Notes from the Edge

Lisa Lacy
  • 5.0 (16)
  • 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. 1d ago

    When Your Diagnosis Enters the Room Before You Do

    Psychiatric labels, medical dismissal, and what happens when a human being becomes paperwork What happens when a provider sees your psychiatric history before they truly see you? In this deeply personal solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy explores the dangerous gap between being treated as a medically complex human being and being reduced to “the psychiatric patient.” Drawing from her lived experience inside mental health facilities, jail, addiction recovery, emergency rooms, and repeated life-threatening medical crises, Lisa examines how quickly dignity, autonomy, and credibility can disappear once a diagnosis enters the room. This episode explores institutionalization, medical gaslighting, hospital trauma, psychiatric bias, and the devastating consequences of being labeled emotional instead of symptomatic, anxious instead of endangered, and crazy instead of sick. It also offers an early look into Lisa’s forthcoming memoir, Notes From a Certified Madwoman, releasing in October. Part memoir, part cultural critique, and part nervous-system conversation, the book asks a question that could change how we understand trauma and mental illness: What if the diagnosis was sometimes describing survival? Mental illness should never cancel physical illness.A psychiatric record should never erase a patient’s credibility.Institutionalization should never require the surrender of human dignity. Learn more about Lisa, the podcast, and her upcoming work at: https://lisa-lacy.com Notes From a Certified Madwoman releases in October. See you at the edge.

  2. 1d ago

    What the Hell is Love?

    What happens when you grow up without hearing “I love you,” without being held, and without learning what safe, enduring affection feels like? In this deeply personal solo episode of Midnight Menopausal Meanderings, I explore the difference between loving someone and knowing how to experience love. My parents never told me they loved me. My father wrote the words in letters I would not open until decades later, after he died. My mother never said them. I learned touch through violation rather than comfort, and when I became a mother, I had to consciously teach myself how to hug my daughter and say, “I love you.” For years, I believed love meant providing. I became the financial provider, the problem-solver, the rescuer, and eventually a workaholic driven by survival. Now, with the help of transformational coach Steve Barton, I am exploring a different idea: Love can be wisdom.Love can be trust.And love can simply be love. We also talk about menopause, the disappearing b******t filter, and the challenge of setting boundaries that are loving, direct, and final. Because you can love someone, understand them, forgive them, and still decide they no longer have access to you. This next chapter is not about performing love. It is about finally learning what love feels like when it does not require self-abandonment. What did you perform in order to survive? Learn more at lisalacy.com See you at the edge.

  3. 1d ago

    The Competence Trap with Loren Silverman

    Burnout, Boundaries, and Why the Most Capable Person in the Room May Be Closest to the Edge What happens when competence becomes a survival strategy? In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with life coach and former technology leader Loren Silverman for an honest conversation about burnout, overthinking, boundaries, self-abandonment, and the hidden cost of always being the capable one. After nearly two decades working in technology, program management, and digital transformation, Loren realized that the part of his career that mattered most was not the technology. It was helping the people behind it. He also recognized a difficult truth: persistence can look admirable from the outside while quietly costing us our satisfaction, health, and connection to ourselves. Today, Loren is the founder of Silverman Coach and the creator of Life Reboot: Nerd Edition, a coaching experience for nerds, geeks, overthinkers, and overwhelmed professionals who are ready to trade chaos for clarity, build meaningful boundaries, and finally follow through on what matters. Together, Lisa and Loren explore why the most capable person in the room may also be the person closest to the edge, how competence becomes a performance, and why real transformation is often built through small, repeatable choices rather than dramatic overhauls. They also discuss the difference between persistence and self-abandonment, the role values play in decision-making, and what it takes to stop treating yourself like a problem that needs to be optimized. Learn more about Loren Silverman and Silverman Coach:http://silverman.coach Learn more about Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:https://www.lisalacy.com Welcome to the edge.

