What if healing isn’t about fixing yourself—but about being deeply, safely met?

In this powerful conversation, Stephen Terrell—psychotherapist, teacher, and self-described parasympathetic mechanic—shares the story behind his life’s work: a childhood shaped by profound trauma, instability, and loss, and a long, nonlinear journey toward nervous system regulation, compassion, and relational safety. Together with Maira, Stephen explores how early adversity became the medicine he now offers others through therapeutic touch, somatic regulation, and radical presence.

This episode is a masterclass in slowing down, listening to the body, and letting go of the healer’s ego in favor of creating the conditions where healing can naturally emerge.

In this episode, you’ll explore:

• Why the parasympathetic nervous system is the foundation of safety, connection, and healing
• How “doing nothing” can be profoundly therapeutic
• Reclamation vs. release: integrating trauma without abandoning parts of yourself

If you’re a clinician, healer, or human longing for deeper regulation and real connection, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are—and gently invite you further in.

This podcast wasn't always called Healing For Grown Ass Adults. A year and a half ago, when I started recording and preparing this podcast, it was called Life Mystic. As you listen to this episode, know that I was going through the process of figuring out how to be me in an expression different from my role as a somatic therapist and psychedelic medicine practitioner. I invite you to listen to this conversation with an open mind and an understanding that we are all always in process.