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Dr Rangan ChatterjeeDr Rangan Chatterjee

Ready for Release - Dr Nicole LePera (10th June)

The Thrive Tour: Transform Your Health and Happiness, a live show: Book Your Tickets https://drchatterjee.com/live This episode is brought to you by: THE WAY APP: Get 30 FREE days and begin your journey towards peace, calm and wellbeing. https://thewayapp.com/livemore LINGO BY ABBOTT: For users in the US and UK, Lingo by Abbott is offering an exclusive 10% off a 4-week plan with the code LIVEMORE10. Just visit hellolingo.com/LIVEMORE for more information. Terms and conditions apply. Why do we sometimes react in ways we don’t mean to? Why does criticism land so heavily when others can brush it off? And why, even when life looks good from the outside, do we feel stuck on the inside? This week’s guest offers a new perspective on all this – and an optimistic way forward. With nearly 10 million followers on Instagram as The Holistic Psychologist, Dr Nicole LePera has helped countless people see their lifelong patterns through a helpful new lens. She joins me to discuss her fantastic book, Reparenting the Inner Child: The New Science of Our Oldest Wounds and How to Heal Them. At the heart of our conversation is an important idea: we don’t see the world as it is, we see it through the state of our nervous system. Nicole highlights the signs that yours may be calling the shots, such as restlessness, numbness, disproportionate reactions and the constant need to be busy. And she explains how those patterns trace back to a part of us shaped long before we had the language for it: our inner child. We explore how childhood adaptations follow us into adulthood, often without us realising, shaping our relationships, our careers, our sensitivity to criticism, and our self-worth. Nicole walks us through some of the parent archetypes from her book. And we discuss the universal choice every child makes between authenticity and attachment (and what this costs us later). Importantly, this is never about blaming, parent or child – acceptance of the past (rather than approval or forgiveness) is how we begin to change. You’ll be fascinated to hear Nicole explain how trauma from generations before us may still be wired into our bodies, but we can break the cycle. We also discuss why conflict in relationships can be healthy, and why healing is a two-step process: becoming aware, and then making different choices. The best part? You’ll come away from this conversation with the tools for change. Nicole talks us through her practical strategies, including the conscious check-in, the three body anchors, bilateral stimulation, and getting to know yourself through simple, mindful moments. Whether you've spent years exploring attachment and inner-child work, or this is your first therapy session, I know you’ll find something here that stays with you. As Nicole says, healing isn’t about reaching an end point. It’s an ongoing process, available to all of us at any moment that we choose to join in. #feelbetterlivemore Find out more about Dr LePera: Website https://theholisticpsychologist.com/ Facebook / the.holistic.psychologist X / theholisticpsyc Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the.holisti... YouTube / @theholisticpsychologist Tik Tok / theholisticpsychologist Dr LePera’s book: Reparenting the Inner Child UK https://amzn.to/4u4SrJh US https://amzn.to/43CRvRI #feelbetterlivemore #feelbetterlivemorepodcast ------- Order MAKE CHANGE THAT LASTS. US & Canada version https://amzn.to/3RyO3SL, UK version https://amzn.to/3Kt5rUK ----- Follow Dr Chatterjee at: Website: https://drchatterjee.com/ Facebook: / drchatterjee Twitter: / drchatterjeeuk Instagram: / drchatterjee Newsletter: https://drchatterjee.com/subscription DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Dr. Rangan ChatterjeehostDr Nicole LePeraguest
Jun 9, 20261h 54mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Healing nervous system dysregulation by reparenting inner child through embodiment

  1. Nervous system dysregulation commonly shows up as stuckness, agitation, numbness/disconnection from the body, and disproportionate reactions—especially in close relationships.
  2. “Inner child” patterns are survival adaptations formed in childhood (often around attachment needs) that persist into adulthood unless the body and brain update through new lived experiences.
  3. Healing is framed as a two-step process—awareness followed by different choices—yet many people get stuck at insight alone without building nervous-system capacity to tolerate change.
  4. The discussion links personal trauma to intergenerational/epigenetic influences (e.g., prenatal stress, the Dutch Hunger Study), emphasizing that healing can interrupt biological and relational cycles for future generations.
  5. Practical change centers on embodied, real-time awareness (muscles, breath, heart rate), gentle presence practices (one thing at a time, nature exposure), and flexible “no rigid protocol” self-attunement rather than shame-driven self-improvement.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Stuckness is often nervous-system, not willpower, related.

LePera describes feeling unable to change reactions “in real time” as a hallmark of dysregulation; beneath it are restlessness/agitation or numb disconnection, which limit access to clear thinking and responsiveness.

Disproportionate reactions in relationships are “inner child” activations.

Blowing up, shutting down, people-pleasing, or over-caretaking can be old attachment strategies replaying in a new context because the body hasn’t updated its threat predictions.

Acceptance is the workable definition of ‘making peace’ with childhood pain.

Healing doesn’t require liking what happened or staying in contact with abusers; it requires acknowledging it happened and noticing how it impacts present choices so you can create a new ending.

Insight without embodiment keeps people stuck in analysis.

Both speakers note many people consume content and gain clarity but repeat behaviors; change needs body-based capacity to tolerate newness, because the nervous system prefers familiar (even dysfunctional) habits.

Small changes beat ‘total life overhauls’ because discomfort has a quota.

Stacking too many new practices at once can exceed tolerance and trigger relapse to old coping; incremental steps expand nervous-system flexibility without hitting a “point of no return.”

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

No matter kind of how I'm thinking differently, I can't seem to change those reactions in real time.

Dr Nicole LePera

We can b- be very combative, and that's when we can act, in my opinion at least, very hurtful to other people.

Dr Nicole LePera

We, we don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

Peace doesn't need to be, mean I feel good about it, nor does peace mean I have to be in relationship with perhaps the people that abused me or neglected me.

Dr Nicole LePera

The moment of awareness, in my opinion, is the beginning of change.

Dr Nicole LePera

Signs of a dysregulated nervous systemInner child and attachment vs authenticityAdult identities: caregiver/appeaser/overachiever/shutdownAcceptance vs “making peace” with traumaWhy insight doesn’t automatically change behaviorNervous system capacity, discomfort tolerance, and habit changeEpigenetics, prenatal stress, and intergenerational traumaEmotionally immature parent archetypes (status-oriented, critical, permissive)Triggers, criticism sensitivity, and boundary-settingEmbodied practices: check-ins, walking, nature sounds, bilateral stimulation/EMDR conceptsBusyness as avoidance/survival strategyRepair after conflict as a marker of relational health

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