Healing Was Only the Beginning: How to Lead from Wholeness After Trauma

If you’ve done the trauma-work, healed the wounds, yet still feel there’s a next layer — this episode is for you. Host Dr Nat Green shares why healing alone isn’t enough.

Healing isn’t the finish line — it’s the doorway. 

In this heartfelt solo episode, Dr Nat Green — Trauma Breakthrough Coach, bestselling author, and creator of the ABS Method® and Archetypes of Transformation — shares her own turning point: the moment she realised that trauma recovery doesn’t end with “healing.” It begins with integration.

Join Dr Nat as she explores what it means to lead from wholeness, not wounds — and how trauma-aware coaches, practitioners, and purpose-driven business owners can step into their next evolution of leadership, purpose, and peace.

 In this solo episode We dive into:

• Why “healing” can sometimes feel like the finish line, when it’s only the beginning.
• Dr Nat's own moment of realisation — the quiet coffee-by-the-beach moment that changed how she views growth, leadership and purpose.
• What it means to move from recovery to integration — where your nervous system, your identity and your business all align.
• Why healed leadership matters: when you lead from your wholeness, your presence becomes the invitation for others to rise.
• How to spot when you’re still leading from old survival patterns — and how to shift into a more grounded, sustainable way of showing up.

Whether you’re a coach, practitioner, or purpose-driven business owner who’s walked through trauma and is ready for the next chapter — you’ll feel seen, challenged and inspired.

What you’ll walk away with:

• A new lens for your growth: healing → integration → leadership.
• A question to sit with: “Am I leading from my wound or from my wholeness?”
• A reminder that thriving isn’t optional — it’s your next step.
• 🌿 You’ll learn:
  • Why “healing” isn’t the destination but the foundation for growth
  • The difference between being trauma-informed and trauma-integrated
  • What integrated leadership looks like in real life
  • How to recognise when you’re leading from old survival patterns
  • Why your healed self is your most powerful leader
• 🌺 Listen if you’re ready to:
  → Feel more grounded, authentic, and connected to your purpose
  → Build your business or practice from peace instead of pressure
  → Thrive — not just survive — after trauma

Connect with Dr Nat:
Instagram: @drnatgreen
FREE Quiz to discover your Archetype of Transformation (here)
Website: drnataliegreen.com.au

