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A Trauma-Informed Future

A Trauma-Informed Future

Hosted by Katie Kurtz

EducationHealthFitnessInterviews guests

Episodes

72

Latest episode

Apr 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

As AI, workplace stress, and moral injury reshape our lives, we need a cohesive solution that will restore trust. Trauma-informed care can't just live in theory or trainings anymore. It needs to be practical, actionable, and woven into everything we do—at work, at home, in our communities. This podcast is for people who value trust and safety, who lead with humanity, and who want real strategies they can use in everyday life. We're not here for more theory. We're here for real tools, honest conversations, and the kind of shifts that actually change how we show up. When we show up, when we practice caring as the powerful skill it is, we don't just change individual interactions. We shift culture. We build the sustainable, equitable, and humane future we all deserve. Because a trauma-informed future isn't just possible—it's already being built by people like you. For more information visit: Katie-Kurtz.com

Listen to episodes

60 recent
April 8, 2026Episode 7131 min

5 Everyday Trauma-Informed Strategies

In this solo episode of A Trauma-Informed Future, Katie opens by naming what so many of us are carrying right now : the cumulative stress and collective trauma of a world that feels like it's moving too fast, too hard, and with too much at stake. She gets honest about her own nervous system responses over the past 24 hours, and uses those personal moments to ground listeners in real nervous system education. Trauma-informed is not an adjective, it's a verb. Katie walks through five trauma-informed strategies straight from the TRUST™ Model and breaks down why these aren't just soft skills, but literally what our nervous systems need to reconnect to safety during times of collective dysregulation. Short, grounding, and packed with both honesty and practical tools, this one meets you exactly where you are.Referenced in this episode: Resmaa MenakemSay ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

March 23, 2026Episode 701 hr 10 min

Trauma-Informed Care Across the Lifespan with Amy Chavez-Burkett

Birth and death are the two most universal human experiences and somehow, two of the least trauma-informed spaces we've created.In this episode of A Trauma-Informed Future Podcast, host Katie Kurtz is in conversation with Amy Chavez-Burkett about why that matters and what we can do about it. Amy digs into what it actually looks like to move trauma-informed care from principles into practice in the moments that count: when someone is at their most vulnerable, their most open, and their most in need of feeling safe.At the center of this conversation is the nervous system. Because safety isn't just a value or a policy, it's a felt experience. And whether someone is bringing life into the world or leaving it, the conditions we create around them shape not just the moment, but what they carry forward from it.Learn more about Amy:Amy Rebekah is a visionary leader, facilitator and healer with over 20 years in practice as a licensed massage therapist, craniosacral therapist, doula, childbirth educator and doula trainer, a community herbalist, circle keeper, a story steward and story-teller, a speaker and author, a researcher and trainer of Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered leadership.Amy is currently enjoying the experience of weaving her practical lived experiences with the theories and scholarship inside of a doctoral program in leadership and change through Antioch University. This academic journey increased Amy's capacity from supporting individuals and couples going through intense change or healing, to supporting groups and organizations working for change by supporting them in their capacity to practice a more authentic, responsible, embodied, and collaborative leadership culture through engaging a trauma-informed approach.In 2020 Amy founded ReStoryative Somatics, LLC to share her services and train other professionals in trauma-informed and healing-centered leadership. She is passionate about supporting leaders and those who support others in learning the practice of self-regulation of their nervous systems in service to co-regulation as a leadership practice. She especially enjoys working with organizational systems to implement trauma -informed care as organizational culture change.​In 2023, Amy and her daughters also joined forces to create a collaborative company called CommuniTEA Love, a company dedicated to facilitating connection within the community through access to delicious herbal tea blends and they are having a wonderful time building this legacy of love together.Connect with Amy:Website:  www.lovesomatics.orgWebsite: Www.communitealove.orgEmail: amy@lovesomatics.orgSay ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

