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From Betrayal To Breakthrough

From Betrayal To Breakthrough

By: Dr. Debi Silber
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The betrayal of a family member, partner, friend, etc. can create physical, mental and emotional challenges. If left unhealed, it impacts us personally and professionally. The From Betrayal to Breakthrough podcast shares insights from the best therapists, coaches, healers, thought leaders and everyday people, combined with the findings of a recent Ph.D. study on betrayal to help you move forward and heal...once and for all.Debi Silber ©2025 Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • 467: Healing Betrayal Through the Subconscious Mind

    467: Healing Betrayal Through the Subconscious Mind
    Mar 30 2026
    From Betrayal to Breakthrough with Dr. Debi Silber | Guest: Peter McLaughlin About Peter McLaughlin Peter McLaughlin is a certified hypnotherapist and founder of Blue Sky Hypnosis. After being diagnosed simultaneously with Lyme disease and leukemia 23 years ago — and given just 10 years to live — Peter embarked on a profound healing journey that led him from Wall Street and a 50-person security company in Westchester, New York, into the world of mind-body medicine and hypnotherapy. Trained through a program founded by a former paramedic and focused on the medical applications of hypnosis, Peter also served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, giving him a unique frontline perspective on trauma, shock, and the human response to crisis. Today he helps clients heal from emotional trauma — including infidelity, betrayal, and abuse — using hypnotherapy, havening, and subconscious reprogramming. Episode Overview In this episode, Dr. Debi sits down with Peter McLaughlin to explore the profound and often hidden role the subconscious mind plays in betrayal recovery. Peter shares his remarkable personal story of survival, and then dives deep into the tools and techniques — including hypnotherapy, the pendulum, the sway test, havening, and hypnotic regression — that can help betrayal survivors release the trauma stored in the body, update the subconscious mind, and finally break free from the cycle of chronic stress and pain. Key Topics Discussed Peter's life-altering dual diagnosis of Lyme disease and leukemia — and the journey it sparked Why the body is a feedback mechanism and how it signals unresolved trauma The subconscious mind, the autonomic nervous system, and the "safe vs. dangerous" classification system How betrayal gets lodged in the subconscious with no concept of time — and why healing requires updating that The power of epigenetics: how chronic stress upregulates dangerous genes, and how healing can reverse that What hypnotherapy is and how it differs from what most people imagine Havening: a rapid, EMDR-adjacent technique for releasing trauma — and when it doesn't work Hypnotic regression: going back to the moment of trauma to reprocess, reframe, and re-heal Working with guilt and shame as the root cause of blocked healing The pendulum and the sway test as tools for accessing subconscious wisdom How every major decision is ultimately emotional — and what that means for recovery The spiritual dimension of healing: trauma as a wake-up call, not a life sentence What it looks and feels like when you've truly healed: the body stops being hijacked Memorable Quotes "The diagnosis of leukemia wasn't the title of the book of my life. It was a chapter in there." — Peter McLaughlin "Every single decision we make is ultimately an emotional decision — and then our conscious mind steps in to justify it. The conscious mind is basically like a lawyer." — Peter McLaughlin "The subconscious mind has no concept of time. It could have happened 30 years ago and it's still treating it like a clear and present danger." — Peter McLaughlin "Toxins don't just take a physical form. They also take an energetic or emotional form. When you suffer a trauma, it gets lodged within you and begins exerting its effects." — Peter McLaughlin "You are not broken. You are already magnificence, endowed by God with a magnificence inside of you. None of this is a litmus test of your worth." — Peter McLaughlin "If I didn't go through my betrayals, I never would have entered the PhD program. The five stages would never have been discovered. That's trauma well served." — Dr. Debi Silber Key Concepts Explained Havening A therapeutic technique similar to EMDR that uses gentle touch on specific areas of the body to help release trauma stored in the nervous system. Peter finds it highly effective and fast-acting — but notes it doesn't work when a client is carrying unresolved guilt or shame, which blocks the subconscious from accepting relief. Hypnotic Regression A technique in which the therapist guides the client back — hypnotically — to the original moment of trauma. From there, the client can reprocess the event, release guilt, and even "negotiate" with the younger part of themselves still holding the pain. Often, an adult client works with their own younger self to provide the wisdom, protection, and reasoning that wasn'tavailable at the time. The Pendulum & The Sway Test Both are ideomotor tools — ways of accessing the body's subconscious signals. A pendulum amplifies micro-movements in the hand to indicate yes/no responses. The sway test involves standing and noticing whether your body leans forward (toward something safe or true) or backward (away from something negative or false). These tools ...
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    32 mins
  • 466: Turning 60: What Six Decades Taught Me About Betrayal, Life & Becoming

