Today I have the privilege of talking with Lily Levitt. I first heard Lily share a bit about her life when talking with her father, Steven Levitt, on his podcast People I Mostly Admire - part of the Freakonomics network. In our conversation, she powerfully shares about her struggle with, and recovery from, disordered eating. I am extremely grateful she was open to joining us so we can learn from her tremendous wisdom and admirable honesty. instagram: @recoveryandiscoveryPeers.netNational Alliance for Eating DisordersTo learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

Dustin Washington joins us this week for a conversation about social justice, spiritual consciousness, & human solidarity. Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of The Soul Focused Group and Co-Director of the Human Solidarity Project, Dustin has worked for over 25 years as a Racial Equity educator and social change leader. More recently, he has grounded those efforts with his work in spiritual consciousness. Dustin’s depth and breadth of knowledge combined with his willingness to be self-reflective, honest, and forthcoming is - truly - inspiring. For anyone interested in social change & liberation work, we think you’ll really appreciate this conversation!To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

Our fall series starts with the tremendous wisdom & research of Dr. Anna Lembke. Her latest book, Dopamine Nation, is all about the role dopamine plays in our lives and how we can, realistically, work to find balance amidst a world that is drenched in over-stimulation. Dr. Lembke offers a key to understanding so much of human behavior. We are thrilled to have her with us this week!To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

We are taking a few weeks off the grid. Hoping you enjoy these episodes from the archives.In this not to be missed episode, we are joined by a very special guest. Laura talks with 6-year-old Casey and their mom, Abigail, about being non-binary and gender expansive. Casey generously shares with us their insights, experiences and advice for other children and adults. We even get some book recommendations! Abigail then offers us a window into their family’s journey and what it means to her to be a fierce advocate for creating a world where all children see themselves.  To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

We are taking a few weeks off the grid. Hoping you enjoy these episodes from the archives. This week, Laura talks with Brother Chân Pháp Hữu. Brother Hữu is a Zen Buddhist monk, Abbott of Plum Village in France, international educator, and long time attendant to the venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh. They discuss how as a boy in Canada, he first met Thích Nhất Hạnh and was so moved by his teachings that he moved to Plum Village at age 13 to become a monk. The two community builders and friends discuss the passing of their beloved teacher, how the teachings of Buddhism guide them, and how they each navigate loss and love amidst these overwhelming times.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

We are taking a few weeks off the grid. Hoping you enjoy these episodes from the archives.This week Laura talks with her friend and colleague Matt Reddam. Matt is a survivor of complex childhood trauma and now works with children, families, schools and systems in a variety of roles. He lives in Butte County which experienced the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history. Matt shares his belief that creating connection – even when there are differences and divisions – is the key to moving forward, healing and rebuilding oneself and one’s community. They discuss the importance of normalizing conversations about overwhelm, trauma, and mental health – especially among men and within our educational systems. Matt’s abiding sense of humor, authenticity, and hopefulness is a reminder for us all of what is possible, even in the aftermath of the unthinkable.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

If there is something Emily Carmichael has known well, it’s been how to work incredibly hard. Writing independently for 11 long years, the stress of paying rent continuously looming, she’ll never forget the day Steven Spielberg asked to meet with her. This week we get to hear about Hollywood. What’s gotten better in terms of supporting artists, how far it has to go regarding destigmatizing mental health, and how at least this artist has forged her own way despite the overwhelm. Regardless of your relationship with television and movies, Emily’s insights speak to all of us and her wisdom resonates widely.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

The future of psychedelic science & psychedelic-assisted therapy is incredibly promising. Practiced for millenia by Indigenous communities, this path is proving to be very hopeful for so many who have not found relief through other modalities. While having just graduated from Pomona College, Eloise Cherian joins us today with an incredibly impressive amount of experience already in this field. She and Laura discuss the basics, dive into her research in college, and focus on the incredibly important ethics surrounding these treatment and healing options. Eloise’s passion for, and knowledge of, this science shine through and we are so fortunate to be able to learn from her this week.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

Mother of four, this week we get to talk with Connie Burk about non-precious parenting. What it looks like, why it can be so sustaining, and why maintaining one’s sense of humor through it all is critical. Long time advocate and activist; community leader; Co-author of Trauma Stewardship, there is no shortage of directions this conversation could have gone, but we know Connie’s wisdom and insight will be a balm for anyone who has ever cared for a child.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

While getting to attend college is a true privilege, the application process is grueling at best. Carter Osborne has worked with students for years as they craft their essays, but the role he plays in kids’ lives during this pivotal time goes much deeper. Devoted to teen mental health and suicide prevention, Carter approaches the entire process as an actual opportunity for students to get to know themselves. For true self-reflection. Reforming the college admissions process in the United States can’t happen soon enough but, until then, students having a trusted ally by their side throughout it all is critical. We’re so lucky to have the best of the best with us today.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

Sara Ainsworth is an absolute force. Kind, brilliant, skillful, and entirely devoted, she and her incredible colleagues work to [from their site] transform the law and policy landscape through advocacy, support, and organizing so all people have the power to determine if, when, and how to define, create, and sustain families with dignity, and to actualize sexual and reproductive wellbeing on their own terms. This means Sara builds on her decades of experience working for social justice to face some of the most heartbreaking situations in our country that involve harm to women as they try to maintain sovereignty over their bodies. And yet, being in Sara’s company doesn’t allow room for despair. We are extremely fortunate to be joined by someone with such expertise and who can help us all understand how we can help in big and small ways.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

As a colleague and friend, Nate and I have spent years talking about the importance of having a Plan B in life. Very fortunately, one of Nate’s Plan B’s led him to the incredible work at Athlete Ally. Their mission is to end homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality. Nate shares with us about their extremely impactful work and we go a bit further into why we think having a Plan B is so invaluable. Anytime, but especially now, I really appreciate getting to have this conversation with Nate.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

