Notes from the Edge

Gamut Podcast Network
  • 4.9 (134)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Weekly

Notes From the Edge is where polished stories end and the truth begins. Hosted by writer, trauma educator, executive advisor, and author Lisa Lacy, this globally ranked podcast explores survival, identity, trauma, addiction, recovery, leadership, relationships, and reinvention through raw, deeply human conversations. No scripts. No small talk. Just the stories we were taught to hide, the roles we performed to survive, and the truths that set us free. What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the edge. www.lisalacy.com

  1. 7h ago

    How do you break free without labels? Faith, Neuroscience & Recovery with Rose Ann Forte

    What happens when the life that looks successful from the outside is quietly falling apart underneath? Rose Ann Forte is an international bestselling author and creator of the Choose Freedom® Program, and her work explores how lasting change can happen without building an identity around shame. In this conversation, Lisa and Rose Ann talk about Rose Ann’s years as a successful executive and church leader while privately struggling with alcohol, toxic relationships, and the pressure to keep everyone else happy. They explore why traditional recovery language did not resonate with her, how neuroscience helped her understand deeply rooted behaviors, and how her Christian faith became part of rebuilding her identity. In this episode: • Alcohol use and behavioral habits • Recovery without shame-based labels • Faith and the renewing of the mind • Neuroscience and habit formation • Toxic relationships and people-pleasing • Self-condemnation versus lasting change • Identity after addiction • Learning to choose freedom Learn more about Rose Ann Forte: https://choosefreedom.today Learn more about Lisa Lacy: https://www.lisalacy.com What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    How do you break free without labels? Faith, Neuroscience & Recovery with Rose Ann Forte

  2. 17h ago

    What Happens After You Survive Yourself? Suicide Prevention, Lived Experience & Finding Meaning-Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy

    What if suicide prevention is about more than keeping someone alive for the next 72 hours? In this special September Suicide Prevention Month solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy speaks from lived experience about her first suicide attempt at 15, later attempts, psychiatric hospitalization, and the complicated work of finding reasons to remain when life has become unbearable. Lisa remembers arriving at the hospital still wearing her cheerleader jacket, being met with shame instead of understanding, and later experiencing psychiatric interventions that contained a crisis without necessarily addressing the pain underneath it. She also explores what decades of survival have taught her about meaning, spirituality, mortality, human connection, and making life small enough to survive one hour, one breath, or one tomorrow at a time. In this episode: Suicide prevention through the lens of lived experienceSurviving a suicide attempt as a teenagerWhy shame can deepen an already unbearable crisisPsychiatric hospitalization and the limits of crisis containmentTrauma, suicidal thoughts, and emotional painWhy asking directly and listening without judgment mattersFinding meaning when purpose feels impossibleSpirituality, ancestors, and feeling connected when physically aloneSurviving one hour instead of trying to solve an entire lifeWhy a temporary state of consciousness should not make a permanent decisionWhat Lisa wishes the 15-year-old version of herself could have known This is not a clinical guide to suicide prevention. It is one survivor’s perspective on what helped her continue, what did not, and why sometimes staying alive begins with making the horizon small enough to reach. If you are in immediate danger or believe you may act on suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 in the United States, contact emergency services, or go to the nearest emergency department. Connect with Lisa Lacy: https://LisaLacy.com What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    What Happens After You Survive Yourself? Suicide Prevention, Lived Experience & Finding Meaning-Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy

  3. 1d ago

    Complex Trauma, Survival Identity & Disability Advocacy with Ashley Townsend

    What if the thing you call your personality is actually something you learned to perform in order to survive? Ashley Townsend is a transformational and integration coach and complex trauma recovery specialist who spent 15 years working inside the mental health system before deciding that traditional labels and approaches were no longer enough. In this conversation, Ashley and I go straight into what made her become a self-described “former LCSW gone rogue.” We talk about what she witnessed working across domestic violence, addiction, foster care and trauma treatment, and how being blind shaped her own experience of trying to belong inside systems that often failed to see the whole person. Ashley also challenges the idea that personality is fixed, arguing that some of what we call personality may actually be protection we practiced until it became familiar. Then the conversation gets even deeper. Ashley shares how she performed being the “nice girl,” performed being sighted as she progressively lost her vision, and eventually performed the role of rescuer, believing she could carry systems and other people on her back. We explore why those protections were once brilliant, why they eventually become heavy, and what happens when we stop building our lives from fear and begin creating from love. In this episode: Complex trauma and the protective patterns underneath behaviorWhy Ashley chose to leave the traditional therapy modelDisability advocacy and the experience of performing being sightedMental health diagnoses, labels and the limitations of treating personality as fixedWhy “just do it” can completely miss the context of traumaThe difference between an explanation and an excuseRecovery as an ongoing process rather than a finish linePsychedelic preparation and integration, and why Ashley does not view psychedelics as a magic fixThe “nice girl,” the rescuer and other identities we perform to belongSelf-trust, play, the inner child and why healing does not always have to hurtWhat becomes possible when we stop fighting everything and start creating from love Connect with Ashley: http://www.findingyourphoenixcoaching.com/ Connect with Lisa: www.lisalacy.com What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the edge See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Complex Trauma, Survival Identity & Disability Advocacy with Ashley Townsend

