angry response. This experience highlights how unresolved trauma and non-trauma-informed leadership can cause lasting...

Send us a text Description In this episode of the Get Trauma Informed Podcast, Coach Liz dives deep into the question: What is trauma? Trauma is not just about the events we’ve lived through — it’s about how our mind, body, and spirit respond when life feels overwhelming, unsafe, or unbearable. We’ll also explore what trauma looks like in relationships, why timing matters when sharing your past, and how to protect your energy in those conversations. Timestamps 1:07 – What tr...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In this powerful episode, host Liz Blanding sits down with trauma survivor and sound healer Matthew DeWard. After surviving a near-death stabbing and enduring extensive facial reconstructive surgery, Matthew found healing through music and peer-to-peer trauma recovery. Today, he channels his journey into helping others heal at Stillwater Temple, his sound-focused recording studio. Together, Liz and Matthew explore: How trauma shaped Matthew’s life and hi...

Send us a text Episode Overview: This episode of the "Get Trauma Informed" podcast addresses the significant challenges transit workers face, including high levels of stress, frequent traumatic events, and long-term impacts on their mental health. Featuring insights from Coach Michael, a retired Chicago Transit Authority worker, the discussion also highlights the "Pathway to Trauma Recovery" book, offering readers strategies and resources to foster trauma recovery. Key Takeaways: Transit Wor...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In this episode of Get Trauma Informed, pre-recorded July 2024. We sat down with Justin Moore, a former Air Force jet engine mechanic turned entrepreneur. Justin shares his inspiring journey from military life to business success, and how a trauma-informed approach has helped him navigate life’s challenges. He discusses the impact of mental health awareness and the importance of shifting away from unhealthy coping mechanisms. Justin also introduces his sustain...

Send us a text Episode Summary In this closing episode of the Warrior Within 12-week series, Wellness Coach Liz Blanding celebrates the journey we’ve taken together from understanding trauma to building emotional safety, recovering from financial trauma, reclaiming identity, and experiencing the power of peer support. This week, the focus shifts to your new mission: moving forward with meaning after trauma. Trauma may always be part of your story, but it doesn’t define your future. You’ll ...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In this episode of Get Trauma Informed, Wellness Coach Liz Blanding explores the transformative role of peer support in long-term trauma recovery. Trauma can make us feel isolated, unseen, and unsafe, but connection changes everything. You’ll discover: How peer support rewires your beliefs about safety, belonging, and worth. The neuroscience of co-regulation and why your nervous system needs safe people to fully recover. A biblical reflection from Ecclesias...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In Week 10 of The Warrior Within, Liz Blanding addresses a critical — and often misunderstood — part of the trauma recovery process: relapse. Whether it's returning to old habits, toxic relationships, or emotional shutdown, relapse is not the end of your healing. It’s a signal from your nervous system that you need support, not shame. Key Topics Covered: What relapse looks like in trauma recovery (isolation, shutdown, avoidance)Why relapse happens: trigger stac...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In Week 9 of The Warrior Within, Liz Blanding tackles one of the most transformational skills in trauma recovery: boundaries. For many survivors, especially those from chaotic homes, military environments, or abusive relationships, boundaries were broken before they were ever built. In this episode, Liz breaks down what boundaries are, how trauma disrupts them, and how rebuilding them can lead to self-worth, peace, and emotional wholeness. Key Topics Covered: U...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In Week 8 of The Warrior Within, Liz Blanding leads us into one of the most transformative aspects of trauma recovery: telling your story. Trauma teaches us to stay silent, shrink, or hide. But healing begins when we reclaim our voice and shift from surviving to storytelling. This episode explores how testimony transforms, why telling your story in your own words matters, and how it aligns with both neuroscience and scripture. Key Topics Covered: Why storytelli...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In Week 7 of The Warrior Within, Liz Blanding opens up a vital yet often overlooked topic: financial trauma. Many trauma survivors — veterans and civilians alike — carry deep emotional wounds around money. From poverty and job loss to financial abuse and instability, money becomes more than a resource — it becomes a trigger. This episode explores how to recognize financial trauma, understand its symptoms, and start healing your relationship with money through s...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In this powerful episode of The Warrior Within, Liz Blanding explores the essential trauma recovery theme of emotional safety. From nervous system dysregulation to broken trust and relational isolation, Liz breaks down how trauma impacts our emotional world—and how we can begin to heal. Whether you're a veteran or a civilian CPTSD survivor, this episode guides you toward regulation, rebuilding trust, and reconnecting with yourself and others. Key Topics Covere...

