Healing Family Trauma & Finding Boundaries | Dr Why Podcast Ep 2

What happens when the person who raised you becomes the reason you study the mind?

In this powerful episode of the Dr Why Podcast, Dr Lauryn Young, Ph.D., NCSP, opens up about growing up with a parent struggling with mental illness and how that experience shaped her path as a psychologist. Joined by her husband Javonne, they discuss the balance between empathy and self-protection, how to set healthy boundaries with family, and why breaking generational trauma starts with awareness.

Dr. Lauryn also talks candidly about living with anxiety, medication, and learning that vulnerability isn’t weakness, it's growth. This episode is raw, real, and deeply human, a reminder that even psychologists are still learning to heal. Watch, reflect & subscribe for more honest conversations about parenting, partnership & psychology.

00:00 – “Why am I always being described as screaming?”

01:30 – The metronome experiment: how stress affects the body

04:20 – What inspired Dr Lauryn to study psychology

05:45 – Growing up around mental illness & family boundaries

08:00 – What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?

11:15 – Acceptance & healing from childhood trauma

15:00 – How past trauma shapes parenting

17:00 – Why parents shouldn’t lean on children for emotional support

19:00 – Anxiety, medication & the myth of perfection

22:00 – Is medication a Band-Aid or a bridge to healing?

25:00 – How trauma survivors can become helpers

28:00 – Vulnerability & modelling emotional honesty for kids

28:45 – Next episode tease: Partnership & parenting What You’ll Learn How family mental-health history shapes adult boundaries What Borderline Personality Disorder really looks like How anxiety manifests in high-functioning parents When medication helps vs when it masks the problem Why empathy without boundaries leads to burnout How psychologists practice what they preach in real life.

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Join the Conversation What’s one healthy boundary that changed your relationships? Share your experience in the comments 👇