Note: This is a wide-ranging and sometimes difficult conversation, including discussion of childhood sexual abuse.

Robin welcomes Robert Falconer back to the show to talk about his book, Self Unbroken: The Foundations of Bob’s Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse.

They talk about what it means to remain “unbroken” after profound trauma, the parts of us that protect access to difficult experiences, and a metaphor of an inner library with gatekeepers deciding which books we're ready to open.

The conversation wanders through dissociation, memory, shame, spirituality, altered states, the body, relationships, and the strange ways healing can unfold before we have any framework for understanding it.

They also get into a difficult question near the end of the conversation: what do you do when someone has memories of possible abuse but isn't sure what actually happened? Bob talks about why he believes we shouldn't automatically validate or deny those memories, and about the importance of therapists doing their own work.

Robert Falconer is best known for his extensive involvement with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy as a practitioner, teacher, and writer.

For the past decade or more, Bob Falconer has devoted himself full-time to IFS work. In that time, he has attended all levels of IFS training offered, and has been at many workshops and events with Richard Schwartz both as assistant and participant. In addition to studying with many of the other senior IFS trainers, he also co-authored a book with Richard Schwartz entitled Many Minds, One Self.

His other books include The Others Within Us, When You're Going Through Hell ...Keep Going, Spirit, and the recently released Self Unbroken: The Foundations of Bob’s Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse. (July 2026). His focus is now on the study of spiritual presence experiences.

https://robertfalconer.us/self-unbroken-book/

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Robin rambles about moving the annual breath work challenge to October, mourning some favorite cultural icons, watching horror movies in bachelor mode, returning to Ocean City with his family, and more.

Don't miss upcoming conversations with Bob Falconer, Dr. Ifeanyi Olele, and Jessica Dibb.

Get in touch:
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Chris Hancock joins Robin to explore what happens when experiences don't fit neatly inside the rational frameworks that we use to understand ourselves and the world. They talk about spiritual emergence, skepticism, synchronicity, the limits of conventional therapy, and what happens when those questions become personal during a live IFS demonstration.

Chris Hancock is a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and founder of Therapy Outside the Box. Through a variety of holistic and integrative approaches rooted in connection, clinical and personal experience, Chris incorporates more spiritual practices into his counseling work blending dynamic, relational, intuitive, energetic, transpersonal Internal Family Systems, quasi-shamanic, modern mystical, creative and practical approaches. Chris helps awakening souls discover all parts of Self, heal & release what doesn’t serve, transform breakdowns into breakthroughs, and embody greater wholeness, purpose, vitality, authenticity and awakened empowerment.

Learn more about Chris:

therapyoutsidethebox.com

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Get in touch:
robinsmithshow@gmail.com

Call the hotline:
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