Cover of Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers

Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers

Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers

By: Laurel LeMohn | Trauma Therapist & Spiritual Intuitive
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Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers is a trauma-informed podcast offering heartfelt, reflective conversations about healing, trauma, spirituality, intuition, relationships, and what it means to be human. Hosted by Laurel LeMohn, trauma therapist and spiritual intuitive, the show explores the experiences that shape our internal worlds — from trauma, burnout, grief, and identity shifts to nervous system healing, self-trust, spiritual awakening, and the quiet work of coming back to yourself. These are conversations for people who experience the world deeply. Rather than rushing to fix, explain, or arrive at a tidy answer, Spiritual Friction makes room for curiosity. For the things we know before we have words for them. For the questions that don't always have easy answers. And for the stories, relationships, and experiences that change how we understand ourselves. Each episode invites you to listen inward, become curious about your own experience, and consider what your body, nervous system, intuition, and internal landscape may be trying to communicate. Because healing isn't always about becoming someone new. Sometimes it's about learning to trust what you've quietly known all along. If you're looking for honest conversations about trauma healing, nervous system regulation, spirituality, intuition, self-discovery, relationships, identity, and personal growth — you're welcome here. Stories held with care. Podcast Disclaimer Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers is a storytelling and educational podcast. The content shared is not intended as medical, psychological, or mental health advice and does not establish a therapist-client, coach-client, or healthcare relationship. Listener discretion is advised, as some episodes may discuss sensitive topics. If you are in distress or experiencing a mental health crisis, please seek support from a qualified professional or local emergency services.© 2026 Laurel LeMohn. Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers. All rights reserved. Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Spirituality
Episodes
  • Episode 20: Embodiment, Alignment, & Becoming More of Yourself — with Dr. Tina Vitolo

    Episode 20: Embodiment, Alignment, & Becoming More of Yourself — with Dr. Tina Vitolo
    6 Oct 2026
    Community & SupportIf you’ve been listening to Spiritual Friction and wishing you had a place to have conversations like these, I’d love to invite you to join us.The SoulBody Healing Circle is a monthly online gathering for genuine conversations that go deeper than the surface—with room for healing, relationships, spirituality, identity, and what it means to be human. You can learn more and join our email community through SoulBody Wellness.Episode SummaryWhat if becoming more aligned with yourself didn’t require becoming someone new?What if it is actually a process of becoming more of who you already are?In this episode of Spiritual Friction, I sit down with Dr. Tina Vitolo, a licensed clinical social worker and doctor of social work who has spent nearly two decades in the mental health field. Tina is also the founder of The Black Sheep Therapist and the The Innovative Practitioner Accelerator®, communities created for therapists looking for another way to exist within their profession.Our conversation moves through spirituality, clinical work, intuition, burnout, visibility, professional expectations, inner child healing, and the courage it can take to trust a path that doesn’t look like everyone else’s.Tina shares how turning inward and becoming curious changed her relationship with herself:“The more I kind of turned into myself and just was curious, the more I became this version of me that I’m really proud of.”We also talk about Tina’s spirituality and the intuitive experiences that began early in her life. She takes us back to her first interaction with what she describes as her spiritual team at eight years old—an experience in which she suddenly felt as though she had walked into a wall and heard:“Run now.”Rather than separating her spirituality from the rest of who she is, Tina has learned to make room for the many parts of herself. That same process of integration has shaped the way she approaches her work, her relationships, and her own healing.We talk candidly about what happens when the systems we enter no longer feel aligned with who we are becoming, the fear that can come with choosing something different, and why change doesn’t always require one enormous leap.Sometimes it happens through “one manageable, uncomfortable step at a time.”Tina also shares what she has learned about allowing herself to ebb and flow rather than forcing her life or spiritual practice to look like anyone else’s.“I don’t want something I think is beautiful to be now seen as something I’m failing at.”And sometimes alignment means recognizing when it is time to stop pushing altogether.As Tina puts it:“Putting it down does not mean you failed. Putting it down means that you’re pivoting.”This is a conversation about becoming more ourselves, trusting what we know, questioning the systems and expectations we’ve inherited, and finding the courage to follow the breadcrumbs toward a life that feels more aligned.In This Episode, We Explore:What alignment can look like when it becomes something we embody rather than achieveTina’s first spiritual experience at eight years oldIntuition, spirituality, and learning to trust what we experienceBecoming more of ourselves through curiosity rather than external validationBeing both a clinician and a deeply spiritual personBurnout and questioning conventional paths within the mental health fieldVisibility, criticism, cyberbullying, and the vulnerability of being seenInner child healing and responding differently to younger parts of ourselvesGiving ourselves permission to ebb and flowWhy spiritual practices don’t have to look like anyone else’sTaking one manageable, uncomfortable step at a timeComparison and learning to tend what we have already builtKnowing when to keep going—and when putting something down may actually be a pivotFollowing the breadcrumbs even when the path doesn’t completely make sense yetKey Quotes“The more I kind of turned into myself and just was curious, the more I became this version of me that I’m really proud of.”“My first interaction with my spiritual team was when I was eight.”“I did one manageable, uncomfortable step at a time, and then they added up, and then here the fuck I am.”“I give myself permission to ebb and flow.”“I don’t want something I think is beautiful to be now seen as something I’m failing at.”“Putting it down does not mean you failed. Putting it down means that you’re pivoting.”About Dr. Tina VitoloDr. Tina Vitolo is a licensed clinical social worker and doctor of social work who has spent nearly two decades in the mental health field.In 2022, she founded The Black Sheep Therapist and the Innovative Practitioner Accelerator®, creating spaces for therapists who are questioning traditional professional expectations and looking for ways to build careers that feel more sustainable, authentic, and aligned with who they are.Her work makes room for ...
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    58 min
  • Episode 19: It Does Get Better. But Slowly: Inner Child Healing, Shame, and the Journey Back to Self — with David Deane Haskell

