My Holistic Therapist

#48 Part 1 Raised by a Narcissist: What the Internet Isn't Telling You

There is more content about narcissism online than ever before, and yet some of the most important clinical pieces are consistently missing from the conversation. In this first episode of a two-part series, I cut through the noise, offering a grounded and nuanced account of what Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) actually is, where it comes from, and what it does to the children who grow up inside it. I explore the diagnostic picture, the developmental roots of NPD, the four-stage relational cycle narcissists move through, and the profound impact on a child's emerging sense of self, including what happens when individuation is blocked at the critical adolescent window. If you have ever found yourself confused about a parent, questioning your own perceptions, or drawn to relationships that feel familiar but leave you depleted, this episode may help you make sense of why. Learn more about the ⁠HEAL Method⁠ [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] Follow me on ⁠Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/]

#47 Why the Next Resource Won't Fix It - And What You Need To Do Instead

This week I'm talking about something that consistently changes the results women get in their health - and it's probably not what you're expecting. The women I work with arrive having tried a lot. Supplements, breathwork, sleep protocols, elimination diets. Each one taken up with real intention. And yet the symptoms persist - the anxiety, the insomnia, the gut issues. We are a holistic whole. Treating symptoms in isolation, without accounting for the full ecosystem you are living inside, will only ever produce partial and temporary results. And when the nervous system has been running in survival mode for years, the doing, the researching, the collecting of new resources becomes an expression of the dysregulation - not a solution to it. This episode is the conversation about why the next resource probably won't fix it, and what actually needs to happen instead. Learn more about the HEAL Method [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/my.holistic.therapist/]

#46 Part 3 The Regulated Woman: Myth Busting Hacks

This is the final episode of the Regulated Woman mini-series with Dr. Carrie Rigoni. We've covered the physical symptoms of stress and trauma, we've gone deep on the vagus nerve - and in this episode, Carrie and I turn the clinical framework onto the wellness industry itself. We work through some of the most widely circulated interventions you'll see on social media - breathwork, meditation, high-intensity exercise, supplements, tracking devices, and give you an honest picture of what the evidence actually shows, and more importantly, what it doesn't. The problem isn't the tools themselves. It's the way they're being sold, who they're being sold to, and what happens when someone with a sensitive or dysregulated nervous system applies them without clinical guidance. Carrie and I have both seen this in our practices, people who have tried every modality on the list and still don't feel well, or worse, feel less well than before they started. We get into why that happens and what it actually tells you about your nervous system. If you've ever found yourself chasing the next thing, rigidly locked into a wellness routine, or wondering why something that works for everyone else isn't working for you, this conversation is the clinical answer to that question. Dr. Carrie Rigoni Website [https://www.drcarrierigoni.com.au/services] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drcarrierigoni/?hl=en] Working with Alex Website [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com]

#45 Part 2 The Regulated Woman: The Vagus Nerve - What It Does and Why It Matters

In this conversation, chiropractor and applied kinesiologist Dr. Carrie Rigoni and I break down what the vagus nerve actually is, what it does, and why understanding it changes the way you think about your stress response. We cover why your body is processing threat faster than your conscious brain can keep up with, why a day off or a meditation won't shift a dysregulated baseline, and how your nervous system may have been shaped before you were even born. We also get into perimenopause - why women who have been pushing hard for decades arrive at this transition with so little capacity left - and why regulating the nervous system through body-based work and psychoeducation is what creates real and lasting change. Dr. Carrie Rigoni * Website [https://www.drcarrierigoni.com.au] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drcarrierigoni/] * Free Resource - Check Your Vagus Nerve [https://www.drcarrierigoni.com.au/vagus-nerve-checklist-adults] Ready to Work With Me? * The HEAL Method [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com]

#44 Part 1 The Regulated Woman: The Physical Symptoms of Stress and Trauma, and Why They Are Missed

In this first episode of a three-part mini series, I am joined by Dr Carrie Rigoni - chiropractor, applied kinesiologist, and vagus nerve educator - for a conversation that many women will recognise immediately. If you have been through the medical system, had every test run, and been told everything looks normal - yet you still don't feel physically well - this episode speaks directly to that experience. We explore why the physical symptoms of stress and trauma are so consistently missed, and what is actually happening in the body when they appear. We reflect on how body-based and psychotherapeutic approaches work together, and why the order of healing matters more than most people realise. This includes an honest conversation about what it looks like for perimenopausal women who are people-pleasing, over-functioning, and running on a nervous system that has been quietly dysregulated long before midlife arrived. This is clinical, grounded, and practical - a conversation about why the body keeps the score, and how to start working with it rather than around it. Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Download Carrie's free Vagus Nerve Guide [https://www.drcarrierigoni.com.au/vagus-nerve-checklist-adults] Follow Dr Carrie Rigoni on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drcarrierigoni/] Follow The HEAL Method [https://www.healforlifeprograms.com]