Overcoming PTSD with Brad Schipke

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In this Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching session, Brad and Kayleen dive deep into one of the most overlooked foundations of sobriety: true commitment. Not commitment as willpower or motivation—but commitment as a mindset that comes before action and carries you through urges, cravings, and emotional storms.

They explain why many people unknowingly stay committed to their addiction through their actions, even when they want sobriety, and how real change begins when you consciously decide what you’re loyal to. Through powerful examples—from pets and relationships to everyday habits—Brad shows how commitment works when it’s unconditional and why sobriety requires the same level of devotion.

This episode also breaks down the neuroscience of addiction, dopamine overload, and why the first 90 days feel so hard—but lead to a point where sobriety becomes a non-issue. You’ll be guided through a practical exercise to identify what’s truly at stake if nothing changes, and how to use that clarity to build a commitment strong enough to outlast cravings.

💡 What You’ll Learn

Why commitment to sobriety must start in the mind before action

How your daily actions reveal what you’re truly committed to

The difference between wanting sobriety and being committed to it

Why the first 90 days of sobriety feel intense but lead to freedom

How dopamine overload keeps addiction cycles alive

What’s really at stake if addictive behaviors continue

How to create a powerful commitment contract for sobriety

Why emotional pain can be a catalyst for lasting change

How sobriety eventually becomes a non-issue with the right foundation

🧠 Key Takeaway

Sobriety becomes sustainable when you commit to it the same way you commit to someone you love—no matter what.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered:

PTSD recovery • trauma and addiction • sobriety commitment • addiction recovery mindset • dopamine regulation • trauma healing • emotional regulation • nervous system regulation • PTSD triggers • cravings and urges • sobriety tools • recovery routines • trauma coping tools • commitment contract • behavioral addictions • substance abuse recovery • long-term sobriety • Overcoming PTSD Podcast • Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In this Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching session, Brad and Kayleen return after Inspiration Week and share a powerful perspective shift: trauma recovery isn’t the end of the journey—it’s the foundation for everything you want next. They recap what they learned at a major entrepreneurship conference and connect it directly to healing, mindset, and long-term growth.

Kayleen tells a story that hit her hard in the best way: watching a wildly successful coach take notes like a beginner while listening to an even bigger entrepreneur. The lesson was simple and humbling—successful people never stop growing. There’s always a next level, and growth continues in new forms: confidence, purpose, relationships, impact, and contribution.

They also bring this back to you and your recovery journey. The same tools you’re learning to heal PTSD—belief work, emotional regulation, self-talk, and processing—keep applying at every stage of life. Whether your next goal is writing a book, building a business, helping others, strengthening your family, or finding purpose again, the inner work remains the lever that makes progress possible.

💡 What You’ll Learn

Why growth never stops even after major PTSD and trauma healing

How recovery becomes the foundation for relationships purpose and impact

The difference between moving forward in fear versus moving forward in faith

Why successful people stay humble and keep learning like beginners

How the same trauma healing tools apply to business goals and life goals

Why mindset beliefs and self-worth still matter at every “next level”

How fear shows up when you step into the unknown and what to do with it

Why action is the real dividing line between staying stuck and growing

How community support helps you keep moving when fear gets loud

🧠 Key Takeaway

Move forward in faith—because the moment you stop stepping into fear is the moment you stop growing.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered:

PTSD recovery • trauma healing • post-traumatic growth • growth mindset • fear vs faith • emotional regulation • nervous system regulation • self-worth • limiting beliefs • belief change • mindset coaching • trauma processing • recovery motivation • personal development • healing foundations • purpose after trauma • meaning and fulfillment • confidence building • imposter syndrome • entrepreneurship mindset • resilience • overcoming fear • taking action • Overcoming PTSD Podcast • Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In today’s Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching session, Brad and Kayleen break down a simple but powerful strategy for accelerating PTSD and trauma recovery: the “healing vacation.” It’s exactly what it sounds like—a set period of time (from one day to several days) where you step away from normal life and focus on healing work with intention, structure, and rest.

