Rapid Transformational Therapy Explained: Overcoming Anxiety & Finding Purpose with Nino Fincher

Surviving Domestic Violence: How Courage, Curiosity & Connection Lead to Healing

Host Dave Roberts welcomes Kat Polsinelli to the Teaching Journeys podcast to discuss how a decade-long abusive relationship shaped her life and mission. Kat, a domestic violence and PTSD survivor, shares her journey of leaving at 28 with two children, rebuilding identity, and helping others through speaking, her podcast Real Chat with Kat, and The Lotus Effect. She emphasizes that survivors are not alone, that abuse is often emotional and psychological, and that common biases and stigma—especially toward men—harm understanding; she cites domestic violence prevalence and deaths. Kat and Dave highlight why “just leave” is complex, the importance of safety planning, and how helpers can hinder by talking over survivors or taking control. Kat presents her TEDx “three Cs”—courage, curiosity, connection—plus a simple practice for judgment-free conversations, and previews a mid-May support community. Kat's Bio and Contact Information From stepping onto a stage at just 10 years old to stepping out of a decade-long abusive relationship, Kat Polsinelli's journey is one of courage, resilience, and radical transformation. Now a sought-after speaker, bestselling co-author, and host of Real Chat with Kat—a top 5% globally ranked podcast airing on four radio stations and two public TV stations—Kat is on a mission to shed light on the unseen wounds of emotional and psychological abuse while empowering others to reclaim their strength and rewrite their stories. A survivor of domestic violence, PTSD, and the challenges of single motherhood, Kat speaks with raw authenticity about the invisible scars that linger long after the abuse ends. She chose to leave, to rebuild, and to lean into courage every day—and now she helps others do the same. Through her own story and hard-won insights, she challenges audiences to rethink what they know about trauma, healthy relationships, and resilience, offering a powerful look at the emotional and psychological toll of abuse and the path to healing. Kat's talks go beyond inspiration—they spark deeper conversations and deliver practical change. She brings a no-nonsense approach with a compassionate heart, making her a powerful voice for colleges, healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and advocacy organizations. Whether she's speaking to students, educators, social workers, or criminal justice professionals, audiences walk away with greater understanding of the survivor experience and actionable tools to support those affected by abuse. Featured in NashvilleVoyager, CanvasRebel, and Her Nation, Kat has taken the stage at universities, domestic violence awareness events, and criminal justice panels. She's here to challenge perspectives, create change, and prove that even the darkest moments can become catalysts for transformation. Connect with Kat Polsinelli: Website: www.the-lotus-effect.com [http://www.the-lotus-effect.com] Podcast: Real Chat with Kat (available on all major platforms) Socials: @KatPolsinelli To connect with Dave, go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]

How Dance Heals Trauma: Emma Leach on Five Rhythms, Grief & Finding Your Voice

Host Dave Roberts welcomes Emma Leach to the Teaching Journeys podcast to discuss how art and movement shape healing and meaning. Leach describes a childhood rooted in theater and visual art amid family instability and bullying, and how creative expression helped her cope. She shares the loss of her first love, Ray, who died of a heroin overdose at 27, and how discovering Gabrielle Roth’s Five Rhythms dance practice became a turning point, leading her to teach the method for 25 years and apply arts-based work with marginalized youth, prisons, and addiction. Leach explains Five Rhythms (flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, stillness) as an energetic “wave” that supports intuition and trauma release. She also outlines her in-progress documentary, Let It Play, centered on Ray’s handmade guitar as a metaphor for grief, hope, and storytelling through musicians and dance. Emma's Bio and Contact Information Emma Leach has spent 35 years listening to bodies. Not as objects to be trained or corrected, but as living texts, fluent in a language older than speech. Movement, for her, is not decoration or performance. It is metaphor in motion. A way meaning arrives before thought has time to organize it. Rooted in the Five Rhythms as her main body of study, Emma has been teaching this practice for 25 years. Over decades of guiding others through sweat, silence, pulse, and release, she has witnessed how movement tells truths the intellect cannot negotiate. The body speaks sideways, symbolically, through weight and rhythm and pause. It reveals what words circle but never quite land on. Alongside this devotion to movement practice, Emma has wandered widely through other art forms. Visual art. Installation. Clowning. Burlesque. Theatre and ritual theatre. Each discipline added texture, tension, and contrast. Each offered another doorway into presence, risk, and transformation. Yet again and again, she found herself returning to the body as the primary instrument, the original stage, the first storyteller. Now her work is evolving. What once lived in separate rooms is beginning to converse. From this convergence, Movement Metaphor is emerging. A living, expanding practice that recognizes the body as a generator of meaning rather than a vehicle for ideas. In this work, movement does not illustrate concepts. It unlocks them. Emma’s inquiry rests on a simple, radical knowing. When the body moves with attention, something beyond intellect comes online. Memory. Image. Instinct. Archetype. The unsayable finds form. Gesture becomes sentence. Rhythm becomes revelation. Her work invites people into that threshold, where language dissolves into motion and motion reassembles as understanding. Not tidy. Not fixed. Alive. Emma Leach continues to explore, create, and listen. Following movement not as an answer, but as a question that keeps unfolding. 🎵 About the Documentary: Let It Play is currently in post-production and seeking support. Follow Emma's journey at emmadance.co [http://emmadance.co] | Instagram: @EmmaChristinaRed To connect with Dave, go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]

