🎙️ Behind the Episode: Healing the Inner Critic: A Deep Conversation with Holli Howard on Trauma and Self-Worth

This episode brings together Holli Howard, coach and founder of Positive Living Coaching, with Bethany Busch and Auria Zahed for a deep and honest conversation about trauma, identity, healing, and the inner critic. This discussion aligns closely with our integrated approach at Head 2 Toe Strength, where movement, mindset, and personal identity work all intersect. You can explore our full framework on our Who We Are page and our guiding principles at Our Philosophy.

Holli’s Path: From Child Welfare to Coaching Women Toward Self-Worth

Holli’s decade in child welfare gave her a unique understanding of how early experiences shape adulthood. She later founded Positive Living Coaching to help women who feel stuck in cycles of self-doubt, perfectionism, and old patterns linked to childhood wounds. Her work is deeply rooted in her own healing journey, which began at 23 when she recognized the weight of her past and sought support through therapy.

Bethany and Auria resonated with Holli’s focus on inner worth, a central theme in our own programs like Mental Health Therapy and identity-building resources like the Mirror Talk Workshop.

The AIBL Method: Rewriting the Inner Critic One Step at a Time

Holli’s 12-week program features her AIBL Method—a structured way of resetting the internal voice that often carries outdated narratives from early life.

The method includes:

  • A — Awareness: Recognizing where the inner critic was learned

  • I — Impact: Understanding how old experiences echo into present behaviors

  • B — Belief: Cultivating worthiness and trust in oneself

  • L — Living: Integrating new patterns into daily life

This mirrors the work many clients explore in our Strength Coaching and Nutrition Coaching, where identity and capability-building replace judgment and “shoulds.”

Layered Healing: Why Identity Work Isn’t One-and-Done

Holli described healing as a layered process—like peeling an onion over time as safety, capacity, and awareness expand. She emphasized that her coaching is ideal for clients who have already done foundational healing with a therapist and now want to release self-doubt, perfectionism, and lingering inner criticism.

This parallels our integrated care model at Head 2 Toe Strength:

  • Bethany: helping clients build trust through movement (“body by Bethany”) via options like Private Virtual Training

  • Auria: supporting identity and mindset (“mind by Auria”) inside therapy and coaching

Clients can transition between modalities without needing to start over in a new space—an approach that keeps healing consistent, grounded, and personalized.

Relationships, Patterns, and the Pull of the Familiar

Holli shared how unresolved wounds often shape relationship patterns, sometimes pulling people into dynamics that feel familiar even when they’re harmful. She stressed that individuals in power-and-control dynamics need specialized domestic violence support—not simply “better boundaries.”

This message echoes what we see in our own client experiences: the body and mind carry what they’ve lived through, and compassionate professional support is essential for real change.

Big Traumas, Small Traumas, and the Weight of the Inner Critic

One of the most powerful insights from Holli is that both “big” events (like those named in ACE studies) and smaller, repeated experiences—bullying, criticism, fear, pressure—can equally damage self-worth. The size of the event matters far less than the emotional imprint.

Final Thoughts

This episode highlights the importance of being seen, understood, and met with empathy—something all three of us care deeply about in our work. Whether you’re navigating the inner critic, exploring identity, or learning to trust your body again, you’re not meant to do it alone.

You can explore more conversations like this on our Podcast and browse more insights on our Blog.

Thank you for being part of a community built on compassion, truth, and growth.

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Show Notes Episode 23 🎧

Episode Title: Healing the Inner Critic: A Deep Conversation with Holli Howard on Trauma and Self-Worth
Hosts: Bethany Busch & Auria Zahed
Guest: Holli Howard, founder of Positive Living Coaching

In this episode, we cover:

  • Holli’s personal healing journey and path into coaching

  • The AIBL Method for understanding and rewriting the inner critic

  • Why healing happens in layers over time

  • How trauma shapes perfectionism, self-worth, and relationships

  • The difference between deep trauma work and identity rebuilding

  • The integrated Head 2 Toe Strength model (“body by Bethany” + “mind by Auria”)

  • The traps of people-pleasing and approval seeking

  • Why clients need to feel seen, valued, and heard

Referenced in this episode:

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