March 12, 2026Episode 6934 min

Trauma-Informed Coaching with Jaci Rogash

Trauma survivors don't need one person to be everything; they need a web of support, each thread held by someone who knows their role and plays it well. In this episode of A Trauma-Informed Future podcast, host Katie Kurtz is in conversation with certified coach Jaci Rogash, about what it actually means to be a trauma-informed coach: not a substitute for therapy, not a watered-down version of clinical care, but something distinct and genuinely necessary. This episode explores how coaches, therapists, peer supporters, and community practitioners can each hold their piece of the ecosystem without overextending and why staying within your scope isn't a limitation on your care, but an expression of it. If you've ever wondered where the line is, how to refer without it feeling like abandonment, or how to show up fully for someone who's been through hard things without accidentally doing harm, this conversation is for you.Learn more about Jaci:Jaci Rogash is a Certified Trauma Transformation Coach, Energy Coach, Breathwork Facilitator and speaker. Jaci works with women who have experienced trauma, have worked through that and created a life that is good but not great. These women are sick of feeling stuck and want to step into their fullest potential and bring their visions to life. Jaci grew up in country Victoria and is no stranger to trauma, experiencing a number of significant incidents before the age of 24. Jaci embarked on her own deep healing journey after years of suppressing her experiences, which allowed her to break free of her trauma and discover her true calling as a coach.Jaci supports women to move through their self-doubt, self-sabotage, fears and unsupportive subconscious patterns that show up because of their trauma, so they can find fulfillment, joy and the abundance life has to offer. Connect with Jaci:Visionaries:https://www.jacirogash.com/visionariesWebsite: https://www.jacirogash.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaci.rogash/Email: jaci@jacirogash.comSay ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

March 6, 2026Episode 6851 min

Neurodiversity Affirming Business with Pippa Parfait

What does business actually look like when it's built for your brain? In this episode of A Trauma-Informed Future, host Katie Kurtz sits down with neurodivergent business coach Pippa Parfait (she/they) of Disobedient Business Co. for an honest, validating conversation about why so many neurodivergent entrepreneurs feel like they're failing — when really, the systems were never designed for them in the first place. This is for anyone who has or is currently masking, conforming, and trying to squeeze their neurodivergent brain into a business model built on neurotypical norms. This episode offers a glimpse at what a brain-friendly business actually looks like in practice: flexible systems that work with your nervous system, not against it and a radically simple approach to starting a business that ditches the obsessive niche-drilling in favor of just getting out there and connecting with humans. This episode is for anyone who has ever looked at conventional business advice and thought I know this should be working, so why does it feel so wrong? because the answer might not be you. It might just be the blueprint.Learn more about Pippa:Pippa Parfait (she/they) is a coach and mentor for ADHD and Autistic business owners, and co-founder of The Disobedient Business® Co. Having spent years in corporate and public sector leadership before retraining as a coach in 2016, Pippa brought her systems expertise and strategic thinking with her — and quickly realised that almost all of her clients were neurodivergent founders who needed a completely different approach to business. Her own late AuDHD diagnosis made everything click into place: what had always been labelled disobedience was just her brain working in a system not designed for it.Through the Disobedient Business® Mastermind and brain-friendly digital tools, Pippa helps established ADHD and Autistic business owners build strategy, structure and self-trust so they can create a business they can actually live inside. Always armed with an inventive swear word, an 80s/90s reference and three drinks on the go. Fair warning: if she says "lovingly", a truthbomb is incoming.About The Disobedient Business® CoThe Disobedient Business® Co. exists to make business actually possible for ADHD and Autistic founders — in a way that works with their brain, not against it.Founded in 2016 by mother-and-spawn duo Pippa (she/they) and Lucy Parfait (they/them), DBCo. was built on a pretty simple (and apparently radical) premise: that the reason so many neurodivergent business owners are struggling isn't a personal failing. It's that they've been handed a neurotypical blueprint and told to get on with it.Through their high-touch Disobedient Business® Mastermind and brain-friendly digital tools, Pippa and Lucy help established ADHD and Autistic business owners build the strategy, structure, and self-trust to create a business they can actually live inside. Momentum without burnout. Priorities that stick. Plans that don't gather dust.Strategic, unmasked, wildly effective, and disobedient on purpose. Based in the Southwest of the U.K.Connect with Pippa:Website: https://disobedientbusiness.com/https://pippaparfait.com/https://disobedientbusiness.school/ IG: @disobedientbusinessco (IG and Threads)Say ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

