Attachment, Addiction, and the Body: Healing What the Body Remembers with Jan Winhall and Dr. Tian Dayton

In this upcoming episode of Embodied Dialogues, Jan Winhall sits down with Dr. Tian Dayton for a conversation about topics in Dr. Dayton's forthcoming book, Growing Up with Addiction, and the deeper patterns that live in the bodies of children raised in chaos, uncertainty, and fractured trust.

Together, Jan and Dr. Dayton will explore how early relational ruptures become embodied - how the nervous system learns to stay vigilant, to over-function, to shut down, or to repeat familiar roles without even realizing it. From their lenses of Relational Trauma Repair (Dayton)and the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model (Winhall), they’ll look closely at how these survival patterns take shape, and how they can be gently unwound through compassionate, experiential work.

Both frameworks honor the wisdom of the body, the primacy of safety, and the healing that emerges when people can explore their internal experience in connection with another regulated presence.

Dr. Dayton will guide listeners through the experiential tools at the heart of RTR (doubling, role reversal, sociometrics and role plays) while Jan will offer insight on how these practices resonate with FSPM’s emphasis on tracking bodily states, connecting to ventral energy, and transforming trauma through polyvagal-informed Focusing and felt sense.

Listeners will come away with:

• A      clearer understanding of how childhood addiction dynamics live in the body      long after childhood ends.

• Insight      into why talk therapy alone can’t always reach certain trauma patterns and      why embodied, relational methods are essential.

• A      sense of how RTR and FSPM beautifully complement each other in helping      people reclaim agency, connection, and internal safety.

• Practical      ideas for recognizing survival states, supporting regulation, and      interrupting intergenerational reenactments.

• A      renewed appreciation for how compassionate presence (whether in a group, a      session, or a partnership) creates the conditions for deep repair.

The lived, relational process of healing is where both Jan and Dr. Dayton know that old protective patterns soften, clarity emerges, and new pathways for connection begin to open.

Reminder: This Embodied Dialogue will be recorded live, giving audience members the rare chance to be “in the room” as Jan and Dr. Dayton explore these topics in real time. If you join the live audience, you’ll be able to bring your own curiosities and questions forward whether you’re a clinician, a person healing from trauma, or someone supporting others on their path. It’s an opportunity to sit with two seasoned guides who understand the body’s wisdom and aren’t afraid to follow where it leads. 

Come listen, learn, and ask the questions that matter most to you as we explore what real relational repair looks like.

Learn more about Dr. Dayton and Relational Trauma Repair at relationaltraumarepair.com.