The Gifts of Trauma

Hosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes.  Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
In this episode, a retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lieutenant (and co-founder of Warriors Rest) joins a retired firefighter (and founder of Fire to Light) to discuss the similarities and differences of the challenges each profession faces. They also explain how their organizations meet similar needs from different places; one intervening when there's a crisis, the other going to work upstream, before the crisis happens.
Brett and Brandon take turns sharing:
- The moment a counselor's simple question finally broke through Brett's resistance to getting help
- Why the phrase, "Take a minute to make a minute," stayed with Brandon
- What his partner's death, hours after his own son's birth, taught Brett about cumulative trauma
- The question Warriors Rest trains people to ask when someone may be suicidal
- The weight ever-increasing public scrutiny adds to policing that firefighters and EMS don't experience
- Why a net under the Golden Gate Bridge is proof that small interventions save lives
Brett remembers the pounding of his heart during his very first highway pursuit, and how over time, even the most adrenaline-charged calls stopped registering as stressful. This conversation is about what it takes for first responders to stay present to stay well. Because if you have to call for help on the worst day of your life, you want those first responders to be mentally, emotionally and physically fit.

About Brett Key, OHP Lieutenant (Retired) 
A retired Lieutenant with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP), Brett is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Warriors Rest Foundation, an Oklahoma City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the mental health and wellness of first responders—law enforcement, fire and EMS.
After 26 years with OHP, Brett brings a depth of experience that few can match. During his career he served as a K-9 handler and supervisor in the Criminal Interdiction Division, developed curriculum for OHP's Leadership Development and Law Enforcement Driver Training programs, and served as Commandant and Assistant Commandant for three OHP Academies. He also served on OHP's Tactical Team as an operator, sniper, Team Leader, and rising to the position of Assistant Commander before retiring in 2021.
For over a decade, Brett served as a peer counselor in OHP's Officer Assistance Program, work that planted the seed for everything Warriors Rest Foundation has become. He is trained in Critical Incident Stress Management through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, has helped build and train peer support teams across Oklahoma, and has served as a peer counselor at Post Critical Incident Seminars and with C.O.P.S. at National Police Week in Washington D.C.
Brett is an experienced presenter and instructor in leadership, peer support, and first responder wellness—speaking to command staff, agencies and conferences across the US.
He founded Warriors Rest because he believes mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health should be the number one priority for every first responder, their family, and their department.
About Brandon Evans Executive Director,
Fire to Light Foundation, Founder & CEO,
Fire to Light 
Brandon Evans is a retired firefighter and the Founder of Fire to Light, an organisation dedicated to advancing preventative Mental Fitness training inside the fire service. Drawing on lived experience and independent global research involving over 104 fire chiefs and leaders across 13 countries and 5 continents, Brandon developed the Fire to Light Mental Fitness Training System, a practical operationalised approach to training Mental Fitness the same way fire departments train every other critical skill.
Through the Fire to Light Foundation, a registered Canadian charity of which Brandon serves as Executive Director, the goal is to make Mental Fitness training accessible to every fire department, removing barriers so that Mental Fitness is systemised and embedded into fire service operations worldwide. not treated as a clinical afterthought, but trained, reinforced, and owned at every level of the organisation.
Brandon's mission is to help reduce rates of suicide and psychological injury in the fire service through an upstream approach of Mental Fitness Training, Fitness before Therapy.
Promotional Messages
Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training
If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, look for the link in the show notes.  
Compassionate Inquiry® Conference—Vancouver 2026
If you've completed, or are currently enrolled in Compassionate Inquiry training, you're invited to attend the third international CI Conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 30 to November 1. Dr Gabor Maté is returning as our keynote speaker and master class presenter. Enjoy engaging workshops and inspiring demonstrations with Sat Dharam Kaur, CI Facilitators and Practitioners. Whether you join us in person for three days of shared inquiry with CI cohort partners, and colleagues from around the world, or attend virtually to focus on the teachings, tap the link in the show notes to learn more and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. 
Resources:
Websites:
Warrior's Rest
Support Warrior's Rest
Fire to Light
Support Fire to Light
Related Links:
"Clinicians for Warriors" Conference 2025
ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
Peer Support Teams
Law Enforcement Suicides & Riska Study
Police Trauma Syndrome Research
2020 Dallas Police Study
Golden Gate Bridge Net
Social Media:
Facebook: Warrior's Rest
Fire to Light
Instagram: Warrior's Rest
@firetolight_firefighters
X Warrior's Rest
TikTok Warrior's Rest
LinkedIn: Warrior's Rest
Fire to Light Foundation

