PTSD and Beyond

Be the Good: A Season of Humanity, Healing, and Hope

In this extended PTSDandBeyond podcast episode, Dr. Deb explores what it truly means to be the good in a world that feels overwhelming, stressful, and emotionally heavy for many people during this season. This is more than kindness. This is humanity in action. This is care. This is compassion with depth and intention.

 

Together we unpack how the holidays activate our nervous systems, old memories, grief, pressures, and expectations. Dr. Deb shares global stories of people choosing goodness in ways that transform moments and remind us that humanity still exists. We talk about supporting someone who is hurting, supporting ourselves when we are hurting, and finding meaning through small acts of presence.

 

Inside this #PTSDandBeyond episode we will find

• An exploration of being the good for yourself and for others

• Research on stress, trauma responses, and collective care

• Global stories of kindness, courage, and quiet human goodness

• A trauma informed reflection on fierce compassion

• A simple but powerful game you can play with family, friends, or coworkers to reconnect

• Deep reflective questions to carry into the season

 

This episode invites listeners to rediscover hope through action, intention, and connection. It is a reminder that we heal together and that every act of care creates ripples that reach farther than we may ever know. 

 

💖 If This Episode Resonated

Listen, subscribe, and share PTSD and Beyond® with someone who might need this message today.

Join our community where we remind one another:
We’re better together. We’re stronger together. Take what resonates and go beyond.

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

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Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

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Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

What's Next: Part 3 of 3

In this final episode of the three-part series, we explore how healing moves from reflection into action. “What’s Next” is about reclaiming agency, aligning choices with values, and noticing the quiet signs of growth that often begin within the body and the nervous system.

If you’ve ever felt almost ready to take the next step but weren’t sure where to start, this episode helps you recognize readiness, identify what supports you, and take meaningful steps forward at your own pace.

You’ll Learn
• How “What’s Next” represents healing through action and choice
• Signs of readiness such as curiosity, openness, and less attachment to the old story
• Simple strategies for taking action rooted in research and mindfulness
• How to meet fear, perfectionism, and fatigue with compassion
• What embodied progress looks and feels like as your system stabilizes and curiosity returns

Reflection Prompts

1. What’s one thing I’m ready or almost ready to do next

2. What people, practices, or supports can help me move forward

3. How will I notice progress, even in subtle ways

Healing is not about speed but direction and alignment. Every small, value-based step reinforces the belief that you can shape your life and live it fully.

💖 If This Episode Resonated

Listen, subscribe, and share PTSD and Beyond® with someone who might need this message today.

Join our community where we remind one another:
We’re better together. We’re stronger together. Take what resonates and go beyond.

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review! It helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

Part 2: Now What?

In our last episode, we explored the why, that deep search for understanding that often begins our healing journey.

Today, we take the next step.

This episode of PTSD and Beyond® is about the Now What moment, that quiet and profound turning point when we begin to move from explaining the past to imagining what our life can look like now.

We’ll talk about recognizing readiness, reconnecting with values, and gently shifting from reflection into engagement with the present. You’ll hear insights from trauma recovery research, neuroscience, and positive psychology, and be guided through reflective questions to help you begin building your “now.”

This isn’t about rushing or bypassing. It’s about honoring the bridge between the past and the future, one small and intentional step at a time.

🧭 What We Explore in This Episode

• Why the “Now what?” stage is a natural next step after understanding the “why”
• Judith Herman’s stages of trauma recovery and how they mark a turning point
• What neuroscience teaches us about readiness and regulation, including Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory
• The emotional landscape of “Now what,” with hope, grief, and ambivalence
• Guided reflection prompts to explore your readiness and vision
• How positive emotions and values-based living from the work of Barbara Fredrickson and Steven Hayes open new possibilities
• Gentle, practical steps to build your “now” with compassion and curiosity
• Common challenges in this phase and how to navigate them with grace

✨ Takeaway Reflection

Ask yourself:
“What does my now look like?”
“What small step can I take today toward that life?”

Healing isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about being willing to take the next step.

