Send us Fan Mail What did you have to perform in order to survive? That's the question writer, trauma educator and memoirist Lisa Lacy puts at the centre of this conversation. It's one that tends to stay with you long after the episode ends. For nearly three decades, Lisa worked in corporate healthcare education and ran a highly successful consulting business. From the outside she looked polished and put together. Behind the scenes, she was being swallowed by addiction and a mental health crisis. About eight and a half years ago, that unravelling ended in full-blown psychosis. Her memoir, Notes From a Certified Madwoman, is the story of coming back from it, and of everything that led up to it. On her 50th birthday, after a health scare earlier that year, Lisa sat watching the sun set over a mountain cabin and made a decision: she was not leaving this planet with these stories locked inside her. In this conversation, we talk about: - What "high-functioning survival" really looks like, including the night Lisa went from a jail cell to a boardroom without anyone knowing - How quickly a diagnosis can become an identity, and how to hold labels as data rather than as who you are - The masks we wear, and why knowing who you are underneath them has to come first - My concentric circles metaphor for mental health, and why the person in the middle and the people who love them so often cannot see each other's circle - A simple practice for rewiring a harsh inner voice: find the statement of fact - Why your partner can't carry all of your stuff, and what friends, support groups and community are for - Resonance, and what it means to build a life you actually feel aligned with A few lines worth sitting with: "Not who are we becoming. Who are we now, and do you like that person?" "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." "Always one more try." This is a candid conversation about addiction, psychosis and trauma. If it brings anything up for you, please be gentle with yourself and reach out to someone you trust or a mental health professional in your area. About Lisa Lacy Lisa Lacy is a writer, trauma educator and the author of the upcoming memoir Notes From a Certified Madwoman, along with its companion Field Guide: The Psychology of Performance. After more than three decades in corporate education, healthcare consulting, performance and storytelling, she writes and speaks about addiction, psychosis, trauma, nervous systems, identity masking and the hidden realities of high-functioning survival in women. Her work is psychologically informed without sounding clinical, emotionally honest and unexpectedly funny. Learn more: https://www.lisalacy.com/about-1 About Stories and Stanza Conversations about creativity, resilience, and the stories that shape us. Between the Lines explores the craft behind the writing, and Fail With Me looks at setbacks and the resilience we build from them. If this episode meant something to you, please follow the show, leave a rating or review, and share it with someone who might need it. Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/storiesandstanza Subscribe on Substack: https://storiesandstanza.substack.com/ Contact: storiesandstanza@gmail.com Instagram, Threads and Facebook: @storiesandstanza | X: @storiesnstanza Support the show 📩 CONNECT WITH STORIES AND STANZA Email: info@storiesandstanza.com Fan mail & reviews: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2639460/fan_mail/new Wish to read about the episodes in advance or need a recap? Find us on 👉 SubStack. 📌 Follow us: YouTube | Facebook | X | Instagram ☕ Buy me a coffee 🛠️ Tools we love: vidIQ · Descript
