Developmental Trauma: What It Is and How to Heal It in Midlife

Women over 40 who give endlessly but cannot take in a kind word are often carrying more than burnout. Developmental trauma therapist Zipa Leah Scheinberg joins Aransas Savas to explain what developmental trauma really is, how it shows up in midlife women, and why the second half of life can be an ideal time to rebuild what was interrupted in childhood.

Zipa Leah has practiced in New York for nearly two decades with complex trauma, attachment disturbances, and high control family systems. Together, she and Aransas talk about belonging to yourself, the social cost of change, and the courage capital it takes to start over at any age.

What You'll Learn

• Developmental trauma in women over 40. What it is, and how the moments that never happened in childhood (being delighted in, comforted, protected) shape adult life

• Why you can't affirm your way out. Why positive thinking alone does not reach early wounds

• Signs of developmental trauma. The "tell" of not being able to receive, and the harsh inside voice

• How to belong to yourself after 40. Asking whether every part of you is welcome instead of whether you are worthy

• Midlife reinvention and identity. Why not knowing who you are at 45 to 60 feels shameful, and why it is not too late

• Building confidence after 40. Finding people who mirror your courage back

• Survival architectures. The ghost, the chameleon, and the warrior

About Zipa Leah Scheinberg

Zipa Leah Scheinberg, LCSW, is a developmental trauma theorist and clinician with nearly two decades of practice in New York. She works with complex trauma, dissociation, attachment disturbances, high control family systems, and religious trauma, and she created the Developmental Trauma Decoded framework to help women rebuild belonging, identity, and trust. www.ZipaLeah.com IG: @zipaleah, linkedin: www.linkedin.com/zipa-leah-scheinberg-lcsw

About Your Host

Aransas Savas is a wellbeing and leadership coach specializing in helping women over 40 navigate midlife transitions, career changes, and second-act reinvention. With 20+ years of behavioral research experience partnering with companies like Disney, Weight Watchers, and Best Buy, she hosts The Uplifters Podcast, featuring women doing big, brave work in the second half of their lives. Aransas brings both research rigor and personal experience to conversations about courage capital, midlife reinvention, and building meaningful second acts.

Connect with Aransas

• Instagram: @aransas_savas

• Podcast Instagram: @the_uplifters_podcast

• TikTok: @theuplifterspodcast

• Facebook: Aransas Savas

• Website: theuplifterspodcast.com

• YouTube: @theuplifterspodcast

• LinkedIn: Aransas Savas

Keywords

women over 40, midlife women, developmental trauma, developmental trauma in women, midlife reinvention, second half of life, second act women, courage capital, building confidence after 40, midlife identity, starting over at 40, midlife transition women, belonging to yourself, women over 40 healing