Rise: Hope and Healing Podcast
Rise is a podcast for anyone navigating the devastating impact of sexual betrayal. Season one, hosted by Dr. Kevin Skinner, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, and Certified Partner Trauma Therapist, alongside MaryAnn Michaelis, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist and Certified Partner Trauma Therapist, brings together over 50 years of combined professional and personal experience to offer hope, direction, and healing. Season two, hosted by MaryAnn Michaelis features weekly conversations with leading betrayal trauma experts exploring personal and clinical experience and observations, tools and resources for stabilizing, then thriving in post traumatic betrayal growth. Each episode blends research, clinical expertise, and real-life experience to address the most pressing questions betrayed partners face: Am I going to be okay? Why does my mind keep racing? Can I ever trust again? How do I make sense of the shattering that just happened? Listeners will gain: Validation that what they’re experiencing is real and normal. Practical tools like grounding techniques and emotional regulation exercises. Research-backed insights from studies with thousands of betrayed partners. Guidance for couples seeking to rebuild trust and safety after betrayal. Hope-filled stories that remind you healing is possible—one step, one breath at a time. Whether you’ve just discovered betrayal or are months or years into your healing journey, Rise offers a safe place to learn, reflect, and gather the tools needed to rebuild your life and reclaim your sense of self. To learn more and access additional resources, visit humanintimacy.com/reclaim.
Episodes
In this powerful conversation, MaryAnn Michaelis LCSW, CSAT, CPTT, welcomes pastor, recovery leader, and longtime colleague Darrel Brazell PSAP, to explore one of the most validating frameworks for understanding betrayal trauma: Dr. Omar Minwalla’s “Secret Sexual Basement.”
Many bet...
Host: MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT Guest: Dr. Karen Strange, LMFT, CSAT, CPTT
MaryAnn welcomes Dr. Strange back to conclude the grief and loss series, focusing on the deeply personal and complex decision many betrayed partners face: Should I stay or should I go?, offering validation, practical guidance, and reassur...
We often say “grief and loss.”
But what if it’s actually loss first — then grief?
In this episode, MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT and Dr. Kevin Skinner, LMFT, CSAT, CPTT explore the profound and often unnamed experience of loss after betrayal — and how grief emerges only after we cognitively realize what has actually been taken from us.
Because be...
Grieving through Burbles, Triggers, and Trauma-Anniversaries,
with Dr. Karen Strange
Episode Summary
Grief is something every human experiences—but grief after betrayal trauma carries a unique kind of pain. In this episode, MaryAnn Michaelis LCSW, CSAT, CPTT and Dr. Karen Strange PhD, LMFT, CSAT, CPTT continue their powerful series on grief and betrayal, exploring why ...
Episode Title: The Grief of Betrayal: Loss that No One Talks About
Healing from sexual betrayal is not something you were meant to do alone. In this episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, host MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT is joined again by Kris Cristiano, LCSW, CSAT, for an honest and grounding conversation about one of the most misunderstoo...
In this episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, MaryAnn Michaelis LCSW, CSAT, CPTT, welcomes back Dr. Kevin Skinner to continue Season Two’s series on rebuilding trust. Together they explore why rebuilding trust after betrayal is so complex, especially through the lens of attachment and trauma, based on Sue Johnson's core attachment question: “Are you there for me?”
They explain how trust begins early in l...
Host: MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT Guest: Jennifer Johnson, CMHC, CSAT, CPTT
Episode SummaryRebuilding trust after sexual betrayal begins not with your partner—but with yourself.
In this deeply meaningful episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, host MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT, sits down with her ...
Host: MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT Guest: Dr. Karen Strange, PhD, LMFT, CSAT, CPTT
Episode SummaryHealing from sexual betrayal is not something anyone is meant to navigate alone. In this Season 2 episode of Rise: Hope and Healing from Sexual Betrayal, host MaryAnn Michaelis, LC...
Welcome to Season Two of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal. In this opening episode, host MaryAnn Michaelis, LCSW, CSAT, CPTT is joined by Kris Cristiano, LCSW, CSAT, to explore one of the most painful and misunderstood aspects of betrayal trauma: trust.
After Season One’s focus on immediate survival following discovery, Season Two shifts toward rebuilding—emotionally, relationally, and internally. MaryA...
Rise, Hope, and Healing After Sexual Betrayal: Closing Season One & Looking Toward Growth
Summary
In the final episode of Season One of Rise, Hope, and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and licensed clinical social worker MaryAnn Michaelis reflect on the emotional journey of betrayal trauma and the foundational work required for healing. They validate the profound shock, grief, an...
In this powerful episode of Rise: Hope & Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore one of the most painful and complex layers of betrayal—self-betrayal. While a partner’s betrayal is deeply damaging, many betrayed partners describe an even more devastating wound: the moment they realize...
In this episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore what it truly means to “find your voice” after betrayal. Many betrayed partners struggle to express overwhelming emotions such as anger, grief, confusion, and fear—often because they’ve never had permission, languag...
In this episode of Rise: Hope & Healing from Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore why boundaries are essential—not optional—for healing. They clarify common misunderstandings about boundaries, emphasizing that boundaries are not punishments, ultimatums, or attempts to control another person. Instead, they are acts of self-c...
In this powerful episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore what happens inside the body in the shocking moments and months following D-Day. Drawing from clinical research, somatic therapy, and lived experience, they explain why betrayed partners often feel rage, panic, numbness, dissociation, ...
Gaslighting No More: Reclaiming Your Reality After Betrayal Rise: Hope & Healing After Sexual Betrayal Episode Summary
In this pivotal episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis take listeners into one of the most damaging elements of betrayal trauma: gaslighting. While the term is often used casually in modern culture, Kevin and MaryAnn break it down clinically and relat...
In this episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore one of the most painful and often hidden impacts of betrayal: how it reshapes the way you see yourself. After discovering sexual betrayal, many individuals experience a surge of negative self-beliefs — I’m not enoug...
Understanding and Responding to Triggers After Betrayal Episode Summary
In this episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore one of the most common and confusing experiences after betrayal trauma: triggers. Drawing from clinical research, lived experience, and decades of therapeutic practice, they break down why triggers occur, how the body responds, and what partners ...
In this powerful episode of Rise: Hope and Healing from Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and Marianne Michaelis, LCSW, bring attention to an often overlooked wound—the betrayed partner’s shame. They unpack how shame takes root after discovery, transforming natural questions like “Why did this happen?” into painful self-blame—“I must not be enough.” D...
In this episode, Dr. Kevin Skinner and Marianne Michaelis reframe self-care as the essential stabilizer after discovery—not bubble baths, but daily practices that calm the nervous system and restore capacity. Using the PIERS framework(Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Relational, Spiritual), they show how gentle movement (not overexertion...
In this powerful episode of Rise: Hope and Healing from Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore why betrayed partners often feel like they’re “going crazy” in the aftermath of discovery. Drawing on Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, they explain how your body’s automatic survival responses—...
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