Post-Traumatic Growth: Lisa Collins on Surviving Workplace Bullying

After 36 years working across the NHS, and building a career as an anti-bullying advocate, Liza Collins found herself the target of a coordinated bullying campaign while opening abrand-new hospital. In this episode, she joins host Anita Whyte Moran and Dr. Jen Fraser to unpack how it happened: the gaslighting, the physical collapse it triggered, and thehealing journey that led her to write The Physiology of Bullying.

Together they explore why workplace bullying is a public health crisis, how HR often protects institutions rather than people, why abusers get promoted while truth-tellers leave, and how naming what's happening — in your body andyour brain — is the first step toward recovery. A raw, revealing conversation about trauma, shame, and what post-traumatic growth actually looks like.

This is a raw, wide-ranging conversation covering:

🧠 Why workplace bullying is a public health crisis — and how it physically changes the brain and body
🚩 How gaslighting actually works, and why it's so hard to spot from the inside
🏥 What really happens when you report bullying to HR
📉 Why abusers so often get protected and promoted, while the people who speak up leave
💬 The power of finally having language for shame, coercive control, and moral injury
🌱 Moving from being "trauma-informed" to "trauma-preventative"
❤️ Oxytocin, co-regulation, and what psychological (and physiological) safety really requires

Whether you've experienced workplace bullying yourself, work in HR or leadership, or simply want to understand why this issue deserves so much more attention, this episode will change how you think about it.

📖 Lisa Collins' book: The Physiology of Bullying
📖 Dr. Jen Fraser's book: The Gaslit Brain / The Bullied Brain

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on workplace culture, trauma, and healing.

Chapters:
0:00    Introducing Lisa Collins
02:36  The toxic hospital opening & escalation
05:02  The union call and the "brown envelope"
07:17  Recognising it as trauma
09:06  Post-traumatic growth & how the Bullied Brain series began
11:54  Physiological safety & mobbing groups
14:29  Bystanders, moral injury & the ripple effect on family
18:07  Unpacking gaslighting: real examples
22:44  The hospital today — and why abusers get promoted
26:54  The research: job strain, cardiovascular harm & public health
33:51  Wearables, data & proving the abuse
34:47   Money, power & the Catholic Church PR playbook
38:30  Validation, Samaritans & bullying as a lifelong pattern
40:31   HR as "black ops"
46:24   Rethinking psychological safety (and flipping Maslow)
49:00   Measuring safety: brain scans & leadership accountability
52:02   Alternative models of leadership in healthcare
55:36   Building a new language for what's happening
58:29   Coercive control, shame & unresolved trauma in leaders
62:03   Trauma-informed vs. trauma-preventative
62:57   The myth of "protected classes"
66:51    "Don't take your eyes off the abuser"
71:09    Safety, oxytocin & co-regulation
76:13    Closing thoughts & where to find Lisa's book

#TheFEMCAST #WorkplaceBullying #PostTraumaticGrowth #Gaslighting #Leadership

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In this episode of The FEMCAST, Silvia Adlesic Holmgren takes us beyond traditional ideas of leadership and asks a bigger question: what kind of workplace are we creating through the way we lead?

We explore the connection between leadership, brain science and organisational culture, and why trust, vulnerability, accountability and authenticity aren't soft skills — they're essential ingredients of healthy, high-performing workplaces.

Silvia shares fascinating insights into how toxic leadership can impact our health and wellbeing, how our brains can begin to normalise behaviours that should never be acceptable, and why speaking up matters when workplace cultures become harmful.

From gaslighting and destructive leadership to neuroplasticity, self-awareness and the future of management, this conversation challenges leaders, boards and employees alike to look at their own role in creating healthier organisations.

Because culture isn't something you write on a wall.

Culture is what we experience.

And changing it starts with having the courage to see it, challenge it and lead differently.

🎙️ Listen, learn and ask yourself: what kind of culture are you creating?

#TheFEMCAST #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #BrainScience #HealthyWorkplaces #ToxicLeadership #Accountability #Management #OrganisationalCulture

Three years ago, Dr Jen Fraser and I sat down to talk about the adolescent brain — and the devastating number of young people losing their lives on our roads.