They explain why many people feel stuck in a slow-burn recovery model—like weekly therapy sessions that may not include real trauma processing—and how intensity and focused time spent processing can dramatically move the needle. The core idea is simple: if there’s a finite amount of healing work to do, you can either spread it out over months…or compress it into a shorter window by doing more focused processing in a concentrated timeframe.

Kayleen shares the story that sparked this concept: a modest cabin trip where she spent multiple days doing structured processing “sprints” with rest breaks—resulting in a dramatic drop in nightmares and flashbacks that didn’t come back. Brad then gives a practical step-by-step plan to set up your own healing vacation, whether you travel somewhere quiet or simply carve out protected time at home.

💡 What You’ll Learn

What a healing vacation is and why it can accelerate PTSD recovery

Why time spent processing is one of the biggest drivers of real healing

How to use sprint and recovery cycles to go deeper without burning out

How to choose the highest priority trauma or belief to work on first

How to prepare your environment to avoid distractions and “loopholes”

Why rest is part of the healing process and not wasted time

How to make a healing vacation a weekly routine if full days aren’t possible

Common mistakes that reduce results and how to avoid them

How to protect the time with boundaries around phones, social media, and other people

🧠 Key Takeaway

The more focused time you spend processing—supported by real rest—the faster you can move from survival mode to real peace.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered:

PTSD recovery • trauma healing • healing vacation • trauma processing • emotional regulation • nervous system regulation • recovery routines • healing intensity • trauma coping tools • PTSD flashbacks • nightmares • trauma triggers • self-guided healing • processing tools • challenging beliefs • protector tool • introspective healing • therapy alternatives • healing momentum • recovery planning • boundaries with social media • healing schedule • rest and integration • accelerated trauma recovery • Overcoming PTSD Podcast • Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In this episode, Brad and Kaylene break down one of the most misunderstood — and most powerful — trauma recovery skills: acceptance.

Acceptance isn’t giving up, approving of harm, or ignoring problems. It’s stopping the internal fight with reality so you can regain clarity, peace, and control. When we resist reality — whether it’s emotions, people, triggers, or life circumstances — we create unnecessary suffering on top of the original pain.

Using clear examples, personal stories, and the powerful “first dart vs second dart” metaphor, this session shows how acceptance reduces anxiety, stops emotional spirals, and frees up the energy needed to heal and move forward.

💡 What You’ll Learn

Why resistance creates emotional suffering and keeps trauma alive

The difference between acceptance and resignation

How internal and external non-acceptance show up as anxiety, anger, and stress

The “first dart vs second dart” model for understanding emotional spirals

Why life only throws one dart — and how we wound ourselves repeatedly

How acceptance restores clarity and decision-making

Why acceptance is a muscle you can train daily

How small disturbances reveal unprocessed trauma

How to accept emotions without suppressing or acting them out

Why peace comes after feeling, not avoiding, pain

🧠 Key Takeaway

Life throws one dart. Everything after that is optional — and acceptance is how you stop hurting yourself.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered:

acceptance mindset • PTSD recovery • trauma healing • emotional regulation • resistance vs acceptance • anxiety relief • emotional processing • nervous system healing • trauma triggers • self-talk • first dart second dart model • chronic stress • emotional freedom • inner peace • healing skills • mindset tools • recovery coaching • emotional awareness • trauma release

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

This session focuses on a sneaky but powerful reason many people stay stuck in addiction or “sobriety rehearsal”: they don’t truly believe a life without the habit is possible — even if they want it.

Brad and Kaylene break down how beliefs actually work (a thought supported by references/experiences) and show you how to start building the belief that change is possible by collecting real proof from your life, one minute at a time.

You’ll also learn how to avoid the overwhelm of “forever” by narrowing your focus to the present moment, building small wins, and surrounding yourself with references that prove a different lifestyle is real — because it is.

