Courageously Expressed | Post-Traumatic Purpose Reclamation

Chelsea Bartell-Smith
  • 5.0 (16)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Dismantling survival loops to set you free

  1. FEB 3

    67. What If Your 'Disorder' Is Just Unprocessed Genius?

    ADHD. OCD. GAD. Bipolar. Depression. The mental health industry took every complex, grief-filled, rage-inducing experience that happened to you—every moment your gifts got buried, every time love was taken from you, every time you were told you were too much—and they boiled it all down to a three-letter label. And now that label is your prison. Listen. I'm not here to deny or dismiss your pain. I'm here to tell you that you were erased from the equation. All that beautiful, complex trauma got diluted into a diagnosis that's now become your limitation. Your excuse for why you can't focus, why you sabotage, why you haven't started the thing yet. But what if your ADHD is actually a heightened ability to sense and predict what's coming next? What if your anxiety is buried rage trying to surface? What if every "disorder" is just unprocessed genius waiting to be excavated? In this episode, I get raw about: → Why I traced my throat-closing panic in front of the mic back to being yelled at for singing opera at 8 years old→ The difference between blaming what happened vs. owning how you're perpetuating the pattern→ Why ownership is the ONLY thing that creates change→ How every superhero had a tragic backstory (Spider-Man was already a superhero—the bite just made him face it)→ Real client transformations: the woman writing a book about her complex trauma, Isa releasing her song after years of fearing her potential, Sidney discovering her purpose as an herbalist after being told she wasn't intelligent enough I also get controversial as f**k about why I refuse to call them "disorders" and why the mental health bible (the DSM) profits from you staying exactly where you are. Reclaim Your Genius: Purpose Liberation one to one container: Email me for details chelsea@emotionalarcheologist.com Somatic Wealth Code: https://courageouslyexpressed.passion.io/app/products/280743/lessons/4608587 Courageously Expressed App: https://courageouslyexpressed.passion.io Your deficit can be someone else's gain. Your tragic backstory is your superhero origin story. But only if you stop fighting for your right to stay limited. Ready to excavate your unprocessed genius? Pick your portal above. Let's go.

    30 min

  2. JAN 16

    66. Who TF Am I Beyond My Trauma?

    Your trauma didn't just happen to you. It shaped you. Buried parts of you. Convinced you that staying small was safer than being seen. And now you're stuck in survival loops—same triggers, same reactions, same life you know you've outgrown. In this episode, Chelsea gets raw about the work no one talks about: using your pain as the raw material for your purpose. Not bypassing it. Not understanding it to death. Actually using it to excavate the woman you buried to survive. This isn't another "heal your inner child" fluff fest. This is about reconnecting with the little girl inside you who had dreams before the world taught her to be quiet. And asking yourself the most uncomfortable question: What will you regret if you don't do this work? You know your patterns but keep repeating them anyway You're tired of collecting explanations for why you're stuck You have dreams you've been too scared to pursue You're ready to stop performing "fine" and start living audaciously Why your pain isn't an obstacle—it's the portal to your purpose How trauma buried your authentic self (and how to excavate her) The one question that will either terrify you or set you free Why community matters when you're breaking survival loops "Your past explains your patterns. Your choices create your future. Which one are you using to run your life?" If this landed and you're tired of staying small, Chelsea's 1:1 container is open. You'll get a 90-minute Purpose Mapping Call where you'll excavate what's keeping you buried and map out what needs to shift. This isn't for women who want to understand themselves better. This is for women ready to become someone different. Interested? Click here: https://theemotionalarcheologist.hbportal.co/public/656aac9b606ce9039a2556bd

    15 min

  3. 12/15/2025

    🔔 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT— The Most Insane Thing I've Ever Done in the History of My Biz

    In order to win one of $25,000 in gifts you must submit your screenshot to me below. I deeply value & love the way you've shown up for me. I can't wait to give back to you ☺️ You must submit your screen shot to me before January 15th 2026. If you do not submit by then you will no longer be eligible to receive any of these gifts. Only redeemable once. Late submissions will not receive any gifts mentioned in the episode. https://theemotionalarcheologist.hbportal.co/public/68ed2645494da70001b8025d