February 10, 2026Episode 6755 min

Nervous System Resilience with Jen Schneeman

How do you define resilience? In American culture, resilience is often equated with “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”. But in reality, it is all about. nervous system capacity.  In this episode of A Trauma-Informed Future podcast, host Katie Kurtz is joined by Jen Schneeman for a rich, trauma-informed conversation that challenges the idea that people should simply “bounce back.” Together, they explore the difference between resilience and malleability, drawing on neuroscience, somatic wisdom, and lived experience to unpack how stress, trauma, and healing live not just in the mind, but in the body.Learn more about Jen:Jen Schneeman is a soul-driven scientist, holistic mental health coach and trauma-informed nervous system specialist who helps individuals and communities reclaim personal energy, prevent burnout and live in their bodies with ease. With a deep understanding of the nervous system, trauma recovery, and human energy patterns, Jen bridges science + spirit to guide people toward resilience, self-trust, and inner freedom.Jen began her career as a science + tech advisor with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office, and later as a Deputy at the Air Force Research Lab, Human Performance Wing. There she managed a collaborative research portfolio focused on how nutrition, disease, brain injury and stressors uniquely affect human susceptibility, resilience and future determinants of health.Her lived experience of toxic stress-related burnout in a post-9/11 environment catalyzed her personal and professional transformation. Jen committed to the applied science of therapeutic mindbody connection programs to support sustainable healing and energy restoration. She knows firsthand that no amount of bootstrapping can truly reignite a system shut down by chronic stress, concussion, addiction, trauma, or pain — but that regenerative nervous system care can.Jen brings this knowledge to life through her Self-Care and Resilience (SCAR) program, a multi-tiered nervous system restoration framework tailored to reduce stress, improve coping, and restore vitality. Her signature offering, Everyday Resilience, empowers people to stay present in joy and grounded in struggle using the ABCs of Presence that makes recovery and regulation tangible, practical, and embodied.She has brought trauma-informed, nervous system-based programming to three VA Medical Centers, PTSD and TBI residential programs, addiction treatment centers, treatment courts, support groups, and beyond. She has also launched mindbody connection programs within two NFL teams, three military branches, four addiction treatment centers, dozens of corporations, hundreds of veterans and thousands of medical, mental health, and caregiving professionals.Today, Jen facilitates resilience-based programs for medical professionals, caregivers and survivors of sexual assault, addiction, PTSD and brain injury. Since COVID she expanded programming to real humans just like us.Jen is a sought-after public speaker, coach, facilitator of retreats and workforce wellness trainings, bringing humor, depth, and practical wisdom to her audiences. Her work is featured across local and national platforms, with data outcomes presented at major behavioral health conferences. Her passion lies in making mental health education trauma-informed, accessible, and regenerative. She’s also deeply committed to the power of peer support, serving as the resilience coach in Hey I’m Here Ohio, a youth-led movement growing resilience in Ohio’s young people.She is also a mother, spouse, nature lover and an adventurer who values autonomy, awe, connection to spirit and walking barefoot. Her personal healing journey informs her work and fuels her mission to build a world where trauma-informed nervous system literacy is the norm, not the exception.Connect with Jen:<Say ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