Today, after five young men were killed on Irish roads over the weekend, the conversation feels painfully relevant.

What happens inside a teenage brain when it encounters speed, risk, peer approval and the freedom of being behind the wheel?

Dr Fraser explains that the adolescent brain is undergoing enormous change from roughly 12 or 13 through the mid-twenties. The systems associated with reward, novelty and social connection become highly active, while the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain involved in considering consequences and regulating impulses — is still developing.

We explore why having friends in the car can increase risky driving, why a young person can know the rules perfectly in one moment and struggle to follow them in another, and why “cold cognition” and “hot cognition” matter when we talk about adolescent decision-making.

But this isn't about blaming young people.

It is about understanding them.

If we know that adolescent brains are still developing, then surely we have a responsibility to give young people theknowledge and tools they need to navigate that development safely.

We also talk about adolescent mental health, suicide, social media, emotional intensity and the role adults need to play increating safety around young people. Dr Fraser makes an important point: adolescents can sometimes look like adults, but neurologically they are still developing — and they need adults to be the “prefrontal cortex” until their own develops.

This episode was recorded three years ago.

Today, it feels like a conversation we desperately need to have again.

Please listen. And please share it with a parent, teenager, teacher, coach or young driver.

Because understanding the adolescent brain could be part of preventing the next tragedy.

#TheFEMCAST #AdolescentBrain #RoadSafety#YoungDrivers #Neuroscience #TeenMentalHealth #YouthMentalHealth #RoadDeaths #SafeBrains

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The Red Phone: When Your Biggest Success Becomes Your Biggest Threat

What happens when you're a high performer, a respected executive and at the top of your game — but your workplace is slowly destroying you?

Andy Regal knows.

A veteran media executive who worked at CNBC, MSNBC, Court TV and The Wall Street Journal, Andy spent decades inside some of the world's most high-pressure newsrooms.

He was successful. He was promoted. He led teams. He created programmes that made millions.

And he was bullied.

Not always loudly. Not always obviously. Sometimes it was the red phone that made his heart race. Sometimes it was humiliation. Sometimes it was being ostracised. Sometimes it was gaslighting that left him questioning his own competence.

And sometimes the most damaging part was the shame.

The shame that makes you think: What did I do wrong?

In this powerful episode of The FEMCAST podcast, Andy joins us to talk about Surviving Bully Culture, what workplace bullying does to the brain and body, why high performers can become targets, and why the shame belongs with the perpetrator — not the person being harmed.

We talk ....

🚩Gaslighting

🚩Mobbing

🚩Psychological safety

🚩The “brilliant jerk”

🚩Bystanders becoming enablers.

🚩... and what businesses could actually do to change the culture.

Because a workplace should never cost you your dignity, your health or your sense of who you are.

This isn't just a conversation about bullying. It's a conversation about power, culture and what happens when we finally stop normalising abuse at work.

🎙️ Listen to the full episode of The FEMCAST.

And if you've ever thought, “Maybe it's me…” — this conversation is for you.

You can get Andy's book here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ehdgNN2q💡 Listen now and learn how to spot the signs, protect yourself, and become part of the movement for change.

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#TheFEMCAST #WorkplaceBullying #PsychologicalSafety #Gaslighting #BullyCulture #WorkplaceCulture #Leadership #MentalHealthAtWork #HighPerformers #SurvivingBullyCulture #JenFraser #AndyRegal #AnitaWhyteMoran

The Gaslit Brain Series with Dr Jen Fraser

What if the stress you're carrying home from work isn't "just part of the job"?

What if workplace bullying, gaslighting and psychological abuse are literally changing your brain, damaging your body and putting your heart at risk?

In this powerful episode of The FEMCAST, neuroscientist and bestselling author Dr Jen Fraser returns to reveal the science behind abusive workplaces and why even judges, can be manipulated by dark personalities.

Together, we explore:

🧠 Why toxic workplaces keep your brain trapped in survival mode

⚠️ The hidden health impacts of workplace abuse, from anxiety to heart disease

🎭 How gaslighting works — and why it's so difficult to recognise

🧩 The Dark Tetrad personalities: narcissists, psychopaths, Machiavellians and everyday sadists

⚖️ Why even judges can be manipulated in courtrooms

🚩 The warning signs every employee, leader and organisation needs to know

💼 Why psychological safety is no longer a "nice to have"—it's a human right.

