Episode 8

full
Published on:

20th Oct 2025

Healing Trauma with Amy Vincze, Part 1: Big T, Little t, and the Stories We Carry

Show Notes:

What does trauma really mean — and how does it shape the way we cope?

In this first episode of a three-part conversation, Sacha Holder talks with health and wellness expert Amy Vincze, who has spent over 20 years helping people heal emotional and physical pain through EFT Tapping.

Amy explains the difference between Big T and little t trauma, why coping mechanisms like perfectionism, people-pleasing, procrastination, and addiction often begin in childhood, and what it takes to move beyond simply managing anxiety, stress, or overwhelm — to actually heal them.

You’ll also hear Amy’s simple “table-and-legs” metaphor for dismantling long-standing patterns and a compassionate reminder that our behaviors often start as our brain’s attempt to keep us safe.

✨ Content Note: General references to trauma and abuse (no graphic detail)

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Key takeaways

This conversation with Amy Vincze peels back the layers of how trauma shapes who we become — and how we can finally begin to rewrite those patterns. From childhood fear to adult burnout, perfectionism to people-pleasing, Amy helps make sense of why our coping looks the way it does and how we can move beyond survival mode. We talk about nervous system safety, self-compassion, and the radical act of sitting with our emotions instead of shaming them. Whether you’re learning to soften your perfectionism, recover from chronic stress, or finally see your younger self through gentler eyes, this episode invites you to lean in and begin again.

Keywords

trauma healing, Big T vs little t trauma, EFT Tapping, Amy Vincze, emotional healing, anxiety relief, coping mechanisms, perfectionism recovery, people-pleasing, nervous system regulation, self-compassion, emotional awareness, inner child healing, mindfulness, self-growth, stress management, holistic wellness, mental health podcast, trauma recovery, self-acceptance

Coming Up Next

🎧 Part 2 of my conversation with Amy continues with a deep dive into generational trauma and how healing yourself can heal backward and forward through your lineage.

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About the Podcast

The High-Functioning Disaster
High-functioning on the outside. Hot mess on the inside.
You’ve got the color-coded calendar, the competent job persona, the “I’m fine!” mask down to an art—and a mental load heavy enough to throw out your back. Meanwhile, life? That's a hot mess express—total chaos with zero chill and a full tank of emotional baggage. And what makes it even worse? Nearly no one’s talking about it.

Welcome to The High-Functioning Disaster, a podcast for people who are doing their best to hold it together while navigating burnout, grief, trauma, anxiety, caretaking duties, family drama, body image issues, and a to-do list that never quits.

Host Sacha Holder isn’t the disaster (neither are you!)—life is. And this show is about making space for that truth and giving ourselves permission to say it out loud. Every week, Sacha explores what it means to be deeply human in a world that keeps demanding more. Sometimes she’s flying solo, sometimes she brings along guests and friends—but the vibe is always real, raw, unfiltered, and grounded in radical self-acceptance and permission to be human.

We talk boundaries. Body image. Mental health. Emotional labor. The moments where everything feels like too much—and the ones where we catch our breath and keep going.

This isn’t a self-help podcast. It’s a self-permission podcast.
Permission to be exhausted.
To not have it together.
To be honest about what’s hard—without needing to package it as a “lesson.”

Because you don’t need fixing.
You need space to fall apart—and still be seen.
Because some of us are just trying to make it through the day.
And here? That’s more than enough.
New episodes every Monday. Come as you are. Seriously.
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About your host

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Sacha Holder

Sacha Holder is a project manager, podcast host, and bariatric patient who’s not here to pretend it’s all perfect. With over a decade of professional experience and a whole lot of lived experience, she creates podcasts that tell the truth about what it means to live, heal, and grow — through chaos, and curveballs, while keeping it together (mostly).

She’s the voice behind Life in the Bari Lane, a bite-sized bariatric podcast for real people navigating post-op life, and The High-Functioning Disaster, a show about showing up even when everything feels like too much. Through humor, honesty, and zero judgment, Sacha builds community through conversation — because no one should have to figure it out alone.