The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection
The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection
Podcast Description
The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection is a podcast from the NARM® Training Institute exploring the many dimensions of human connection. Hosted by members of the NARM community, including NARM founder Dr. Laurence Heller, this show invites guests from both inside and outside the world of NARM to share stories and insights from their unique areas of expertise.Each episode centers around a conversation—sometimes clinical, sometimes personal, often both—that looks at what it means to be in connection: with ourselves, with one another, and with the world around us. Whether you're a therapist, a helping professional, or someone curious about the deeper layers of human experience, these episodes are designed to spark reflection, offer practical insights, and open up new ways of thinking about connection and the healing process.At its heart, this podcast is about connection, re-connection, and aliveness—our birthright as humans. We’re grateful you’re here.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast emphasizes themes surrounding human connection, trauma, and healing, with episodes ranging from discussions about trauma bonds with experts like Dr. Nadine Macaluso to deeper explorations of self-trust in therapeutic contexts. It specifically focuses on relational dynamics, developmental trauma, and the healing journey, encouraging listeners to reflect on their own experiences with episodes designed to provoke thought and offer actionable insights.
The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection is a podcast from the NARM® Training Institute exploring the many dimensions of human connection. Hosted by members of the NARM community, including NARM founder Dr. Laurence Heller, this show invites guests from both inside and outside the world of NARM to share stories and insights from their unique areas of expertise.
Each episode centers around a conversation—sometimes clinical, sometimes personal, often both—that looks at what it means to be in connection: with ourselves, with one another, and with the world around us. Whether you’re a therapist, a helping professional, or someone curious about the deeper layers of human experience, these episodes are designed to spark reflection, offer practical insights, and open up new ways of thinking about connection and the healing process.
At its heart, this podcast is about connection, re-connection, and aliveness—our birthright as humans. We’re grateful you’re here.
What happens when we’re securely connected? In this episode of The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection, host Iris McAlpin Garrett sits down with two longtime friends and NARM practitioners—Ralf Marzen and Maya Vaughan—to explore why connection is central to healing, and what gets in the way.
Drawing from both clinical practice and lived experience, Ralf and Maya reflect on the deep human longing for connection, the survival strategies that pull us away from ourselves and others, and how the therapeutic relationship can become a powerful space for reconnection. Together they explore themes around embodiment, authenticity, rupture and repair, shame as a strategy of disconnection, and the role of agency in healing developmental trauma.
This wide-ranging conversation also touches on the realities of modern relationships: why conflict is essential for intimacy, how misattunements can actually deepen trust, and why young people today may need new pathways toward connection in an increasingly digital world. With warmth, humor, and candor, Ralf and Maya offer a grounded and hopeful look at what becomes possible when we return to ourselves—and each other.
🎧 The Aliveness Project: Conversations on Connection is created and produced by the NARM Training Institute.
🎬 Post-production, editing, and audio mixing/mastering by Tim Skipper (IG: @timmyskip).
About Maya:
Maya Vaughan is a relationship coach and a NARM therapist. She is also the Director of the Trauma Training Institute UK where she collaborates with Ralf Marzen, who is the lead NARM trainer for NARM trainings in the UK.
Maya integrates NARM and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy to support emotional safety, self-awareness, and authentic connection in her work with individuals and couples. Maya is also an Associate Member of the British Emotionally Focused Therapy Centre, the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and the Complementary Medical Association.
Drawing on her professional expertise and her own relational healing journey, Maya brings compassion, clarity, and depth to her work. She lives in north London with her husband of 20 years and her three daughters.
You can find Maya on her website at mayavaughan.com or on social media…
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-vaughan
About Ralf:
Ralf Marzen is a psychologist, trauma therapist, and seminar leader with 25 years of experience working with individuals and groups. He is a NARM teacher and currently teaches NARM trainings in the US, Spain, Germany, the UK and Turkey.
Beyond his trauma therapy practice, Ralf serves as the director of the StillPoint Centre for WellBeing in London and the Mudita School of Thai Yoga Massage. Drawing on both his extensive professional training and a lifelong passion for the journey of healing and awakening, Ralf brings sensitivity, compassion, and clarity to his work.
Collaborating with Maya, Ralf is the lead trainer for NARM professional courses offered by the Trauma Training Institute, UK.
You can find Ralf on his website at https://www.embodied-trauma-healing.com/.
You can find both Ralf and Maya at the Trauma Training Institute UK at traumatraininginstitute.co.uk.
Special Thanks
To the NARM Training Institute team—Lindsey Smith, Olga Piontkowski, Emily Scott, and Tue Kjær—for invaluable production support, and to Tim Skipper for his outstanding post-production, editing, and creative work.
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.