CPH 34 — From Breakdown to Breakthrough: A Conversation with Keylynne Matos-Cunningham, MPH, M Ed, LPC-A

In this raw and deeply honest conversation, Keylynne Matos-Cunningham, MPH, M Ed, LPC-A—licensed trauma therapist, former public health professional, and dance-loving entrepreneur—shares how walking away from a "dream" racial justice/public health role became an act of survival.  She traces her path from burnout, workplace trauma, and suicidal ideation to rebuilding her life as a trauma therapist, integrating EMDR and brainspotting, and reclaiming her lived experience as a clinical superpower.  Along the way, she offers a sharp public health lens on racism, complex trauma, and ACEs, and names a future vision rooted in liberation, collective care, and a nervous system that no longer has to live in crisis mode. Meet Keylynne Matos-Cunningham, MPH, M Ed, LPC-A. Keylynne Matos-Cunningham is a public health scholar turned mental health clinician whose work bridges healing justice, trauma-informed care, and community wellness. With master's degrees in Public Health and Clinical Mental Health Counseling, she brings a powerful understanding of how systems shape our mental health and what it takes to heal beyond them. After experiencing burnout and moral injury in the public health world, Keylynne shifted into clinical work to practice liberation through embodied, culturally grounded healing. She is the creator of the Feel So You Can Heal Framework, a trauma-informed model that guides emotional processing, somatic liberation, and empowered boundaries for deep, sustainable transformation. As founder of Thrive By Us, Keylynne uses therapy, storytelling, and community care to help Black and marginalized communities reclaim well-being on their own terms. Her voice challenges the status quo while offering a compassionate vision for what public health could be: human, liberatory, and rooted in truth.   Listen To This Episode of The Courageous Public Health Podcast Conversation Highlights Choosing Survival Over a "Dream" Career — Keylynne describes the physical and emotional toll of doing racial justice and health equity work during the pandemic—hands shaking on camera, crying between meetings, Sunday dread—and the moment she realized staying might cost her life. Starting Over and Betting on Herself — She shares what it meant to leave an eight-year public health career, become an intern again, cash out her retirement, and even file bankruptcy—naming these not as failures, but as necessary steps toward alignment and safety. From "Too Broken" to Wounded Healer — Trained in EMDR and brainspotting, Keylynne talks about going through intensive experiential trainings, healing her own complex trauma, and how those experiences now shape the way she sits with clients in deep grief and pain. Blending Public Health and Trauma Therapy — Drawing on her MPH background, she connects racism, ACEs, hyper-surveillance, and health disparities—calling for trauma-informed, justice-centered public health that treats mental health as core, not an add-on. Vision, Motherhood, and Collective Liberation — Looking ahead, Keylynne names her desire to become a mother, to interrupt inherited trauma, and to live "uncurled"—building a life, practice, and community rooted in authenticity, rest, and collective care. "Public health taught me how to fight for others. Counseling taught me to fight for myself." — Keylynne Matos-Cunningham, MPH, M Ed, LPC-A   Stay In Touch:   Keylynne Matos-Cunningham on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keylynne/   www.Keylynne.com   Thrive By Us (trauma-informed counseling within the state of Texas) - www.thrivebyus.org   Email Dr. Kristi McClamroch - [email protected]   Dr. Kristi McClamroch on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch/   www.CourageousPublicHealth.com   Subscribe to Weekly Courageous Public Health Podcast Updates - http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6   **Remember to Like the Episode, Subscribe, and Leave a Review!**   Public Health Consulting To Support You   At Courageous Public Health, we are turning up the volume on courage among public health professionals.    We support public health organizations through workshop design and facilitation, and speaking engagements. Interested in working with us? Reach out on email, LinkedIn, or our website!

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