February 10, 2026Episode 661 hr 21 min

Survivor Informed Care with Molly Boeder-Harris

Content Warning: This episode is focused on discussing, educating and uplifting the voices of survivors of sexual violence. In this episode, we will be discussing sexual violence, the rape crisis movement and healing avenues for survivors. Please be mindful as you listen and share this episode. We encourage survivors to honor themselves and those who are not to be present with this reality and be open to ways we can together create a more survivor informed care standard. This is not an episode to “consume and move on from.”  In this episode, host Katie Kurtz sits down with Molly Boeder-Harris, founder of The Breathe Network, for a conversation that goes far beyond headlines and statistics. We talk about what survivors actually need, how systems of care can unintentionally cause harm, and why healing must be part of how we show up.It’s an invitation to pause, listen deeply, and reckon with how we respond to survivors of sexual violence personally, professionally, and collectively. At a time when sexual violence is once again dominating headlines, this conversation asks an essential question: What does it actually mean to believe survivors and what are we willing to do once we say we do?Learn more about Molly:Molly Boeder Harris is the Founder and Executive Director of The Breathe Network, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and a trauma-informed yoga teacher and trainer (E-RYT). Her own experiences of surviving sexual trauma catalyzed her to enter the trauma healing field in 2003, beginning with her work as a medical and legal advocate with children and adult survivors, a violence prevention educator, and later, as a yoga instructor specializing in working with survivors of sexual trauma. She earned a Master’s Degree in International Studies and a Master’s Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies, which inform the way she holds individual and collective forms of trauma, oppression, and healing close together in her work and in her life. Over the last 2 decades of her career and her ongoing healing trajectory, she has found that the practices that recognize the whole person – body, mind and spirit – while also attending to the ways in which both trauma and resilience manifest physiologically, offer the greatest possibility for embodied justice and social change.Connect with Molly:https://www.thebreathenetwork.org/https://www.mollyboederharris.com/Say ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

January 22, 2026Episode 6543 min

Trauma-Informed Pharmacy with Dr. Ashley Builta

In nearly every community, pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers: seeing patients up to 12 times a year or more. Yet burnout rates are staggering, and meaningful connection often gets lost in the grind. On this episode of A Trauma-Informed Future podcast, host Katie Kurtz talks to Dr. Ashley Builta who reveals how trauma-informed care is changing everything in pharmacy delivery.  She shares how it&apos;s not another task to add to an overwhelming workload, but rather a simple mindset shift that takes just three extra minutes and transforms both patient outcomes and professional purpose. From a life-changing Sunday morning encounter to training the next generation of pharmacy students, discover how Dr. Builta is using this approach to reshape pharmacy practice across Michigan and beyond.Learn more about Ashley:Dr. Ashley Builta is a dedicated pharmacy professional and educator currently serving as the Director of Professional Development and Education at the Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA). In this role, she leads initiatives that empower pharmacists to better support the mental well-being of their patients and communities. She brings a wealth of experience to her role in advancing pharmacist education and public health initiatives.Ashley holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and is a certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor, a credential that enables her to expanded her impact with healthcare professionals, training them in recognizing and responding to mental health and substance use challenges. Her work bridges the gap between pharmacy practice and mental health support, helping to reduce stigma and promote early intervention.Ashley’s work reflects a deep commitment to holistic patient care, emphasizing the critical role pharmacists play in early intervention and mental health advocacy. Her leadership continues to shape a more compassionate and informed healthcare landscape across Michigan.Connect with Ashley:Website: https://www.michiganpharmacists.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-builta Say ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

January 15, 2026Episode 6424 min

A Call for Trauma-Informed Leadership

Leadership isn’t about titles or productivity: it’s about how you show up in everyday moments, especially in uncertain and turbulent times. In this episode, host Katie Kurtz explores what it really means to lead right now, offering a grounded look at how our nervous systems are responding, both individually and collectively, and how we can move from reaction to intentional, responsive leadership. As stress, burnout, and disconnection rise, trauma-informed leadership becomes essential for creating connection, stability, and trust in our lives and communities. This episode is a rallying call to lead with greater awareness, humanity, and accountability and to choose a different kind of leadership.Mentioned in this podcast: January 30th workshop on Trust BehaviorsSay ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

