The incredible MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald joins Michelle this week. MC is a trauma researcher, author and certified life coach who has spent over a decade researching trauma, grief, and resilience. She is here to tell us all about how she got to where she is today, her own trauma experience, her work on redefining trauma, and her new book, Unbroken, which debuted in March. This is such a wonderful, insightful, and powerful conversation that we can’t wait for you to hear.
In This Episode, Michelle Talks About
- How MC became a trauma coach
- How do you define trauma?
- MC’s new book, Unbroken, and the meaning behind it
How MC became a trauma coach
MC tells us about her background in philosophy and psychoanalysis, specifically around mourning, and how that evolved into studying trauma, combat trauma, and sexual assault while obtaining her PHD. Her original goal was to move into the field of academia, but the more she learned about trauma, the more she realized people were not getting the education in therapy about what trauma is. This led her to starting her coaching practice in 2011 and allowed her to get info to people working though trauma with their therapists that they really needed.
How do you define trauma?
MC’s new book, Unbroken, and the meaning behind it
MC Shares her own traumatic background with us, and how the sudden loss of her father led to her struggling with panic attacks. She often found herself at the end of her day just lying on the floor swimming in grief, panic, and anxiety. On discussing this with her therapist, and thinking she was losing her mind and was broken, her therapist reassured her that what she was actually doing was allowing her body to give her the experience of safety. She was grounding herself without even realizing it, and MC tells us how her own experience of this inspired her to write her book.
Links Mentioned
https://alchemycoaching.life/ – MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald’s Website
MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald’s Instagram Profile
Unbroken: The Trauma Response Is Never Wrong By MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald
