This week we're bringing you a conversation that might just shift how you think about trauma therapy forever.
If you've ever felt like therapy didn't "work" for you, if you've been told to "just talk about it" when your body was screaming something different, or if you've been searching for healing that doesn't require you to rip yourself open every single session—this episode is for you.
📅 This episode drops Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 3 AM ET Alisa on Trauma Therapy, EMDR, and Healing Without Re-Traumatization
This is a conversation about the science, the spirit, and the sacred work of becoming whole again.
🚗 What's Up with G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
G-Rex here, and let me tell you, this weekend was EVERYTHING. Dirty Skittles and I spent Saturday recording our Season 15 finale (dropping next week!), which means there's only one episode this week and next before we roll into Season 16. Can we just take a moment? Like, SEASON 16. We're out here acting like we're a real show or something. 😂
Honestly though, we sat there after recording and just looked at each other like, "Holy shit, we really did this." Three years. Hundreds of conversations. Thousands of you showing up every week. It's wild, it's beautiful, and we're so damn grateful. What a way to kick off 2026.
Now, onto the exciting news: I'm launching my free AI teaching software this week! This has been brewing in my brain for MONTHS, and I'm finally ready to share it with the world. After I had to pivot my business (because let's be real, the economy has been kicking my ass), I decided to use every tool in my mental health toolbox and build something that could actually help people. And here's the best part—it's FREE. Completely free. No hidden costs, no sneaky upsells, just good people helping good people learn AI.
I'm also offering free beginner AI training because I know this stuff can feel overwhelming at first. If you want in, just hit reply to this email and I'll personally get you set up. I promise I'll make it fun and way less scary than it sounds.
Speaking of Dirty Skittles... she's over there living her best sourdough life, feeding her starter like it's a beloved pet, sending me daily updates like, "The starter is THRIVING today, G-Rex!" Meanwhile, I'm over here like, "Cool, but did you take your Christmas tree down yet?" (Spoiler: neither of us did.) We both made that grand plan last weekend to finally de-Christmas our homes, and guess what? My tree is still up, twinkling away in all its glory. But listen, it is coming down in the next couple of days I have a REASON—my Christmas present is being delivered on Thursday. It's a big, beautiful indoor chaise lounge because sometimes I need to work somewhere other than my desk, and also because I deserve nice things, dammit.
Dirty Skittles, on the other hand, has fully settled back into post-holiday work mode and is out here baking bread like she's auditioning for the Great British Baking Show. If I lived closer, I'd be 20 pounds heavier and zero regrets. That woman's bread game is STRONG.
Oh, and one more thing: we're moving to Substack in mid-February! I know, I know—change is scary. But I promise this is going to be SO good for building community and keeping everyone connected with us in a way that feels more personal. We're keeping it free for as long as we possibly can because our mission has always been about making mental health conversations accessible to everyone.
So buckle up, buttercups. Season 15 finale is coming in hot, Season 16 is already booked and loaded, and we're just getting started. 💪
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🔥 Special Shout-Out to Women Supporting Women
🌟 Meet Krista Dykes
She Laughs Media is a boutique podcast booking and publicity agency dedicated to amplifying the voices of mission-driven entrepreneurs, artists, authors, and experts. With media contacts spanning top-tier national outlets and local press, we specialize in creating strategic, faith-rooted storytelling campaigns that connect clients with their ideal audiences. Founded on Proverbs 31:25—"She laughs at the time to come"—we combine integrity, creativity, white glove service, and world-class media savvy to help clients build lasting visibility and meaningful impact.
Use this worksheet to explore your own healing journey, identify your internal and external resources, and reflect on what safety means in your recovery process.
🎤 Episode Spotlight
Some conversations cut through the noise and land exactly where they need to.
This week, we sit down with Alisa Gracheva, a licensed psychotherapist and trauma specialist who understands something most people don't: healing trauma isn't about forcing yourself to relive it over and over again.
Alisa came to the United States from the Soviet Union at 18 years old—alone, without support, navigating a new country while carrying her own unprocessed trauma. When she finally sought help, the first therapist she saw left her feeling more lost than before. She walked away thinking, "If this is therapy, I'll just figure it out myself."