From Narcissistic Abuse Survivor to Holistic Healer: Deanna Scaldaferri's Story

Host Dave Roberts welcomes Deanna Scaldaferri to the Teaching Journeys podcast to discuss her work as a licensed massage and bodywork therapist, Reiki master, intuitive life coach, speaker, and facilitator of a narcissistic abuse recovery support group in Charlotte, North Carolina. Deanna shares how her Italian-American, Catholic upbringing, living overseas (especially in Germany), and major traumas—including being a 9/11 survivor, losing her parents, and leaving a dangerous 20-year narcissistic relationship—shaped her path. She describes recovery tools including faith, psychotherapy, somatic work, neuroplasticity/rewiring, massage, Reiki, and energy protection for empaths. Deanna explains similarities and differences between massage and Reiki, emphasizing nervous system regulation, trauma release, and clarity/intuition. Deanna's Bio and Contact Information Deanna Scaldaferri is a Licensed Massage & Bodywork Therapist, Usui Holy Fire III Reiki Master, Intuitive Life Coach and Public Speaker. Her passion is helping people grow on their life’s journey and spiritual path to find healing, balance, health, love and happiness. She approaches every person with a total MIND, BODY, SPIRIT mindset and treats each client individually. She offers a safe and trusting place, and the ability to hold space with compassion & empathy, without judgment. Massage therapy and Reiki energy healing are her main tools in helping others release stress & heaviness to feel better in their bodies physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually. She has overcome heavy trauma and many obstacles in her personal life, and feels inspired to help others do the same. Deanna is grateful to be of service to others in attaining a healthier and happier life. Deanna has been facilitating a Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support Group in Charlotte for the last 4+ years. She herself is a survivor of this emotional, verbal & psychological abuse, and knows first-hand how damaging it is to the mind, body and spirit. The intention of the group and its monthly meetings is to educate, learn, grow and heal, all in community with like-minded people who are seeking recovery and healing in their lives from these toxic and abusive relationships. Deanna creates a safe space where survivors can feel heard and truly seen, and recognize that they are not alone. Many members of this group book private sessions with Deanna for massage, coaching or Reiki energy healing to help find clarity and purpose in their lives, as well as to help release trauma from the body. Deanna offers holistic healing tools to get to the root cause of people's blockages in their lives, that keep them from moving forward. She helps them reconnect with themselves, build a sense of empowerment and heal from the inside out. www.healinghandsbydeanna.com [http://www.healinghandsbydeanna.com] https://www.meetup.com/charlotte-narcissistic-abuse-recovery-meetup-group [https://www.meetup.com/charlotte-narcissistic-abuse-recovery-meetup-group] https://www.youtube.com/@HealingHandsbyDeanna [https://www.youtube.com/@HealingHandsbyDeanna] https://www.deannadecamillo.com/ [https://www.deannadecamillo.com/] Deanna would like to offer a promotional item of a 10% discount to any of The Teaching Journeys Podcast listeners for booking a private session with me. Anyone can book me virtually for Reiki Energy Healing or Intuitive Coaching. The coupon code to use is: DAVE10%OFF To vonnect with Dave, go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]

