Just Like Nana

Amie Penny Sayler
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Mental Health

Dive into the journey of Just Like Nana, a podcast passionately exploring ancestral trauma, generational healing, and the profound ways our family's past shapes our present mental and holistic health. Amie Penny Sayler shares captivating, research-based fiction stories of her grandmothers' lives and features insightful interviews with leading mental health and wellness practitioners.  Learn how to break cycles of trauma passed down through generations, understand family dynamics, and cultivate a regulated nervous system. Ground yourself in your history, honor your ancestors, and find your own path to trauma healing.  New episodes every Friday. Learn more at https://justlikenana.com/ 

  1. 4d ago

    Elizabeth Rosner

    Author and teacher Elizabeth Rosner discusses the importance of naming and acknowledging intergenerational trauma before moving towards healing. Elizabeth touches on the cultural understanding of intergenerational trauma, the limitations of scientific understanding, the importance of personal and collective histories, and more. About Elizabeth Rosner Elizabeth Rosner is an author and teacher whose work focuses on the redemptive power of storytelling and deep listening. Her six books have been translated into twelve languages and have received literary prizes in the US and abroad. Her most recent book, Third Ear: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening, blends personal stories of growing up in a multilingual household with multidisciplinary research about sound and silence in the natural world. Her previous book, Survivor Cafe: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory, was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award and was named among the best books of 2017 by the San Francisco Chronicle. Elizabeth travels widely to lecture and lead workshops internationally; her teaching carries forward a message of perseverance and tenacious optimism. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Validate the Biological Reality of Transferred Trauma: Intergenerational trauma is a concrete transmission where an ancestral injury, atrocity, or structural attack creates psychological consequences and genetic adaptations passed down to children and grandchildren. Knowing this science validates that you are not crazy for carrying fear from events that occurred before you were born.Reclaim the Ancient Wisdom of Lineage: While Western science is just beginning to understand the explicit mechanisms of epigenetics, indigenous cultures have always held the ancient understanding that we must look backward seven generations and forward seven generations when navigating our life purpose and actions.Embrace the Power of Deep Naming: True emotional and ancestral transformation cannot happen if we rush past the pain to reach a forced state of healing. We must dedicate time, energy, and meticulous attention to looking at, acknowledging, and naming our personal and collective histories to break the grip of secrecy and denial.Uncover the Multi-Generational Gifts of Resilience: Your ancestral inheritance is not solely defined by anguish and trauma loops; it also carries beautiful, luminous gifts. Reclaiming your lineage means actively identifying and savoring the creative talents, love of beauty, multilingual voices, and fierce courage passed down by those who came before you.Exercise Your Sovereign Capacity to Change: Although we possess no control over the exact traumatic history or genetic blueprint we are given, we hold absolute sovereignty over what we choose to do with it. By practicing deep listening and meeting ourselves honestly, we can actively rewrite our biological programming and choose our own changes Resources Mentioned Elizabeth’s Books: https://elizabethrosner.com/books/Connect with Elizabeth Website: https://www.elizabethrosner.com/index.html Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizrosner/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/61096.Elizabeth_Rosner Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Elizabeth Rosner

  2. Jul 24

    Dr. Jenn Veilleux

    Dr. Jenn Veilleux, clinical psychologist and professor of psychological science,  discusses the science of emotions. Learn why many of us are so fundamentally afraid of negative emotions, how contrast avoidance blocks us from joy, and a new framework to accurately interpret the hidden messages your body is trying to send you. About Dr. Jenn Veilleux Dr. Jenn Veilleux is a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor of psychological science at the University of Arkansas, where she specializes in emotions, emotion regulation, and personality. In addition to training graduate students in the art of psychotherapy, Dr. Veilleux operates a private practice helping adults and couples transform their relationships with their internal states. As a dedicated emotion scientist, she bridges strict empirical research with practical clinical application to help individuals understand their minds and bodies more gracefully. She is also the author of an upcoming book designed to clearly demystify the psychological science behind emotion regulation, which will be fully linked in our resources below.  In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Differentiate Emotions from Moods: Scientifically, emotions are intense, transient, wave-like states triggered by a specific event that have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Moods, by contrast, are longer-lasting, lower-intensity states that lack a target or explicit starting trigger.Receive Emotions as Vital Messages: Emotions are not random disturbances; they are functional communication tools designed to prepare your physical body for action, provide information about your social environment, and facilitate connection with others.Confront the Trap of Contrast Avoidance: Master suppressors often actively block intense positive emotions. This tendency is driven by a fear of the sudden emotional drop that might follow a peak experience, causing individuals to stay safely anchored in a low level of anxiety instead.Understand the Rebound Cost of Suppression: Pushing an emotional wave down doesn't make it disappear. Because emotions are determined to be received, hiding from them temporarily causes them to return with amplified intensity, much like the avalanche of letters invading Harry Potter's living room. Connect with Dr. Jenn Veilleux Website: https://www.jenncveilleux.com/ Book: https://www.jenncveilleux.com/book LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-veilleux-3270962a8 Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Dr. Jenn Veilleux

