Held Together: Healing Childhood Trauma-Bonus episode: Post-Traumatic Growth
Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace
Release Date: 04/21/2026
Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace
Subscribe to receive the companion reflection journal and additional resources for every episode: Reflection Journal Library: We spend so much of our lives pursuing happiness. The next accomplishment. The next promotion. The next milestone. The next thing we hope will finally make us feel fulfilled. But what if happiness and meaning aren't the same thing? In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, we explore one of the most important questions we can ask: What makes life meaningful? Drawing from psychology, neuroscience, Viktor Frankl's profound insights on meaning, and the...
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Subscribe to receive free reflection journals and additional resources for every episode: 🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast app: What does it actually mean to be emotionally healthy? Many of us imagine emotionally healthy people as those who are always calm, rarely anxious, and somehow immune to life's challenges. But that's not what psychology, neuroscience, or Scripture reveal. In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, we explore what emotionally healthy people actually do differently. Emotional health isn't about avoiding pain or never struggling. It's about...
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Subscribe for free reflection journals and deeper resources: Listen & subscribe to Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace: Restoring Wonder: What Awe Does to the Brain and Soul When was the last time something truly stopped you in your tracks? A breathtaking mountain vista. A brilliant sunset. A piece of music that gave you chills. A story of courage. The birth of a child. Standing beneath a sky full of stars. Those moments don't just feel beautiful—they change us. In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, Dr. Malorie explores the fascinating psychology and...
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Subscribe for free reflection journals and deeper resources:* Listen & subscribe to Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace: The Psychology of Joy: Why We Miss What's Good Why is it so difficult to enjoy the very things we've worked so hard to achieve? Many of us spend our lives moving from one milestone to the next. We tell ourselves we'll slow down after the next promotion, the next degree, the next accomplishment, the next season of life. Yet when we finally arrive, our attention quickly shifts to what's still unfinished, what's still missing, or what comes next. In this episode of...
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Subscribe for free reflection journals and deeper resources: Listen & subscribe to Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace: Who are you underneath the roles you carry, the expectations you've inherited, and the versions of yourself you've learned to perform? In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, Dr. Malorie explores what it means to become more fully yourself—not by becoming someone new, but by rediscovering the person God created you to be. Many of us spend years adapting to the expectations around us. We learn what earns approval, what helps us belong, and what...
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What if confidence isn't something you find—but something you build? Many of us spend years wondering why we don't feel more confident, more certain, or more secure in ourselves. We assume confidence arrives first and then we take action. But what if confidence is actually the result of something deeper? In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, we explore the foundation beneath confidence: self-trust. Together, we'll examine how self-trust is formed, how it becomes damaged through burnout, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and broken promises to ourselves, and how we can...
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Want deeper reflection and free companion journals for each episode? Subscribe to the Restored reflection library here: Listen & follow Restored here: We often think change happens through dramatic breakthroughs, big decisions, or finally “getting it together.” But what if lasting transformation is actually built through small things repeated over time? In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, Dr. Malorie explores why tiny habits matter more than we often realize—and how psychology, neuroscience, and faith all point toward the quiet power of consistency....
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Want to go deeper? Subscribe for companion reflection journals, guided prompts, and deeper resources designed to help you move beyond listening and into meaningful reflection and growth. ✨ Reflection journals & deeper resources: Have you ever wondered why growth feels so uncomfortable—even when it is good for us? In this episode of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, we explore something many people quietly wrestle with: Why does healing sometimes feel harder before it feels better? Whether you are learning healthier boundaries, healing from anxiety, grieving, changing old...
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What if hope matters more than we realize? When life feels heavy, growth feels slow, or healing seems farther away than we hoped, discouragement can quietly begin shrinking our sense of possibility. Yet psychology—and faith—both point to something important: Hope matters. In this opening episode of a new season of Restored: Where Psychology Meets Grace, we explore the hidden psychology of hope—how hope shapes resilience, healing, motivation, and our ability to keep moving forward in difficult seasons. Together, we unpack why hope is more than optimism or wishful thinking, how it...
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What if some of the heaviness you’ve been carrying… is grief? Not only grief after losing a person. But grief from change. From disappointment. From relationships that shifted. From dreams that didn’t unfold the way you hoped. From seasons of life that quietly ended before you were ready. In the final episode of What Culture Is Doing to Our Nervous Systems and Souls, Dr. Malorie explores a form of grief many of us experience but rarely name: the grief of modern life. We live in a fast-moving world that teaches us to adapt quickly, push through, stay productive, and keep moving. But what...
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As we close the Held Together: Healing Childhood Trauma series, we end with something hopeful:
The possibility that healing does not just bring relief…
Sometimes, healing brings transformation.
In this bonus and final episode, we explore the concept of post-traumatic growth—what it means to not only survive trauma, but to experience meaningful growth through the healing process.
This episode is not about pretending trauma was good or minimizing pain. It is about understanding that while trauma wounds us, healing can shape us into people who are more aware, more grounded, more compassionate, and more resilient than before.
In this episode, we discuss:
• What post-traumatic growth is—and what it is not
• How healing changes the brain and nervous system through neuroplasticity
• Why growth does not erase grief
• How to hold both pain and progress at the same time
• Practical tools to support continued healing and emotional growth
• How God can bring purpose from pain without ever calling the pain good
We also reflect on the stories of Joseph and David to explore how Scripture shows us that God does not waste pain—even when healing takes time.
If you have ever wondered whether something beautiful can come from your healing journey…
This episode is for you.
Disclaimer:
This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment. Listening to this podcast does not establish a therapeutic relationship. The content shared is not intended to diagnose, treat, or provide individualized psychological care. If you are experiencing significant emotional distress or mental health concerns, please seek support from a licensed mental health professional or qualified healthcare provider.