The Diamond Within: Michelle Kuei's Journey from Machu Picchu, to a Top 15 coach

Host Dave Roberts welcomes Michelle Kuei, a business and visibility marketing coach for coaches and founder of Elevate Life Coaching, who helps certified coaches get clients through her signature client enrollment method. Kuei shares her journey overcoming deep negative self-talk rooted in an 11-year-old car accident that left her physically disabled, immigrant identity, feeling she didn’t belong, and using a “diamond” metaphor for personal transformation. She explains how choosing a new path led her to get fit and eventually hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu on crutches, shaping her views on empowerment and taking bold action. Kuei defines true visibility as being seen by providing non-harmful value and fostering belonging, describes her mission and evolution to training other coaches, and argues motivation isn’t enough without determination, dedication, and discipline. She discusses barriers like limiting beliefs and past trauma and her memoir Perfectly Normal. Michelle’s Bio and Contact Information Michelle Kuei (pronounced Ku-way) is a Business and Visibility Marketing Coach, ICF-accredited coach, and founder of Elevate LifeCoaching — a company built on one simple belief: your coaching certification gave you the skills to change lives. It just didn't teach you how to find the people whose lives you're meant to change. She works with certified female coaches who are talented, trained, and completely stuck on how to get clients consistently. Using her signature Client Enrollment Method — a 7-step framework built around visibility, messaging, and client attraction — she helps coaches stop second-guessing themselves and start building businesses they're genuinely proud of. Michelle brings a rare combination of credentials to her work: ICF accreditation through iPEC, certified copywriter, email and content marketing strategist, and a background in conversion copywriting and social media marketing. She doesn't just teach coaches how to show up online — she teaches them how to show up in a way that actually converts. Her thought leadership has been featured in Life Coach Magazine, Influence Digest (Top 15 Coaches in Los Angeles), the Los Angeles Tribune, and on FOX. She's also the author of Perfectly Normal: An Immigrant's Story of Making It in America — a memoir about resilience, identity, and having the courage to build a life that doesn't fit the mold. And if you really want to understand how Michelle operates: she's physically disabled and hiked 26 miles of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. That same stubborn, keep-going energy is exactly what she brings to every client, every program, and every stage she steps on. Her mission hasn't changed: help purpose-driven women turn their coaching skills into a profitable, fulfilling business — without losing themselves in the process. Website: http://elevatelifecoaching.org [http://elevatelifecoaching.org] IG: http://instagram.com/elevatelifecoach [http://instagram.com/elevatelifecoach] FB: http://facebook.com/lifecoachingbyelevate [http://facebook.com/lifecoachingbyelevate] LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/michellekuei [http://linkedin.com/in/michellekuei] Email: Michelle@ElevateLifeCoaching.org [Michelle@ElevateLifeCoaching.org] To connect with Dave , go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]

Remember Who You Are: A Conversation With Anca Uni

Host Dave Roberts welcomes Anca Uni, an award-winning trauma expert, healing innovator, former IT and cybersecurity leader, and author of “Soulful Alignment: Daily Reflections for Enlightened Connections.” Anca shares how moving from Romania to Canada, corporate leadership, and personal experiences (immigration, divorce, single parenting, quitting smoking) shaped her mission to bring “soul back into tech” and help people heal at the root rather than cope. She describes client challenges such as anxiety, insomnia, and addictions, and her approaches including hypnotherapy, reiki, energy work, sound healing (crystal bowls, tuning forks, mantras, breathwork), and nervous system regulation, including distance healing. Anca’s Bio ( In Her Own Words) Anca Uni, born and raised in Europe, has three deep passions: 5D healing, a master’s degree in computer science, and dancing. Having spent a significant part of my life as an IT and cybersecurity professional, I know that world inside out. Now, my mission is to bring soul back into tech—helping IT professionals and corporations not just survive but truly thrive. At one point in my life, I struggled with my own trauma and weight challenges, which led me on a journey to find sustainable healing modalities. By combining these methods, I’ve created Signature Programs and Healing Interventions to help my clients achieve their goals. Witnessing transformations in myself and those I’ve helped fuels my passion and determination to create a lasting social impact. I’m a Hypnotherapist & 5D Healer, NLP Master Coach, Reiki Master, and Trauma-Aware Coach, with a track record of transforming over 200 lives and earning five-star reviews. Over the past decade, I’ve pioneered healing modalities that seamlessly blend Neuroscience, Quantum Energy, Subconscious Communication, and Spirituality to create profound 5D Healing experiences. Recognized as an innovator in the healing space, my work has been honored with multiple prestigious awards, including Best Service, Best Choice, and Canada’s Choice for Hypnotherapy. I am passionate about making a societal impact and helping people break free from trauma, emotional pain, and internal turmoil, guiding them toward elevated consciousness for profound 5D Healing, self-love, inner peace, abundance, and lasting empowerment. My mission is to assist those ready to change and heal, especially those who have been let down by traditional modalities. I’m also a published author of “Soulful Alignment: Daily Reflections for Enlightened Connections.” My hope is that this guided journal will find its way into as many homes as possible and become a trusted companion. I bring a deep passion for fostering meaningful connections and an extensive background in psychology, relationship counseling, and personal development. My mission is to empower as many people and couples as I can to navigate the intricate terrain of love and intimacy, providing thoughtfully crafted prompts, exercises, and insights to help you strengthen your bonds, communicate effectively, and nurture lasting, fulfilling relationships. Drawing from my years of experience, I aim to guide you on a transformative journey toward deeper connection, self-discovery, and enduring love. Website: www.ancauni.com [http://www.ancauni.com] To connect with Dave go to www.davidrobertsmsw.com [http://www.davidrobertsmsw.com]