    20 min

  4. 12/05/2025

    65. Becoming Someone Else: When Survival Loops Turn You Into a Version of Yourself You Don't Know

    Chelsea shares what happened when she turned nasty during a board game - and discovered the six-year-old who's been running her adult reactions. You're in a normal situation. Suddenly you become someone you don't recognize - defensive, mean, shut down. Your reaction doesn't match what's happening. That's an emotional flashback. The present is mirroring the past. Your body remembers what your mind forgot. Playing a game with her husband, losing, and suddenly feeling trapped. Chelsea got nasty. Couldn't explain why. Standing at the sink afterward, she asked: When did I first feel this way? Age 6. Wrestling with Dad. He pins her, won't move. She's calling for Mom. Pure panic. That moment never completed. Thirty years later, losing a board game activated the same panic: trapped, no way out, nobody's coming. After identifying the flashback, Chelsea told her husband: "I didn't know losing felt like being trapped." He said: "That makes sense. I understand." He hugged her. The survival loop closed. Different outcome. Her nervous system could finally complete what it started decades ago. Emotional flashbacks are portals. They show you exactly which moments are still running your life. Building awareness and tools outside stressful moments gives you choice inside them. Regulate&Rise App - Daily tools to build nervous system flexibility before you're activated. 7-day free trial: | $49.99/month "The more you train outside emotional flashbacks, the more choice you have inside them." - Chelsea

    22 min

  5. 10/30/2025

    64. Survival Mode is A Slippery Slope, But This Is How I Climbed Back Up

    Your ego wants you to believe you're in control. That if you just stay vigilant enough, productive enough, prepared enough—you can prevent bad things from happening. It's a lie. And it's keeping you stuck. In this episode, Chelsea gets raw about slipping back into survival mode after a year of deep transformation. She breaks down why your primitive brain creates false control through victim mentality, and how childhood survival strategies are still running your adult decisions. This isn't about positive thinking or "choosing better thoughts." This is about the nervous system patterns that keep you reaching for familiar discomfort instead of uncertain growth. You understand your trauma intellectually but still make the same choices You feel trapped by circumstances you know you have the power to change You're exhausted from trying to control everything and everyone around you You're ready to embrace the unknown instead of white-knuckling certainty Why your ego operates from the most primitive part of your brain How victim mentality gives you false control over external circumstances The daily disruption practices that reset your nervous system for resilience Why small acts (different routes, new experiences) build capacity for the unknown "Your core themes from childhood are still driving your thoughts and behaviors. By identifying these patterns, you can break free from the cycles of your past and step into an empowered version of yourself." If you're done living in your head and ready to embrace the uncertain expansion you've been avoiding, Chelsea's 1:1 container is open. You'll get a 90-minute Purpose Mapping Call where you'll identify the exact patterns keeping you small and map out what needs to shift. This work isn't comfortable. But staying stuck is worse. [Book Here]

    20 min

  6. 10/24/2025

    63. The Year I Achieved Everything and Lost Myself Anyway

    What happens when you hit every goal on your list and still feel hollow? Chelsea pulls back the curtain on a year that looked successful from the outside—and felt like survival mode on the inside. Goals met. Revenue up. Business growing. And yet: burnt out, creatively depleted, running on fumes. Here's the pattern most high-achieving women won't admit: You can build the business, hit the income goal, and check every box—while simultaneously abandoning yourself in the process. Because unresolved trauma doesn't care about your quarterly revenue. It shows up in how you build, why you push, and what you're actually running from when you call it "ambition." In this episode, you'll discover: Why your business becomes a mirror for your childhood wounds (and what to do when you see yourself reflected back)The exact moment Chelsea realized she was operating in survival mode despite "thriving" on paperHow Freud's repetition compulsion theory explains why you keep hitting goals that leave you feeling emptyWhy healing yourself is the most strategic business decision you'll ever makeThe difference between achieving goals and actually feeling alive while you do itThe truth nobody's saying: You can't outwork unresolved trauma. Eventually, your nervous system will force the reckoning you've been avoiding. The burnout, the creative block, the hollow feeling even when you're "winning"—that's not failure. That's your body refusing to betray you anymore. This episode is for you if you've been white-knuckling your way through "success," suspect your business is a sophisticated coping mechanism for unresolved childhood patterns, or you're ready to build from overflow instead of depletion. Ready to stop achieving at the cost of yourself? Chelsea's Courage Container is a 3-week intensive for women ready to stop postponing their dreams and start building from a nervous system that feels safe enough to expand. This is nervous system recalibration for women who've been achieving from survival mode and are ready to build from sovereignty instead. [Join The Courage Container] Because ready isn't a feeling. It's a choice. And the only time you actually have is right now.

