The Healing Life

S2E3 - Who's Raising the Kid in You?

Nine months ago, Amanda became a parent to a tween and teen overnight. What she didn't expect was how fast that would put her back in the room with a much younger version of herself, one who never got what she needed. This episode moves quickly and goes deep, through an old wound, a parts-work practice that's changed how she shows up for herself and her kids, and the realization that all of us might be parenting someone younger inside ourselves. You don't need to have kids to be part of this conversation.

S2E2 - Who Told You That You Couldn't Trust Yourself?

Amanda used to have an all-consuming relationship with a being she thought was speaking into her mind. And then she didn't. In this episode, she traces what it costs to lose that voice and the safety net it provided, as well as what it takes to find your own when you were deliberately trained not to trust it. She talks about the compass she thought she had, the divorce that arrived during a deconstruction process that already had her head spinning, and why she kept seeking answers from men even after she'd left the system that told her to. She also shares the tools that helped her find her own voice and ways of knowing and is candid about how far she still has to go.

S2E1 - What Your Enneagram Type Is Really Protecting: A Conversation with Liz Orr

Season 2 is here, and we're kicking it off with a conversation with Enneagram author and expert, Liz Orr. We explore what your type is really about beyond personality, and how it shows up as a survival strategy. We talk about all nine types, self-compassion, conflict, neurodivergence, and why growth is less about the long arc and more about the tiny needle moving day to day. Liz is a personal and professional development coach for medical students by day, and an Enneagram author, nerd, and menace by night. She's a huge proponent of self-compassion and of not taking ourselves too seriously in the work of it. She's the author of The Unfiltered Enneagram: A Witty and Wise Guide to Self-Compassion and the creator of the Instagram account @rudeassenneagram, where she roasts all nine types with equal affection. Liz is based in North Carolina, and when she's not doing Enneagram things, she can be found participating in competitive axe throwing, brewery trivia, or on long walks with her sassy dog, Olive. Find Liz at @rudeassenneagram [https://www.instagram.com/rudeassenneagram] on Instagram. Enneagram assessment: https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/dotest [https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/dotest]

S1E8 - This Is Just the Beginning

What if everything you've been told about middle age is wrong? In the Season 1 finale of The Healing Life, Amanda explores what it means to step into yourself — through her own story, through research on identity and self-transcendence, and through the radical idea that the hard stuff you've lived through was never a detour. It was always the path. For anyone who has ever wondered if they've missed their window: you haven't. It's exactly the right time. Sources Almeida D.M., Rush J., Mogle J., Piazza J.R., Cerino E., & Charles S.T. (2023). Longitudinal change in daily stress across 20 years of adulthood: Results from the national study of daily experiences. Developmental Psychology 59(3):515-523. doi: 10.1037/dev0001469. Reischer, H. N., Couch, N. G., Wright, M. N., Duarte, A. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2026). Narrative self-transcendence: Decreased regret and increased acceptance over late midlife. Journal of Personality, 94(1), 137–150. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.13022 [https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.13022] Reischer, H. N., Roth, L. J., Villarreal, J. A., & McAdams, D. P. (2021). Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults. Journal of Personality, 89(2), 305–324.

S1E7 - Late Diagnosed

Three weeks before sitting down to record this episode, Amanda found out she's autistic. She shares what that's been like — the thing she's always felt inside herself finally has a name, letting the mask come off, tending to the severe burnout in which she found herself, addressing communication issues that nearly ended her marriage, and why she's scared and okay at the same time.