  4. 1d ago

    Before the First Hit with Dave Kopeny

    How Parents Can Recognize Risk, Interrupt Addiction, and Become Their Child’s Strongest Protective Force Every parent wants to believe their child will know how to recognize danger, make the right decision, and walk away when drugs enter the picture. But today’s drug landscape is more accessible, potent, and aggressively marketed than many families realize. By the time a parent knows something is wrong, the problem may already be much larger than anyone understood. In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with author, educator, private investigator, and addiction prevention advocate Dave Kopeny. Dave grew up in a home consumed by addiction. He was given LSD at eight years old, knew how to roll a joint by nine, and later lost his father, brother, and sister-in-law to alcohol and drug use. Those experiences became the foundation for more than 30 years of work with adolescents, young adults, and families navigating addiction and other high-risk behaviors. Throughout his career, Dave has served as a school counselor, teacher, probation officer, law enforcement officer, gang investigator, and private investigator specializing in teen addiction and intervention. Together, Lisa and Dave explore: • Why the “war on drugs” failed• How parents can recognize the early warning signs of substance use• The difference between healthy supervision and destructive surveillance• How social media and modern drug markets target young people• What parents should do when they suspect their child is using drugs• How families can replace fear and helplessness with awareness, action, and hope Dave is the author of Tip of the Spear: How to Educate, Supervise, and Monitor Your Child in a World of Increasing Drug Abuse and Addiction and the founder of ASAP Community, where he provides parents with practical tools to protect and support their children. Connect with Dave Kopeny:https://asapcommunity.org Connect with Lisa Lacy:https://www.lisalacy.com Welcome to the edge.

  5. 1d ago

    Who Got You Here Won't Get You There

    Jim Hughes on Identity, Fear, Self-Judgment, and Becoming the Person Beneath the Performance The person who got you here may have been exactly who you needed to become. The achiever. The problem-solver. The founder who never stops moving. The leader who learned how to carry the pressure, meet the expectations, and become whatever the moment required. But what happens when that identity begins keeping you from where you want to go next? In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with coach, author, speaker, and Untamed founder Jim Hughes for a conversation about the stories, fears, and deeply rooted beliefs that quietly shape who we become. Jim has lived in 12 countries, built and led a multimillion-dollar engineering business in Australia, explored an extraordinary range of careers, and even skied the world’s longest giant slalom race wearing only a G-string. For the past decade, he has helped high-achieving founders and leaders stop living as the people they believe they should be and begin becoming the people they genuinely want to be. Together, Lisa and Jim explore: • The hidden ways founders and high performers waste energy• Why motivation may be overrated• How fear disguises itself as ambition and growth• Why changing what you do is not enough without examining who is doing it• The role self-judgment plays in keeping people stuck• How voices from our past continue influencing decisions they are no longer entitled to make• What it takes to release the identity that helped you survive This is a conversation about success, identity, performance, and the courage required to stop obeying the person you once needed to be. Connect with Jim Hughes and Untamed:https://www.becomeuntamed.com Connect with Lisa Lacy:https://www.lisalacy.com Notes From the Edge is where we explore trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, and the deeply human stories underneath the roles we perform. Welcome to the edge.

  6. 2d ago

    When Leadership Stops Developing People with Dr. Katie Trowbridge

    Curiosity, Compliance, and Teams That Think. Why do capable, intelligent teams stop taking initiative? Sometimes it is not because people are lazy, disengaged, or unwilling to contribute. Sometimes they have learned that following directions is safer than asking questions, challenging assumptions, or offering an original idea. In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with Dr. Katie Trowbridge, an award-winning educator, TEDx speaker, leadership strategist, author, and CEO of Curiosity 2 Create. After more than 25 years in the classroom, Katie began bringing the principles of curiosity, trust, and thoughtful questioning into organizations. Her work helps leaders move beyond managing behavior and toward creating cultures where people think deeply, contribute ideas, take ownership, and lead with purpose. Together, Lisa and Katie explore: • Why leadership shifted from developing people to managing compliance• Why capable teams sometimes stop taking initiative• The leadership habits that unintentionally silence good ideas• What great teachers understand about human development• How curiosity and trust create stronger workplace cultures• The CREATE Method™ and how leaders can build teams that think for themselves Dr. Katie Trowbridge is the author of Lead Boldly, Think Deeply and the creator of the CREATE Method™, a framework designed to help leaders develop stronger thinkers and more sustainable organizational cultures. Learn more about Dr. Katie Trowbridge and Curiosity 2 Create:https://curiosity2create.org Learn more about Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:https://www.lisalacy.com Join us for a human conversation about leadership, curiosity, and what becomes possible when people are trusted to think. See you at the edge.