    Episode 19: It Does Get Better. But Slowly: Inner Child Healing, Shame, and the Journey Back to Self — with David Deane Haskell
    22 Sep 2026
    Community & SupportIf you’ve been listening to Spiritual Friction and wishing you had a place to have conversations like these, I’d love to invite you to join us.The SoulBody Healing Circle is a monthly online gathering for genuine conversations that go deeper than the surface—with room for healing, relationships, spirituality, identity, and what it means to be human. You can learn more and join our email community through SoulBody Wellness.Episode Summary“It does get better. But slowly.”For more than 40 years, author David Deane Haskell carried profound grief and unearned shame surrounding his mother's death by suicide when he was a child.He tried to escape what he was carrying through addiction, relationships, creativity, and simply trying to keep going. But underneath it all were younger parts of himself that had never stopped carrying loneliness, fear, rejection, and shame.In this episode of Spiritual Friction, David shares his journey through addiction recovery, codependency, inner child healing, spirituality, and learning to relate differently to the parts of himself he once tried to avoid.David describes the different younger parts he has encountered through his healing—the lonely boy, the runaways, and the nine-year-old he calls the “shame shocked boy.” Rather than treating these experiences as something to simply “let go,” he began turning toward them with curiosity, compassion, and care.We also explore the importance of community and being witnessed. For David, connecting with others who understood addiction and codependency offered something he hadn't found elsewhere: the realization that he wasn't alone.“Oh, you feel like that too? Oh, my God.”Together, we talk about why healing doesn't always happen through one breakthrough, how codependency can become intertwined with identity and self-worth, what it means to build a relationship with our inner child, and why some of the smallest acts of self-care can matter when we're struggling simply to make it through the day.David also shares the spiritual awakening he experienced on a beach in Japan after years of addiction and self-destructive behavior. Looking out at the horizon, he was struck by the realization that he had survived—and that he was grateful to still be alive.“I’m here. I’m alive, and I’m glad I’m alive.”This is a conversation about childhood trauma, inner child healing, toxic shame, codependency, addiction, spirituality, loneliness, belonging, and the slow journey back to Self.In This Episode, We Explore:Carrying childhood grief and unearned shame into adulthoodInner child healing and the parts of ourselves that become frozen in earlier experiencesLoneliness, rejection, and the need to feel understoodAddiction, codependency, and using relationships to feel safeWhy familiar relationships can be difficult to leave even when they are no longer healthyCommunity, peer support, and the experience of realizing “I’m not alone”Why healing may take years rather than one dramatic breakthroughSelf-worth beyond what we can do for other peopleSpiritual awakening, meditation, and discovering something larger than ourselvesSelf-care as a practice rather than a quick fixVulnerability and the fear of allowing other people to see our storiesHealing through storytelling and being witnessedFinding our way back to ourselvesKey Quotes“There wasn’t any singular moment. It’s been a years-long process.”“It does get better. But slowly. And it is beautiful in its own way, but that doesn’t make the pain any less painful.”“Oh, I’m not alone. Oh, you feel like that too? Oh, my God.”“I’m here. I’m alive, and I’m glad I’m alive.”“Don’t give up on yourself.”About David Deane HaskellDavid Deane Haskell is the author of six books, including Wounded Angels, a deeply personal account of his inner child healing journey.After decades of struggling with trauma, grief, addiction, codependency, and unearned shame surrounding his mother's death, David began documenting his healing in real time. What began as deeply personal inner child work eventually became Wounded Angels.David is also a musician and fiction writer, and his creative life has become intertwined with the healing and transformation he continues to experience. In this conversation, he describes his work not as a prescription for how someone else should heal, but as an honest record of what healing has felt like for him.Connect with David:Website: https://daviddeanehaskell.comWounded Angels: https://books2read.com/woundedangelsAbout Your HostLaurel LeMohn is an integrative trauma therapist, founder of Redwood Coast Psychotherapy and SoulBody Wellness, and host of Spiritual Friction: A Space for Deep Feelers.Her work explores trauma, nervous system regulation, embodiment, self-trust, spirituality, relationships, and the stories we have come to believe about ourselves.Across therapy, community, and storytelling, Laurel creates ...
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    45 min
  • Episode 18: I Just Don’t Wanna Live Scared Anymore: From Childhood Trauma to Embodied Strength — with Nahum Vizakis

