Systemic shame & trauma healing: From isolation to connection: Merete Holm Brantbjerg

What would you tell the autistic girl you once were? Journalist Maia Szalavitz, author of the New York Times bestseller Unbroken Brain, speaks to her younger self about autism, self blame, and the childhood belief that being different meant being bad. Her reflections point toward self acceptance and personal growth for anyone who has felt out of place. Key topics: - Discovering she was on the autism spectrum as an adult, through a newspaper article - Sensory overload and the intense world theory of autism - Why being overwhelmed by empathy can look like not caring - Self-hatred, depression, addiction, and the search for self regulation - How a Holocaust survivor father’s trauma echoed in her own fears - The brain as a prediction engine, and the meaning-making that shapes identity - Being gentle with yourself and the human need for connection See more about Proactive Mindfulness and personal growth at https://proactivemindfulness.com

Conflict is not the enemy of love or of mindful presence. Serge Prengel and Russell Delman explore how staying present in difficult moments turns friction into personal growth. Starting from everyday situations (a pile of emails, a tense exchange at home), they look at the shift from reacting to responding, and the felt sense of not needing to defend or win. Russell Delman's approach was shaped by Zen meditation and close ties to Moshe Feldenkrais and Gene Gendlin. Serge Prengel Serge Prengel explores Proactive Mindfulness in therapy and in everyday life. Key topics: - From “I have to” to “I get to” - Responding, not reacting: when the reactive voice stops taking over - Reclaiming more of yourself in the middle of an interaction - Why context, built from experience, matters more than commitment - Bringing meditation practice into intimate relationship - Conflict as a home for love, not something love merely survives - Differentiation and integration in relationships and living systems See more about Proactive Mindfulness and personal growth at https://proactivemindfulness.com

Step inside a therapist's process with Glenn Fleisch, Ph. D. LMFT, who brings 40 years of California clinical practice and extensive training in existential psychology and Focusing to this case review. Trace how somatic therapy practice heals developmental trauma from the inside out. Follow a clinician's real time perceptions as a client's mindful presence and body awareness transform lingering childhood abandonment into lasting personal change. - Following the Process: Experience a clinician's real-time reflection on what he noticed, felt, and sensed during a pivotal session. - Decoding the Stance: Discover how a physical posture hides unspoken emotional needs and developmental abandonment. - Relational Healing: See how embodied presence unlocks deep therapeutic healing beyond standard talk therapy. See more about Proactive Mindfulness and personal growth at https://proactivemindfulness.com

When a client struggles to access body awareness, double downing on somatic techniques can feel like a demand. Exploring what happens when 'I don't know' opens a gap between therapist and client, this episode looks at moving from an internal report to a relational perspective. By tracking external cues and the therapist’s own embodiment, we stay present with personal change as a living process. I offer two courses to help therapists develop the skills and embodied presence to practice Focusing-oriented therapy at the living edge of experience. See: https://proactivemindfulness.com/focusing-oriented-therapy/ Key topics: - Relational mindfulness when a client cannot access internal bodily sensations - Understanding the protective freeze or performance anxiety behind "I don't know" - Tracking observable body language, micro-movements, and speech rhythms - Using therapist self-awareness and embodied presence as clinical feedback - Moving from diagnostic interpretation to curious, shared observation See more about Proactive Mindfulness and personal growth as a living process at https://proactivemindfulness.com

Therapist Serge Prengel speaks with peace activists Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, co-authors of The Future Is Peace. Both having lost family to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they detail choosing active peacemaking over revenge. They examine how personal change unfolds when moving through collective trauma, taking agency, and building a coalition of hopemakers to shift political will. Key Topics: Choosing active peacemaking over revenge Trauma, agency, and active participation in personal change Moving beyond conflict through shared vision Creating a coalition of hopemakers See more articles on personal growth and mindfulness at ProactiveMindfulness.com (https://proactivemindfulness.com)

Therapist Serge Prengel speaks with existential humanist therapist Kirk Schneider about finding a "vibrant center"—an active, embodied state of presence, openness, and discernment. Moving beyond passive moderation or polarized extremes, they discuss how staying present with whole-body awareness and life's inherent uncertainties transforms everyday engagement, from parenting to bridge-building political dialogues. Key Topics: The three pillars of the vibrant center: presence, openness, and discernment Moving past false moderation, avoidance, and polarized oversimplifications Whole-body awareness and turning toward groundlessness and vulnerability Practical applications in parenting and face-to-face bridge-building dialogues Resource: ProactiveMindfulness.com

Host Serge Prengel talks with therapist Jennifer Tantia about somatics beyond trauma, exploring how everyday task avoidance, such as writer's block, is rooted in the body's freeze response. They discuss how curiosity serves as a bridge from self-criticism to compassion, helping us stay present and engaged with difficult feelings so personal change can happen naturally. Key Topics: Somatic awareness in everyday life Navigating task avoidance and freeze states Shifting from criticism to compassion through curiosity Resource: ProactiveMindfulness.com

This episode explores how the trillion-dollar attention economy targets ancient evolutionary survival mechanisms, turning screen addiction into a broader systemic issue. Rather than treating distraction as an individual moral failure, it examines how digital platforms hijack our nervous system's response to novelty and threat. For therapists and individuals alike, proactive, embodied mindfulness becomes an essential practice to reclaim focus and live from the inside out. Key topics: • Evolution of human attention and survival reflexes • The economic logic behind digital distraction • Embodied therapy and experiential approaches to presence • Proactive mindfulness as a necessity for modern living Resource: ProactiveMindfulness.com

Exploring an experiential approach to meditation as a living process, this conversation reframes practice beyond trying to force calm or achieve stillness. Alexandra Pfohlmann and Serge Prengel unpack how personal change unfolds organically through four active stages: showing up in physical posture, sensing real-time interaction, discovering a grounded stability, and allowing tension to release. Rather than treating mindfulness as detached observation, they invite listeners to engage with the natural movement of life. Key Topics Experiential meditation as a dynamic process Moving from defensive grasping to organic letting go Somatic awareness and sensing over detached observation Finding stability and trust without forcing control Resource: ProactiveMindfulness.com

Merete Brantbjerg explores how moving from individual isolation to collective connection transforms trauma healing. She shares how systemic shame and societal avoidance create physical and psychological collapse, particularly in response to unrecognized traumatic experiences. By bringing awareness to hypostates, parts of the body and mind that go flaccid or invisible, she demonstrates how attuned, low-dosage engagement restores nervous system regulation. The discussion highlights trauma healing as a relational and systemic living process. Key Topics Systemic shame and societal avoidance Somatic trauma healing and body patterns Navigating hypostates and hypo-arousal Relational engagement and sustainable change Resource: ProactiveMindfulness.com