The Gifts of Trauma

Hosted by Kevin Young. Produced by J'aime Rothbard
Researchers have studied it, governments have funded it, and schools have intervened. But 30 years later, boys are still falling behind in education. Why is this problem so 'stubborn?' Why has so little changed? In this episode, Susan talks about her work in the Taking Boys Seriously research project, Appreciative Inquiry, what actually works for boys, why it matters for the men they'll become, and to society overall. 
She explains:
- The "bricks in the backpack;" a compounded weight that can hold boys back
- Why asking 'what works?' produces better answers than asking 'what's wrong?'
- The 10 principles of relational education—drawn directly from the boys and their educators
- The ecosystem of change: The gifts everyone brings to the table
Susan also shares her own journey through youth services and a mediocre formal education, to finding her voice, her confidence and her path to university, through youth work. She knows personally what it means to be seen, encouraged and taken seriously at the right moment. That knowledge is the quiet engine behind everything she does. Join us for this warm and quietly hopeful conversation.


About Susan Morgan, 
Lecturer, Ulster University
An academic at Ulster University within the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, Susan is the Principal Investigator for the Taking Boys Seriously (TBS) research project, a longitudinal participatory action study aimed at addressing disparities in educational outcomes for boys from working-class communities.
The research adopts an educational ecosystem perspective to examine how compounded disadvantage—including poverty, conflicting constructions of masculinity, and educational approaches—shapes boys' educational experiences. Crucially, it goes beyond analysis to identify and develop the principles and practices that actively enable boys to flourish, offering practical pathways for meaningful and sustained change.
Promotional Messages
3rd International Compassionate Inquiry Conference, 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, take advantage of early-bird discounts and secure your place. And yes—there will be dancing. 
Spotlight Episodes & Sponsorship Opportunities
Many of you are certified Compassionate Inquiry (CI) practitioners and CI trained community members, bringing this work into the world in beautiful, unique ways. If you're interested in expanding your practice, the Gifts of Trauma Podcast is now offering spotlight episodes and sponsor opportunities exclusively to members of the CI community. Spotlight episodes are full length interviews. Sponsors receive a custom scripted promotional message that airs across multiple episodes. Plus hosts, mentions and show notes. Placements with links to your website and special offers both gain exposure to our internal audience of 55,000 people across all platforms. This is CI promoting its own amplifying voices that genuinely embody the approach. These opportunities are limited to 10 per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow these links to access details and express your interest.  Spotlight Episodes   |   Sponsorships
Resources:
Website:
Susan's Professional Website
Taking Boys Seriously
Related Links:
Appreciative Inquiry
Leave No Child Behind Study (Unesco 2022)
The 10 Principles of Relational Education
The Educational Ecosystem
Compounded Educational Disadvantages
Quotes:
"There's nothing inherently wrong with boys. There's something wrong with the system that's around them." - Susan Morgan
"I also think that there's nothing wrong with men... there's possibly something wrong with the environment that we are in." - Kevin Young
"You have more power than you think. We made this system. We can unmake it." - Susan Morgan
"Youth work isn't something that you do just as a job. It's a person that you are." - Susan Morgan
"The word I use to describe it [confused masculinity] is traumatised masculinity." - Kevin Young
"Catch them in the right." - Teacher quoted by Susan Morgan (on the whole-school approach)
Social Media:
Susan's LinkedIn

Hosted by Kevin Young. Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
Three men walk into a podcast. One tells a knock knock joke, then, somehow, all three end up delving into the disappearance of male genetic diversity, what it feels like to carry traumatized masculinity in the body, and whether compassion—rather than condemnation—might be the only thing that actually changes anything.
In this first episode of the new Men in the World series, Kevin sits down with two grounded, conscious, refreshingly honest men; CI practitioners who are doing the work, asking the questions, and refusing to look away. 
Together they explore:
- What it feels like to be a man in the world today
- Evolving the "toxic masculinity" concept to "traumatized masculinity"
- The Neolithic Y chromosome bottleneck
- Why the distinction of responsibility without blame matters
This is not another conversation about toxic masculinity. It's a conversation about what it's masking: The loneliness, the confusion and the fear held by boys who weren't allowed to be themselves. Warm, honest, funny and at times quietly devastating, this conversation models exactly what it's inviting men to do: show up, stay open, and delve deeper into what's uncomfortable.
About Bret Hunt, MD, Physician
A board-certified emergency medicine physician trained in Compassionate Inquiry (CI), he occupies a unique niche in the healing arts, bridging the gap between acute medical intervention and deep psychological inquiry. 
Bret integrates the CI approach across three distinct spheres: the fast-paced environment of the emergency department, his private CI practice, and his facilitation work with "For The Men," an online, CI-informed group experience he co-founded that is dedicated to healing the wounds of masculinity. 
When not caring for patients or working with clients, he enjoys getting out and being in Nature whenever possible. 
He resides in the Upper Midwest of the US with his wife and three daughters. 
 