  3. Jul 17

    Lisa Lacy

    Lisa Lacy, author and trauma educator, explains the role of storytelling in healing and why self-trust is key to healing ancestral trauma. Explore why some healing modalities may work for you and others won't, and the importance of getting in touch with your body to feel safe and grounded. About Lisa Lisa Lacy is a writer, trauma educator, and author of the upcoming memoir “Notes From a Certified Madwoman” and its companion “Field Guide: The Psychology of Performance™️”. After more than three decades in corporate education, healthcare consulting, performance, and storytelling, Lisa now speaks and writes about addiction, psychosis, trauma, nervous systems, identity masking, reinvention, and the hidden realities of high functioning survival in women. Drawing from lived experience, recovery, and years teaching trauma-informed emotional intelligence in addiction recovery centers across Georgia, Lisa creates conversations that are psychologically informed without sounding clinical, emotionally honest, unexpectedly funny, and deeply human. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: You can physiologically inherit fear, anxiety, and behavioral patterns from your ancestral line without ever experiencing the original event yourself. Recognizing that what you are carrying isn't fully yours means you are not losing your mind—it is real science.Healing is not a one-size-fits-all journey. If traditional talk therapies leave you blaming yourself, expand your toolbox by exploring somatic work, hypnosis, cognitive processing, or peer support groups until you find what clicks for your unique design.Trauma survivors often dissociate, disconnecting completely from their physical bodies to survive. Ground yourself instantly by releasing a big sigh out—which safely down-regulates anxiety—and dropping into your chest space to find your heartbeat.Even if an ancestor passed away long before you were born, you can actively form a relationship with their memory. Channeling their history into purpose—such as transforming an ancestral story of abuse into community protection—honors their legacy and breaks the cycle.Forcing forgiveness can become a psychological trap. Opt instead for an objective human understanding of what limited tools your ancestors had, while taking radical accountability for your own behaviors and creating your own internal closure. Resources Mentioned It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn: https://markwolynn.com/it-didnt-start-with-you/Dolores Cannon: https://dolorescannon.com/Multipotentialite Ted Talk by Emilie Wapnik: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZdcB6bjI8 Connect with Lisa Lacy Website: https://www.lisalacy.com/about-1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisalacycalm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisa_lacy_writes/ Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Lisa Lacy

  4. Jul 10

    Lolita Guarin

    Stress management coach Lolita Guarin discusses struggling with anxiety and self abandonment as an unintentional way to honor your ancestors' struggles and how to break your ‘loyalty’ to your family’s trauma patterns. About Lolita Guarin Lolita Guarin is a stress management expert, speaker, coach, six-time Amazon #1 bestselling author, creator of the CALM Process, and Story to IMPACT mentor. She helps audiences move from stress and burnout into clarity, confidence, and self-trust with practical tools they can use right away.  In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Understand that ancestral trauma is an inherited historical memory that converts into rigid behavioral patterns. Recognizing that your constant state of hyper-vigilance is an inherited default setting allows you to separate the trauma from who you truly are.By looking through a third-person lens rather than a wounded child's perspective, you can see how an ancestor’s inability to show love often stems from unresolved trauma in their own childhood.Many adults self-abandon and refuse to practice self-care because they unconsciously believe that suffering honors the sacrifices of their lineage. Stop bulldozing your own needs. Reclaim your personal sovereignty by practicing small boundaries, like pausing before saying "yes" to a demand, and actively celebrating your small daily victories to heal your inner child. Resources Mentioned Dr. Gabor Maté: https://drgabormate.com/ Connect with Lolita Lolita’s Website: https://www.beamazingyou.com/ Lolita’s Books: https://beamazingyou.lpages.co/get-the-books/ Book a Session: https://beamazingyou.lpages.co/book-a-session/ Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Lolita Guarin

