Kobe Campbell on Gently Excavating Our Trauma

Mar 27, 2024

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We’re finishing up our For the Love of Wonderful You series intentionally with a deep breath and a gentle word of encouragement. In this episode, even though we are talking about trauma, critical inner voices, and the arduous process of grief, Jen and her guest unwind these topics in the most gentle and loving way.

Kobe Campbell is an award-winning therapist who specializes in helping people process grief and trauma in a way that unearths true empowerment. Hidden beneath the clamor of everyday life, the voices of our inner critic lie in wait to echo our grief. These voices, though silent to others, can roar deafeningly within us — shaping our perceptions, beliefs, and actions. Kobe’s suggestions of journal “prompts” help guide our own trauma excavation process, and her gentle but challenging questions further that sometimes painful work, while steering us toward self compassion.

Jen and Kobe touch on:

The understanding that grief can take a lot of time to process; which can ultimately lead to wisdom and true empowerment
A working definition of trauma and that trauma is highly personal and contextual
How we can feel brave enough to examine the inner critical voice and discern where it’s coming from
Acknowledging the cultural pressure to live at an unsustainable pace that doesn’t allow space or time to heal

If you ever needed permission to grieve or drop the unrelenting pace of your life, then this is the invitation.

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Thought-Provoking Quotes:

“I love to tell people that trauma is not what happened to you. It's about how it affected you. And those effects can live in our present, even if the moment is in the past. I help people parse through that in creative ways with poems, quick words, and thoughts from my kitchen right after I'm done with the session.” - Kobe Campbell

“I think that many of us have not been given the space to grieve long enough to know what genuine and internal empowerment feels like, and we keep trying to give ourselves that empowerment from the outside. We keep trying to grasp motivation from somewhere.” - Kobe Campbell

"Trauma can be acute, meaning it can be a moment, or trauma can be chronic, meaning it could be several moments over time. And I like to give the example that trauma can be a boulder or it could be pebbles. But the reality is–it doesn't matter. There is no big 'T' trauma and little 't' trauma because, at the end of the day, all those pebbles amass to the size of a boulder anyway. It's just being accumulated over time." - Kobe Campbell

"The person who holds the wound holds the wisdom. If we lock away that version of us that is deeply wounded and wants to cry for three months, then we're also locking away the wisdom of those situations that we need for our present." - Kobe Campbell

"My humanity is good. God created it good. And if I believed that I was good for just existing as I am, how would I treat myself?" - Kobe Campbell

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Why Am I Like This? How to Break Cycles, Heal From Trauma, and Restore Your Faith by Kobe Campbell

Journal Prompt on Kobe’s Instagram

Brain Neuro Coupling

I Feel Like Woman by Shania Twain on Spotify

Minaa B. Website (Therapist and Colleague of Kobe’s)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Michell C. Clark Instagram

Guest’s Links:

Kobe’s Website

Kobe’s Facebook