{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"How to Trust Your Intuition After Trauma (Mandi Pratt)","description":"Picture coming home to a business card tucked into your door jamb. It says "coroner's unit, robbery unit," with a handwritten note: call me please. That's how my guest Mandi Pratt found out, a year after leaving an abusive marriage, that the FBI had been hunting her ex-husband for six to nine months, for a string of bank robberies. If you've ever wondered how to trust your intuition after trauma, when your own mind has been trained to doubt itself, this is the episode that shows you how, from someone whose story was on the news twice. Mandi transformed that plot twist into a framework for self-leadership and resilience, and now helps individuals and organizations understand how stress and survival responses affect decision-making, boundaries, and wellbeing. We get into what "survival mode" actually looks like when you're a single mom of a toddler with a criminal case unfolding around you, why validation (not advice) is what actually cuts the risk of complex PTSD, and Mandi's simple "happy list," a menu of go-to things that help her regulate when she can't think straight enough to help herself. Twenty years out, Mandi is remarried, her son is grown, and she's still learning what it means for a nervous system to finally feel safe enough to rest. Watch this episode on YouTube: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HDUahmDXqOU In this episode How to trust your intuition after trauma, starting with Mandi's first step: learning to actually pause What "survival mode" really looks like when you're a single parent with a criminal case unfolding around you Why validation, not advice, is what actually cuts the risk of complex PTSD (and what it sounds like) How to vet the people you lean on after abuse, and why "are you sure? he seems so nice" does real damage Mandi's "happy list": a pre-made menu of things that help, for the days you can't think straight enough to choose Why your body can fall apart once it finally feels safe, and why that's not a setback Timestamps (00:01) Welcome and introducing self-leadership expert Mandi Pratt (01:52) The FBI business card in the door jamb (03:24) Learning her ex had been robbing banks for months (07:19) Survival mode as a single mom: no time for emotional processing (08:21) Institutional betrayal, and why the resources just weren't there yet (11:15) Leaning on pets, movement, and time outside when talk therapy wasn't enough (12:36) Why intuition alarm bells get rationalized away, especially for women (15:29) The patterning that keeps trauma survivors from saying no (18:03) Why validation alone cuts complex PTSD risk by three times (21:11) The pile of ash: finding the "light at the end of the tunnel" one micro-step at a time (25:19) Moving from fight-or-flight, and why it took 20 years, not 20 days (29:14) The "happy list": Mandi's go-to menu for regulating on the hard days (31:41) Where to find Mandi, her intuition quiz, and her free five-day challenge About Mandi Pratt Mandi Pratt is a speaker and self-leadership expert who turned a life-shattering crisis, leaving an abusive marriage only to learn her ex-husband was wanted by the FBI for bank robbery, into a framework for helping individuals and organizations move from fight-or-flight into clarity, confidence, and inner stability. Take her free intuition quiz at womenawareandprepared.com\/quiz, or learn more at mandipratt.com. She's also on Instagram as "Women Aware and Prepared" and on LinkedIn under her own name. Favorite quotes "Even with unhealthy relationships, a lot of times we will get those intuition alarm bells going off. But a lot of times we rationalize it." \u2014Mandi Pratt "You don't have to keep living that way. You don't have to keep hustle, hustle, hustle. Your nervous system can't take that anymore." \u2014Mandi Pratt "If you just validate, that sounds so hard, and I am so sorry that you're going through that. I hear you." \u2014Mandi Pratt, on what actually helps someone in crisis Resources mentioned Mandi's free intuition quiz, plus a five-day challenge to strengthen your intuition after taking it MandiPratt.com: Mandi's site Mandi on Instagram and LinkedIn as "Women Aware and Prepared" \/ Mandi Pratt Related episodes The Hidden Tactics Narcissists Use to Control You: More on the post-separation abuse and manipulation patterns Mandi navigated with her ex. Surviving Gaslighters and Manipulators: A companion look at rebuilding trust in your own perception after abuse. How Unresolved Trauma Is Ruling Your Life: More on why the body keeps score long after the danger has passed, as Mandi describes. Subscribe & connect If this episode gave you something to sit with, follow Phoenix and Flame so you never miss an episode: all apps in one place, or jump straight to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or YouTube. And if it moved you, leave a review; it's the easiest way to help another listener find the show. Learn more about Phoenix and Flame, connect with Dana, and listen to more episodes here. Curious where your own boundaries stand? Take my free Work Boundaries Quiz: danaskaggs.com\/quiz ","author_name":"Phoenix and Flame Podcast","author_url":"https:\/\/phoenixandflame.com","html":"