#82 – Elisabeth Kristof: Brain-Based Wellness#82 – Elisabeth Kristof: Brain-Based Wellness
Recovery Survey
Brett Morris talks with Elisabeth Kristof about her journey from blackout drinking and self-harm to long-term sobriety and applied neurology. They discuss how brain-based wellness, somatic work and nervous system training can shift trauma-driven behaviours like binge eating, pain and addiction.
0:00•29 Sept 2021
Brain-Based Wellness and Sobriety with Elisabeth Kristof
Episode Overview
- Addictive behaviours and binge eating can be the nervous system’s attempt to self-regulate and create safety, rather than simple lack of willpower.
- Childhood trauma and chronic hypervigilance can keep the body flooded with stress hormones, increasing risk for illness and burnout.
- Training input systems like vision, balance and interoception can lower threat in the nervous system and shift it towards calm, presence and better performance.
- Somatic practices and body-based processing help release stored stress and emotions that talking alone may not resolve.
- Removing a coping behaviour without replacement can be dangerous; learning new tools for regulation makes sustainable recovery more realistic.
“Trauma experienced is hell on earth, but trauma resolved is a gift from the gods.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation on Recovery Survey brings together science, spirituality and raw honesty in a way that speaks straight to anyone who's ever used alcohol, food or other habits just to feel "normal" for a moment. Host Brett Morris talks with applied neurology specialist and long-time sober guest Elisabeth Kristof, founder of Brain-Based Wellness.
She shares candidly about growing up with "really big emotions," early childhood trauma and a nervous system stuck in constant hypervigilance. Alcohol entered the picture at 14 and, as she puts it, "immediately I fell in love with alcohol and it was also very dangerous for me." Blackouts, self-harm and chaotic relationships followed until a hospital stay at 24 became the turning point. She hasn't had a drink since.
Rather than stopping at the storyline of addiction and recovery, the episode digs into what’s happening inside the body. Elisabeth explains how the nervous system drives pain, binge eating, migraines and compulsive behaviours, calling them "signs of a dysregulated nervous system" trying to keep you safe.
Her Brain-Based Wellness work focuses on practical neural exercises – training vision, balance, body awareness and interoception – alongside somatic practices and subconscious rewiring to reduce threat in the nervous system and support behaviour change. The chat is especially relatable for anyone who’s felt that constant sense of dread or hoped not to wake up, yet didn’t have one single dramatic rock bottom. Brett shares similar feelings, and together they normalise experiences many people are too ashamed to voice.
If you’ve ever wondered why you keep going back to the same coping tools, or how trauma “lives in the body” and not just the mind, this episode might give you a fresh way to look at your own story – could your nervous system be asking for something different?
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