Hosted by J'aime Rothbard & Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
Twenty-three years into a firefighting career he loved, despite his enviable strategic foresight, what Kory never saw coming was a heart issue that led to a walk-in clinic and a hospital bed. The Captain of his fire company, he was also running a side business, raising a family and saying yes to every request. 
In this episode, two firefighters unpack what almost broke them, and what it actually takes to build careers and lives that don't quietly erode them from the inside.
In this episode, they explain:
- Why firefighters are "overbuilt, not integrated"
- What heart failure taught Kory about denial
- Why "farming out health and wellness" works well for fire service crews
- What binds the global firefighting fraternity
- What "retiring whole" can look like
Kory and Brandon share hard-won truths about what it costs firefighters to keep showing up, and what it takes to keep doing it well. If you've ever wondered what happens when someone finally stops outrunning their own body, this conversation offers many insights to ponder.
About Kory Pearn, Fire Captain / Founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of CRACKYL Magazine / Author and Speaker
A 23-year veteran of the fire service, currently serving as a Captain and Company Officer, Kory's frontline and leadership service gives him a rare perspective on what drives firefighters to succeed—and what erodes them over time. As the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of CRACKYL Magazine, he has built a groundbreaking platform that connects science, culture, and lived experience in a way the fire service has never seen before. A respected speaker, author and educator, Kory shares hard-earned lessons and practical strategies with firefighters, leaders, and organizations across North America and beyond.
About Brandon Evans Executive Director,
Fire to Light Foundation, Founder & CEO,
Fire to Light 
Brandon Evans is a retired firefighter and the Founder of Fire to Light, an organisation dedicated to advancing preventative Mental Fitness training inside the fire service. Drawing on lived experience and independent global research, Brandon developed the Fire to Light Mental Fitness Training System, a practical operationalised approach to training Mental Fitness the same way fire departments train every other critical skill.
The goal of the Fire to Light Foundation, a registered Canadian charity, is to make Mental Fitness training, not a clinical afterthought, but accessible within every fire department. By removing barriers Mental Fitness can be embedded into fire service operations worldwide; systemised, trained, reinforced, and owned at every level of the organisation.
Brandon's personal mission is to help reduce rates of suicide and psychological injury in the fire service through an upstream approach of Mental Fitness Training, Fitness before Therapy.
Promotional Messages:
Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training
If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, please tap this link to learn more.  
Compassionate Inquiry® Circles
If you're not a therapist or healer, but you've heard our guests describe the personal transformations they experienced during their Compassionate Inquiry® journeys, and wonder what that would be like for you... Circles is a 10-week small group experience offered to anyone who wants to experience the power of Gabor Maté's approach to trauma healing. Use this link to find out if this program is for you.
Resources:
Websites:
Crackyl Website
Fire to Light Foundation 
Fire to Light Website
Support Fire to Light — Zeffy
Fire to Light Research Study
Crackyl Articles:
The Entry Point: Why the Same Approach Won't Ever Reach Every Firefighter
Finding My Way Back: A firefighter reclaims her health, purpose, and identity after facing the impact of trauma and alcohol
Your brain is built to suppress emotion in a crisis, but staying healthy means knowing when, and where, to unpack what you've been carrying
OCD or PTSD? One Firefighter's Journey for Answers
Killing Rage, Directed Inward
The Suffering We Choose
Podcasts: 
Kory Pearn: The Man with a Method (2025)
It Became a Necessity': Kory Pearn on CRACKYL's Personal Impact (2024)
Igniting Wellness: The Story of Kory Pearn and CRACKYL Magazine (2024)
Firefighter Wellness, Resilience and CRACKYL Magazine (2024)
Upgrade Your Self Love (2025)
Heroes are Also Human (2025)
Videos:
CRACKYL's Crusader for Firefighter Wellness (2024)
Firefighter Health (2024)
Social Media:
Facebook: Kory Pearn
Crackyl Magazine
Fire to Light
Instagram: @pearn.kory
@crackylmag
@firetolight_firefighters
X: @CrackylM
LinkedIn:  CRACKYL Magazine
      Kory Pearn
      Fire to Light Foundation