    24 min

  7. 10/03/2025

    62. Perfectionism Is Just Sophisticated Self-Sabotage

    Six years of "getting ready" is six years of not serving the people who need you. Chelsea breaks down the sophisticated self-sabotage that keeps brilliant women collecting credentials instead of claiming clients. In this episode, you'll hear a raw voice memo exchange with a fellow coach who's been perfecting her process for six years—refining, researching, training, and waiting for the moment she finally feels "qualified enough." Here's what's actually happening: She's not unqualified. She's terrified. And every course she takes, every certification she pursues, every method she studies is another permission slip to delay the one thing that will actually change her life: starting. You'll discover: Why your lived experience is worth more than any formal training you're waiting to completeThe identity grief that comes with stepping into your power (and why that discomfort is evidence you're on the right path)How morphing into what others need is stealing your authority and keeping you smallWhy the people who need your help care about your authenticity, not your credentialsThe real cost of performing "not ready yet" while your gifts sit unused The truth Chelsea reveals: Your fear of fumbling isn't protecting your future clients from a bad experience. It's protecting you from having to be visible, accountable, and powerful. And every day you choose comfort over courage, someone who needs exactly what you have is suffering without it. This episode is for you if: You've been "working on your offer" for months (or years) but haven't invited anyone into itYou keep adding certifications to feel more legitimate while avoiding the work of actually serving peopleYou morph into whatever your clients need instead of showing up as yourselfYou know your story holds medicine but you're waiting for permission to share itYou've mistaken perfectionism for professionalism What becomes possible when you stop waiting: ✨ Your lived experience becomes your competitive advantage, not something you need to compensate for ✨ You recognize perfectionism as the sophisticated self-sabotage it actually is ✨ You lean into the grief of identity shifts instead of running from the discomfort ✨ You build authority through authenticity, not credentials ✨ You stop performing readiness and start embodying it The question isn't whether you're qualified. The question is: How many more years are you going to spend getting ready while the people who need you wait? Ready to stop collecting certificates and start claiming your authority? Chelsea's Purpose Liberation 1:1 container is for women who are done performing "not ready yet" and ready to build something real. This isn't for women who want to talk about doing the thing. This is for women ready to feel uncomfortable and do it anyway. Apply by October 16th and receive a Purpose Mapping Call ($444 value)—where we'll identify exactly what's keeping you stuck in the preparation loop and map out your first bold move. [Apply for Purpose Liberation here: LINK]

    16 min

  8. 08/29/2025

    61. The Question That Shattered My Pride

    Chelsea gets brutally honest about the moment everything shifted - and why your own liberation story is already writing itself, even if you can't see it yet. How long have you been performing "fine"? Chelsea opens up about her own liberation journey and the exhausting performance of having it all together while her nervous system was screaming for help. The moment she stopped pretending changed everything. This isn't another healing story - it's a roadmap for what becomes possible when you finally admit the truth about where you really are. Your darkness isn't the problem - it's the portal. Chelsea reveals how the moments when she felt most small, rejected, and incapable became the exact places where she reclaimed her power. Every encounter with fear becomes an opportunity for expansion. When you stop running from discomfort and start meeting it with curiosity, everything shifts. Sometimes the smallest tools create the biggest shifts. Chelsea shares her surprising discovery about how something as simple as colored glasses became a daily anchor for nervous system regulation - proving that transformation doesn't always require massive overhauls. It's not about the tool - it's about the intention behind it. Small, consistent choices compound into life-changing results. There's something inside you that's been waiting. Chelsea talks about that restless feeling - the knowing that you're meant for more than just surviving. That fire isn't your enemy. It's your compass. Your unique gift is trying to emerge. Whether through creative expression, helping others, or pursuing dreams you've kept hidden, your soul has something the world needs to see. Success without self-worth is just sophisticated suffering. Chelsea gets real about how apparent achievement can mask deeper feelings of unworthiness - and what it takes to break that cycle. Vulnerability is not weakness - it's the birthplace of authenticity. When she finally embraced being seen in her imperfection, everything she'd been chasing finally became accessible. ✨ Your liberation story is already writing itself - you just need to stop editing it✨ The moments you feel smallest are where your power lives✨ Small, intentional tools can create massive nervous system shifts✨ The fire inside you isn't restlessness - it's readiness✨ Success means nothing if you're still pretending to be someone you're not What would change if you stopped pretending you were fine? This episode isn't just Chelsea's story - it's permission for you to start writing your own liberation narrative. The journey isn't linear. It's messy, vulnerable, and sometimes uncomfortable. But on the other side of that discomfort lives the version of you that's been waiting to emerge. 🔥 Regulate&Rise App - Your Daily Liberation ToolkitStop performing "fine" and start building actual resilience. Get access to regulation tools, guided sessions, and a community of women choosing authenticity over perfection. Start your 7-day free trial: [App Link] 💎 Ready for Deep Liberation Work? Work With Me 1:1If this episode made something stir inside you, that's your liberation calling. Limited spots for private intensive work where we excavate what's been keeping you small and activate what's been waiting to emerge. Apply here

    24 min
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Dismantling survival loops to set you free

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