Season 2, Episode 23 Braving with Michelle Mays: Attachment, Identity, Belonging, Self-Trust, and the Betrayal Bind
In this episode of Rise, MaryAnn Michaelis sits down with Michelle Mays for a deeply grounded conversation on BRAVING, attachment injury, identity, belonging, self-trust, and the Betrayal Bind.
Michelle Mays is a licensed clinician, betrayal trauma specialist, and the creator of the BRAVING Hope® framework, an attachment-based model for healing after sexual betrayal and relational trauma. Her work helps individuals and couples understand how betrayal impacts the nervous system, attachment systems, identity, and the capacity for self-trust.
Together, MaryAnn and Michelle explore how betrayal disrupts not only relationships, but also internal identity structures, emotional safety, and the sense of belonging to self and others. They discuss how the nervous system organizes around attachment injury and why healing requires both relational understanding and internal reconnection.
This conversation draws from Michelle’s clinical work, her Braving Hope®® immersive program and training model, and her book The Betrayal Bind: How to Heal When the Person You Love the Most Hurts You the Worst, which offers an attachment-based framework for understanding betrayal trauma and the path toward recovery.In this episode, we explore:
- The BRAVING framework and what it reveals about attachment injury
- Why betrayal trauma disrupts identity and nervous system regulation
- The concept of the Betrayal Bind and the “impossible relational dilemma” it creates
- How self-trust is fractured in betrayal—and how it is rebuilt over time
- Why belonging becomes unstable after relational rupture
- The role of attachment systems in trauma responses and healing
- How Michelle’s Braving Hope®® program supports structured recovery
- Clinical insights from The Betrayal Bind and real-world healing pathways