  7. 3d ago

    When Compassion Is Not Enough

    What happens when someone you love is in crisis, refuses help, and waiting for them to become “ready” may cost them their life? In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with attorney, former prosecutor, and family crisis advocate Mark Astor for a necessary and deeply human conversation about addiction, severe mental illness, involuntary treatment, family trauma, and the difficult line between compassion and enabling. Mark is a partner at Astor Simovitch Law, where he helps families navigate crises involving psychiatric instability, substance use, failed treatment efforts, medical complexity, and resistance to care. His work includes emergency guardianships, recovery planning, and legal intervention through Florida laws such as the Baker Act and Marchman Act. This work is not theoretical for Mark. Two days after burying his father, he stood beside police and paramedics as a member of his own family was involuntarily transported for psychiatric evaluation. That experience gave him a perspective no courtroom ever could and ultimately shaped his mission to help families take informed, lawful, and compassionate action before irreversible harm occurs. Together, Lisa and Mark explore why “waiting until they are ready” can sometimes be deadly, how cognitive impairment affects a person’s ability to recognize that they need help, and when legal intervention may become an act of love rather than punishment or control. They also examine the emotional burden carried by parents, spouses, and siblings, the civil-rights questions surrounding involuntary treatment, and how families can preserve a loved one’s dignity while still acting to protect their life. Behind every diagnosis, arrest, psychiatric hold, or involuntary commitment is a human being trying to survive and a family desperately trying not to lose them. Learn more about Mark Astor and his work: https://x.com/AstorSimovitch https://www.instagram.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@astorsimovitchlaw Learn more about Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:https://www.lisalacy.com Welcome to the edge.

  8. 3d ago

    The Confidence Beneath the Craving

    Addiction, Bipolar Disorder, and Rebuilding a Life with the S.O.B.E.R. Method What happens when you remove the substance, but the pain, pressure, and survival patterns underneath it remain? In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with author, entrepreneur, podcast host, and addiction recovery advocate Massimo Rigotti for an honest conversation about addiction, bipolar disorder, grief, confidence, and the complicated work of rebuilding a life in recovery. After navigating addiction, mental-health challenges, professional upheaval, and devastating personal loss, Massimo created the S.O.B.E.R. Method™, a framework combining Stoic principles, self-observation, behavior modification, the execution of positive habits, and holistic restoration. Together, Lisa and Massimo explore why abstinence may be only the beginning, what traditional recovery models can sometimes overlook, and how shame, identity, self-trust, and confidence influence a person’s ability to create lasting change. They also examine the hidden dependencies of high-achieving professionals, the difference between looking functional and genuinely being well, and what it takes to stop escaping yourself and begin building a life you no longer need to numb. Learn more about Massimo Rigotti and the S.O.B.E.R. Method: Digital S.O.B.E.R. Method: Beat Phone Addiction and Reclaim Your Attention in 5 Stoic Steps — Available now!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H93ZTVS9/  Free gift! Want the tools I use with clients?  https://sobermethod.com/5tools  Your Future is S.O.B.E.R.™Website: https://sobermethod.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobermethod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sobermethod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sobermethod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sobermethodLearn more about Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:https://www.lisalacy.com Welcome to the edge.

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5
out of 5
16 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
    Lisa Lacy
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    61
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lisa Lacy
  • Show Website
    Notes from the Edge

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