  4. 2d ago

    What Do We Reach for When Purpose Is Gone? PTSD, Gambling Addiction & Life After War with Sean Carberry

    What do we reach for when the thing that gave us purpose, identity, adrenaline, and belonging is suddenly gone? Sean Carberry is an award-winning journalist and former NPR Kabul correspondent whose experience raises a difficult question: what happens when you come home from years of danger, but your mind and body are still wired to look for it? In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Sean and Lisa Lacy talk about what happened after Afghanistan, when Sean returned to civilian life carrying undiagnosed PTSD, without the structure, intensity, or sense of purpose that had defined his years overseas. He describes walking into a Maryland casino about six weeks after coming home, initially gambling a few hundred dollars, and how the risk, rewards, recognition, casino perks, and escalating bets gradually began filling something that was missing outside those walls. The conversation goes far beyond gambling. Sean talks candidly about identity loss, loneliness, relationships, the psychological impact of years spent witnessing human suffering, and eventually recognizing patterns he could not see while he was living inside them. He also discusses how writing became part of processing his experiences and why we need to take much more seriously what happens when veterans, journalists, humanitarian workers, and others who have spent years operating in dangerous environments are expected to simply come home and resume ordinary life. In this episode: • PTSD after war and conflict reporting • Gambling addiction and compulsive gambling • Adrenaline seeking, risk, and the nervous system • Identity loss after leaving high-intensity environments • Returning home and adjusting to civilian life • Why danger can begin to feel familiar • Casino rewards, validation, and escalating gambling behavior • Loneliness, relationships, and destructive coping patterns • Mental health among journalists and war correspondents • Supporting veterans, reporters, humanitarian workers, and civilians after high-risk assignments • Why being functional does not necessarily mean someone is okay • Writing, memoir, and processing trauma • Learning to recognize patterns before they become destructive • Why coming home deserves as much attention as going into danger Sean’s work and books: passport-stamps.com Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge: lisalacy.com What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    What Do We Reach for When Purpose Is Gone? PTSD, Gambling Addiction & Life After War with Sean Carberry

  5. 5d ago

    Why Do We Self-Sabotage? EFT, Nervous System Safety & Trauma Responses with Carol Look

    What if the behavior you’re trying hardest to get rid of was once the very thing that helped you survive? Carol Look is a psychotherapist and founding EFT Master who has spent decades helping people understand the emotional patterns underneath self-sabotage, and why lasting change often begins with asking what the behavior is protecting us from. In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Carol and Lisa Lacy explore the idea that the problem was once the solution. Addiction, procrastination, people pleasing, overworking, staying invisible, and even creating chaos can serve a purpose when the nervous system believes they are keeping us safe. Carol explains why we are wired for safety before success, and why someone can consciously want more visibility, healthier relationships, greater success, or a completely different life while unconsciously pulling themselves backward when the next level doesn’t feel safe. Lisa shares her own experience of appearing highly successful while privately unraveling, using alcohol to avoid painful emotions, and later discovering how uncomfortable peace and stillness could feel after years of chaos. They also talk about functional freeze, grief, hypervigilance, the importance of mentorship, learning to regulate reactivity, and what becomes possible when we stop asking, “What is wrong with me?” and start asking, “Why am I doing this, and what is it protecting me from?” Carol also shares how growing up in an alcoholic family shaped her tendency to take care of everyone around her, how that survival skill eventually became an asset in her work, and why learning to extend that same care toward herself changed everything. In this episode: Why self-sabotage may actually be a protective responseNervous system regulation and why safety comes before successFear of success, visibility, and “up-leveling”Why procrastination can have an emotional payoffAddiction as a way of anesthetizing difficult emotionsEFT tapping and Emotional Freedom TechniquesTrauma responses, hypervigilance, and emotional patternsWhy peace and stillness can initially feel uncomfortableFunctional freeze and appearing capable while internally checked outGrief, emotional avoidance, and learning to feel againPeople pleasing and taking care of others as survival strategiesWhy changing your own reactivity can change your relationshipsGratitude, emotional well-being, and Carol’s Yes workThe value of mentorship and support in personal growthWhy healing doesn’t mean life stops being difficultThe power of stillness, space, and finally hearing yourself Learn more about Carol Look and her work: www.carollook.com Learn more about Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge: www.lisalacy.com What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Why Do We Self-Sabotage? EFT, Nervous System Safety & Trauma Responses with Carol Look

  6. 6d ago

    Closure, Betrayal Trauma & Rebuilding Self-Trust | Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy

