In this clinically grounded episode of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast, Kayleigh is joined by Kina Wolfenstein, LCSW, therapist, educator, and certified trainer in Coherence Therapy, for a deep dive into a lesser-known but incredibly powerful trauma modality.
Together, they explore what coherence therapy is, how it differs from more familiar approaches like EMDR, CBT, and IFS, and why it can be especially effective for birth trauma, medical trauma, and complex attachment wounds.
Kina explains how coherence therapy views symptoms not as pathology, but as coherent responses rooted in emotional learnings and how true healing happens through memory reconsolidation, an innate brain process that allows those learnings to be updated at the root.
This episode speaks directly to survivors who say, “I understand why I feel this way, but nothing changes,” and to clinicians looking for more precise, bottom-up tools for trauma healing.
In this episode, we discuss:
✨ What coherence therapy is and why so few people have heard of it
🧩 How coherence therapy differs from CBT, DBT, and other counteractive models
💡 What “symptom coherence” means and why it reduces shame
🌊 The difference between top-down and bottom-up trauma therapies
🧠 Memory reconsolidation as an innate brain process (not owned by any one modality)
📚 Why insight alone doesn’t lead to healing
❤️🩹 How emotional learnings form and drive symptoms like anxiety, shame, and avoidance
🔁 The role of mismatch and felt-sense experiences in neurological change
🤝 Where coherence therapy overlaps with EMDR and parts work
🎯 Why vague beliefs like “I’m unsafe” are hard to update—and why specificity matters
💔 How birth trauma often activates older attachment-based emotional learnings
😔 Self-blame, worthlessness, and shame after medical and birth trauma
🔧 Why healing means symptoms no longer require constant effort to manage
🌱 How therapists can begin using a coherence lens even without formal training
Guest Info:
Kina Wolfenstein, LCSW
Coherence Therapy Practitioner & Certified Trainer
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Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.
Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.