  5. Jul 3

    Yildiz Sethi

    Yildiz Sethi, a psychotherapist, best-selling author, and founder of Emotional Mind Integration, challenges outmoded mental health models and explore the generational subconscious mind. Yildiz stresses the importance of addressing generational trauma and the potential for mental health recovery through neuroscience and epigenetics. About Yildiz Sethi Yildiz Sethi is a psychotherapist, author, and innovator in mind science, with over 25 years of experience helping people create deep, lasting change. She is the founder of Emotional Mind Integration, Rapid Core Healing, and PTIT Trauma Recovery, offering brief, powerful approaches to healing personal and generational trauma in just 1–4 sessions. Her work bridges neuroscience, consciousness, and spirituality, challenging outdated mental health models that focus on managing symptoms rather than resolving root causes. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Your struggles are split between your personal subconscious mind (repressed personal experiences) and your generational mind (the systemic patterns, anxieties, and relationship dynamics you carry from your family tree).Traditional talk therapy can flood your system by forcing you to relive painful memories. Rapid core healing uses resourced, distanced subconscious processing to release stored adrenaline safely and effectively within a session.Modern neuroscience tells us the brain can constantly rewire itself.  Resources Mentioned Crazy Normal for Better Mental Health and Wellbeing podcastLet's Take the Crap Out of Psychotherapy by Yildiz SethiConnect with Yildiz Website: https://yildizsethi.com/Books: https://yildizsethi.com/mind-and-trauma-healing-books/ Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Yildiz Sethi

  6. Jun 26

    Malinda DeMercurio

    Malinda DeMercurio, an acupuncturist and Sangoma, explains how energy medicine, shamanic traditions, and ancestral healing can guide you back to your heart. Learn how to begin working with your ancestors, trusting your intuition as it draws you to specific healing modalities, and more. About Malinda Malinda DeMercurio is a licensed acupuncturist in New York, Connecticut, and Wisconsin, a certified instinctive meditation teacher, a Reiki master, and an initiated Sangoma, which is a traditional healer from the Zulu lineage of South Africa. She integrates acupuncture, meditation, energy medicine, and ancestral healing to help individuals restore health, reconnect with their spiritual inheritance and step into greater sovereignty. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Awaken Your Ancestral Qi: Recognize that you carry the energy, strength, and life force of those who came before you in your very DNA. True vitality comes from learning to unblock and honor this spiritual inheritance.Listen to the Call of the Grandmothers: Reconnecting with the wisdom of the grandmothers allows us to ground ourselves in fierce, nurturing energy and find our way back to the heart.Trust Your Intuitive Memory: Pay attention to the sudden signs, repeating patterns, or subtle inner pulls that draw you toward specific healing modalities like acupuncture, massage, or ritual work. Your ancestors often communicate through these intuitive nudges.The Power of Ritual Prescription: Move your healing beyond mental processing by engaging in physical rituals. Honoring family stories and ancestral spirits through intentional acts helps metabolize stored emotional grief.Fierce Self-Care Filters Outward: True matriarchal energy reminds us that taking care of ourselves is not selfish; it gives us the vital wherewithal to fiercely love, protect, and offer deep healing to our families and communities. Resources Mentioned Amazon Magic by Jaya Bear: https://www.abebooks.com/9780967425504/Amazon-Magic-Life-Story-Ayahuasquero-0967425506/plpAn Overview of Sangomas: https://www.britannica.com/science/sangomaConnect with Malinda DeMercurio Dragon Springs Wellness: https://dragonspringswellness.com/  90-Day Ancestral Healing & Sovereignty Reset: https://dragonspringswellness.com/programs-classes-and-events Malinda's Substack: https://substack.com/@primordialmothers Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Malinda DeMercurio