Joe Baldock, Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner & Circle Leader
A Compassionate Inquiry (CI) Practitioner, coach, facilitator and self-proclaimed 'caveman,' Joe works with individuals using CI, and facilitates compassion-informed workshops for teams in the homelessness sector. His work centres around slowing things down, nurturing emotional health, learning how to relate to Self & others and ultimately learning to trust our own unique process. Currently training in Relational Life Therapy with Terry Real (a specialist in male depression, grandiosity and shame), Joe will soon be offering couples therapy.
Since Feb., 2024, he has hosted the CI & Men Focus Group on the first Friday of each month at 1pm ET. He also runs "For The Men,"  a men's project alongside his CI buddy, Bret Hunt.
Joe's two favourite current mantras are; "The most important thing is presence," and, "Choose relational." His one-to-one work with Sat Dharam keeps him in good spiritual and emotional shape, and he is a big fan of the Beyond Addiction program, the spiritual predecessor to CI.
In his spare time, you'll find Joe being a coffee geek, playing Chopin on the piano, enjoying crazy heavy metal drumming, practising yoga, studying Japanese, and walking his dog in the hills of Granada, Spain where he lives.
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, follow this link to learn more.
Spotlight Episodes & Sponsorship Opportunities:
Many of you are certified Compassionate Inquiry (CI) practitioners and CI trained community members, bringing this work into the world in beautiful, unique ways. If you're interested in expanding your practice, the Gifts of Trauma Podcast is now offering Spotlight episodes and Sponsor opportunities exclusively to members of the CI community. Spotlight episodes are full length interviews. Sponsors receive a custom scripted promotional message that airs across multiple episodes. Plus host mentions and placements in the  show notes, with links to your website and special offers. Both gain exposure to our internal audience of 55,000 people across all CI platforms. This is CI promoting its own. These opportunities are limited to 10 per year, and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow these links to access details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes   |   Sponsorships
Resources:
Websites:
Joe's Compassionate Inquiry Profile
Joe's Professional Site 
Bret's Professional Site
Related Links:
Compassionate Inquiry
For The Men
Banksy Graffiti
Books:
Violence
The Unsettling of America
Mother Earth Spirituality
Articles: 
Of Coaches
Neolithic Y Chromosome Bottleneck
I Am Not A Leader
Quotes:
"There are no others. These violent or traumatized men aren't other from us. And that is not a very popular line of thought." - Kevin Young
"When we're perpetrating violence, we're forgetting who we really are. How can we help each other remember?" - Bret Hunt, MD
"There are rewards just on the other side of that fear of being authentic." - Kevin Young
"If you don't see that it's safe to be in the world as your authentic self, you're going to go to that other side that tells you the world is a mean, dark place and you've got to learn to be mean, dark and hard to survive." - Bret Hunt, MD
"Spiritual language must never be used to blur basic care or excuse harm". - Jeff Foster
"The terms exploitation and nurture describe a division not only between persons but also within persons. We are all to some extent the products of an exploitive society, and it would be foolish and self-defeating to pretend that we do not bear its stamp."  - Wendell Berry
Social Media:
IG: @knowaboutjoe
LI: Joe Baldock's LinkedIn

