Trauma, Memories, Feelings, Stories, and HealingTrauma, Memories, Feelings, Stories, and Healing
Ronni and Jennie: Breaking the Cycles of Trauma and Abuse, Silence and Shame
Ronni and Jennie talk about growing up with abuse, addiction and fear, and how missing or unclear memories don’t erase the truth carried in their bodies and emotions. They link trauma to self‑medicating, health problems and shame, and share how following and feeling emotions has helped them keep healing together.
42:32•20 Jun 2026
Trusting Feelings When Memories Are Missing: Ronni and Jennie on Trauma and Healing
Episode Overview
- Healing does not require perfect memories; feelings and bodily reactions are reliable indicators that something painful happened.
- You can repress traumatic memories, but the emotional and physical impact remains in the form of triggers, health issues and chronic stress.
- Self‑medicating with substances, food or other addictions often stems from unrecognised trauma and pain, especially when memory is patchy.
- Allowing space to feel and express emotions (crying, talking, walking, meditating) helps them shift and reduces their power over daily life.
- Mental health challenges are medical issues; shaming people for using medication adds to their pain and can block lifesaving support.
“You can repress a memory, but you cannot repress the impact it has on you.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? Ronni and Jennie, sisters who grew up with addiction, abuse, and untreated mental illness in their home, sit down with their coffee and unpack one of the trickiest parts of healing: memory versus feeling. Instead of arguing over what happened, when, and how often, they focus on how it *felt* to live in a house filled with fear, hypervigilance, and shame.
As Ronni puts it, "You can repress a memory, but you cannot repress the impact it has on you." That impact shows up in their bodies through chronic stress, high cortisol, migraines at 2–3am, and long-term health issues, even after decades of hard work on their healing. Jenny talks about "eating my feelings" and seeing the legacy of trauma in a family where many relatives struggled with their weight, inactivity, and poor health.
They connect this directly to self‑medicating behaviours, including alcoholism, drugs, and other addictions, especially for those who are in deep pain but have no clear memories of what hurt them. The sisters also tackle the stigma around mental health treatment. Jenny, who works in healthcare, shares her frustration with families who shame loved ones for taking medication for depression or anxiety, while happily supporting medication for blood pressure or diabetes.
For anyone from a chaotic home who feels broken but can't remember why, this conversation offers a different route: follow the feelings. They talk about triggers, trauma responses, and the slow, messy process of sitting with emotions so they can move through rather than running the show from the shadows.
By the end, Ronni and Jennie don’t offer a neat bow; instead, they offer companionship, honesty, and the reminder that "you can survive this" and that feelings, once faced, tend to soften. If you've ever wondered whether you’re allowed to trust your feelings more than your patchy memories, this one may hit home and help you feel a little less alone.
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.