    Episode 18: I Just Don’t Wanna Live Scared Anymore: From Childhood Trauma to Embodied Strength — with Nahum Vizakis
    8 Sep 2026
    Community & SupportIf you’ve been listening to Spiritual Friction and wishing you had a place to have conversations like these, I’d love to invite you to join us.The SoulBody Healing Circle is a monthly online gathering for genuine conversations that go deeper than the surface—with room for healing, relationships, spirituality, identity, and what it means to be human. You can learn more and join our email community through SoulBody Wellness.GuestNahum Vizakis is an author, combat veteran, bodybuilder, executive coach, and medicine man whose work draws from his lived experiences, spiritual exploration, and personal transformation.Episode Summary“I was always a scared little kid.”Nahum Vizakis takes us back to being a frightened child with a stutter and how early experiences shaped his relationship with fear, safety, and what it meant to feel strong.In this conversation, Nahum shares the experiences that eventually led him to decide, “I just do not wanna live scared anymore.”His journey has taken him through bodybuilding, military service and combat, plant medicine, spiritual exploration, and profound personal transformation. Along the way, he began discovering that the parts of himself he had spent years suppressing were not necessarily weaknesses.As he reflects:“That part of me that I was suppressing for my entire life ended up being my superpower.”Together, we explore trauma and the body, stored emotional energy, finding enough safety to begin releasing what we’ve carried, and the role of spirituality and self-trust in finding our way back to ourselves.Nahum also reflects on his near-death experiences, his evolving relationship with mortality, and the sense of purpose that has emerged through his life. Rather than arriving at a final destination, he describes learning to trust the direction his life is taking and remaining open to what there is still to learn.This is a conversation about survival, strength, and transformation—and what can become possible when we begin relating differently to the parts of ourselves we once tried to hide.What We ExploreGrowing up scared, developing a stutter, and entering foster care at 13Bodybuilding, physical strength, and Nahum’s changing relationship with himselfMilitary service, combat, and the experiences that shaped his understanding of survivalTrauma, the nervous system, and stored emotional energyFinding enough safety to begin working with what the body has been carryingPlant medicine, spirituality, and personal transformationThe parts of ourselves we suppress and what they may holdNear-death experiences, mortality, and finding purposeLearning to trust yourself and the direction life is takingWhy lived experience can become a source of connection, understanding, and serviceKey Quotes“I was always a scared little kid.”“I just do not wanna live scared anymore.”“That part of me that I was suppressing for my entire life ended up being my superpower.”“The universe is guiding me. I just have to trust it and allow these things to unfold.”“There’s always more to learn and more to grow. The universe is infinite.”Why This MattersSometimes the things we develop to survive become so familiar that we begin to mistake them for who we are.Fear can become a way of moving through the world. Strength can become something we feel we have to prove. And parts of ourselves may be pushed away because we haven't yet found a place where they feel safe enough to exist.Nahum’s story offers another perspective.What if healing isn't always about becoming someone new? What if part of the work is finding our way back to the parts of ourselves we learned to suppress—and discovering that they may hold something valuable?His experiences also remind us that transformation rarely happens in one moment. It can unfold through the body, through relationships, through spiritual experiences, and through the gradual process of learning to trust ourselves.There is always more to learn. And sometimes, the experiences we never would have chosen become part of how we understand ourselves and connect with others.About Nahum VizakisNahum Vizakis is an author, combat veteran, bodybuilder, executive coach, and medicine man. His work explores personal transformation, spirituality, plant medicine, and the relationship between lived experience and healing.Through his writing, coaching, and facilitation, he draws from the experiences that have shaped his own life and the belief that there is always more to learn, grow, and discover.Connect with Nahum:Website: https://www.optimizinghuman.comInstagram:@spiritual_BodybuilderAbout the HostLaurel LeMohn is an integrative trauma therapist, founder of Redwood Coast Psychotherapy and SoulBody Wellness, and host of Spiritual Friction.Her work explores the intersection of trauma, nervous system regulation, embodiment, spirituality, and the stories we’ve come to believe about ourselves. Through therapy, community, and ...
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    1 hr and 26 min
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