What if the part of you that checks out, goes quiet, or keeps you on high alert… isn’t broken, just protecting you?
This episode is Part Two of a six-part series exploring the reading Child and Woman.

In this episode, Lori and psychotherapist Tammy Valicenti explore the forest: that inner place we retreat to when life has been too much. Together they name what protection can look like (silence, numbness, hyper-vigilance, control), how shame hijacks our inner dialogue, and why the simplest intervention can be the most powerful: “Hello, I hear you.” You’ll leave with a gentler map back to yourself, one that doesn’t require force, only curiosity.