    How much longer are you willing to wait for someone else to validate what you already know happened? Lisa Lacy is a trauma educator and relationship advisor exploring one powerful idea: sometimes closure is not something another person gives you, it is something you create by trusting your own experience. In this short solo episode, Lisa shares what she learned from waiting for accountability, explanations, and validation that never came, and why healing began when she stopped requiring someone else’s version of the story to confirm her own. In this episode: Closure after betrayalRebuilding self-trustLetting go of the need for an apologyBoundaries without agreementWhy unanswered questions keep us attachedMoving forward without validation Connect with Lisa: https://www.lisalacy.com What did you perform in order to survive?  Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Closure, Betrayal Trauma & Rebuilding Self-Trust | Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy

  7. Sep 3

    When You Can’t Afford to Fall Apart: Grief, Fatherhood & Starting Over with Lee Ehlers

    What happens when everyone needs you to be okay, but you’re barely surviving yourself? Hollywood screenwriter and producer Lee Ehlers spent years learning how to survive rejection, but nothing prepared him for the loss of his wife, Erin, or for discovering that sometimes the strongest thing you can do is stop pretending you’re okay. Lee’s professional breakthrough and personal devastation collided when his feature film EXES was finally being made as his high school sweetheart and wife of twenty years was dying from breast cancer. Suddenly widowed with children who were just 10, 7, and 5, Lee found himself trying to grieve while becoming the person they still needed every day. We talk about the private cost of performing the “strong dad,” the period when alcohol became the only way he could sleep through overwhelming grief, and the moment he finally admitted, “I’m not okay. I’m struggling.” In this episode: Grief after the death of a spouseWidowed fatherhood and raising children through lossPerforming strength when you’re falling apartDepression, isolation, and asking for helpSelf-medication and coping with acute griefWhy grief doesn’t follow a predictable processSupporting someone who is grieving without prescribing how they should healThe strange collision of happy memories and devastating lossStarting over after losing the person you built your life withIdentity after lossPersistence through rejection and uncertaintyNearly two decades of pursuing a Hollywood careerScreenwriting, creativity, and finding your own writing processWhat repeated rejection can teach us about survivalThe making of EXESWhy saying “I’m not okay” can be the beginning of getting help Watch Lee Ehlers’ film EXES on Amazon: EXES on Amazon ⁠ Lisa Lacy | Notes From the Edge: https://www.lisalacy.com What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    When You Can’t Afford to Fall Apart: Grief, Fatherhood & Starting Over with Lee Ehlers

  8. Sep 2

    Why men are lonely and healthy masculinity with Michael Ostrolenk

    What if real masculine strength has less to do with pushing harder and more to do with learning how to regulate yourself, feel deeply, and stay present under pressure? Michael Ostrolenk, licensed marriage and family therapist and master coach, joins Lisa Lacy to explore one central idea: mature masculinity is not domination, suppression, or performance. It is self-governance. Michael introduces his concept of “Negative 20X,” challenging high performers to consider whether slowing down may require more courage than pushing harder. Lisa and Michael also unpack his Sovereign Gentleman framework, including how unconscious conditioning shapes identity, why men need spaces to experience and express emotion, and what disciplined presence actually looks like inside a relationship. In this episode: Healthy masculinity and masculine maturityNervous system regulation under pressureThe Sovereign Gentleman and psychological sovereigntyMale loneliness, mentorship, friendship, and the need for tribeWhy high performers struggle with rest and recovery“Negative 20X” and the drive to constantly prove yourselfEmotional intelligence, anger, sadness, shame, and healthy expressionMasculinity versus dominationDisciplined presence during relationship conflictHow childhood and cultural conditioning shape adult identityMartial arts, self-defense, capability, and personal responsibility Why kindness can be an expression of strength Connect with Michael Ostrolenk: Website: www.michaeldostrolenk.com Substack: Michael D. Ostrolenk / @michaeldostrolenk LinkedIn: Michael Ostrolenk, MA, MFT YouTube: @michaeldostrolenk Podcast: Resilience Redefined with Michael D. Ostrolenk Team Fudoshin: teamfudoshin.com Connect with Lisa Lacy: What did you perform in order to survive?  Welcome to the Edge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Why men are lonely and healthy masculinity with Michael Ostrolenk
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4.9
out of 5
134 Ratings

About

Notes From the Edge is where polished stories end and the truth begins. Hosted by writer, trauma educator, executive advisor, and author Lisa Lacy, this globally ranked podcast explores survival, identity, trauma, addiction, recovery, leadership, relationships, and reinvention through raw, deeply human conversations. No scripts. No small talk. Just the stories we were taught to hide, the roles we performed to survive, and the truths that set us free. What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the edge. www.lisalacy.com

Information

  • Creator
    Gamut Podcast Network
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    97
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lisa Lacy
  • Show Website
    Notes from the Edge