Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

(REPLAY) Creativity as Medicine: What Happens When We Finally Share Our Truth with Leah Morris

Riva Jean-Paul

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This week's Healing Her Story episode is a replay, and it is arriving at exactly the right time.

As Riva has been moving through Leo season exploring themes of courage, creativity, and being seen, this conversation with her dear friend and transformational coach Leah Morris felt like it was made for this moment.

Leah kept her self-portrait paintings in a closet for nearly twenty years.

Not because they were not beautiful. But because she believed she was too much. That her emotional expression was a burden. That her art was too personal to be shared.

But this carries profound wisdom about what happens when we finally let our truth be seen.

In this episode Riva and Leah explore:

How childhood emotional caretaking shaped Leah's relationship with self-expression and why she spent years believing her feelings were too much

The moment a stranger saw her hidden paintings and cried and what that revealed about the power of authentic creative expression

How two EMDR sessions shifted everything and led to the breakthrough belief that she gets to decide how much space she takes up

What happened when she finally shared her art with the people closest to her and how their reactions taught her that other people's responses are not hers to carry

Why framing her paintings felt like giving them boundaries and how that mirrors the work of protecting what we create before sending it into the world

The connection between secure attachment and creativity and why the ability to take creative risks requires a felt sense of safety first

How motherhood has become the ultimate creative act and what her daughter Eden witnessed by being present at the exhibit

What Leah would say to every woman afraid to share her voice or her gifts — love yourself harder, and know that the fear was never yours to begin with

This episode is a love letter to every woman with something beautiful still hidden in the closet.

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Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering.

This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy.

You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are.

Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper:

  • Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book Here
  • Free Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here
  • 1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn More
  • Meditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen Here
  • Watch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch Here

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