Send us a text Episode Summary: This week on The Warrior Within, Liz Blanding dives into the complicated and often misunderstood world of trauma triggers and flashbacks. With honesty and compassion, she explains how the body remembers what the mind tries to forget. Whether you're a military veteran or civilian survivor of CPTSD, this episode provides insight, validation, and practical strategies to navigate flashbacks and build a sense of safety. Key Topics Covered: What is a trigger? Unders...

Send us a text Episode Description: In Week 4 of The Warrior Within, we’re addressing two of the most hidden—and spiritually painful—wounds many trauma survivors carry: moral injury and survivor’s guilt. Whether you're a veteran grappling with what happened in combat, or a civilian struggling with shame after escaping abuse or outliving others, these wounds go beyond the emotional—they cut into the soul. In this episode, Coach Liz shares the truth: you are not defined by what you saw, ...

Send us a text Episode Description: In Week 3 of the Warrior Within trauma recovery series, we explore two very different trauma battlegrounds that lead to similar internal wars—Military PTSD and Civilian Complex PTSD (CPTSD). Though their sources differ—combat vs. chronic abuse—their effects often overlap: emotional shutdown, hypervigilance, flashbacks, and deep identity wounds. In this heartfelt episode, Coach Liz unpacks the trauma responses common to both groups and emphasizes that ...

Send us a text Episode Description: In Week 2 of the Warrior Within trauma recovery journey, we dive into the science and spirituality of neuroplasticity — the brain’s miraculous ability to heal, rewire, and recover after trauma. Whether you've endured the battlefield, childhood abuse, or chronic stress, this episode reminds you that your brain is not broken—it’s wounded, and wounded things can heal. We’ll explore how trauma rewires the fear, memory, and decision-making centers of the b...

Send us a text Episode Description: In this powerful launch to our Veteran Trauma Recovery Program, we dive deep into how trauma changes the brain—and how the brain can heal. Using the science of neuroplasticity, Coach Liz breaks down how trauma survivors, whether veteran or civilian, can retrain their minds and rewrite their stories. If you’ve ever felt stuck in survival mode, this episode will show you that your brain isn’t broken—it’s wounded, and it can recover. Topics Covered...

Send us a text Description: In this deeply moving episode of the Get Trauma Informed Podcast, host Liz Blanding welcomes Mike Murphy — author, speaker, and founder of Mountains of Hope Wellness Retreat. Mike shares his personal story of growing through childhood trauma and how it shaped his mission to help others reclaim their power. 💬 Key Takeaways: [00:00] What it truly means to “get trauma informed” [05:47] How trauma can transform you into a powerful creator instead of a passive s...

Send us a text Episode Summary In this eye-opening episode, host Liz Blanding sits down with certified family recovery coach and author Mike Shooty to explore the deep connection between trauma and addiction. Mike shares his 20-year journey battling substance use disorders and how uncovering unresolved trauma became the turning point in his recovery. Drawing from his book Lost in London: Journey from Insanity to Acceptance, Mike takes us through the cycles of relapse, the pain of unhe...

Send us a text Episode Summary: In this final episode of the Trauma-Informed Leadership Masterclass, Coach Liz Blanding closes the series with a powerful reminder: healing is ongoing, layered, and deeply personal. She shares accessible recovery resources through Oasis Wellness Centers and offers reflective practices that help leaders stay grounded, self-aware, and purpose-driven as they lead others through recovery and resilience. Key Talking Points: Trauma Recovery Resources: Free and ...