In this powerful episode, Certified Trauma-Informed Practitioner and resilience strategist Elizabeth Meigs dismantles the lie of failure and exposes what is really happening beneath the surface: survival.
Drawing from her lived experience of surviving a traumatic brain injury at fourteen and rebuilding her identity from the inside out, Elizabeth explains how trauma reshapes the nervous system, distorts identity, and creates protective survival patterns that often look like procrastination, withdrawal, overworking, or emotional shutdown.
This conversation unpacks:
• The difference between failure and hiding
• How trauma impacts identity and self-perception
• Why awareness is the first step toward healing
• The nervous system's role in survival patterns
• The power of safe community in restoration
• How to begin taking small, sustainable steps toward healing
Elizabeth reminds listeners that what feels like weakness is often evidence of resilience. You are not broken. You adapted. And adaptation means strength.
If you've ever questioned your worth, your progress, or your ability to move forward, this episode will give you language for what you've lived — and a grounded path toward rebuilding.
You are not alone. And you are not failing.
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Chapters
00:00 You're Not Failing—You're Hiding to Survive: Understanding Survival Mode
00:45 The Truth Most People Miss
02:22 When Identity Was Taken
04:33 The Smile That Saved Me
05:37 Survival Responses — Not Personality Flaws
07:35 Covered vs. Hiding
09:00 The Promise That Saved My Life
11:22 Twelve Years of Rebuilding
12:24 The Second Test
14:20 The Wilderness Is Formation
15:20 The Shift
16:29 If This Feels Personal