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Transcript

Dr Nat Green: 0:01

Welcome to the Growing Tall Poppies Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Nat Green, and I'm so excited to have you join me as we discuss what it means to navigate your way through post-traumatic growth and not just survive, but to thrive after trauma. Through our podcast, we will explore ways for you to create a life filled with greater purpose, self-awareness, and a deep inner peace. Through integrating the many years of knowledge and professional experience, as well as the wisdom of those who have experienced trauma firsthand. We'll combine psychology accelerated approaches. Coaching and personal experience to assist you, to learn, to grow and to thrive. I hope to empower you to create deeper awareness and understanding and stronger connections with yourself and with others, whilst also paving the way for those who have experienced trauma and adversity to reduce their suffering and become the very best versions of themselves. In order to thrive. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode. Hi everyone, and welcome back to Growing Tall Poppies, thrive After Trauma. I'm your host, Dr. Nat Green, and today's episode is a little different. It's not about a guest, a new framework or even a specific strategy. This one's coming straight from the heart, from my heart to yours because over the past few months. I've been feeling a deep shift, one that's changing not just how I work, but how I see growth, healing, and what I believe it truly means to thrive. It's about a moment, one that changed how I see healing leadership and the work that we're all here to do. It's raw, it's reflective, and it's marking a new chapter. Both for me and for this podcast. So settle in, take a deep breath, and maybe even grab yourself a cup. That's exactly what I'm gonna do because this one's straight from the heart. There's something about sitting by the ocean that brings everything back into focus and greater clarity, isn't there? That soft rhythm of the waves, the salt in the air, the sea breeze through your hair and the warmth of a coffee cup in your hands. It's like the world finally slows down just enough for the truth to catch up. And I remember one of those moments earlier this year, I found myself doing exactly that. I had been in the thick of life and work sessions, projects, deadlines, you know, it, all of it meaningful, all of it purposeful, and yet something within me felt quietly restless. So I was sitting at my usual table at my fave cafe by the beach. Just doing some writing.'cause that's where I love to do my writing and just watching the tide roll in the world felt quiet, almost eerily quiet. My nervous system wasn't in overdrive and for once I wasn't doing anything. I was just being. And it was there in that space of stillness that something inside me whispered almost like the ocean itself was speaking. It was quite bizarre, to be honest, and I've got this really clear message that healing isn't the destination, it's just the doorway. I just sat there staring out at the horizon. Watching a small pod of dolphins playing in some waves, just letting those words land. I actually felt them deep within me. It landed so softly and yet so powerfully that I almost laughed because really hadn't I been saying versions of this for years, but this time I didn't just know it. I felt it deep within my bones. Almost in my soul. And I could see how often we, especially those of us in the helping professions, pour everything into the healing journey. We read, we research, we reflect, we release, we regulate, we do the deep work, and it changes us. And somewhere along the way we started believing that healed is the end point. Once we've reached some invisible line of wholeness, we'll finally arrive. And it was as I was sitting there that morning that I realized that's where most of us stop. Not because we lack courage, we've usually got that in bucket loads, but because we've never been shown what comes next. For years, my work had revolved around helping people heal from trauma, reclaiming safety identity, and finding balance. It's powerful work. It's sacred work, and it really is such a privilege. But in that quiet moment, I saw the pattern. We spend years doing that deep work, the therapy, the breath work, the somatic stuff, the TRE, the inner child healing, nervous system regulation, all of it. And somewhere along the way we start to believe that once we've healed enough, we'll arrive at our desired destination and that healing is the end point. But what I've discovered in myself, in my clients, and in so many practitioners and leaders that I've mentored over the years, is that healing is only really the beginning. It's the foundation, not the finale. Because once our pain softens. Once the survival patterns quieten down, a new question starts to emerge, who am I now beyond the trauma? And that's the moment where the next chapter begins, the one where we stop simply surviving our story and start writing a new one. It's where healing turns into creation. It's where the magic can truly start to happen. Where we start leading, loving, and living from integration, not from protection. And that realization sitting there with my coffee and the sound of the waves changed everything. For me, it was the beginning of a deeper understanding that the journey isn't just about healing the past. It really has to be about embodying the future. Healing teaches us how to come home to ourselves. But thriving asks, now that you are home, what will you build here? And then a few months ago, as you know, I traveled through Europe. And it was always gonna be a symbolic moment and a line in the sand moment. I could feel that, and it absolutely became this deeply symbolic shedding of layers. But it turned out to be something so much deeper. It became a pilgrimage of sorts, a shedding of layers I didn't even know I was still carrying. I walked through the streets of Paris and Florence through old cathedrals and cobblestone lanes, and something in me began to quiet. I walk through places like Ieper(Ypres) in Belgium, a place steeped in both horror, and rebirth and the Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, and