💡 What You’ll Learn

Why the belief “it’s not possible” quietly guarantees relapse

The three phases of the sobriety journey and what “sobriety rehearsal” really means

How to stop thinking in forever and focus on right now

Why one minute of success is still a real reference you can keep forever

The belief table framework and how thoughts become beliefs through references

How to actively collect proof that you can change even when urges are intense

How to borrow references from other people to strengthen your belief

Why “needs” habits like eating require clearer definitions and boundaries

How wins build confidence and momentum during the first 90 days

🧠 Key Takeaway

If you can do it for one minute, you can do it for one minute — and those small wins become the proof that rewires your belief.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered:

addiction recovery • sobriety rehearsal • lifelong sobriety • beliefs and addiction • belief table • building references • habit change • relapse loop • one day at a time • one minute at a time • motivation and mindset • trauma and addiction • PTSD recovery mindset • compulsive behaviors • emotional regulation • behavior change • codependency behaviors • emotional eating boundaries • inspiration week wins • recovery community support

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In this episode, Brad teaches a powerful mindset shift: PTSD triggers aren’t something to fear — they’re information. When you get triggered, your brain is essentially handing you the exact data you need to heal what’s still unprocessed.

You’ll learn why triggers happen, what’s actually going on in the brain when old trauma gets activated, and how to stop automatically defaulting to coping (even “positive coping”) as your only path forward.

Most importantly, you’ll learn how to use a trigger as a healing opportunity — either in real time (if you can process in the moment) or by capturing the “data” so you can process it later and permanently reduce future triggers.

💡 What You’ll Learn

Why trauma triggers are unprocessed memories resurfacing in the present

How to reframe pain as useful information instead of a threat

The two paths after a trigger: coping vs healing and why the choice matters

How triggers reveal exactly what you need to work on next in PTSD recovery

How to break a trigger into emotions thoughts memories and beliefs so you can choose the right tool

Why processing is faster when the trigger is already “at the surface”

How to use triggers to build your “things I need to work on” list

What to do if you can’t process in real time and need to capture the data for later

Why pain becomes your best friend after you hit a recovery plateau

🧠 Key Takeaway

Triggers aren’t proof you’re broken — they’re your brain pointing a flashlight at what’s still unprocessed so you can heal it for good.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive.

To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

opics Covered:

PTSD triggers • trauma triggers • PTSD recovery • trauma healing • processing trauma • emotional regulation • nervous system regulation • trauma coping tools • bilateral processing • working memory vs long-term memory • unprocessed trauma • trigger cycle • coping vs healing • mindset shift • pain as data • healing routine • introspective healing • beliefs and trauma • anxiety and stress • recovery plateau • trauma processing tools • emotional awareness • resilience and strength

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

This session builds on yesterday's four levels of behavior change by introducing one of the most powerful tools for locking in new habits: rehearsal. Whether you visualize it or physically practice it, rehearsing your routine removes the decision points that trip you up and makes success feel automatic.

Brad and Kaylene explain that the goal of rehearsal is to align your plan with reality as closely as possible. That means thinking through all the little details — where your water bottle is, how long it actually takes you to shower, what happens if the dog needs to go out. These small things create loopholes that your brain will use as excuses if you don't prepare for them. They share a fascinating study showing that pianists who only visualized practicing had the same brain changes as those who physically practiced. Your brain can't tell the difference between a vividly imagined event and a real one.

The episode also covers how to reduce overwhelm by breaking things down to the smallest possible action. Brad shares how he tells himself "all you have to do is get in the car" — and that's enough to get the momentum going. The key is to start with what you're actually willing to do, celebrate that progress, and build from there.

💡 What You'll Learn

🧠 Key Takeaway

Rehearsing your routine — whether through visualization or physical practice — removes the decision points that trip you up. When you've already gone through it in your mind, you don't have to think. You just do.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive. To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS: 

Topics Covered: PTSD recovery • routine building • habit change • visualization • rehearsal • morning routine • behavior change • loopholes • decision fatigue • Michael Phelps • piano study • overwhelm • breaking things down • self-talk • lifestyle change • small adjustments • willpower • consistency • recovery mindset

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In this powerful mindset session, Brad and Kaylene introduce the Four Levels of Behavior Change — a framework that transformed how they approached everything from yelling in their relationship to media addiction. The four levels are: unaware, aware with no control, aware with control, and non-issue. Understanding where you are on this ladder helps you see that you're making progress even when it doesn't feel like it.

The hardest part of this journey is level two, where you watch yourself do the thing you know you shouldn't be doing but feel powerless to stop. But here's the truth: it's not that you don't have control — it's that you're unaware of where to exert that control. As you move into level three, you start catching yourself earlier and earlier on the path toward the negative behavior until eventually you can stop before you even start.

