In this week’s vlog, I talked to Anna Runkle, the self-described “Crappy Childhood Fairy,” whose work in helping people recognize and heal from childhood trauma is revolutionary. Anna has more than a million subscribers on her YouTube channel and is the author of Re-Regulated: Set Your Life Free from Childhood PTSD and Change the Trauma-Driven Behaviors That Keep You Stuck. She also has a brand-new book out that’s super relevant to our Bright Line Eating community: Connectability: Heal the Hidden Ways You Isolate, Find Your People, and Feel (At Last) Like You Belong.
Growing Up with Childhood Trauma
Anna shared with me the story of her own childhood trauma, growing up in a chaotic, neglectful household in California in the 60s and 70s, where alcoholism, communal living, and food scarcity shaped her relationship with eating. She recalls “being feral,” trying to find food for her siblings and herself when there was little to eat at home. In one case, she remembers eating a box of dog biscuits!
Anna remembers trying many diets when she got older, including Weight Watchers. She was also suffering from PTSD, but eventually met a young woman recovering from alcoholism who taught her a daily practice of expressive writing, prayer, and meditation.
Learning to Heal from Childhood Trauma
She explains that her deeper problems—the difficulty she had connecting with others, anger, emotional volatility, and relationship struggles—were the classic patterns of someone raised in an alcoholic home. Anna participated in 12-Step programs and used meditation, spiritual grounding, and sponsoring others, all of which helped her to heal gradually.
Anna talked about the importance of the nervous system and how dysregulated it can get for people like herself. She talks about eventually having a metanoia, a Greek word that means “change of mind.” Her whole perspective went through a major shift, and she came to realize that she was loved and her life was precious.
Complex PTSD and the Nervous System
Another transformative moment for her was when she read the work of Dutch psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk and realized there was something called complex PTSD, which is marked by neurological dysregulation. The nervous system, Anna says, is a “beautiful system” that looks like an angel in scientific drawings. And it can be healed from trauma. Anna’s book Connectability is about how the nervous system functions to help us feel connected to one another.
The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Adulthood
Anna and I also talked about Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACE, a score which links to later-life issues such as addiction, obesity, autoimmune disorders, and chronic health conditions. Understanding that dysregulation lies beneath many of these outcomes helped her see how healing the nervous system can shift long-term patterns.
Healing from Trauma: The Importance of Connection
Anna eventually developed Crappy Childhood Fairy, her YouTube channel and online community, where she teaches the tools that helped her: expressive writing, meditation, nervous-system regulation, and gentle, self-paced reconnection with others. She notes that while isolation may feel safer for trauma survivors, meaningful connection is essential for long-term healing and fulfillment.
There’s a strong overlap between Bright Line Eating and Anna’s community, especially for people who have experienced trauma. Both programs emphasize the importance of structure, support, and connection in helping people heal and maintain healthy eating habits.
Anna noted that many of her followers use Bright Line Eating, and the daily practices of our program can be helpful for those recovering from trauma by giving them a regulated, structured way of eating.
Anna’s work is very gentle and supportive, yet totally powerful, and I’d encourage you to get her two books and check her out at CrappyChildhoodFairy.com.