feeling this profound sense of perspective. Then onto Rome where we stood in ancient ruins and quiet cathedrals. And then I also sat in the Swiss Alps and for the first time allowed myself to rest and replenish. And I felt something awakening like I mean truly awakening. It's really hard to describe and inner knowing that the next stage of my own post-traumatic growth was well and truly here. Generations before us had walked through devastation and they somehow rebuilt. And in that moment I realized that's what we do too. Not just individually, but collectively. We rebuild, we rise, and we reimagine. Everywhere I went, whether it was in art galleries, in train stations, in those slow morning, not overly enjoyable coffees, I felt life whispering. The same message that I'd heard at the beach. It's time to live. The integration, not to study it. Not to intellectualize it, but to fully embody it. I just felt that it was no longer enough for me to talk about trauma informed practice. I wanted to live trauma integrated leadership where our healing isn't a chapter that we reference, but the lens through which we lead, because that's what thriving really is. It's not about constant happiness or unshakeable confidence, it's about wholeness and being able to show up fully and be authentically you. It's about walking your talk, taking it into your work, your relationships, your purpose throughout your life, from a place of embodied truth, not from protection. And as I returned home, I knew that this was the next evolution, not just for me, but for all of us who've done the healing work and are now being called to lead from it, to stop performing strength and start embodying it, to stop helping others from our open wounds and instead guide them from our healed ones. To stop chasing balance and start being it. That trip reminded me that post-traumatic growth isn't a finish line, and it isn't somewhere that we arrive. It's something that we live and breathe. It's a continual unfolding and ongoing integration are remembering that every challenge we've been through. Every single experience, every scar, every rise has prepared us to lead from a place of grounded strength, soft compassion, and from peace that no longer needs to prove itself. I knew that when I came home from Europe, something. Deep within me had changed. It wasn't loud or dramatic. It was quiet, steady, and deeply certain. I knew that my work could no longer be just about healing, because healing while essential is still only part of that story. What we truly need, especially as coaches, therapists, leaders, practitioners, and heart led business owners is integration. Integration is what happens when the nervous system finally trusts. That's safety isn't fleeting. When your heart stops armoring itself, when your mind and your body start moving in the same direction. Not fighting for control, but collaborating and joining together in peace. And from that place, something extraordinary happens. We begin to lead differently For so long. Leadership, even in the helping professions, has been about qualifications, knowledge, expertise, and performance. We learn the right language, the right frameworks, the right ways to hold space, and while all of that is valuable, it can also become a shield because if we haven't truly integrated our own healing, or perhaps you don't even acknowledge that you have wounds that need healing, then we end up leading from the same patterns. That we once tried to escape. We overgive. We overwork. I've certainly done that one. We keep trying to prove our worth through our output, through helping, fixing, achieving, and producing. We say we want impact, but underneath I think that we're still seeking safety. Integration changes all of that. When you've done the work and your body finally believes it, not just knows it, you stop needing to prove anything. Your energy softens, your leadership deepens, and suddenly people aren't drawn to your strategies or your qualifications. They're drawn to you and your presence. That is integrated leadership. It's the place where trauma informed knowledge becomes lived embodiment, where you don't just teach nervous system safety, you radiate it. Where boundaries aren't a script, they're actually a state of being where you can stand in front of a client, a team, or a community, and say. I am human. I've been through it, but I'm here whole and grounded. And that groundedness, that's what creates trust. That's what creates true transformation. The thing is integration isn't flashy. It doesn't always look like massive breakthroughs or big public wins. Most of the time it looks like quiet alignment. It's the pause before you say yes to another commitment, checking to see if it's coming from peace or from fomo. The good old fear of missing out. It's catching the urge to fix a client and instead holding space for their own wisdom. It's choosing rest when your old pattern would've chosen to hustle. Integration is leadership in motion, moment by moment, breath by breath. Integration isn't about never being triggered again. It's about knowing who you are when you are triggered and leading from that grounded awareness rather than from a place of reaction. Integrated leadership is the difference between knowing your tools and truly embodying them between teaching regulation. And actually living regulated. It's the courage to build your business, to hold space for others to make decisions and lead conversations, not from gaping wounds, but from scars that have turned into wisdom. And here's the truth that I've come to see. You can't lead others. Beyond the level of integration that you've reached yourself. Just listen to that and let that sit with you for a bit. You can't lead others beyond the level of integration that you have reached yourself. Hmm. Interesting. Hey, if you haven't yet embodied the healing that you talk about, your clients will feel it. They will absolutely sense that if you are guiding people towards authenticity, but still hiding parts of your own story, the energy won't land if you are teaching others to rest, but never giving yourself permission to exhale. The nervous system will know, and that's why this next