The ultimate goal is level four: non-issue. This is where the behavior no longer has any pull on you. Brad and Kaylene share that it took about 90-110 days of focused effort to reach this point with their biggest habits. That means by the end of the year, you could eliminate one major negative behavior from your life entirely. You don't have to fight your bad habits forever — you just need to fight them long enough until they become a non-issue.

💡 What You'll Learn

🧠 Key Takeaway

You won't have to fight your bad habits forever. With focused effort for 90-110 days, any negative behavior can become a complete non-issue — no urge, no pull, no struggle. You're not broken. You're just ascending through the levels.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive. To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered: PTSD recovery • behavior change • breaking bad habits • addiction recovery • awareness framework • habit change • sobriety • relationship patterns • yelling • media addiction • self-control • mindset for change • recovery rehearsal • habit momentum • 90-day challenge • lifestyle change • negative behaviors • personal growth

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

This episode answers one of the most foundational questions in trauma recovery: How does PTSD actually happen, and why is it possible to heal? Brad and Kayleen break down the brain science in simple terms, using a relatable example of touching a hot stove to show exactly what goes wrong when an event becomes traumatic — and what needs to happen to fix it.

When you experience a normal event, stimuli goes into your working memory, your brain sorts the good from the bad, throws out what you don't need, and stores only the lesson in long-term memory. But when an event is traumatic, your brain skips the working memory entirely and shoves everything — the fear, shame, negative thoughts, raw emotions — straight into long-term storage. That's the glitch. That's PTSD.

The good news? Your working memory isn't broken. It's working right now. All you need to do is use processing tools to move that raw, unprocessed material back into the working memory so your brain can finally do what it was designed to do: sort the good from the bad, throw out the negative, and keep only the lesson. That's why healing is not just possible — it's inevitable if you keep taking action.

💡 What You'll Learn

🧠 Key Takeaway

Your brain isn't broken — it just skipped a step. Processing tools help you move unprocessed trauma back into your working memory so your brain can finally do what it's designed to do: throw out the negative and keep only the lesson.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive. To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS:

Topics Covered: PTSD recovery • trauma healing • how PTSD happens • brain science • working memory • long-term memory • processing trauma • coping vs healing • processing tools • bilateral stimulation • protectors • challenging beliefs • introspection • three pillars of recovery • mindset • routines • trauma processing • emotional release • why healing is possible

Struggling with trauma/PTSD and need help? Join my private recovery community here and get my 9 best relief tools 100% FREE: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

In this high-impact session, Brad and Kayleen break down the addiction cycle into four clear stages: trigger, pain, addictive behavior, and fallout. They explain how this cycle feeds itself and why awareness alone is a major step toward breaking free. But awareness isn't enough — you need a plan.

The key insight is that there are two journeys you must walk to truly overcome addiction. The short-term journey is about breaking the habit by using healthy coping skills when pain hits. The long-term journey is about healing the root trauma that's driving the pain in the first place. If you only do one, you'll stay stuck. Do both, and you can get to a place where the addiction becomes a complete non-issue.

Brad and Kayleen also dive into the critical role of self-talk — how you're either talking yourself into the addictive behavior or talking yourself into a different choice. They share practical strategies for preparing ahead of time, including creating a list of enjoyable activities you can turn to when the urge hits, and how to use that moment of pause to redirect yourself.

💡 What You'll Learn

🧠 Key Takeaway

You need to walk two journeys to break the addiction cycle: change the habit through healthy coping skills, and heal the underlying trauma that's driving the pain. One without the other keeps you stuck.

🔗 Next Steps

Subscribe for new weekday episodes from the Recovery Secrets Daily Coaching archive. To go deeper or work with Brad directly, visit: https://www.skool.com/brokentounbreakable

CHAPTERS: 

Topics Covered: PTSD recovery • addiction recovery • addiction cycle • trauma and addiction • healthy coping skills • breaking bad habits • self-talk • sobriety • behavioral addiction • substance use • healing the root cause • habit change • recovery toolbox • dopamine • emotional regulation • relapse prevention • recovery mindset • trauma processing