What Ambivalence Is and How the Brain Handles It

Ambivalence isn’t confusion or weakness, it’s your nervous system doing its job. Feeling both joy and grief, relief and loss, fear and excitement, is not dysfunction but survival wisdom. In this episode of Trauma Rewired, Elisabeth Kristof and Jennifer Wallace unpack ambivalence as a neurobiological phenomenon: how the brain and body construct emotions, why conflicting truths arise during transformation, and how to metabolize them without collapse.

You’ll learn to notice the tug-of-war between emotions, expand capacity to sit with duality, and reframe ambivalence as part of post-traumatic growth. By honoring both sides, joy and sorrow, fear and courage, you can create deeper connection with yourself and move through change with clarity and trust.

00:00 – Leaving Toxic Love: Relief and Grief Together 01:07 – Ambivalence Defined: Not Confusion, But Wisdom 03:07 – Brain and Body: How Emotions Are Constructed 05:42 – Building Capacity for Emotional Duality 06:39 – Transformation, Identity, and Misread Confusion 08:18 – Neuroscience of Ambivalence: Prediction, Insula, Signals 12:50 – Embodiment and Emotional Vocabulary 24:10 – Boundaries, Family Dynamics, and Attachment Chaos 27:40 – Sitting in Discomfort, Finding Safety Inside 30:59 – Loss of Identity, Grief, and Gratitude 38:08 – Joy Can Be Scary Too

• Ambivalence as a nervous system signal, not self-sabotage.

• Why leaving toxic relationships brings both relief and grief.

• How emotions are constructed in the brain and body.

• Expanding capacity for emotional regulation and duality.

• The role of interoception and emotional vocabulary in healing.

• Transformation and identity shifts as triggers for ambivalence.

• Attachment needs versus authenticity during change.

• Why joy and fear often arise together.

• Practical strategies to metabolize ambivalence and grow.

• Ambivalence as a gateway to post-traumatic growth.

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