Loni Fagel, MA, MEd, LPCC

10/05/2026

Mother’s Day can bring up more than loss.

For a lot of people, it brings up relationship pain, old attachment wounds, and nervous system responses connected to early experiences.

You may notice yourself feeling more reactive, sensitive, or emotionally overwhelmed around this time, and it’s often not random.

Our earliest relationships shape how we respond to closeness, conflict, safety, and emotion. So when those relationships were complicated, inconsistent, or painful, family dynamics can quickly activate old patterns.

That’s not weakness or failure. It’s your nervous system responding in the ways it learned to protect you.

There’s often a lot sitting underneath those reactions, and understanding that can help create a little more awareness and a little less self judgment.

09/05/2026

As we head into Mother’s Day tomorrow, I think it’s important to acknowledge that this day isn’t experienced the same way by everyone.

For some people, it’s joyful and celebratory.

For others, it can bring up grief, infertility, miscarriage, complicated relationships, estrangement, longing, or the ache of something that never happened the way they hoped it would.

And sometimes it’s multiple things at once.

One of the things I see often—in my work and personally—is how days like this can bring old relationship dynamics and attachment wounds to the surface. Certain people, memories, or expectations can activate something deep in the nervous system.

That’s not weakness.
That’s history.
That’s what our nervous systems learned through experience and relationship.

There’s also so much pressure for this day to feel happy and meaningful in a very specific way.

But for many people, the emotional experience is much more layered than that.

So if tomorrow feels complicated for you in any way, you are not alone.

And whatever you’re carrying deserves compassion too.

02/05/2026

02/05/2026

Historical and intergenerational trauma isn’t just personal — it’s collective. It lives in families, communities, and cultures. It can be shaped by experiences like displacement, violence, oppression, or loss, and carried forward in ways that aren’t always visible or fully understood. Sometimes it shows up in patterns, in nervous system responses, or in how safe the world feels — even if we didn’t experience the original events ourselves.

Understanding this isn’t about blame. It’s about context. It helps us make sense of what we carry and creates space to respond with more awareness, compassion, and intention.

01/05/2026

FEATURED IN: Cosmopolitan 📖

Perinatal anxiety doesn’t always look the way people expect — and too many moms (1 on 5, in fact) are left wondering if what they’re feeling is “normal” or something they just have to push through.

In this piece with Cosmo, I share insight into what it can actually look like, who is impacted, and why the feeling of uncertainty may be at the root of it.

If you’ve felt overwhelmed, on edge, or not quite like yourself after having a baby, you’re not alone, and I'm here for you.

Full article linked in bio. 🔗

29/04/2026

Sometimes the parts of our story that feel the hardest to explain…
are the parts that shaped us the most.

A nonlinear path doesn’t make you less credible.
It means you’ve lived. It means you’ve learned. It means you’ve become.

We don’t need to edit ourselves to make our story make sense.

We’re allowed to be layered.
We’re allowed to have “nine lives.”
We’re allowed to bring all of it with us.

Because nothing you’ve lived is wasted.

25/04/2026

Grateful to be part of the Expressive Therapies Summit and share this work.

This training focuses on how expressive arts can support people navigating grief, trauma, identity shifts, and life transitions — especially when words aren’t enough. It’s about creating space for expression, rebuilding a sense of self, and gently moving from survival toward meaning and possibility.

Always honored to be in spaces that value this kind of work and conversation.

24/04/2026

You know how they say "catch flights not feelings?" Well, I've been catching flights to deal with my feelings… and honestly, it’s been good for my nervous system. 😌

I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately, and stepping outside of my usual routine has given me space to reset, reflect, and return feeling more grounded and refreshed. There’s something about new environments, new conversations, and new perspectives that can shift things in a meaningful way.

I also love the people I meet along the way. Every trip brings new connections, new learning, and reminders of how much we grow when we step outside of what’s familiar.

I have a lot more travel coming up this year, and I’m excited to take you along for the journey.

21/04/2026

17/04/2026

Spent a few days last week at the Health 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas and received the Excellence in Health Care Award for my work in advocacy and speaking on integrating healthcare. I also had the opportunity to speak on a panel on Why Mental Health Should Be Treated Like Heart Disease, continuing to push the conversation forward in a very real way.

A big focus throughout the conference was the importance of integrating mental and physical health care to support more comprehensive treatment and better patient outcomes. These conversations continue to reinforce that this work is not optional—it’s necessary. There was also a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration, and how providers working together across fields is essential to reducing fragmentation and improving care.

I also spent time at the Education 2.0 Conference, where similar themes came up around the need for more integrated mental health support within education systems.

I left feeling both inspired and grounded in the importance of continuing to advocate for more connected, whole-person care.

14/04/2026

Access to healthcare isn’t just about appointments or insurance — it’s emotional, too.

The process of finding the right providers, navigating referrals, and managing waitlists can be exhausting. Referral fatigue, long delays, and repeated steps can take a toll on your mental and emotional energy, even before treatment begins. Getting care is more than a logistical challenge . It’s a deeply human experience, and your feelings along the way are valid.