East Meets West: A Different Lens on Trauma, Pain, and Growth with Shahrzad Jalali

In this episode of Therapist Confidential, Travis sits down with clinical psychologist and life coach Dr. Shahrzad Jalali to explore the ideas behind her book The Fire That Makes Us: Healing Through Curiosity, Compassion, and Integration. Drawing on her own story of profound loss and a traumatic car accident, as well as years of clinical work, Dr. Jalali talks about trauma as something that lives not just in events but in the nervous system, and how the body’s signals can become a doorway rather than a problem to be shut down. She and Travis unpack concepts like higher self, fragmentation versus integration, victim mentality, and shadow, and reflect on why quick-fix self‑help and one‑dimensional solutions so often leave people feeling stuck. The conversation invites a more nuanced, multi‑dimensional relationship with pain—one where we move away from waiting to be rescued and toward reclaiming our own agency and essence.