evolution, the integrated leadership era, matters so deeply because our world doesn't need more polished professionals. It needs embodied integrated leaders and those with lived experience don't need to hide that any longer. We need people who have walked through their own fire and emerge, not just functional, but free. People who can build businesses, communities, and conversations that are deeply rooted in truth and compassion, not perfection or performance. People who lead from healed hearts, not hidden wounds. That's what I want this next season of growing tall poppies to be about. It's not about being done with healing. It's about what comes after. It's about what happens when we stop surviving and we truly start leading from the inside out. Because when we lead from integration, we don't just thrive. We become the example of what's possible. For everyone around us, and I love that the amazing guests we have on growing tall poppies are constantly showing us this. When I first began talking about, and using the phrase integrated leadership, I noticed something fascinating. I could feel people leaning in, not just curious, but resonating. People would nod slowly and say, yes, I feel that exactly that. It's as though their body understood before their mind did. Because deep down, most of us already know there's a difference between being trauma informed and being trauma integrated. Trauma informed is knowing the theory, the neuroscience, understanding the nervous system patterns, attachment boundaries, the language of safety. It's important. It creates awareness. It helps us do no harm. But being trauma integrated Integration takes it even further, and that's where you've actually lived the work. When your nervous system, your words, your energy. They all line up. People can feel it before you even say a word. It's when that awareness becomes embodied. When your decisions, your leadership style, and your relationships all start aligning with your healed state, it's when safety isn't just something you talk about. It's something people feel when they're around you. So why does this matter so much right now? Because let's be honest, we're living in a time where everyone's nervous system is stretched thin leaders are burning out, practitioners are holding space, but not being held. Coaches are trying to serve from empty cups, therapists, coaches, healers, business leaders. We've been through a lot. We're holding space for others while quietly trying to hold ourselves and in that state. When we're not fully integrated, even with the best intentions, our old patterns sneak in and we start leading from those unhealed patterns that we work so hard to escape. You know what I'm talking about? We become the over giver, pouring from depletion. We become the perfectionist, afraid to be seen without our mask. We become the rescuer trying to save others from the pain. We still carry ourselves rescuing everyone else because helping is the only way we've ever felt safe. I see it all the time. And I've lived it too. And if we are not conscious, our work, the very thing meant to liberate others becomes just another cage that limits us. Healed leadership changes that when we've integrated our own trauma, our leadership becomes cleaner and calmer. There's no hidden agenda. No need to prove or perform. It's not reactive, it's responsive. We stop chasing validation through achievement. We stop needing to prove our value by fixing others. We stop performing confidence and we start embodying presence. There's a power that comes when you lead from your healed self, and it's quiet. It doesn't need to shout or convince. It simply is people sense it, they relax around it. They feel safer to be authentic because you are. That's the ripple effect of integration. You start making decisions from peace, not from pressure. You say no without guilt, you create from inspiration, not obligation. You stop chasing success as a way to feel safe because your safety now comes from within. And that's what I mean when I say lead from your healed self. It is not about pretending you've got it all together. It's about letting your humanity stay in the room. While your wholeness leads the conversation, I often say you teach most powerfully not through your words, but through your nervous system. Your energy becomes the permission slip. For example, if your body says it's safe to slow down, your clients will feel that. If your leadership says. I can be successful and soft. Your team will begin to mirror that. If your life shows that healing doesn't end with survival, but expands into joy, hope, and creativity, your community will rise with you. And that's why healed leadership matters because transformation isn't taught, it's transmitted. And it's contagious in the best possible way. But here's the truth, let's be honest. Integration isn't easy. It requires humility. It asks us to pause before reacting to notice our old patterns creeping back to stay awake to our own edges. It asks us to choose integrity over image. Truth over performance and peace over productivity. And that's not the kind of leadership that the world has glorified. We've been taught to lead from our heads. Strategy systems, intellect integration invites us to lead from our whole selves, our three brains, our head, our heart, and our gut. To align these as best we can. That's where alignment lives, that's where we access wisdom. That isn't just intellectual, it's embodied. And when that happens, everything changes. Your business flows differently, your relationships deepen, and your sense of purpose stops feeling like a chase. And starts feeling like home. Now, don't get me wrong, integration isn't a one and done thing. It is a daily practice. It asks for honesty, it asks for humility. It's noticing where your old protector parts still show up and choosing differently. It's catching yourself before you rush. Before you fix, before you say yes, from fear of letting someone down, it's slowing the pace of your life enough to ask, am I acting from my healed self or my hurt self? Right now that is in integration. Integrated healed leadership is what bridges the gap between who we've become through healing. Who we are meant to be through