But instead of giving up on healing, she spent the next 12 years studying it. She became a crisis counselor, volunteered with people who'd been through similar struggles, and eventually found her calling: helping people heal from trauma without breaking them open in the process.
In this episode, Alisa walks us through the science and soul of trauma therapy—explaining why traditional talk therapy often isn't enough, how EMDR works to reprocess traumatic memories, and what it means to build internal and external resources before you even touch the wound.
She introduces us to concepts like titration (working with small, manageable pieces of trauma instead of flooding your system), resourcing (identifying the strengths and supports that ground you), and somatic experiencing (healing trauma through the body, not just the mind). She explains why your nervous system holds memories your brain can't access and how techniques like bilateral stimulation can help release what's been stuck for years.
But this isn't just a clinical breakdown. Alisa gets personal. She talks about her own journey through suicidal ideation in her early 20s, the moment she told her younger self, "You will be okay. You will make it." She shares how she survived a devastating financial fraud this year that left her broke and in debt—and how she's using the same tools she teaches her clients to rebuild her own life.
Alisa also opens up about integrating spirituality into mental health work, her experience with past life regression, and why she believes some of our hardest lessons are karmic debts we're here to clear.
This episode is for anyone who's been told they're "too broken" to heal. For anyone who's tried therapy and felt dismissed or misunderstood. For anyone who knows there's more to healing than just talking about it.
Alisa reminds us: You are not the victim. You are the one who gets to decide what comes next.
🧩 From the Conversation
💬 The heartbeat of this episode
What makes Alisa's story so powerful is that she lived the very thing she now helps others heal from. She knows what it's like to sit across from a therapist who doesn't get it, to walk away thinking, "I guess I'm just unfixable." She was 18 years old, alone in a new country, carrying trauma she couldn't name yet and no one to help her make sense of it.
Instead of accepting that story, Alisa spent 12 years studying everything she wished someone had known when she needed help. She learned EMDR, somatic experiencing, resourcing, and titration—not because they were trendy, but because they worked in ways traditional talk therapy couldn't.
Here's what sets her apart: she doesn't take credit for her clients' healing. "If the person is not healing, am I a healer? No," she says. "We have to work together." That humility, that understanding that healing is a partnership, not a performance—that's the work.
This year, Alisa survived a devastating financial fraud that left her broke and in debt. But she's using the same tools she teaches her clients to rebuild. "If we're meant to lose something," she says, "let it be money. Really let it be money."
This episode is about finding safety in healing, understanding that your body remembers what your mind tried to forget, and believing—even when it feels impossible—that you will be okay. You will make it.
🫂 A quote that stuck with us
"If the person is not healing, am I a healer? No. It's a collaboration. We have to work together in order to create that change." — Alisa Gracheva
🎙️ Real Talk from Us
"When Alisa talked about telling her 20-year-old self, 'You will be okay. You will make it,' I felt that in my bones. That's the version of me I needed to hear from when I was in my darkest place. And the fact that she went through 12 years of school just so she could help people the way she wished someone had helped her? That's not just a career. That's a calling." — G-Rex
"What hit me was when she said healing is a collaboration, not a one-sided thing. So many of us carry this shame like we're failing at therapy when really, we just haven't found the right person yet. Alisa gave us permission to keep looking, to 'speed date' therapists if we have to, and that alone could change someone's life." — Dirty Skittles
📓 Reflection Prompts to Sit With
If you could talk to your younger self in their hardest moment, what would you tell them?
Where in your body do you hold stress, grief, or trauma that your mind hasn't fully processed yet?
What does safety feel like to you? How can you create more of it in your healing journey?
If healing is a collaboration, who or what are you collaborating with right now?
🌱 Gentle Reminder
You are not too broken to heal. You are not unfixable. And if the first therapist didn't work out, that's not on you—it's on the fit.
Healing isn't about erasing the past. It's about building enough internal and external resources that you can hold your story without it swallowing you whole.
Your body remembers what your mind tried to forget, and that's okay. There are people trained to help you release what's been stuck. There are modalities that work with your nervous system, not against it.
