Episode 5: Real Medicine: Addiction, Trauma, and the Path to Healing cover art

Episode 5: Real Medicine: Addiction, Trauma, and the Path to Healing

Episode 5: Real Medicine: Addiction, Trauma, and the Path to Healing

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

In this episode of Real Medicine, Dr. Jennifer Anderson explores the deep connection between trauma and addiction through a compassionate, trauma-informed lens. Drawing from both her personal story and professional experience, she unpacks how addiction is not a failure, but a survival strategy often rooted in unprocessed pain. Using the powerful framework of genetics and epigenetics, Dr. Anderson reframes healing as something we can influence—through therapy, connection, plant medicine, and safety.

She reflects on her own family lineage, including her ancestor Chief Johnstone, and how intergenerational trauma and resilience shape our stories. Listeners will also hear insights on how trauma affects the nervous system, how we can begin to rewire it, and how we can support ourselves and others through moments of overwhelm, relapse, or burnout.

This episode is a call to shift from judgment to compassion, from symptom management to root-cause care—and to reimagine what real medicine can truly be.

Podcast music copyright 2025 Jason Houghton

Support the show

No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.