thriving. It's what allows us to hold complexity with grace, to lead with both boundaries and compassion to make impact without self abandonment. That's what this new chapter is about. Not striving for perfection, but living in wholeness. Because when we lead from healed hearts and embodied truth, we don't just thrive, we change the nervous system of the world around us. And I really believe that this is where leadership is heading, especially in the trauma aware space. We've done the education, we've built the frameworks. Now it's time to embody them.'cause the world doesn't need more people who know what safety means. It needs people who are that safety people who've done the work, lived it, and can hold space with grounded compassion and unshakeable integrity. That's what this next season in our work, our lives and this podcast is all about leading not from the wound, not from the mask, but from our whole integrated self. Because when you do, everyone around you feels it. And that ripple, that's what changes everything. So what's this mean for growing tall poppies thrive after trauma? From here on in, it means we're evolving together. We'll still talk about trauma, the nervous system, and post-traumatic growth. We'll also talk about how to lead from that growth. How to build ethical, sustainable purpose-driven businesses that reflect your healed state. How to show up online authentically without armoring up or performing perfection. How to integrate your humanity into your leadership so that your presence itself becomes healing for others. You'll hear from conscious entrepreneurs, coaches, therapists, and embodied leaders who are courageous enough to share their stories and rewriting what it means to thrive after trauma. This is where the science of healing meets the art of leading, and I cannot wait to explore it with you. So as we come to the end of today's conversation, I wanna leave you with this thought. If healing is the doorway, then thriving. Real embodied, thriving is what happens when you walk through it and keep going. You don't need to race, you don't need to force anything. Integration is gentle work. It's the quiet decision to keep showing up from your healed self. In your relationships, in your business, in the way you speak to yourself, it's catching the moments when old patterns whisper, play small and choosing to stay open anyway. It's noticing the urge to overgive, to overwork, to overachieve, and pausing long enough to remember, I don't need to prove that I'm healed. I get to live as healed. That's leadership that's thriving. And I think for so many of us, especially those who hold space for others, this next chapter is really about living the integration. No more compartmentalizing who we are at work and who we are at home. No more shrinking because we're being told that sensitivity isn't strength. No more pretending we've got it all figured out just so we can be taken seriously. Integrated leadership is about bringing all of you to the table, the human, the healer the professional, the dreamer, and letting them all coexist. Because when you lead from your healed self, you give others permission to do the same. Your calmness becomes contagious. Your authenticity becomes magnetic and your presence becomes healing. And maybe that's the whole point of post-traumatic growth. Not to get somewhere, but to become someone. Someone who knows that peace does not mean the absence of pain, it's the presence of wholeness. Someone who leads, creates and connects from that deep sense of inner safety. That's where the real transformation happens. So wherever you are on your journey, whether you're still healing or starting to feel that tug towards something bigger, I want you to know this. You are exactly where you need to be. You haven't missed your moment. You're just being invited into your next evolution, and that evolution will look different for each of us. Sometimes it's softer, sometimes it's bolder, but it always starts with choosing to live as the integrated version of you. As always, thank you for being here with me, for listening, for reflecting and for rising. This podcast has always been about growth, but more than that, it's about truth. The truth that we can build a life, a business, and a legacy. That comes from peace, not from pressure. So keep on walking through that doorway. Keep allowing yourself to thrive. And remember, your healed self is your most powerful leader, and you were born to be the tall poppy that you are. So keep on shining brightly and never let anyone dim your light. I'm Dr. Nat Green, and this is Growing Tall Poppies thrive after trauma. Until next time, stay grounded, stay open, and keep leading from love. And if today's conversation resonated with you, I'd love to hear what leading from wholeness and true integration means in your life right now. Share it with me on Instagram at Dr. Nat Green or tag me in your stories. I truly love connecting with you there, and don't forget to like, follow and subscribe to our show, so you never miss an episode. Bye for now. Thank you for joining me in this episode of Growing Tall Poppies. It is my deepest hope that today's episode may have inspired and empowered you to step fully into your post-traumatic growth, so that you can have absolute clarity around who you are, what matters the most to you, and to assist you to release your negative emotions. And regulate your nervous system so you can fully thrive. New episodes are published every Tuesday, and I hope you'll continue to join us as we explore both the strategies and the personal qualities required to fully live a life of post-traumatic growth and to thrive. So if it feels aligned to you and really resonates, then I invite you to hit subscribe and it would mean the world to us. If you could share this episode with others who you feel may benefit too, you may also find me on Instagram at Growing Tall Poppies and Facebook, Dr. Natalie Green. Remember, every moment is an opportunity to look for the lessons and to learn and increase your ability to live the life you desire and deserve. So for now, stay connected. Stay inspired. Stand tall like the tall poppy you are, and keep shining your light brightly in the world. Bye for.