    466: Turning 60: What Six Decades Taught Me About Betrayal, Life & Becoming
    Mar 23 2026
    This is a milestone episode — Dr. Debi is celebrating her 60th birthday, and she's marking the occasion by sharing six of her greatest life lessons, one for each decade. Whether you're in the thick of healing from betrayal or simply looking for some wisdom to carry you forward, these lessons are deeply personal, hard-won, and universally relatable. What You'll Hear in This Episode: Lesson 1: Hard Now, Easy Later (or Easy Now, Hard Later — Take Your Pick) The philosophy Dr. Debi has lived and taught for 34+ years. Every choice falls into one of these two categories. Choosing the hard path now — whether it's healing, setting new boundaries, or making difficult changes — creates the ease later. Skipping it just means carrying the weight longer. Lesson 2: Trust Your Gut — It Never Lies From founding the PBT Institute to going back for her PhD at 50 to knowing her family wasn't complete, Dr. Debi's biggest leaps of faith have all followed her intuition. People may think you're crazy. Trust the knowing anyway. Lesson 3: Fear of the Unknown vs. Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Dr. Debi has trained herself to find the regret that stings less — and for her, that's always trying something and failing over never trying at all. Life is short. Her mom passed at 57, and this year marks the third year Dr. Debi has outlived her. That puts everything in perspective. Lesson 4: Health Is Everything This is the only body you have. Dr. Debi shares her long-standing commitment to movement, nutrition, sleep, meaningful relationships, and sun — and gets real about the one area she's still working on: stress and rumination. Progress, not perfection. Lesson 5: Integrity Doing the right thing even when no one's looking. It makes life simpler — fewer lies to track, fewer masks to wear, and the deep peace of knowing your word means something. As Dr. Debi puts it: 100% is easier than 99%. Lesson 6: Be a Lifelong Learner — Try Things On If you see something you admire in someone else, try it. If it fits, make it yours. If it doesn't (like "Deborah"), drop it with zero guilt. Dr. Debi shares how she became a hugger and learned to make people feel like the only person in the room — both borrowed from people she deeply admired. Bonus Lesson: Stop Being So Hard on Yourself Be your own best friend. Your best is good enough. And if you find yourself doing the same frustrating things you've always done? Simply adorable. (She means it.) Mentioned in This Episode: UNSTUCK: The Practitioner's Guide to Moving Betrayal Clients from Survival to Transformation — Dr. Debi's newest book The PBT (Post Betrayal Transformation) Institute The PBT Certified Coach/Practitioner Program The Five Stages from Betrayal to Breakthrough™ National Forgiveness Day — September 1 Dr. Debi's two TEDx talks (combined 2M+ views) The From Betrayal to Breakthrough podcast (460+ episodes) Connect with Dr. Debi: Website: thepbtinstitute.com Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn: @debisilber Loved this episode? Share it with someone who needs it, and let Dr. Debi know which lesson resonated most — she'd genuinely love to hear from you. Dr. Debi Silber celebrates 60 with six hard-won life lessons — one per decade — on intuition, integrity, health, fear, lifelong learning, and why hard now always beats easy later.
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    37 mins
  • 465: From Tragedy to Transformation — Jarrod Barakett's Story of Resilience, Healing & the Power of Frequency

    465: From Tragedy to Transformation — Jarrod Barakett's Story of Resilience, Healing & the Power of Frequency
    Mar 16 2026
    What happens when life keeps knocking you down — job loss, divorce, the death of a child, a failing business, a spinal crisis — and you keep getting back up anyway? In this powerful episode, Dr. Debi sits down with Jarrod Barakett , President of Light Systems, to explore one of the most remarkable resilience stories you'll ever hear. Jarrod Barakett's journey is a masterclass in accountability, forward-focused thinking, and the healing power of frequency — and his message will stay with you long after the episode ends. About Jarrod Barakett  Jarrod Barakat is the President of Light Systems, a global wellness technology company with centers in dozens of countries worldwide. Jarrod has rebuilt his life multiple times through tragedy, betrayal, and loss. He's a passionate advocate for personal accountability, intentional living, and the body's innate capacity to heal. What You'll Hear in This Episode How a jealous boss ended Jarrod's 30-year career in golf — and what he did the very next morning that set the tone for everything that followed Why Jarrod refused to ask "why me?" and instead asked "what's next?" — and the visualization practice his father taught him at age 8 that made this possible The devastating loss of his 12-year-old daughter in a boating accident in 2018, and how he found the will to keep going How a business partner's addiction cost Jarrod what was meant to be his retirement — and why he still refuses to see himself as a victim The spinal crisis that left him facing potential paralysis, and the technology that helped him return to the gym at week 10 (when doctors said wait six months) Why Jarrod tried three therapists and found that his support network of close friends and family served him better — and what that teaches us about finding the right healing path for you The concept of personal accountability as a healing tool: how Jarrod came to understand that the frequency we put out shapes everything around us Key Takeaways Betrayal doesn't have to define your trajectory. Jarrod was fired by a jealous boss after a 30-year career. His response: shower, get dressed, go to the "office" — even when the office was an unfinished basement. He never stopped showing up. Forward focus is a decision. The lesson Jarrod taught his daughter — and lives himself — is to stop thinking about what was and start thinking about what will be. It sounds simple. It isn't. It's a daily, intentional choice. Grief doesn't have a timeline, but responsibility doesn't pause. After losing his daughter, Jarrod returned to work within two weeks — not because he was healed, but because his family needed him. He shares this honestly, without pretending it was the right call, but with deep insight into what kept him moving. Your support system is everything. When tragedy strikes, the people you've invested in over a lifetime show up. Fifty friends flew in from Montreal and Boston for his daughter's funeral. That network was decades in the making. You are 100% accountable — and that's actually empowering. Jarrod's most powerful insight: if you are fully accountable for every outcome in your life, then you are also fully capable of changing your future. The power is yours. The body responds to frequency. After emergency spinal surgery, Jarrod discovered Light Systems technology — and went from excruciating post-surgical pain to training in the gym at week 10. The body knows how to heal when we give it what it needs. Resources & Links Find Jarrod on Instagram: @ JarrodBarakett  Learn more about Light Systems technology and find a center near you: lightsystems.com If This Episode Resonated With You... If you've experienced betrayal — whether by a person, a business partner, or life itself — and you're wondering how to find your way through, this conversation is proof that the human spirit is more resilient than we imagine. Share this episode with someone who needs it today. When life delivers blow after blow — job loss, divorce, the death of a child, business betrayal, spinal surgery — how do you keep getting back up? Jarrod Barakett shares his raw, remarkable story of resilience, accountability, and healing through the power of frequency and forward-focused thinking.
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    31 mins
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