Hosted by: Rosemary Davies-Janes & Kevin Young
What happens when grief isn't personal, when it belongs to the land, the climate, and the fractured relationship between humans and the living world? Join us as climate psychologist, systems thinker and trauma therapist, Steffi Bednarek moves this conversation from the personal to the planetary, and from the clinical to the deeply, wildly human. She suggests that our epidemic of depression, anxiety, and disconnection may not be a malfunction, but an unanswered call to an unnamed grief so large, Western psychology barely has the language for it. 
Steffi also explores:
- How the fragmentation of modern life is itself a form of trauma
- What it means to grieve the land, the climate, and the living world
- What older traditions of keening, ritual, and belonging to place offer us now
- Why life today feels hollowed out—and what that longing might be telling us
This series began with a focus on personal loss. This final episode turns the lens on our innate global grief—for the world we're losing.  A grief we're systematically denied by our cultural fragmentation and exile from the Interspace. 
About Steffi Bednarek, Founder and Director of the Centre for Climate Psychology
A climate psychologist, Gestalt Psychotherapist, systems thinker, IFS therapist, founder and director of the Centre for Climate Psychology, Steffi is the editor of, Climate, Psychology and Change, a book which has been called "a work of wisdom and radical ideas."  
With over 25 years of experience in systemic change and trauma therapy, Steffi invites a reimagining of our place in the web of life and advocates for the restoration of Soul in the collective culture. 
Her work has supported national governments, the corporate sector, global financial institutions, the sustainability sector and large NGOs. She equips individuals and organisations to address the urgent need for regenerative change in ways that go beyond the mere correction of what is visible on the surface. 
Professionals across all sectors count on her support to stay resilient, adaptive, creative and responsive in the face of global upheaval, climate anxiety, and an increasing awareness of our systemic entanglement with the culture we try to change.





Promotional Messages:
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
Blog Library: Did you know that Compassionate Inquiry offers a free public blog library with over a thousand short posts written by our practitioners and facilitators?  Each is only a 5 or 6 minute read, and topics range from connecting with authenticity to overcoming food addictions to understanding epigenetics, rethinking drug use, CI & Psychedelics, and much, much more. You can also read excerpts from podcast guests' interviews. Tap the link in the show notes to access our helpful, enlightening and inspiring blog library. 
Resources:
Websites:
Steffi's Professional Website
Centre for Climate Psychology
Related Links:
Compassionate Inquiry
Upcoming Events
Psychotherapy in a Time when the Familiar is Dying (2026) Video
IFS and Climate Change (2025) Podcast
Matthew Green on Trauma In Journalism (2024) Podcast
IFS: Self Energy (2025) Video
Books: 
In the Absence of the Ordinary (2025)
Climate Psychology and Change (2024)
Climate Psychology and Change (Audiobook) (2024)
Thirty-Two Words for Field  (2020)
The Wild Edge of Sorrow (2015)
We've Had 100 Years of Psychotherapy and the World Is Getting Worse (1993)
Articles: 
Gaslighting Democracy and the Double Bind of Truths
Substack 
Quotes: 
"Grief can neither be forgotten nor healed over time. It always waits to be worked through."
- Jorgos Canacakis
"We do have rituals. We have rituals that are performed in agendas and meeting protocols. And all of that takes the life out of us. So for me, that is trauma. It's a traumatizing ritual."  - Steffi Bednarek
"There is no difference between me and you and us and the land and us and whatever we call divinity or consciousness. It's the duality that is the illusion." - Kevin Young
"When kids go to school, they learn to fragment life into its component parts, but never learn how to put it all back together again. And so I think that we get educated into a traumatizing worldview that becomes normal".  - Steffi Bednarek
"Grief is alive, wild, untamed, and cannot be domesticated. It resists the demands to remain passive, and still we move in jangled, unsettled, and riotous ways. And when grief takes hold of us, it's truly an emotion that rises from the soul." - Frances Weller
Social Media: 
Linked In
Facebook

