The Dr. Hyman Show

Why You Can’t “Think” Your Way Out of Anxiety (It’s Your Nervous System) | Dr. Nicole LePera

February 25, 2026

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  • Repeating negative patterns persist not because of a lack of intellectual insight, but because the body's nervous system remains stuck in a default stress response learned during early, often traumatic, experiences. 
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are strongly correlated with later physical and mental health consequences because they disrupt secure attachment, leading to a chronically activated nervous system. 
  • True healing and change require moving beyond cognitive understanding to somatic practices that create safety within the body, allowing for nervous system re-regulation and the ability to break dysfunctional adaptations. 
  • Discovering one's true purpose involves understanding what excites you and what you dislike, leading to a more authentic self in the world. 
  • Relational neuroplasticity confirms that the brain can rewire its neural connections through consistent new choices, challenging the belief that emotional states are fixed. 
  • Since our wiring was built in relationships, creating safety and security within the primary relationship—the self—is foundational for healthy future relationships and breaking cycles of trauma. 

Segments

Anxiety, Stuck Patterns, and Holistic Psychology
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Body-based stress responses often override conscious knowledge, trapping individuals in repeating negative patterns.
  • Summary: Physical symptoms like chest clutching or belly tightness can signal a panic attack triggered by seemingly minor events, demonstrating the nervous system’s default state. Dr. Nicole LePera’s holistic psychology approach recognizes that environments shape stress responses, impacting health even when diet is optimal. Unresolved bodily stress prevents the safety needed for repair, regardless of mental awareness.
Dr. Hyman’s Personal Trauma Insight
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(00:03:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Intellectual understanding of childhood trauma is insufficient without addressing the underlying nervous system memory.
  • Summary: Dr. Hyman shared a profound experience that revealed how deeply childhood adaptations, like people-pleasing, are embedded in the nervous system, causing automatic physical reactions (e.g., panic over saying ’no’). This highlights that insight alone does not resolve the physiological imprint of past events. Reparenting the inner child involves addressing these lived, embodied memories.
ACEs and Attachment Disruption
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(00:12:58)
  • Key Takeaway: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) primarily reflect attachment disruption, which programs the nervous system for chronic activation.
  • Summary: The ACEs questionnaire validates that experiences beyond overt abuse, such as emotional neglect or parental disconnection, predict chronic disease. A lack of secure attachment means the developing nervous system lacks a safe point of co-regulation, leading to a chronically activated state. This chronic activation underlies both emotional conditions like anxiety and physical diagnoses like diabetes and heart disease.
Shame, Adaptation, and Generational Trauma
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(00:18:59)
  • Key Takeaway: Epigenetics transmits ancestral adaptations to stress, and toxic shame arises when children internalize parental unavailability as personal fault.
  • Summary: Generational trauma is written into the epigenome, preparing offspring for ancestral environments of scarcity or instability, even if current environments have changed. In childhood, when caregivers are unavailable, the mind assigns the child as the cause of the caregiver’s behavior to maintain a sense of control, planting the seed of shame. This leads to adopting roles (like overachiever or people-pleaser) that were necessary adaptations but cause suffering later.
Reframing Mental Health and Attachment
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(00:36:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Secure attachment involves the ability to manage conflict and uncomfortable emotions in a grounded way, expanding beyond simple anxious/avoidant labels.
  • Summary: Attachment styles describe relational habits learned in childhood, where hyper-vigilance (anxious style) was an adaptive strategy to anticipate caregiver shifts. Dr. LePera’s model expands this to include self-relationship, emphasizing the need to discover and express one’s authentic self through boundaries. The goal is to move toward secure attachment, characterized by the ability to tolerate and navigate discomfort without reverting to old roles.
Creating Safety and Nervous System Tools
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(00:39:41)
  • Key Takeaway: Nervous system re-regulation begins with consistently checking in with the body’s physical state (heart rate, breath, tension) to establish a baseline of safety.
  • Summary: The first step in reparenting is noticing the body’s stress signals, such as tense muscles or shallow breathing, which often become normalized baselines. Simple, consistent practices like slowing movement, elongating the exhale, and tuning into the present environment help shift physiology toward the parasympathetic state. This process discharges emotional energy, reducing the likelihood of reverting to dysfunctional coping habits like overeating or rumination.
Somatic Therapy and Completing Stress Cycles
