Rewire Your Mind: How Neuroplasticity Helps You Heal from Trauma and Reclaim Confidence!

Did you know your brain can change...at any age? 

In this powerful episode, we explore how neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire and form new neural pathways—can support emotional healing, especially for those navigating the aftermath of complex trauma.

Using real-life analogies and compassionate insight, I explain how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are deeply interconnected and how trauma wires the brain for protection, not growth. But there is hope. We dive into cognitive work, the truth behind growth vs. fixed mindsets, and how you can slowly shift your thinking to build confidence, break free from perfectionism, and move toward the life you desire.

Whether you’ve felt stuck in anxiety, overwhelmed by emotional triggers, or unsure if healing is even possible—this episode will affirm that change is within reach.

Topics Covered:

• What neuroplasticity means and how it works
• How trauma affects the amygdala and emotional responses
• The difference between growth and fixed mindsets
• Why perfectionism is a trauma response
• How to start retraining your brain with cognitive tools
• Spiritual + cognitive approaches to healing
• Real examples of mindset transformation
• Encouragement for midlife women on their healing journey

Next steps:

 Join the Radiant Rockstars Healing Membership

Apply for 1:1 private coaching

Ready for calm on demand? 

Download my 5-Minute Reset, a guided scent and breath routine for fast nervous system regulation.

Transcript

 This topic is really interesting. The topic is really bold. You can change your brain.

What do you think that means to change your brain?

Do you think that means that we immediately change the way we think and believe and be?

I know I'm in that transition period in my life where, my muscles are changing in my body, and the workout I used to do at 20 years old no longer works for me. All that heavy, intense cardio that I used to do for so many years is something that if I were to do it now, I would probably pull a hand string

hurt a knee or something. So we adjust. Always transitioning the way that we work, our muscles and our body. And when we do work our muscles, it is always encouraged for women our age to do lifting weights. We lift weights. They may not be a hundred pounds or 50 pounds, but they are weights to lift.

And we do that because we wanna keep our muscle mass over time. So a muscle that gets worked out grows. And it builds lean muscle and healthy muscle. It's the same type of thing with changing our brain and neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity means the expansion of the brain working to help it grow in a certain area in our life. Just like our muscles grow bigger and get stronger, our brain can do the same thing with repetitive use. the brain is made up of millions and billions of nerve cells.

They're called neurons. And they all connect together through a network. Of over a trillion tiny branches. They're called neurotransmitters. They communicate with each other these little pathways that are grown.

Think about, I don't know if you've ever seen those sciences sci-fi movies where, there's an underground, you know, community and you see all these little roadways and you can turn left or right, or any other way, and you can get to your destination that way.

But the goal is always to get the quickest, most straight way with these chemicals shooting through these, these pathways, these neurotransmitters, those signals are responsible for every step you take. Your heart beating all your thoughts and your emotions. So these things happen so quickly simultaneously, we don't even know it.

It happens so fast. Our brain is so amazingly made and. When we, when we work those, that pathway a certain way, it becomes well used.  this is what happens when it comes to trauma. Many of our neuro pathways and our neurotransmitters that communicate have been created in a very intense and unsafe way.

And our brain, the whole reason that we have our brain is yes, to think and to be, you know, and to unconsciously care for us. But its whole purpose is to keep us safe. So when we've experienced a high level of trauma, chronic or complex trauma. Those neurotransmitters that communicate one way their way to keep us safe is, is something that's, grown in unhealthy circumstances.

These chemicals that run through our brain, those thoughts and those emotions are not the healthiest, because our thought processes were developed in a traumatic state.

The reason why it's important to understand the little bit of the sciency part is because we can work to help the brain , and to make it stronger.

That's where cognitive work comes in. When you repeat a behavior. In action, any emotion, a thought over and over again that pathway responsible for sending this signal becomes stronger and it becomes easier and easier.

And habits are formed. They say usually it takes 21 days to form a new habit. It's not easy stepping into something new, but once you go down that route, you're starting to create a new habit. It's also how emotional triggers are created and negative patterns of thought and behavior are formed.

Whether the outcome is good or bad, whatever that you do repeatedly, I. Changes the physical workings of the neural connections in your brain.

What's important to know is that for many years scientists believe that the brain loses its ability to grow and change early in life. But they now have proof that even old brains, older brains can change by developing more connections and strengthening those wires.

We can change the way we think, the way we feel, and the way that we are in our life. And it doesn't matter. We don't have to be young or old. Those of us who have suffered and experienced chronic and complex trauma, that is a majority of the women I work with come to me thinking they, don't know what is going on.

They have, they cannot pinpoint. The, the moment where their life shifted and became what it was, they've learned to mask and deep down inside, they're agonizing.

Emotionally, they are frustrated because they can't understand what their brain is trying to tell them. They can't translate what's going on in their mind.

That's where cognitive work comes in.

A lot of people think intelligence is fixed. We're born with a certain intelligence level. The world in general,

That whole academic world. There's many who are very intelligent. Academia wise, I. And they're very smart, but they're not wise. There's no wisdom there. Their brain has been wired to understand intellect and academia, but they haven't connected with their emotions and thoughts. Well, so many of these academia, so-called incredibly highly intelligent.

Beings are very unhappy, are very unfulfilled, are very. Frustrated because they haven't connected with their thoughts and emotions. Because just as intelligence is important, it's also important to understand and build, emotional awareness and thoughtful awareness. And that's something that's lacking and can create depression and anxiety on a whole different level.

And that's its own type of trauma. Think about going to school and trying to do well at school. And if you weren't, you were shamed or you were bullied. By for being different. That creates its own level of trauma. So trauma can come from many avenues and it could affect people in so many different ways.