Hosted by Kevin Young. Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
In this episode, Kevin is joined by James Gordon, MD, founder of the Center for Mind Body Medicine, whose teams have worked in Gaza, Kosovo, Syria, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and beyond, and Diana Garib, a clinical psychologist on the front-line in Beirut, recording live as conflict surrounds her.
Together they explore:
- What it looks like to show up for others when your own world is on fire
- How humanizing the other can become the first act of healing
- Why finding common ground—from shared grief to shared hummus—may be where peace actually begins
- What it means to transform helplessness into action
If you've ever wondered what grief sounds like when bombs are falling, drones are overhead and your six-year-old is playing war with his dinosaurs… It might sound like this conversation, which wanders —with warmth, humor, and hard-won wisdom—from grief to survival, from despair to agency, from the deeply personal to the global. 
About James S. Gordon, MD
A Harvard-educated psychiatrist, and pioneer of mind-body and integrative medicine, Dr. Gordon is the Founder (1991) and CEO of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) which aims to make self-awareness, self-care, and group support central to all healthcare and education systems. His global faculty of 145 and a US-based staff of 26 have trained over 7,000 clinicians, educators, and community leaders in CMBM's model; spreading its therapeutic and educational programs to hundreds of thousands who are traumatized, stressed and confronting the challenges of anxiety, depression, chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Dr. Gordon believes that we all have great and largely untapped capacities to help and heal ourselves and one another.
Dr Gordon is the former chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, and a clinical professor at Georgetown Medical School. He's known as a peacemaker, consensus and cross-cultural relationship builder, as well as for his life-changing therapeutic work with individuals, families and groups.
A noted author and essayist on Alternative Medicine, Dr Gordon has authored several books, book chapters, and over 140 articles which have been published in professional journals and the popular press. His latest book, Transforming Trauma, (2021) presents trauma as a human experience, not a pathological anomaly. Drawing on current scientific research and his 50 years of clinical experience, Dr. Gordon demonstrates how, when people can meet the challenges trauma presents, they can discover joy, meaning, and purpose.
About Diana Gharib, Licensed Clinical Psychologist 
"When individuals experience trauma or severe life stressors, their sense of stability, identity and safety can be deeply shaken. In moments when [outer] circumstances cannot be changed, the work becomes one of inner transformation."
Deeply committed to supporting this process and helping individuals reconnect with their resilience, dignity, and capacity for healing, Diana creates safe, respectful, and collaborative therapeutic spaces where healing, self-understanding, and lasting change can unfold. Her work with adolescents and adults who have endured traumatic and highly stressful experiences brings healing, supports the development of healthier self-perceptions, strengthens emotional regulation, restores a sense of meaning and agency. 
Diana supports survivors of torture and sexual violence, individuals affected by war and displacement, refugees, incarcerated and detained populations. She also works extensively with people experiencing depression, anxiety, and complex personality-related challenges. 
As no single therapeutic approach is suitable for everyone, Diana integrates a range of evidence informed modalities, including Compassionate Inquiry (CI), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and principles informed by polyvagal theory.  She also conducts therapeutic sessions grounded in both clinical knowledge and compassionate presence. Each therapeutic process she offers is thoughtfully tailored to each individual's unique history, needs, and therapeutic goals.
Promotional Messages:
CI 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.
Spotlight Episodes & Sponsorships: The Gifts of Trauma Podcast is now offering Spotlight Episodes and Sponsor opportunities exclusively to members of the Compassionate Inquiry community. Spotlight Episodes are full length interviews. Sponsors receive custom scripted promotional messages that air in multiple episodes, plus host mentions and show notes placements with links to your website and special offers. Both gain exposure to our audience of 55,000 people across all CI platforms. This is Compassionate Inquiry promoting its own, amplifying voices that genuinely embody the approach. These opportunities are limited to 10 per year and production realities require a financial contribution. Follow these links to access full details and express your interest. Spotlight Episodes   |   Sponsorships
Resources:
Websites:
Dr Gordon's Professional Website 
https://jamesgordonmd.com/
Diana's Professional Profile
Related Links:
The Center for Mind-Body Medicine 
Restart Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture
Finding a Steadier Path (2025) Podcast
Transforming Trauma (2025) Video
Transforming Trauma (2024) Video
Books:
Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing
Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven Stage Journey Out of Depression
Manifesto for a New Medicine: 
Health for the Whole Person
Divine Beauty 
The Presence Process
Quotes:
"One of the things that happens when there's trauma is we feel that we're alone with it—even though we can see that so many other people have suffered similarly. We feel very alone."
- Dr James Gordon
"In that helping of other people, there's the discovery of meaning and purpose as well as connection." - Dr James Gordon
"One of the gifts of trauma is that it begins to break down some of those barriers and we begin to become more open to commonalities, including the commonality of our suffering." - Dr James Gordon
"We are four generations of women witnessing war. The power that gives me is to be brave, to show up and do this work. To have a voice." - Diana Gharib
"It's amazing how the brain—this resilient part—adapts to keep you going." - Diana Gharib
"They're not broken. When I am able to see behind the trauma a person is carrying, and just see the essence of that person, healing starts." - Diana Gharib
"When we can humanize the other, there's much less chance of us traumatizing the other."
- Kevin Young
Social Media:
IG: (@drjamesgordon)
IG: diana.gharib1
FB: Dr Gordon's Facebook
FB: Diana's Facebook
LI: Dr Gordon's LinkedIn
LI: Diana's LinkedIn

