Tamara Fox (she/her)

Tamara joined Momma on February 26, 2024 for a live Q&A via Twitch and YouTube to talk about Trauma, Grief & Pivoting

About Tamara

Tamara is a Health and Wellness Coach who partners with her clients to transform their lives. Tamara became a coach after overcoming her own experiences with trauma, healing, and health challenges. ​Tamara takes her own experiences, empathy, education, and resources to empower her clients to be who they want to be... regardless of their past experiences. Tamara knows and has proven it’s possible to overcome anything and find happiness, success, and a fulfilled, empowered life. 

Tamara’s experiences with trauma started young. In 2011 at 19 years old, Tamara woke up in the middle of the night in her apartment to a masked man standing over her bed with a gun who robbed her and raped her. Tamara saw her life flash before her eyes and thought she was going to die. Having survived that experience, Tamara struggled with severe anxiety, PTSD and depression and started with traditional western medicine to help her heal in combination with therapy (talk therapy, EMDR and more). After years of healing Tamara shifted to a more holistic / eastern medicine approach and is grateful that today she's in a place where she can manage her health through a holistic and eastern medicine approach free from prescriptions.

The experience in 2011 wasn't the end of Tamara's experience with trauma. Prior, before and after 2011 Tamara's father was struggling with a severe opioid addiction that turned him into someone no one recognized and made him verbally abusive during black outs... only to come to the next day and not remember (or apologize for a thing). Tamara's father battled with opioids and severe mental health issues (from the drug use) for years leaving a lasting impact on all his children. From 2016 - 2022, Tamara lost 7 loved ones in 6 years including her father (2020), dog Akira who she got for protection from her 2011 robbery (2021), brother, Isaac (2022) and one of her best friends (2022).

Even with all these traumatic experiences Tamara has persevered, found happiness, love and fulfilled life. As a dedicated Health and Wellness coach, Tamara is committed to making a positive impact on her clients' lives. Using her client-centered approach, she fosters a supportive and empowering environment, allowing her clients to define their goals, tap into their internal strengths, and utilize external resources to make sustainable and healthy lifestyle behavior changes.

Socials / Links for Guest Connection

• Website - https://www.awakenempowerment.com/

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamfox/

References / Things Mentioned During the Stream

• Book Recommendation: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck 

• Movie Recommendation: Elemental 

• Book Recommendation: Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe by Laura Lynne Jackson 

• Book Recommendation: It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand by Megan Devine 

• Book Recommendation: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk 

• Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

Episode Summary

This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the tough terrains of trauma, grief and healing, offering real, relatable insights and practical advice from Tamara Fox on building resilience and taking control of your mental health journey.

Key Takeaways

• Take control of your healing journey and don't let the trauma define or control your life.

• Healing is an ongoing process that requires time, effort, and self-compassion.

• Resilience is about how you respond to and grow from the challenges you face.

• Find methods that work for you in healing, such as therapy, medication, and creating a sense of safety and security.

• Small steps and goals can lead to sustainable change and increased resilience.

• Everyone's healing journey is unique, and it's important to be patient and kind to yourself throughout the process. Resilience is about choosing how to respond and react to a situation, processing emotions, and growing through it.

• Making small, sustainable lifestyle changes is more effective than drastic, unsustainable ones.

• Processing grief involves finding peace with the loss and learning to live without the person physically present.

• Seeing a medium can provide comfort and connection with loved ones who have passed.

• Alternative healing methods and Eastern medicine approaches can complement traditional therapy.

• Coaching focuses on future goals and internal strengths, providing accountability and reframing negative self-talk.

• Self-care practices like nutrition, exercise, supplementation, acupuncture, and energy work can support mental health and well-being.

In this interview Tamara Fox and MommaFoxFire explore the complex journey of healing from trauma and grief, emphasizing the importance of resilience and self-compassion.

Tamara begins by sharing her personal experience with trauma, describing a significant event that had a profound impact on her life. She emphasizes the importance of taking control of your own healing journey, rather than letting the trauma define or control your life. According to Tamara, healing is an ongoing process that requires time, effort and self-compassion. She highlights that resilience is about how you respond to  challenges, and that finding methods that work for each person, such as therapy, medication and creating a sense of safety and security, is crucial.

Throughout the interview, Tamara stresses the importance of taking small steps and setting achievable goals to create sustainable change and increase resilience. She notes that everyone's healing journey is unique, and it's important to be patient and kind to yourself throughout the process. Resilience, she explains, is about choosing how to respond and react to a situation, processing emotions and growing through it.

Tamara also discusses the significance of processing grief, finding peace with the loss, and learning to live without the person physically present. She mentions that seeing a medium can provide comfort and a sense of connection with loved ones who have passed. Additionally, she speaks about alternative healing methods and Eastern medicine approaches, which can complement traditional therapy and offer additional support.

The conversation shifts to the role of coaching in the healing process. Tamara explains that coaching focuses on future goals and internal strengths, providing accountability and helping to reframe negative self-talk. She shares how coaching has been instrumental in her own healing journey, helping her to reframe negative thoughts and build a more positive outlook.

Tamara highlights various self-care practices that support mental health and well-being, such as nutrition, exercise, supplementation, acupuncture and energy work. She emphasizes that making small, sustainable lifestyle changes is more effective than drastic, unsustainable ones. These practices, she notes, can help create a foundation of stability and support during the healing process.

Throughout the interview, Tamara shares several personal anecdotes to illustrate her points. She talks about her father, who struggled with mental health issues and addiction, and how witnessing his struggles motivated her to prioritize her own healing. She also recounts a pivotal moment in her journey when she realized that she had the power to choose how to respond to her trauma, which was a liberating and empowering realization.

This conversation offers valuable insights into the healing journey from trauma and grief. It underscores the importance of taking control of your healing, being patient and compassionate with yourself, and finding methods and practices that work for each person as an individual. Tamara's personal experiences and practical advice provide a powerful reminder that resilience is about responding to challenges with strength and growth, and that healing is a unique and ongoing process.