Hosted by Kevin Young and J'aime Rothbard. Produced by J'aime Rothbard 
More than 15 years spent running into burning buildings taught him that the hardest fires to face are the ones that follow you home. In the first of our five-part First Responders Series, Kevin and J'aime sit down with Brandon, a retired Canadian Firefighter, to explore what it really costs to be the one who shows up for others on the worst days of their lives.
Brandon explains:
- Why 'mental fitness' is a more useful frame than 'mental health' for firefighters
- What his international research (104 fire chiefs across five continents) revealed about the gap between how firefighters train for fire and how they train for their own mental health
- How the firehouse storytelling tradition could become the fire service's most powerful teaching tool
- The five pillars of Fire to Light, and what 'operationalizing wellness' actually looks like
Brandon shares a raw and unflinching perspective on what it costs to be the one who runs toward the fire, and why "We're not broken, we just need to train differently" might be the most important reframe first responders need to hear. Join us to hear what can change when a firefighter stops surviving their career and starts training for it.
About Brandon Evans Executive Director,
Fire to Light Foundation, Founder & CEO,
Fire to Light 
Brandon Evans is a retired firefighter and the Founder of Fire to Light, an organisation dedicated to advancing preventative Mental Fitness training inside the fire service. Drawing on lived experience and independent global research involving over 104 fire chiefs and leaders across 13 countries and 5 continents, Brandon developed the Fire to Light Mental Fitness Training System, a practical operationalised approach to training Mental Fitness the same way fire departments train every other critical skill.
Through the Fire to Light Foundation, a registered Canadian charity of which Brandon serves as Executive Director, the goal is to make Mental Fitness training accessible to every fire department, removing barriers so that Mental Fitness is systemised and embedded into fire service operations worldwide. not treated as a clinical afterthought, but trained, reinforced, and owned at every level of the organisation.
Brandon's mission is to help reduce rates of suicide and psychological injury in the fire service through an upstream approach of Mental Fitness Training, Fitness before Therapy.
Promotional Messages:
Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training
If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, please tap this link to learn more.  
Suicide Attention Training
The Compassionate Inquiry Suicide Attention Training is for therapists, health professionals and others working in therapeutic, healing, educational, medical, or coaching roles. If you're seeking sensitive training to help you recognize and support people in your communities who may be experiencing suicidal distress, please tap this link. It will take you to a web page where you can learn more about this training, and decide if it's a good fit for you. 
Resources:
Websites:
Fire to Light Foundation 
Fire to Light Website
Support Fire to Light — Zeffy
Fire to Light Research Study
Crackyl Magazine Website
Articles:
Defining Resilience for Firefighters
Firefighters and Mental Health: The Fear of Raising Your Hand
The Current State of Mental Health in the Fire Service
But There Is Nothing Wrong With Me
Trauma: Who, What, Where, When and Why
Podcasts: 
Upgrade Your Self Love (2025)
Heroes are Also Human (2025)
Transforming Challenges into Opportunities (2025)
Brandon Evans - Fire to Light (2024)
Discovering The Energy Of Love (2022)
Videos:
Firefighting and Mental Fitness (2025)
Understanding Mental Health in the Fire Service  (2024)
Real Leadership Comes from Courage (2024)
Don't Judge a Book (2024)
Fire To Light with Brandon Evans  (2024)
How to Improve Your Mental Fitness (2023)
Social Media:
Facebook: Fire to Light
Instagram: @firetolight_firefighters
LinkedIn: Fire to Light Foundation

Hosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes.  Produced by J'aime Rothbard

Diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at three, Lizzie grew up not feeling safe within her own body. A volatile home meant she didn't feel safe outside it either. This candid conversation traces a decades long journey from a childhood marked by chronic illness and family instability, through disordered eating and compulsive exercise to a liver transplant at 31, the long work of making a stranger's organ her own, and what it takes to keep finding, again and again, a small enough foothold to trust she can balance.
Lizzie shares:
- How a psyche and body under siege shaped a pattern of control through eating and exercise
- What it took to wait for, survive, and recover from transplant surgery
- What her transplanted 80-year-old liver is teaching her about time, aging and her own body
- What drew her, a 20-year veteran of structural bodywork, to Compassionate Inquiry®
Join us to hear how three decades in the treatment room, five decades of living with chronic illness, and one organ transplant brought Lizzie to a practice built on trust, patience and staying gently curious about what her body is still holding.
About Lizzie Reumont Yoga Teacher, Rolfer and Rolf Movement Practitioner, Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner, Private Mentor and Somatic Therapist
Lizzie's interest in what it means to be in the body originated from an early age, as a young child living with an active auto-immune illness in an environment where her body never truly felt safe.
After spending her teenage years doing everything possible to disconnect from her body, in her early twenties Lizzie attended her first yoga class. This became an entry point for what continues to unfold as a lifelong practice of uncovering new layers of understanding about what it means to be herself, and what it means to be human.
Lizzie has been teaching yoga and working as a Rolfer, Rolf Movement practitioner and craniosacral therapist for over 20 years. During this time, she has also moved through an arc of personal circumstances that include a liver transplant, a cancer diagnosis and a colectomy. Whilst her body has changed form, her inner landscape has found clarity and depth. Her scope of work has also shifted, adding Compassionate Inquiry and Somatic Experiencing to the tools she uses as a multidisciplinary Somatic Therapist. 
Alongside her curiosity about what shapes the experience of being human, Lizzie is also an avid nature enthusiast, bird watcher, piano player and mother, which are all sources of inspiration and joy.
 
Promotional Messages:
Compassionate Inquiry® Conference—Vancouver 2026
If you've completed, or are currently enrolled in Compassionate Inquiry training, you're invited to attend the third international CI Conference in Vancouver, Canada from October 30 to November 1. Dr Gabor Maté is returning as our keynote speaker and master class presenter. Enjoy engaging workshops and inspiring demonstrations with Sat Dharam Kaur, CI Facilitators and Practitioners. Whether you join us in person for three days of shared inquiry with CI cohort partners, and colleagues from around the world, or attend virtually to focus on the teachings, tap this link to learn more and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. 
Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training
If you've been listening to our podcast and are curious about the Compassionate Inquiry approach developed by Doctor Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur, consider joining the Professional Training Program. It's open to all healing professionals, including naturopaths, physicians, body workers, coaches, and therapists. In addition to learning how to use compassion to support your clients in their most vulnerable moments with greater empathy and authenticity, you'll also deepen your own internal process. If you're interested, tap this link for more information.  
Resources:
Websites:
Professional Website
Books:
(Auto-Immune Illness, Chronic Pain, Female Studies)
Between Two Kingdoms
Unwell Woman
The Invisible Kingdom
Bodies of Truth
Body Horror
The Body Keeps The Score
When The Body Says No
(Authenticity)
The Secret to Superhuman Strength
Dying To Be Me
A Matter of Death and Life
The Roles We Play
What It Means To Be Human
Far From The Tree
Daring Greatly
(Trauma)
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents
The Drama of Being a Child
Meeting the Shadow
The Myth of Normal
Waking the Tiger
In An Unspoken Voice
An Autobiography of Trauma
Anchored
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/lizzie.reumont/

Hosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes. Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
What do birth and grief have in common? For Anouk, they are different sides of the same coin; threshold moments where our bodies already know what to do, if our minds allow us to trust the process. Anouk's life has so many facets, layers, and redirects that it would have been easy for her to overlook the consistent theme, which is simply: "Everything was meant to happen."
In this warm and wide-ranging conversation, Anouk explores:
- What shifts grief from a natural and healthy human experience into pathology
- What seeing birth and death as different sides of the same coin, taught her about life
- How becoming a parent can activate unprocessed transgenerational wounds
- What it means to grow up as a "third culture kid"
- How her multicultural inheritance, Korean, Swiss and Taiwanese, shapes her perspectives
Throughout this interview Anouk shares many of her beautiful facets: Two decades running a children's forest school. A lifetime of crossing cultural and emotional thresholds. Her work in 'The Portal.' A concept she calls Essence Recovery. And at the end, the gift she offers to anyone hesitating at a life threshold is simple and steadying: "You're not alone in this."

About Anouk Wehli:  ⁠Traumatologist
Anouk brings a unique synthesis of clinical expertise and lived experience to the fields of growth and development. As a psychotherapist, trained midwife, grief specialist, massage therapist, outdoor educator and mother, her work is rooted in the belief that our personal histories and professional lives are fundamentally interconnected. 
She joined Compassionate Inquiry in 2020 and today works as a Portal Facilitator, Circle Leader and behind the scenes in administration. The trauma lens Compassionate Inquiry offers has deepened her work as a grief counsellor, birth worker, communications trainer and bodyworker. 
Having survived cultural and generational trauma, she knows first-hand the powerful effects of compassionately being with pain so suffering eases and life becomes more bearable… even enjoyable. 
Growing up in Taiwan and Hong Kong with a Korean mother and Swiss father endowed Anouk with an invaluable set of multicultural competencies. Her melting pot upbringing and education in international schools instilled open-mindedness which she embodies when working with clients from all around the world. Working virtually has opened up a cosmopolitan online practice which she invites you to step into, if you're drawn to start your recovery journey with a Compassionate Inquiry session. 
Promotional Messages
The Portal Training
If you've been listening to our podcast, you may have heard guests connect their birth experiences with enduring subconscious behavioural and emotional patterns. To help break this cycle, Compassionate Inquiry® offers The Portal, a 28-week trauma-informed training for perinatal health professionals; such as midwives, obstetricians, nurses and doulas, who want to empower their patients to trust their innate ability to birth, bond & nurture their child. Tap this link to learn more
Spotlight Episodes
Your journey with Compassionate Inquiry® matters. Your work in the world matters. If you have a story to share about bringing Compassionate Inquiry into the world, we'd like to amplify your voice. Spotlight episodes are full length Gifts of Trauma podcast interviews offered exclusively to CI community members. You'll not only share your story with 55,000 healing professionals across all platforms, you'll receive a pre-interview strategy session plus three promotional video clips. We're offering only 10 Spotlight episodes per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow the links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes   |   Sponsorships
Resources:
Websites:
Professional Website
Compassionate Inquiry Profile
Related Links:
Grief Recovery Method 
The Grief Recovery Handbook
Cruse Bereavement (UK)
National Bereavement Alliance (UK)
What's your Grief?
Grief School  
The Beyond Addiction Program
The Portal Training
Compassionate Inquiry Professional Training
Compassionate Inquiry Circles
Science and Nonduality (SAND)
The NVCI Circle
Cat McCarthy's Interview
Social Media
Instagram @anoukwehli