This isn't just another conversation about workplace culture.

It's about protecting brains, preventing harm and challenging systems that have normalised abuse for far too long.

If you've ever left work exhausted, doubted your own reality, felt physically unwell because of your workplace, or wondered why good people stay silent in toxic cultures—this episode is for you.

🎙️ Listen. Learn. Share.

Because no one should be having heart problems because of a job.

If this conversation resonates with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

💡 Listen now and learn how to spot the signs, protect yourself, and become part of the movement for change.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations and dismantle the systems that silence them.

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#TheFEMCAST #TheGaslitBrain #WorkplaceBullying #Gaslighting #PsychologicalSafety #Neuroscience #WorkplaceCulture #Leadership #HR #BrainHealth #ToxicWorkplaces #CoerciveControl #MentalHealth #HealthyWorkplaces #DrJenFraser

⚠️ Content warning: Sexual violence, workplace harassment, trauma🎙️

What happens when the place you’re supposed to feel safe becomes the place that breaks you?

In this powerful episode of The FEMCAST, Jan Cruickshank shares her deeply personal story of workplace sexual harassment and assault — and the devastating aftermath of trying to speak up. From shock and self-blame to facing disbelief from those meant to protect her, Jan exposes the brutal reality many survivors face when systems prioritise reputation over safety.

This conversation goes beyond one woman’s story. It shines a light on workplace cultures that enable abuse, the silencing power of NDAs, and why accountability for perpetrators remains dangerously rare.

This episode is raw, honest, and necessary listening for anyone who believes safe workplaces are a basic human right.

If we want change, we have to start by listening.

#TheFEMCAST #Gaslighting #Whistleblower  #Justice #SexualViolenceAwareness #TheFEMCASTPodcast #GaslightingAwareness #PsychologicalAbuse #ToxicLeadership #WorkplaceBullying #EducateToEmpower 

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🎧 GASLIT BRAIN SERIES | THE FEMCAST PODCAST

What if workplace bullying isn’t just damaging confidence… but changing how your brain functions? 🧠

In this powerful episode, we expose the hidden neurological, emotional, and physical toll of toxic work environments — particularly on women and those navigating power imbalances at work.

Featuring the lived experience of mental health expert Dr Krystal Culler, this conversation explores how workplace gaslighting, institutional bullying, and unchecked toxic leadership can trigger anxiety, cognitive burnout, physical health crises, and long-term trauma.

We unpack:
• How workplace stress rewires the brain
• Why women are disproportionately targeted through subtle and relational bullying
• The warning signs your body is under psychological threat
• How gaslighting erodes confidence and professional identity
• Practical strategies to protect your brain health and plan safe career transitions
• Why organisations must move beyond wellbeing talk to real accountability

If work has ever made you question your worth, your memory, or your resilience — this episode will validate what you’ve experienced and help you understand why it happens.

Because surviving work should never come at the cost of your health.

🎙 Listen now and join the conversation redefining workplace safety.

#WorkplaceBullying #GaslightingAtWork #PsychologicalSafety #WomenInLeadership #WorkplaceTrauma #TheFEMCAST

Unmasking the Dark Triad. Reclaiming the Gaslit Brain. 🧠✨

Welcome to The FEMCAST, where "interpersonal issues" get called by their real name - Abuse. 

Hosted by Anita Whyte Moran and neuro-expert Dr. Jen Fraser, we dive deep into the science of gaslighting, workplace toxicity, and the survival strategies that actually work.

From the "Dark Triad" (Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy) to the physiological toll of corporate betrayal, we don’t just tell stories—we map the recovery.

Why listen?

• The Science: Understand the "Bullied Brain" and how to heal it.
• The Strategy: Learn to spot the "Flying Monkeys" and DARVO tactics before they spot you.
• The Sovereignty: Inspiring stories from survivors who walked away to build empires.