And even if you lose everything—your health, your money, your sense of safety—you don't lose your spirit. You don't lose your values. You don't lose the part of you that gets to decide what comes next.
You will be okay. You will make it.
📚 Resources named:
EMDR therapy, somatic experiencing, resourcing techniques, past life regression, hypnotherapy, Psychology Today therapist directory, Alisa's book Walking with Spirit: A Sacred Path to Wholeness
👤 Meet Our Guest — Alisa Gracheva
Alisa Gracheva is a licensed psychotherapist, trauma specialist, and author who brings both deep clinical expertise and profound personal experience to her work. Originally from the Soviet Union, Alisa immigrated to the United States at 18 and built her life from the ground up in Plantation, Florida, where she now works six days a week helping clients heal from trauma.
After a disappointing first experience with therapy, Alisa spent 12 years studying psychology, trauma treatment, and healing modalities. She's served as a crisis counselor, volunteered extensively with trauma survivors, and developed a practice rooted in EMDR, somatic experiencing, resourcing, and titration—all designed to help people heal without being re-traumatized in the process.
Alisa integrates spirituality into her clinical work, believing that healing is both a science and a sacred journey. She's experienced her own profound healing through past life regression, which helped her understand patterns she'd carried for lifetimes. Her recently published book, Walking with Spirit: A Sacred Path to Wholeness, reflects her belief that we are here to do more than survive—we are here to transform.
This year, Alisa faced her own test when she became a victim of financial fraud, losing everything she'd worked for and finding herself in debt. True to her teaching, she's using the same tools she offers her clients to rebuild her life with faith, resilience, and an unshakable belief that loss is never the end of the story.
Healing is collaborative, not one-sided. You are the expert in your own life; your therapist is the expert in the process.
Not all therapy is trauma-informed. EMDR and somatic work address trauma differently than traditional talk therapy.
Your body remembers. Trauma lives in the nervous system, and healing often requires working with the body, not just the mind.
Resourcing is everything. Before you touch the wound, you build the safety net—internal and external supports that keep you grounded.
It's okay to "speed date" therapists. Finding the right fit is essential, and it's not a sign of failure if the first one doesn't work out.
You're never truly a victim. Even in betrayal or loss, you get to decide what meaning you make and what comes next.
💪 Actionable Steps
If you're looking for a therapist, ask about their trauma training. Specifically ask if they're trained in EMDR, somatic experiencing, or trauma-focused CBT.
Identify your resources. Write down three internal strengths (resilience, creativity, humor) and three external supports (friends, nature, music).
Practice grounding. When you feel overwhelmed, place your hand on your heart, take three slow breaths, and name five things you can see around you.
Give yourself permission to switch therapists. If the fit isn't right after a few sessions, it's okay to keep looking.
Notice where trauma shows up in your body. Do you hold tension in your shoulders? Clench your jaw? Get a tight chest? Start paying attention.
Read or listen to something that validates your experience. Whether it's Alisa's book Walking with Spirit or another resource, let yourself feel seen.
💬 Listener Engagement
What resonated most with you in this conversation? Have you tried EMDR or somatic therapy? What was your experience? Reply to this email or tag us on Instagram @grex_and_dirtyskittles with your reflections.
We read every message—always.
⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review
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❤️ Closing Remarks
If you've ever felt broken, unseen, or like healing just wasn't in the cards for you—we hope this conversation reminded you otherwise.
Healing isn't about being perfect. It's not about erasing your past or pretending the hard stuff didn't happen.
It's about finding safety. Building resources. Learning to hold your story without letting it swallow you whole.
Alisa reminded us this week that you will be okay. You will make it. And if you can't believe it yet, we'll believe it for you.
Wherever you are in your healing journey—whether you're still searching for the right therapist, processing something that happened decades ago, or just trying to make it through today—we're proud of you.
You're here. You're trying. That's enough.
With so much love, G-Rex & Dirty Skittles Changing the way we talk about mental health, one real convo at a time.
G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
It's ok to be not ok, just make sure you're talking to someone