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(00:51:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Somatic therapy, like Somatic Experiencing, heals trauma by safely guiding the body to complete physiological stress cycles that were interrupted in childhood.
  • Summary: Somatic therapy focuses on creating change through body movement or manipulation, recognizing that emotional life resides in the body. If a caregiver could not help a child move from an activated state back to calm, the nervous system defaults to sympathetic overdrive or dorsal shutdown. The therapy aims to gradually discharge this trapped emotional energy by helping the body safely complete the natural stress response cycle.
Authentic Self and Greater Purpose
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(00:56:49)
  • Key Takeaway: Reconnecting with the authentic self involves identifying and consciously choosing whether childhood survival roles still serve one’s adult needs, leading toward a deeper purpose.
  • Summary: After establishing safety and boundaries, the next step is recognizing the roles (e.g., caretaker, overachiever) adopted in childhood for belonging. Adults must pause to determine if these roles still align with their current needs and desires, as fulfillment often requires expressing one’s true perspective. This process of self-discovery ultimately allows individuals to connect with their greater purpose, which is often masked by unfulfilled survival adaptations.
Career Fulfillment and Purpose
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(00:58:57)
  • Key Takeaway: Personal fulfillment often requires aligning current activities with what genuinely lights one up, even if it deviates from initial career paths.
  • Summary: The speaker resonates more with teaching and writing now than their previous career path, fulfilling a ‘forever student’ role. Fantasizing about running away is a marker that current activities are not connecting deeply. Reconnecting with deeper purpose happens after understanding personal excitement and dislikes, leading to becoming more of who one is in the world.
Spiritual Depletion and Community
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(01:00:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Feeling spiritually depleted often stems from societal disconnection and a lack of community, separate from religious definitions.
  • Summary: Spiritual connection is linked to the greater sense of the universe and the natural order of things. Modern society often lacks the community necessary for fulfillment, contributing to feelings of depletion. Everyone has a function and role for the greater good, impacting others through daily interactions.
Relational Neuroplasticity Explained
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(01:01:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Neuroplasticity allows for the literal rewiring of the nervous system and creation of new brain cells, meaning emotional states are not fixed.
  • Summary: Relational neuroplasticity is important because it proves we can rewire our nervous system and change neural connections through practice. The science of neuroplasticity and neurogenesis confirms that change is physically possible, countering older beliefs that one’s disposition is permanent. Consistent new choices are required to create this physical change in the brain and neurophysiology.
Impact of Relationships on Wiring
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(01:02:22)
  • Key Takeaway: Early relationships profoundly impact brain wiring, but current safe relationships can equally impact and rewire the system toward safety.
  • Summary: Our initial wiring was built and impacted by early relationships, specifically whether caregivers were attuned and able to soothe us. Just as early relationships had a great impact, current relationships can be equally impactful in creating change. The predominant relationship must begin with the self, learning to create safety and security when feeling unsafe.
Guest Resources and Future Plans
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(01:04:48)
  • Key Takeaway: Dr. LePera’s book, ‘Reparenting the Inner Child,’ and her free social media content are primary resources for self-healing information.
  • Summary: Dr. LePera’s book, ‘Reparenting the Inner Child: The New Science of Our Oldest Wounds and How to Heal Them,’ is available wherever books are sold. She focuses on providing free, accessible content across all social media platforms under ‘The Holistic Psychologist.’ Her virtual membership community is called the Self-Healer Circle, which now includes an app.
Sponsor Ad Break
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(01:05:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Chronic disease in America is presented as a predictable outcome of a food system designed for corporate profit rather than public health.
  • Summary: The current food system is described as a machine perfectly functioning to produce disease, dependency, and distraction. This system is shaped by collusion between big food, big agriculture, and big pharma, distorting nutritional guidelines. ‘Food Fix Uncensored’ aims to reveal the engineered nature of consumer choices and health outcomes.
Podcast Closing and Disclaimers
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(01:07:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The podcast content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical care.
  • Summary: Listeners are encouraged to share the podcast, reach out with comments, and subscribe to The Dr. Hyman Show on all platforms. The opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not represent the host’s clinical practice affiliations. Those seeking help should consult a qualified medical practitioner or visit the Ultra Wellness Center.