Reach out! You don't have to explain how crazy she was. We believe you!!!
What if anxiety, hypervigilance, shutdown, and other mental health struggles aren't simply about what is “wrong” with us, but about what happened to us?
In this episode of Beyond Mommy Dearest, Noelani speaks with filmmaker Ton Mazzone, creator of the documentary Traumality, about the connection between childhood trauma, the nervous system, mental health, relationships, and healing.
Ton shares how his own struggles with anxiety and fight-or-flight responses led him on a four-year journey to create Traumality, interviewing 22 experts while exploring his own story along the way.
Together, they discuss why trauma doesn't have to be one catastrophic event, how repeated childhood experiences can become stored in our nervous system, and why rupture and repair are so important in parenting.
They also explore narcissistic and emotionally immature parents, boundaries, no contact, and what happens when the apology or accountability we need never comes.
Ton also shares his powerful concept of “agency over exposure,” why survivors never owe anyone their entire trauma story, and his TRAUMALITY method for sharing difficult experiences without sacrificing emotional safety.
Most importantly, this conversation challenges us to stop asking “What's wrong with you?” and start asking “What happened to you?”
🎬 The Traumality trailer plays immediately after the introduction.
🎥 Stay through the end for Ton's viral A Day in the Life of Anxiety, the video that helped begin the journey that eventually led to Traumality.
Connect with Noelani | Beyond Mommy Dearest
Traumality
https://traumality.com/
https://www.instagram.com/traumality/
https://www.instagram.com/tonmazzone/ - Ton, The filmmaker
https://youtu.be/6PgrQgum9R8?si=CB0hW9XiK7kzFHyO - The Film that inspired it all
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