Overcoming Adversity and the Road to Recovery with Healer and Empowerment Coach Janessa Finley-FordOvercoming Adversity and the Road to Recovery with Healer and Empowerment Coach Janessa Finley-Ford
Recovery Recharged with Ellen Stewart Pushy Broad from the Bronx
Janessa Finley -Ford talks about trauma and its link to addiction while showing us a glimpse of the unique holistic psychotherapy system to heal trauma and clear mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual blocks to success. You don't want to miss...
27:30•22 May 2024
Turning Trauma into Strength: Janessa Finley‑Ford on Recovery Recharged
Episode Overview
- Trauma can be understood simply as unresolved distress that continues to shape emotions, behaviour and even physical health.
- Energy psychology and tapping can reduce fear and stress without forcing people to relive the original traumatic events.
- Unprocessed emotions often show up as self‑sabotage, physical pain and patterns like eating disorders or relationship chaos.
- Traumatic brain injury, whether from substances, high fevers or certain treatments, can affect judgement, impulsivity and relapse risk.
- Long‑term recovery benefits from a solid foundation that addresses trauma, brain injury and personality patterns over time rather than in isolation.
“If you are like me and you feel like your addiction means that there was something wrong with you, that is not so.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This conversation between host Ellen Stewart and healer and coach Janessa Finley‑Ford digs into that question by looking straight at trauma, adversity, and addiction.
You’ll hear Janessa explain her alternative, holistic approach using tools like applied kinesiology, tapping methods, and Enneagram personality work to help people "release blocks that are keeping them from really thriving in life." She breaks down energy psychology as mind‑body methods that reduce stress and trauma, increase calm, and help retrain the brain without forcing people to relive the original traumatic events.
Janessa shares her own story of unresolved childhood trauma, later surfacing as depression, eating disorders, and repeated relationship struggles. Only at 35, after years of personal work, did the memories return: "trauma is unresolved distress," she says, and describes how unprocessed emotions can become both emotional patterns and physical pain – "the issue then stores in the tissue." The episode speaks directly to people in recovery who wonder why they keep feeling triggered even after getting clean and sober.
Janessa explains how the brain doesn’t easily distinguish past from present, which is why old events can feel like they’re happening right now. She also sheds light on traumatic brain injury from fevers, substances, or treatments like electric shock therapy, and how these can affect judgement, impulsivity, and relapse. A key theme is hope: Janessa works with clients over time to address trauma, brain injury, addiction and personality patterns together, building a solid foundation for long‑term recovery.
Her closing message hits home: "if you are like me and you feel like your addiction means that there was something wrong with you, that is not so." If you’ve ever wondered whether unresolved trauma is still quietly steering your recovery, this episode might get you thinking about what’s really underneath the urge to use.
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