Rise: Hope and Healing Podcast

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, and disorientation that follow sexual betrayal, emphasizing that these reactions are normal responses to trauma—not personal failures.

Throughout the conversation, they review core concepts introduced in the season, including emotional reg...

Duration: 00:23:28

When Self-Betrayal Hurts Most: Relearning to Trust Your Inner Voice After Sexual Betrayal Episode Summary

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 they stopped trusting themselves.

We discuss the internal collapse that occurs when you silence your instincts, override your intuition, and ignore what your body and emotions tried to tell you. This creates deep...

Duration: 00:25:54

Rise: Finding Your Voice After Sexual Betrayal — Expression, Healing, and Being Witnessed Episode Summary

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, language, or safe places to speak their truth. Others feel they do have a voice, but need support in finding the right words and safe settings to tell their story.

Dr. Skinner and MaryAnn di...

Duration: 00:26:13

Boundaries: The Foundation of Healing After Sexual Betrayal Episode Summary

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-care rooted in values, safety, and personal responsibility.

Drawing from clinical experience, real-life examples, and research-based frameworks, the conversation breaks down how boundaries function as “if–then” statements focused on how you will respond to protect yourself. The episode hi...

Duration: 00:27:00

When Your Body Takes Over: Understanding the Somatic Response After Discovery

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, or complete shutdown—and why these reactions are normal, protective, and deeply physiological.

MaryAnn and Dr. Skinner unpack the autonomic nervous system’s three instinctive responses—fight, flight, and freeze—and reframe them not as signs...

Duration: 00:23:51

 

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 relationally, helping listeners understand how gaslighting reshapes a person’s reality and intensifies post-traumatic stress symptoms.

MaryAnn explains the origins of the term and how betrayed partners often experience it as...

Duration: 00:27:49

When Betrayal Reshapes How You See Yourself Rise: Hope & Healing After Sexual 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 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 enough… something must be wrong with me… I should have known… I’m unlovable. Dr. Skinner describes this internal narrative as a “virus” that embeds itself in a person’s belief system, making it difficul...

Duration: 00:28:14

 

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 can do to navigate them with greater clarity and self-compassion.

Triggers often appear suddenly—at church, in a grocery store, during a conversation, while watching TV, or even in sleep. Dr. Skinner sha...

Duration: 00:35:01

Uncovering the Hidden Wound: Understanding Shame After Sexual Betrayal Summary:

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.” Drawing from research showing that more than 70–80% of betrayed partners feel unlovable or stupid after betrayal, Dr. Skinner and Marianne explain how shame becomes internalized, influencing thoughts, relationships, and even the body’s physiology.

Using insigh...

Duration: 00:24:12

Keeping Your Boat Afloat: Self-Care That Stabilizes After Betrayal (PIERS Framework) Summary:

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) can switch off fight-or-flight, how learning gives language and edges to a blurry trauma story, and how naming and expressing emotions releases their grip. They highlight the power of connection—groups and one trusted person—to accelerate healing, and they broade...

Duration: 00:30:38

You’re Not Going Crazy: Understanding Your Body’s Response to Betrayal through the Polyvagal Lens Episode Summary

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—fight, flight, or freeze—are not signs of instability but biological protections designed to keep you safe.

Dr. Skinner and MaryAnn walk listeners through the physiological impact of betrayal trauma, describing...

Duration: 00:28:27

Understanding PTSD Symptoms After Sexual Betrayal

In this episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and Marianne Michaels dive deep into why sexual betrayal is best understood through the lens of trauma and PTSD. They discuss the history of partner responses—moving away from the outdated “co-addict” model—and explain how research since the mid-2000s has validated that betrayed partners often experience symptoms identical to PTSD.

Together, they explore the five PTSD criteria as they relate to betrayal:

Criteria B: Reliving it through triggers, flashbacks, and nightmares.

...

Duration: 00:31:29

Shattered Trust: The Day Everything Changed 🌱 Episode Summary

In this opening episode of Rise: Hope and Healing After Sexual Betrayal, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis speak directly to those standing in the aftermath of discovery day—the moment life suddenly changes because of sexual betrayal.

They share clinical expertise, personal stories, and research insights from thousands of betrayed partners to validate the shock, confusion, and pain that follow betrayal. Using powerful metaphors like “being hit by a truck,” they help listeners name the trauma and understand why the experience feels so overwhelming.

Dr. Skinner and MaryA...

Duration: 00:27:50