December 16, 2025Episode 6355 min

Trauma-Informed Gun Violence Prevention

Content Warning (CW): This episode centers the discussion of gun violence and explicit mentions mass shootings. Please be mindful as you listen and provide this content warning when sharing. I didn’t want to record this episode. And that’s exactly why we did. So let&apos;s cut straight to the truth: we need to get real about gun violence.  This is an important and timely episode with Josh Novick (he/him) is about gun violence, trauma exposure, and what it actually costs to care inside broken systems. No platitudes. No easy answers. Just the truth—and the choice in front of us. Working in education throughout his career, he has been both the responder and the experiencer of the impact of gun violence. It wasn’t until a mass shooting hit his own backyard at the Highland Park Parade Shooting in 2022 that he began to his advocacy journey.This is not a theoretical conversation—it’s a grounded, urgent look at how trauma shows up in classrooms, communities, and bodies, why gun violence is a public health crisis (not a mental illness), and what trauma-informed care actually demands from us. Honest, sharp, and unapologetically human, this episode names the harm, challenges the myths, and calls listeners into action. Learn more about Josh:Josh Novick, LCPC, PEL-SC is a nationally recognized therapist, school counselor, speaker, and advocate who combines clinical expertise, lived experience, and unapologetic passion in the fight for safer, more connected schools and communities. He is the founder of Trust and Grow Consulting, where he partners with schools, districts, and community organizations across the country to expand trauma-informed, equity-centered practices that support resilience and recovery.Josh’s perspective is shaped by his years as a school counselor in North Lawndale on the West Side of Chicago, where he worked alongside students and families navigating systemic inequities, community violence, and extraordinary resilience. His commitment to trauma-informed recovery deepened after the Highland Park Fourth of July parade mass shooting, which impacted his own community and led to his leadership role in creating a temporary Community Counseling Center. In just one week, the center provided immediate relief to more than 3,000 community members with the support of over 650 volunteer therapists, becoming a model for rapid, compassionate crisis response.An Ambassador with Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, he is a leading voice on educator wellness and community response after critical incidents, helping schools navigate the aftermath of violence with compassion and clarity. His work has been featured at national and regional gatherings including the Building Resilient Communities for Children Conference, the Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference, and the Illinois School Counselor Association Conference. His expertise has been quoted in regional and national articles, extending his impact beyond direct practice and into broader public discourse.Connect with Josh:Website: https://trustandgrow.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-novick-lcpc-7b653843/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trustandgrowconsulting/?hl=enTeachers Unify to End Gun ViolenceSay ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

December 9, 2025Episode 6254 min

Trauma-Informed Storytelling with Maria Bryan

Have you ever sat through a nonprofit fundraising gala and felt your stomach drop as the lights dimmed for yet another emotionally devastating video? You&apos;re not alone. And according to trauma-informed storyteller Maria Bryan, there&apos;s a better way.In this powerful episode of A Trauma-Informed Feature, host Katie Kurtz sits down with Maria Bryan to unpack the often-overlooked harm happening in nonprofit storytelling. From the marketing director gathering stories to the donor watching from the audience, everyone in what Maria calls the "storytelling ecosystem" deserves consideration.As nonprofits face funding challenges, story extraction isn&apos;t just harmful—it&apos;s unsustainable. This conversation offers a path forward that honors both story and humanity.Learn more about Maria:Maria Bryan is a trauma-informed storytelling trainer. She is the host of the When Bearing Witness® podcast and facilitates the When Bearing Witness® Trauma-Informed Storytelling Certification Program.Maria’s work helps nonprofit leaders tell powerful and impactful stories that resist harm. Over the past 15+ years in the nonprofit and public sector, Maria has trained thousands globally in person and virtually—focusing on trauma-informed storytelling and purpose-driven marketing.Her learning lineage spans a Master&apos;s Degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor&apos;s Degree in Journalism, and professional certifications in Trauma &amp; Resilience, Trauma-Informed Space Holding, Trauma-Informed Coaching, and Somatic Embodiment and Regulation.Maria is a firm believer that storytellers make the world a healthier, safer, cleaner, and happier place.Connect with Maria:Website: https://www.mariabryan.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariabryancrtv/ Say ‘hello’ on Instagram or LinkedInCatch up on podcast episodesFREE Guide: Talking Through Turbulent TimesBook a 90 minute Strategy Session with Katie Get certified + create a sustainable practice with TRUST™ Works Interested in a keynote or consulting? Connect with Katie!

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