  7. Jun 19

    Dr. Irit Felsen

    Dr. Irit Felsen, a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and traumatic loss, explains the impact of significant familial trauma through the lens of Holocaust survivors (such as her parents) and their families. Explore how to navigate family dynamics that result from trauma, and the importance of separating the love from the trauma. About Dr. Irit Felsen Irit Felsen, PhD is a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and traumatic loss, whose clinical work and research have been focused on Holocaust survivors and their families. Dr. Felsen is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and was previously an Assistant Professor at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University for 14 years. Dr. Felsen is a Fellow of the APA Trauma division (Division 56) and a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She is the chair of the Trauma Working Group at the NGO Committee on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship to the United Nations.   During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Felsen was the chair of the Working Group focused on the needs of Vibrant Older Adults in the APA Interdivision Covid-19 Task Force, and when she resided in NJ,  she was a board member of the Holocaust Council of MetroWest.   Dr. Felsen’s papers have been published in peer-reviewed professional journals, and she authored multiple book chapters. Her research was the basis for the book “Psychoanalysis and Holocaust Testimony: Memories of Unwanted Social Trauma.”  Dr. Felsen is sought-after speaker presenting nationally and internationally about the long-term effects of trauma on survivors and about the intergenerational transmission of trauma and resilience to the descendants of survivors. She is in private practice in Englewood, NJ. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Learn to distinguish between your parents' true core personality—what they actually wished and wanted for you—and the restrictive, anxious behaviors caused by post-traumatic stress.Gain a clearer psychological perspective on why trauma survivors sometimes struggle with boundary-setting and letting their children separate, removing the blame and introducing deep compassion into the relationship.Reclaim your family narrative by honoring the immense resilience it took for your lineage to survive, turning that historical strength into fuel for your own personal growth and success. Resources Mentioned Psychoanalysis and Holocaust Testimony: Memories of Unwanted Social TraumaThe work of Beatrice Beebe, PhDNothing Makes You Free edited by Melvin Jules BukietFugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels Connect with Dr. Irit Felsen Website: https://www.iritfelsen.com/Research: https://www.iritfelsen.com/research/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irit-felsen-3b316712/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoPm6rBX9nGA0g76s4A-UpA Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Dr. Irit Felsen

  8. Jun 12

    Liza Miron

    Liza Miron, Family Constellations facilitator and coach, discusses ancestral trauma through the lens of family entanglements and how we can heal from them. Liza addresses balancing ancestral anger while honoring those ancestors, the importance of acceptance and belonging, and so much more. About Liza With over 15 years of hands-on experience with different modalities, Family Constellations facilitator and trainer Liza Miron is passionate about nurturing growth, fostering awareness, and uncovering underlying threads that keep people from enjoying their lives. This is complemented by her dynamic academic background, including a BA in Business Administration, an MA in Coaching and Human Resources Management, and spectrum-wide certifications including NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), Reiki, and Syntara System Energy Healing. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Recognize that you are part of a larger energetic web. When an ancestor is forgotten, excluded, or judged, the system often entangles a later generation to represent that person, leading us to repeat their difficult patterns.Healing begins when we acknowledge the black sheep or the forgotten ones and return them to their place in the system.Discover why the most powerful healing sentence is a simple Yes to reality. Looking at the truth of your family history without judgment allows the heavy energy of the past to transform into strength.You don't have to suffer to show loyalty to your lineage. Learn how to honor your ancestors by living a full, happy life—turning their survival and sacrifices into your fuel for success. Resources Mentioned Another Self (Zeytin Agaci) Connect with Liza Miron WebsiteFacebookYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn Connect with the Show Website: justlikenana.comShare Your Story: If you have a family story or trauma you’re exploring, reach out via our website for a chance to be interviewed.Connect with Just Like Nana's Website. A proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective. Theme music by Carter Penny.

    Liza Miron
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About

Dive into the journey of Just Like Nana, a podcast passionately exploring ancestral trauma, generational healing, and the profound ways our family's past shapes our present mental and holistic health. Amie Penny Sayler shares captivating, research-based fiction stories of her grandmothers' lives and features insightful interviews with leading mental health and wellness practitioners.  Learn how to break cycles of trauma passed down through generations, understand family dynamics, and cultivate a regulated nervous system. Ground yourself in your history, honor your ancestors, and find your own path to trauma healing.  New episodes every Friday. Learn more at https://justlikenana.com/ 

Information

  • Creator
    Amie Penny Sayler
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    29
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Just Like Nana
  • Show Website
    Just Like Nana

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