Stella was 14 when she died and yet her life has left an indelible legacy on everyone who was blessed to know her. Today, we have the privilege of talking with her older sister who was with her from when the diagnosis was received until she passed away. The family was blessed with an incredibly loving community and a deep bench of support and yet, there is nothing quite like the sibling bond when it comes to a loss of this magnitude and the ensuing heartbreak. We are honored that Charlotte was willing to share so honestly and candidly in this conversation. Her wisdom, insights, and advice are a gift to all of us - whether or not we've ever lost someone.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

From ancient forest bathing to modern biome boosting, we’re hearing more and more about our gut health. Our conversation with Dr. Christopher Lowry helps us begin to understand the very important implications of maintaining one’s gut health and how it has major ramifications not just for our physical health but our mental health as well. Dr. Lowry’s research focuses on stress-related physiology and behavior with an emphasis on the role of the microbiome-gut-brain axis in health and well-being. And not just physical health but our mental health as well.His research is absolutely fascinating, and you’ll leave this week’s episode with very concrete and accessible steps toward enhancing your overall health. Learning to trust your gut takes on a whole new meaning!To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

This week we are getting to see how transforming trauma into art can be truly life-affirming. Joined by filmmaker, artist, writer, and activist Eliaichi Kimaro, we learn how metabolizing one’s overwhelm can lead to enduring beauty. Years ago, Eli moved from full-time work as an advocate and activist to becoming a filmmaker. Her award-winning documentary A Lot Like You has won many awards and toured film festivals around the world. As Director of 9elephants Productions, she uses art and video to bring stories of struggle, resistance and survival to a broader audience. This conversation takes us from Eli’s familial roots in Tanzania and Korea to the next generation as Eli sought to both make sense of her history and create something enduring to offer future generations. We are reminded over and over, as Eli shares her wisdom, as to why art - the creation and maintenance of it - can be an essential act of liberation.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

There are many long-held cultural practices that have new science bolstering them, and cold water immersion is definitely one of those. Matt Soule is Washington state’s only Level 3 Wim Hof Method instructor and has been studying and practicing strategies to help master one’s stress response for years. In this conversation, Matt and Laura walk through very practical, accessible, concrete ways to reset one’s nervous system - all with safety as the absolute priority. Because of Matt’s expertise, he’s also able to offer a great deal of insight into both the physiological benefits as well as the deeper lessons there for us to learn. Having Matt translate the art and science around this was a real gift.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

ADHD, despite many advancements, remains widely misunderstood. We are so fortunate to be joined this week by expert Lesley Todaro, the Co-founder of the Hallowell Todaro ADHD Center. We get all [all that can fit into an hour that is!] our questions answered. Approaching this entirely from a strengths-based perspective, we learn what, exactly, ADHD is and gain a clearer sense of the misinformation that surrounds it. Lesley compassionately talks about both what’s beautiful and what’s challenging for all involved and offers listeners extremely concrete strategies for being as constructive and wise as possible. We truly appreciate the opportunity to do such a deep dive with Lesley on this incredibly important topic.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

We, personally, don’t know anyone who is not buckling under the weight of Decision Fatigue and Cognitive Overload. Laura has the privilege of being in conversation with Dr. Luc Schneider this week. We learn that a good decision is not necessarily one that has a good outcome, but rather one that has been made through a good decision making process. Dr. Schneider explains what that entails and generously answers all of Laura’s questions as they relate to decision fatigue and how to balance being thorough with not obsessing or perseverating. We learn how overconfidence and underconfidence play into how we decide things and touch on the role of vulnerability and why it’s so important to not be isolated in our decision making. Given how ubiquitous this fatigue is, we are thrilled to be able to offer Dr. Schneider’s insights with the hope of lightening everyone’s load a bit.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

Cultivating and maintaining self-respect in the face of societal headwinds can be extremely difficult and feel like a real reach on any given day. That’s the subject of this week’s conversation between Laura and recent college graduate, and soon-to-be medical school student, Celeste Coler. They start by talking about the fraught process of being accepted into, or rejected from, schools and jobs. From there, Celeste shares beautifully about navigating recent loss and trauma in her life. Being mixed race there’s lots to talk about in terms of being a part of predominantly white institutions, and they end on an inspiring note with Celeste describing the incredibly important work she and her peers have done to promote a culture of consent and sex positivity in college. One can’t walk away from this conversation without feeling a lot better about today’s current landscape.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.

We continue our launch of Season Two talking with Flynn Coleman about the urgency of humanely designed artificial intelligence, what it means to work for social and environmental justice in a sustainable way, and why it’s critical to not neglect joy & beauty. Flynn is an international human rights attorney, author, and artificial intelligence expert. Having spent years at the forefront of conversations on the urgency of humanely designed AI, Flynn and Laura talk about how quickly the current landscape is changing and the larger implications of what it means to do work that will never be completed in one’s own lifetime. They explore the importance of being kind, flexible, and curious with oneself when making choices of how to spend one’s time and where to direct one’s attention. And with Flynn living in Florence, Italy, they affirm the importance of creating space for beauty, whether that is art, multilingualism, or connection with loved ones. We are delighted to learn from Flynn’s incredible life experience and while parts of their conversation are particularly relevant to the here and now, even more of it is timeless. Learn more about Flynn's work here.To learn more about Future Tripping, Laura’s work, and The Trauma Stewardship Institute, or to email a question you'd like Laura and her guests to respond to, please click here, or call 360-228-5804 anytime and leave us a voicemail.  And you can find us on Instagram here.