We unpack how shame forms in childhood and why it feels different from guilt, then offer concrete ways to protect learning, autonomy, and connection at home, in school, and in relationships. Scripts, strategies, and mindset shifts help replace criticism with compassionate feedback.

• defining shame as a belief about worth, not behavior
• guilt as a teacher that guides change
• how tone and reactions encode shame during mistakes
• fear, perfectionism, and the I’m in trouble loop
• family systems and sibling dynamics shaping identity
• school labels, confirmation bias, and growth mindset
• co-regulation, connection before correction, and scripts
• feedback as a two-way process that preserves safety
• using repair, do-overs, and specific observations

If you're looking to learn more about this topic or others, feel free to like subscribe and follow "And Still We Rise"!

To learn more about the work Sara does at Rise Therapy Center, or any other services we offer, you can find them below!

https://www.risetherapycenter.com/sara

IG: @seenbysarak

Thank you for tuning into And Still WE Rise! If you would like to learn more about me or the work our practice is doing, feel free to follow us on Instagram at:

@atltherapygirl and @risetherapycenter

Or check us out at www.risetherapycenter.com

Disclaimer: And Still We Rise is meant to provide perspective and meaningful conversations around mental health topics. It is not meant to provide specific therapeutic advise to individuals. If anything in these podcasts resonates, ASWR recommends consulting with your individual therapist or seeking a referral from your primary care physician.

Your nervous system learned about love long before you had words. In this conversation, we follow that thread from early implicit memory to the patterns many of us feel in adult relationships—chasing, shutting down, or spinning between the two—and we unpack a kinder way forward. We explore the spectrum of attachment styles with clarity and nuance, showing how secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized patterns actually feel during conflict and what they signal beneath the surface.

We dig into why secure attachment isn’t the absence of disagreement but the presence of clear thinking, emotional range, and timely repair. For anxious responses, we talk about flooding, impulsivity, and the urge to pursue for relief. For avoidant responses, we name the quiet danger of numbness and faux self-sufficiency. When disorganization enters the room, we map the chaotic swings between fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, and we emphasize the need for pacing, safety, and often professional support to prevent harm and restore clarity.

Most importantly, we offer practical steps to widen your window of tolerance and rewire old rules through new experiences. Somatic reparenting becomes a simple, powerful tool: a steady hand, slower breath, and curious questions that help you hear what your younger self needs right now. From time-bound pauses that honor reconnection to concise repair language that lowers defensiveness, you’ll leave with grounded strategies to reduce resentment and build trust. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your inner child is loved, accepted, and important—and you can learn to love in ways that feel safe to your body.

Looking to begin a conversation with your little one? Try these prompts:

“Sweet one… what’s going on?”
“Are you feeling small, unimportant, or unsafe right now?”
“Did someone hurt your feelings…
or speak to you unkindly?”

Thank you for tuning into And Still WE Rise! If you would like to learn more about me or the work our practice is doing, feel free to follow us on Instagram at:

@atltherapygirl and @risetherapycenter

Or check us out at www.risetherapycenter.com

Disclaimer: And Still We Rise is meant to provide perspective and meaningful conversations around mental health topics. It is not meant to provide specific therapeutic advise to individuals. If anything in these podcasts resonates, ASWR recommends consulting with your individual therapist or seeking a referral from your primary care physician.

What happens when we step outside our comfortable social bubbles? Licensed Professional Counselor Lauren Buice joins Cristine Seidell to explore how intentionally building diverse friendships transforms not just our communities, but our mental health.

The conversation begins with a crucial reframing – diversity extends far beyond race and gender to include age differences, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and abilities. Lauren explains how staying in homogeneous social groups creates harmful "echo chambers" that reinforce our biases and actually increase our anxiety when confronting differences. Through her touching personal story of living with 80-year-old Glenda, she demonstrates how intergenerational friendships provide unique perspective and wisdom that same-age relationships simply cannot offer.

Using her hand-drawn "Comfort-Stretch-Panic zones" model, Lauren visually illustrates a counterintuitive truth: the more we stay in our comfort zone, the smaller it becomes. By regularly stretching ourselves through diverse connections, we gradually expand what feels comfortable, building cognitive flexibility and resilience that serves us throughout life.

For those feeling overwhelmed by the idea of diversifying their communities, Lauren offers gentle, practical starting points – pursue activities you genuinely enjoy where diverse people naturally gather, engage in volunteer work with a shared purpose, or explore community centers and libraries. She provides a powerful litmus test for authentic intentions: "Am I looking to learn or looking to earn?" Would you still participate if you couldn't tell anyone or post about it?

Perhaps most compelling is Lauren's insight that diverse communities enhance our capacity for processing life's hardest moments. Different cultures and communities offer varied approaches to grief, trauma, and healing. By expanding our circles, we gain access to a wealth of coping tools and wisdom that wouldn't be available in homogeneous groups.

Ready to expand your bubble? Listen now to discover how getting a little uncomfortable might be the best thing for your mental health.

To work with Lauren and or learn more about the work she does, you can find her at:

https://www.risetherapycenter.com/lauren

Or on IG @laurenrisetherapycenter.com

Thank you for tuning into And Still WE Rise! If you would like to learn more about me or the work our practice is doing, feel free to follow us on Instagram at:

@atltherapygirl and @risetherapycenter

Or check us out at www.risetherapycenter.com

Disclaimer: And Still We Rise is meant to provide perspective and meaningful conversations around mental health topics. It is not meant to provide specific therapeutic advise to individuals. If anything in these podcasts resonates, ASWR recommends consulting with your individual therapist or seeking a referral from your primary care physician.