🪞 Quote to Reflect On

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
— Thích Nhất Hạnh

💖 If This Episode Resonated

Listen, subscribe, and share PTSD and Beyond® with someone who might need this message today.

Join our community where we remind one another:
We’re better together. We’re stronger together. Take what resonates and go beyond.

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review! It helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

To the Dreamers - This Episode is for YOU!

To the Dreamers, this episode is for you. I don't know who needs to hear this message right now - but someone out there is a dreamer...has a dream...and is holding on to that dream. No show notes. No outlines. Just grabbin the mic and talking with you. I believe someone needs to hear this message today.

If today’s episode resonated please share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review! It helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

Part 1: From Why to Understanding

Welcome to a new three-part series on PTSD and Beyond: “From Why to Now What to What’s Next.”

“Understanding is not the destination, it’s the foundation. We honor the questions that brought us here, and we release the ones that keep us circling," ~ Dr. Deb Lindh, EdD

In this opening episode, From Why to Understanding, Dr. Deb invites listeners to explore the powerful and sometimes paralyzing question of “why.” Why did it happen? Why me? Why do I still feel this way?

The “why” is where healing often begins. It’s our mind and body’s way of searching for safety, meaning, and understanding after disruption. Drawing from decades of trauma research, neuroscience, and lived experience, Dr. Deb helps us see that the “why” has a purpose but it isn’t meant to be our permanent home.

This conversation helps listeners identify where they are in their own relationship with the “why,” offering reflective questions, gentle guidance, and validation for those who have spent months or years trying to make sense of their story.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why asking “why” is a natural human and neurobiological response to trauma and uncertainty
• How the search for meaning supports early healing (Janoff-Bulman, 1992; Herman, 1997)
• When the “why” becomes a loop that keeps us circling instead of moving forward (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000)
• How understanding can become the bridge toward readiness and change (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004)
• Practical tools to identify what parts of the “why” bring clarity — and which parts keep us stuck
• A guided reflection to help you locate where you are in your process of understanding

If today’s episode resonated please share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review! It helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

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Healing with Grit under the First Supermoon in Aries (2025)

“Healing isn’t something we watch happen from the sidelines.
It’s an act of grit, devotion, and courageous participation in our own wellbeing,” Dr. Deb Lindh

This first supermoon of 2025 rises in bold, fiery Aries and it brings more than a beautiful night sky.

It’s an invitation to look at our healing with fresh courage.

In this special full-moon episode of PTSD and Beyond, Dr. Deb guides us through an inspiring conversation about how healing isn’t passive or casual...it’s an act of grit, action, and fierce self-devotion.

Together we explore:

• ✦ The key themes of this Aries Supermoon and what they reveal about the healing journey

• ✦ Why this moon calls us to move beyond toe-dipping and show up for ourselves in a new way

• ✦ Four powerful rituals you can do under the moonlight to release, move, and recommit to your healing

• ✦ Twelve thoughtful full-moon reflection questions to help you dig deeper in your journal

• ✦ A grounding full-moon affirmation to close the practice and carry with you in the days ahead

Whether we’re sitting under the moon, walking our dog, or journaling in a quiet corner, this conversation will help us connect to own inner courage and stay devoted to our healing path.

If today’s episode resonated please share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review! It helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

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Security and Growth: Honoring Both Needs in Healing

As we wrap up September and prepare to move from our last series, “Things We Don’t Often Say Out Loud,” to our new series, “From Why to Now What to What’s Next,” Dr. Deb invites listeners to pause at the threshold between past and future.

In this episode, we explore the guiding question:

“How can we honor both the need for security and the need for growth?”

Too often we believe we have to choose — to stay safe or to push forward — but healing asks us to carry both. Security isn’t a cage; it’s the ground that lets us step out, try new things, and return for rest. Growth isn’t a betrayal of safety; it’s the natural next chapter when we feel secure enough.

Drawing on key research and decades of lived experience, Dr. Deb discusses:

• Why safety and stabilization (Judith Herman) and predictable routines are the foundation for healing
• How Self-Determination Theory (Edward Deci & Richard Ryan) explains our natural drive for exploration once we feel safe
• The role of the Polyvagal Theory (Stephen Porges) in helping our nervous system shift from survival to curiosity and connection
• What post-traumatic growth research (Richard Tedeschi & Lawrence Calhoun) teaches us about finding meaning and new priorities after trauma
• Why self-compassion (Kristin Neff) strengthens our capacity to move between security and growth
• Practical ways to pair new steps with steady anchors — such as routines, rituals, supportive relationships, and grounding practices
• How to view progress as a bridge — not a leap — with one foot still planted in safety while the other steps forward toward growth

The episode includes a guided reflection to help you identify:

• The secure bases you can lean on right now
• The growth steps quietly calling to you
• The ways to weave safety into your forward movement

Ending with a Bonus Takeaway Quote:

“I honor my need for safety. I honor my desire for growth. I trust that these two needs can support each other. I can step forward while carrying my anchors with me.”

If today’s episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review—it helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

3-Part Mini-Series: 15 Questions Nobody Usually Puts out Loud about Healing

This special episode brings together all three parts of our mini-series: 15 Questions Nobody Usually Puts Out Loud About Healing.

Across these conversations, we explore the truths that don’t often get spoken — but that matter most in the healing journey.

In this full-length episode, you’ll hear:

Part 1: The Foundations of Healing

• Why listening to your body is one of the most underrated healing skills

• The reality that not all providers are skilled or effective

• Why treating healing like a checklist backfires

• How reconnecting with heritage practices can regulate and restore

• The power of keeping promises to yourself

Part 2: The Hard Truths About Healing

• Why feeling safe in your body again is harder than anyone admits

• Why “tough-love” doesn’t heal — compassion does

• Why healing can feel lonelier before it feels lighter

• The truth about breaking cycles: it takes repetition

• The lie that PTSD recovery has a finish line

Part 3: The Breakthroughs & Shifts

• The difference between surviving and living

• How to stop numbing and start listening to yourself

• Why hacks don’t heal trauma, but consistency does

• Why grief and setbacks aren’t failure — they’re part of the process

• The single shift that changes everything: asking for support without apology

💡 Each section includes reflection prompts to help you personalize the insights and take action in your own healing.

If today’s episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review—it helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

Part 3: Breakthroughs and Shifts

In the final episode of this mini-series, we shift from hard truths into breakthroughs and shifts — the mindset changes and practical steps that transform healing from surviving into living.

We’ll unpack:

• The difference between survival and truly living

• Why listening to yourself requires ending the habit of numbing

• Why hacks don’t heal trauma, but consistency does

• Why grief and setbacks aren’t failure — they’re part of the process

• The single shift that changed everything: asking for support without apology

💡 These are the shifts that sustain healing, create momentum, and build resilience.

If today’s episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review—it helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh

Part 2: The Hard Truths about Healing

Healing is often painted as neat, linear, or easy. But the reality? There are truths most people never say out loud.

This second episode of our 3-part mini-series dives into the hard truths about healing — the myths, lies, and realities that shape the process but often go unspoken.

We’ll explore:

• Why feeling safe in your own body again is harder than anyone admits

• The myth of “tough-love” and why compassion and curiosity actually work better

• Why healing can feel lonelier before it feels lighter

• The uncomfortable truth about breaking cycles: it takes repetition

• The lie that PTSD recovery ends at a “finish line”

✨ Honest, unfiltered, and human — this conversation is about acknowledging the truths that free us from shame and help us move forward.

If today’s episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a reminder that they’re not alone.

And remember, we’re better together, we’re stronger together, and take what resonates and GO BEYOND!

In Love and Healing,
Dr. Deb

Listen, Subscribe, & Share:

✨ Remember to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!
💬 Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear this message today.
🌟 Leave a review—it helps us reach more people on their healing journey.

💌 Connect with us:

Website - Dr. Deb Lindh

Website - PTSDandBeyond

Etsy Store - MindfulEffectDesigns

Insta - @DrDebraLindh

Insta - @PTSDandBeyond

X (formerly known as Twitter) - @DebraLindh