TW: This episode contains discussions of childhood sexual abuse and trauma. Please take care while listening. If you need support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au.

Some childhood experiences leave scars that aren't always visible, or even understood, until decades later.

For Shivani Gupta, years of unexplained fear, anxiety and difficulty trusting others eventually led her to uncover memories of sexual abuse she experienced as a young girl growing up in India. After this discovery she started her ongoing journey of healing, finding her voice and learning to feel safe again.

Now she is a successful entrepreneur who has built and sold two businesses, an eight-time author, TEDx speaker and leadership coach who has worked with more than 1,500 leaders across 21 countries, Shivani has spent much of her life helping others thrive while navigating her own deeply personal challenges.

In this episode she shares:

• Her experiences of childhood sexual abuse within her family
• How recovered memories helped her make sense of years of fear and anxiety
• The lasting impact of trauma on her relationships, career and motherhood
• How high achievement became a way of coping with unresolved trauma
• Her journey of healing and reconnecting with her inner child
• How she found the courage to break her silence and share her story
• Why protecting children means challenging the silence around sexual abuse

Key Quotes

"They robbed me of decades of peace. They robbed me of decades of trusting others. They robbed me of decades of me working on my self-esteem enough to feel like I was enough as I applied for a job or started a business."

"This is not something that happened in an alleyway. This happened with family members that were entrusted with looking after me for a day or an evening with aunties and uncles regularly."

More about Shivani

Find out more via her website, Instagram and LinkedIn.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Challenges That Change Us –

Trigger warning: Disordered eating behaviours and Mental health struggles.

What happens when the one thing that brings you comfort becomes the very thing that's taking over your life?

For Amber Romaniuk, food became a way to cope with painful emotions, childhood body shame and a deep sense of not being good enough. What started as a source of comfort eventually spiralled into years of binge eating, bulimia and isolation, leaving her trapped in a cycle of self-sabotage she didn't know how to escape.

Today, Amber is an emotional eating, digestive and hormone expert with 12 years of experience helping women overcome disordered eating, rebuild their body confidence and break free from destructive patterns. She's also the host of The No Sugarcoating Podcast, which has surpassed 2 million downloads across more than 90 countries.

Drawing on her own journey of recovery, Amber opens up about the emotional struggles behind her relationship with food, the moment she knew something had to change, and how confronting the beliefs she'd carried since childhood helped her finally find freedom.

In this episode she shares:

• How being called fat and ugly as a child shaped her self-worth
• The impact of growing up with a mother who had MS and how food became a source of comfort
• Her struggles with body image and fitting in throughout her school years
• The serious health issues she faced and the impact of being incorrectly diagnosed with MS
• How a breakup and extreme dieting led to a destructive cycle of binge eating and bulimia
• How binge eating took over her life and left her increasingly isolated
• The devastating low point that finally pushed her to make a change
• How she began recognising her emotional triggers and finding healthier ways to cope
• The role EFT tapping and setting boundaries played in her recovery
• Why overcoming emotional eating is about much more than willpower

Key Quotes

“I was so addicted and I didn’t even realise it”

“everything that I have to this day is thanks to me choosing to deal with it and do that hard work.”

More about Amber

Find out more about Amber via her website, Instagram, Youtube and find her podcast here.

Try the Free Emotional Eating Quiz and Free Hormone Imbalance Quiz,

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trigger warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood physical and sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, complex trauma, dissociation, self-harm, suicidal ideation, family violence and grief.

What happens when your mind finds a way to protect you from trauma so severe that you can't even remember much of your own childhood?

Maggie Walters is an award-winning author and mental health advocate living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder. After experiencing severe abuse throughout her childhood, Maggie developed a system of around 40 alters who helped her survive experiences she couldn't process herself. Now, through her memoirs Split and Fractured Motherhood, Maggie is challenging the stigma surrounding DID, sharing what life is really like with the condition, and exploring how she has worked to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma while raising her three children.

In this episode she shares:

• How her childhood trauma led to her developing Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Her experience discovering she had multiple personalities and coming to terms with her diagnosis
• How her alters protect her and why she calls her childhood memories "postcard memories"
• What everyday life looks like living with around 40 alters
• Understanding dissociation, trauma triggers and the shame that can come with them
• The importance of therapy, support and learning to accept all parts of herself
• Her experience of becoming a mother and breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma
• How she navigates forgiveness without excusing the abuse she experienced

Key Quotes

"I don't have a mental disorder. I created an amazingly- creative coping mechanism in order to survive horrific circumstances."

"I'm standing here because of who I am. Not in spite of who I am."

"I just want people to know that when you've had trauma, it's not your fault."

More about Maggie

Follow Maggie via her website, Instagram and LinkedIn.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.