But here's the truth. The truth is that while there are minor variations between people and their innate predispositions, that means are they gonna be really, really smart because their family line is smart. The factor is that contributes to a person's level of intelligence at any age. Is there a exposure to information and experience combined with the amount of time that they have spent learning.

So intelligence can be grown just like any physical activity, you know, think about those of us. Myself, I consider myself a highly intelligent person. But I've learned that intelligence through a very non-traditional approach. I'm certified in several aspects of things over the years. I've been certified in many different things and have grown in my education, but I don't have a master's degree, nor do I need one to get the work I need or to make the income life that I have.

So I've learned that confidence that , it doesn't take a rocket scientist to have to be in the best job or that type of thing to know things. Life can be so much more rewarding when we understand these things. So how does that play when it comes to our confidence? When we start to learn and become aware of what our thoughts and emotions are, we are able to see what we contribute and bring to a table.

And in turn, we can grow in our mindset. And that is where the real beauty lies. So think about different people in different jobs. For example, there's an example here of people who are cab drivers. My husband, he's a professional driver. He's been one for over 20 years. I feel immensely safe with him in the vehicle.

His response on the road is instant. It's amazing. He's developed those skills over time and what, what happens is because. And he knows everywhere in Atlanta, like he can go, he's like, oh yeah, I know where that is. Like he can go to places you've never heard of because of the jobs that he has done over the years.

So he has a larger hippocampus. The part of the brain that has to do with spatial memory, . So his. Hippocampus is larger. It's enlarged because he's used it so many times. Those of us who have suffered trauma, now, remember what I said earlier, our thoughts and emotions could be positive or negative, but those of us who have experienced trauma have a larger amygdala, which is that those little almond shape organs in our brain, that have to do, they're the center of emotion and feeling. That means triggers can set us off. Most of it is negative. Our brain is always looking to

make us feel safe. Every new experience is fearful. Every new thought or stepping into something new is a very scary thing. What I do as a cognitive coach is I help you to train to shift that thinking so that you're not as afraid. Anymore, and that your anxiety can be put at bay. That doesn't mean we're not gonna have anxiety. Confidence is not perfection.

Perfectionism is an A DHD trait. It's a neurodivergent trait because really the stems of it, according to much psychological research, is that perfectionism is a form, is a byproduct of a form of trauma.

We try to control every other aspect of our life, which makes us perfectionists, overachievers. Our brain, again, makes us wanna feel safe. So we feel that's normal until we realize it's not. And then when we do realize it's not, then all the emotions come and that it affects us and it makes us feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

The goal with, when I work with my clients, especially intimately one-on-one, is it's a process that takes time to shift the thinking, that growth mindset.

What a lot of people find is a misconception of the growth mindset is that we feel we have to have the growth mindset a hundred percent of the time. And that's not true. The growth mindset is Allowing our minds to grow. To be able to look at things in a way that helps us to grow in our thinking

there are several common misperceptions that can prevent you from being able to develop a true growth mindset, either because you reject the idea, because you feel like a a fixed mindset. So a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset. If somebody says, I can't do that, no, I'm not smart enough to do that.

No, I can't go there. No. Yeah, everybody's this way, or that's more of a fixed mindset,

The growth mindset taking on new challenges, being able to step into things that make you feel a little uncomfortable. Remember our brain, wants us to feel safe at all times. So if somebody's saying, give this a try, you're like, Uhuh, no, I'm not doing that. That doesn't make me feel safe at all.

But when we step into something good, how do we know we're not gonna love it? I think about it like trying food. Have you ever had a friend say to you, here, try this. I had my aunt. She's like, here, try this alligator. And I'm like, oh, alligator, what?

Are you kidding me? And she's like, just give it a try. You just never know until you try it. When I tried it. I was, I was really impressed with it. It was really good. If I wouldn't have tried it, if I would've stayed in that Uhuh, I can't do that. I don't like it. I won't like it. It's not gonna be there.

It's disgusting. How would I have known it was good? Difference between fixed mindset and growth mindset. So. Um, forgive me, the garbage guy is outside, so you can probably hear it. But it says either you reject the idea because you feel like having a, a fixed mindset makes you wrong or bad because you struggle to identify authentic growth mindset from simply the appearance of it.

No one is either 100% fixed and 100% growth. Mindset or growth oriented. Everyone is on a spectrum between the two. Someone can be fixed in one area of their life, such as believing their intelligence is fixed, but have a growth mindset in other areas, such as believing that they can develop a singing ability.

People's lives situation can impact how they view themselves in others. For example, you could have a growth mindset that helps you to achieve success within your organization, but then you promote it to a leadership position and then start believing that you can have all the answers and fall into, or you can't have all the answers, and you fall into that fixed mindset.

That was just an example. Understanding what the growth mindset is helps us to see where we need to grow in our lives. And when it comes to somebody who has experienced trauma, their fixed mindset is larger than their growth mindset because they have created a very safe space for themselves even if it's toxic.

They don't grow into that confident person want to be because they're afraid to step into something new

I use a lot of spiritual timeless principles along with cognitive work to support my clients. Many of them have a very strong spiritual perspective in their life, but they also have very limiting beliefs within that spiritual perspective. Maybe due to emotional trauma, religious trauma.

People you know of trauma from outside their situation. Remember, trauma is anything that we don't, that we were not able to control in our life that has created an event that has created a very toxic memory in our brain. And so that could be anywhere and that could be with anything.





Before I wrap this up know that I'm here for you to support you.  If you feel that you want to have a one-on-one, book of discovery call or check out the shownotes to see what my programs are.

I understand where you are and I understand where you wanna be. 

Once we start to change the way we think, we can start to change the way we live, we can release.

We can become the person who we want to become.

And whatever our goals are, we can, you know, we need more of that in our life, don't we?

See you next time.