Holding Space with Dr. Barker
by Dr. Christopher Barker
Latest episode
Grit, Gratitude, and the Courage to Keep Going with Laura Bratton
Grit, Gratitude, and the Courage to Keep Going with Laura Bratton
About this podcast
Holding Space with Dr. Christopher Barker is a psychology podcast focused on how unresolved complex trauma shapes daily life — from childhood through adulthood.
Complex trauma isn’t only about major events. It develops through chronic stress, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and relational instability. Over time, these survival adaptations can show up as ADHD-like symptoms in children, emotional dysregulation, workplace conflict, burnout, leadership struggles, relationship challenges, and intergenerational family patterns.
Through the lens of EMDR therapy, attachment theory, neuroscience, and trauma-informed care, Dr. Barker explains how the nervous system learns to survive — and how healing becomes possible.
Each episode offers research-based insight and practical tools for regulating triggers, improving relationships, and moving from survival mode to intentional living.
Understanding your story is the beginning. Healing transforms how you live it.
Welcome to Holding Space.
https://substack.com/@christopherbarkerphd
Episodes
The newest 20 of 103 episodes
- Grit, Gratitude, and the Courage to Keep Going with Laura Bratton · 27 min · Episode 97At nine years old, Laura Bratton was diagnosed with a rare retinal disease. Without a timeline or roadmap, she gradually lost her usable vision and was completely blind by the…
- The Loneliness of Being the Dependable One · 16 min · Episode 96What happens when everyone relies on you, but you do not know who you can rely on? In this solo episode of Holding Space, clinical psychologist Dr. Christopher Barker explores…
- The Road Ahead Can Be Different: Healing Is Messy—Keep Going · 5 min · Episode 95From the rugged trails and waterfalls of Torrin Pools on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, Dr. Christopher Barker reflects on the road behind us—and the one still ahead. Complex trauma…
- Beyond the Diagnosis: C-PTSD, Culture & the Healing Power of Community with Dr. Sandra Evers · 35 min · Episode 94What happens when trauma is treated as a diagnosis without fully hearing the life behind it? In this episode of Holding Space, Dr. Christopher Barker speaks with anthropologist…
- Holding Space on the Road: Scotland — History, Fear & the Path to Healing · 8 min · Episode 93Three places. Three reflections. One journey from survival toward healing. Travel through Scotland with Dr. Christopher Barker as he explores how we can honor our history without…
- When Trauma Feels Like Love: Breaking Toxic Relationship Patterns · 31 min · Episode 92What if what feels like chemistry is actually your nervous system recognizing chaos? After surviving childhood abuse, Anu Verma spent decades disconnected from her emotions and…
- Why We Repeat Painful Relationships: Healing Attachment Wounds Through the Body · 28 min · Episode 91Why can you understand that a relationship is unhealthy and still feel unable to let go? Attachment wounds do not exist only in our thoughts. They can become deeply embedded in…
- From “Why Me?” to “Why Not Me?”: Healing Trauma After 40 Years · 22 min · Episode 90What happens when trauma you survived decades ago finally asks to be felt? At twelve years old, Tracy Smaldino was the sole survivor of a devastating car accident that took the…
- When Trauma Lives in the Body: Healing PTSD and Childhood Wounds · 24 min · Episode 89What happens when a present-day trauma opens the door to wounds you have carried since childhood? After surviving four car accidents in sixteen months, author Constance André…
- First Responder Trauma: When the Emergency Never Ends · 25 min · Episode 88What happens when your job requires you to witness other people’s worst days—and then go home as though the emergency ended when your shift did? Police officers, firefighters…
- Not Everyone You Lose Is a Loss: When a Breakup Gives You Back Your Life · 33 min · Episode 87Why can you miss someone deeply—even when the relationship was hurting you? In this episode of Holding Space, Dr. Christopher Barker examines the complicated truth behind the…
- Consciousness, Trauma, and the Journey Back to Your Authentic Self · 34 min · Episode 86Could healing begin by changing how we understand consciousness—and ourselves? In this episode of Holding Space, Dr. Christopher Barker speaks with Dean Graves, a four-book…
- When Success Costs You Yourself: Burnout, Boundaries & Beginning Again · 28 min · Episode 85What happens when the life that looks successful from the outside no longer feels like your own? In this episode of Holding Space, Dr. Christopher Barker speaks with Catherine…
- When Understanding Becomes an Excuse: Mental Illness, Boundaries, and Repair · 28 min · Episode 83When someone’s harmful behavior is influenced by mental illness, trauma, addiction, or cognitive decline, what does understanding require from the people who were hurt? In this…
- Hungry for Connection: Healing Childhood Trauma with Danielle Bernock · 29 min · Episode 84How do we learn to receive love when childhood trauma taught us to fear connection? In this episode of Holding Space, Dr. Christopher Barker speaks with trauma-informed…
- On the Road: When a Parent’s Childhood Enters the Room · 24 min · Episode 82What happens when your child’s distress activates something unresolved from your own childhood? In this special Holding Space on the Road edition, Dr. Christopher Barker explores…
- Complex Trauma, Neurodivergence & the Nervous System · 31 min · Episode 81What if you’re not broken—but responding exactly as a nervous system shaped by uncertainty, shame, attachment injury, or chronic stress learned to respond? In this special guest…
- Is AI Becoming Your Therapist? · 27 min · Episode 80Would you tell an AI something you have never told another human being? People are turning to artificial intelligence for more than information. They’re discussing their…
- The Friendship Recession: Why We’re Connected but Still Lonely · 22 min · Episode 79How many people could you call at 11 p.m. and know they would answer? We have never had more ways to connect—and yet many of us feel increasingly alone. In this episode of…
- Raising Resilient Kids: Becoming a Soothing Presence with David Marcus, PhD · 42 min · Episode 78What if helping a child “feel better” actually gets in the way of emotional growth? Dr. Christopher Barker welcomes child and family therapist David Marcus, PhD, for a…