Because your heartbeat shouldn't be the loudest thing you hear at work. Hit "Follow" to join the revolution of clear-sighted leadership. ✊🔥

Connect with us: 🌐 Website: www.theFEMCAST.com 📸 Instagram: @TheFEMCAST 📩 Business/Survivor Inquiries: [email protected]

#TheFEMCAST #TheGaslitBrainSeries #narcissist #Machiavellian  #LeadershipStrategy #Gaslighting #WomenInLeadership #WorkplaceWellness

Kelly Donovan’s story sounds like a movie script, but it’s an 8-year living nightmare.

After being gaslit by the police when reporting domestic abuse by one of their own, Kelly became a serving officer to change the culture from within. 

Instead, she found a system designed to protect itself at any cost. So far they have spent an eye watering $600,000+ in taxpayer dollars to silence her, with an estimated $1M bill by the time justice is served.

We sit down with Kelly for "The Gaslit Brain" series. This isn’t just a story about survival, it’s a masterclass in the personal cost of truth. She chose integrity over her career. She chose truth over silence.

But the "Blue Wall of Silence" had other plans.

On this episode on The FEMCAST podcast with Dr Jen Fraser PhD, Kelly joins us for our "Gaslit Brain" series to discuss: 

✅ The reality of institutional betrayal. 
✅ The psychological toll of whistleblowing. 
✅ Why the system spends millions to make "problems" disappear.

It's a harrowing look at whistleblowing, institutional betrayal, and the "Gaslit Brain." Kelly reveals the shocking reality of her 7-year legal battle, where Canadian taxpayers have already footed an eye-watering $600,000 bill so far just to keep her quiet.

Topics covered in this video: 

👉 Institutional Betrayal: Why organisations protect predators and punish truth-tellers. 

👉 The Whistleblower’s Toll: The impact on health, family, and finances for a single mother. 

👉 Systemic Corruption: How evidence "disappears" when the perpetrator is one of their own. 

👉 The Path Forward: How Kelly continues to navigate a broken system with her integrity intact.

TIMESTAMPS: 

0:00 - The survivor who became a cop 

05:30 - Discovering the "Blue Wall" from the inside 

12:45 - The $1,000,000 price tag on silence 

22:15 - How institutional gaslighting affects the brain 

35:00 - Advice for survivors and whistleblowers

Subscribe to The FEMCAST for more stories of truth, justice, and the female experience. 🔔

#TheFEMCAST #TheGaslitBrain #Gaslighting #KellyDonovan #Whistleblower #PoliceWhistleblower #GaslitBrainSeries #Justice #DomesticViolenceAwareness #TheFEMCASTPodcast  #TheGaslitBrain #GaslightingAwareness #CaseyReport #PsychologicalAbuse #ToxicLeadership #WorkplaceBullying #EducateToEmpower

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He served 28 years in the Met. Counter-terrorism. Leadership. The front line of public safety.

Then the institution turned on him.

In this episode of The FEMCAST, as part of our Gaslit Brain Series, former Met Police officer Jonathan Wilson reveals how he was bullied, sidelined, and systematically gaslit by senior leadership after raising serious ethical concerns.

What happened to Jonathan wasn’t a “personality clash”.

It was institutional abuse — and the Casey Report later confirmed everything he tried to warn about: misogyny, racism, homophobia, bullying, nepotism, and catastrophic leadership failure at the heart of the Met.

This is the same broken culture that has allowed male violence against women to flourish on their watch — including by serving officers now jailed for femicide.

Dr Jen Fraser features Jonathan’s experience in her new book The Gaslit Brain, because his story is a chilling, real-world case study of how gaslighting operates at institutional level — and what it does to the human mind.

This is not just a policing scandal. It’s a public safety crisis, and it affects every one of us.

🎧 Listen. Share. And ask yourself why the truth had to fight this hard to be heard.

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#TheFEMCASTPodcast  #TheGaslitBrain #MetPolice #MetPoliceExposed #GaslightingAwareness #CaseyReport #PsychologicalAbuse #ToxicLeadership
 #WorkplaceBullying #StopGaslighting #MentalHealthMatters #EmpathyRevolution
 #BrainSafeWorkplaces #ProtectYourPeace #EducateToEmpower