Hosted by Rosemary Davies-Janes & Kevin Young. Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
If grief is the energy generated by loss, what happens to a people whose grief has been stolen for generations, and what becomes possible when we grieve our way home? In this episode, Rosemary Wanganeen, a Kaurna, Wirungu, and Koogatha Aboriginal woman and Australia's only griefologist, presents one of the most provocative perspectives explored in this series. She traces the suppression of grief and the ensuing psychopathic violence of Australia's colonizers/invaders to a declaration by Plato in 388 BC—the toxic legacy of which continues to fuel the behavior of spirit-absent humans.
She also explains how:
- Suppressed grief causes the spirit to separate from the body
- A spirit-absent human can commit atrocities
- The invading colonizers deliberately dismantled 60,000 years of sacred Aboriginal culture
- Griefology offers a path out of the unresolved grief that traps colonized peoples
- Her own spirit came home after five years of intuitive healing
Rosemary's story—which takes her from a women's shelter in Sydney (where she encountered an ancestral grandmother) through founding the Healing Centre for Griefology to her current work—is a living testament to what becomes possible when we grieve our way back home to ourselves.
About Rosemary Wanganeen 
Clinical Griefologist
Australia's only Griefologist, Rosemary not only pioneered this revolutionary field, but founded and leads The Healing Centre for Griefology, established in 1993 in response to her personal experiences as part of the Stolen Generation.
Her work provides an evidence-based approach to transforming Aboriginal disadvantage into Aboriginal prosperity, shifting the conversation to healing, sustainability, and self-determination. Also a former research officer for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Rosemary's search for a deeper understanding of personal and collective loss produced her groundbreaking "Seven Phases" model which redefines grief—not as something to be "closed" but as a natural, ongoing process to be integrated into life. Her contributions have led to her recognition in academia, and she is currently a Master of Philosophy candidate at the University of Adelaide.
As a keynote speaker, educator, trainer, program designer, and peer-reviewed author, Rosemary's work across multiple sectors demonstrates the far-reaching consequences of unaddressed grief in everyday life, including death and dying. After spending over 30 years supporting Aboriginal health, welfare, and social justice, she has dedicated her career to transforming how individuals, communities, and organisations understand and integrate loss and grief. 
A proud South Australian Aboriginal woman of the Kaurna, Wirungu, and Koogatha nations, Rosemary's work has influenced mental health policies, leadership training, and community well-being programs, positioning her as a thought-provoking leader in holistic grief education.


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, click 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:
Griefology Website
Related Links:
Good Grief Grave Matters Podcast (2024)
Discovering Griefology Video (2023)
Healing the Soul of Australia Podcast (2023)
Loss, Grief and Forgiveness Podcast (2023)
The Seven Phases to Integrating Loss and Grief Article
Books:
In the Absence of the Ordinary (2025)
Working Together (2024)
Living Legacies of Social Injustice (2023)
How to Age Against the Machine (2023)
The Wild Edge of Sorrow (2015)
Why Do Christians Find It Hard to Grieve? (1997)
Quotes:
"Grief is not only illogical, but it's a weakness."  - Plato, 388 BC
"You are as sick as your secrets are deep." - Unknown
"The essence of trauma, at its purest level, is disconnect from the self." - Gabor Maté
"I had to empty my physical body of all that grief energy for my spirit to feel safe enough to come home. And between my physical body and my spirit, we've been able to sustain that connection. It's sustained through griefology, one can't undo that. You can't go back to harming another human being because you become conscious." - Rosemary Wanganeen
"Human beings have to wait for their rock bottom to say, I can't do this anymore, enough is enough. And then tap into, how do I get myself out of this now?"  - Rosemary Wanganeen
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosemary-kudnarto-wanganeen/
Facebook: Healing Centre for Griefology
Instagram: @lossandgrief