Alyson Stoner on Healing Childhood Fame, Identity & Mental Health
CLEANING UP YOUR MENTAL MESS with Dr. Caroline Leaf
Dr. Caroline Leaf
4.6 • 3.2K Ratings
🗓️ 13 August 2025
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happens when childhood fame shapes your identity, rewires your brain, and leaves no roadmap for healing? 🎬
In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Alyson Stoner—actor, dancer, singer, activist, and founder of Movement Genius—to explore the hidden costs of early success and the science of reclaiming your inner world.
Alyson shares raw insights from their new book Semi Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, diving into the pressures of the entertainment industry, the long-term effects of growing up on set, and the neuroscience-backed practices that helped them rebuild.
We unpack:
• Why stability and “boring” routines are essential for brain and body healing
• How fame impacts mental health and identity formation
• The toddler-to-train-wreck pipeline in child stardom—and how to break it
• Tools for reconnecting with yourself after trauma
• The role of community, neuroscience, and intentional practice in real recovery
📖 Pre-order Alyson’s book Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: A Memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/Semi-Well-Adjusted-Despite-Literally-Everything-Memoir/dp/1250353491
Follow Alyson on instagram: @alysonstoner
📖 Order my new book Help in a Hurry:
https://www.helpinahurrybook.com
🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes that blend science, story, and strategy to help you take back control of your mental and emotional health.
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DISCLAIMER: This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. Please consult with a professional for personalized support.
#DrLeaf #AlysonStoner #MentalHealth #Neuroscience #Healing #ChildStar #HelpInAHurry #SemiWellAdjusted
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The future is unpredictable at times, that the open university are the experts in distance learning, allowing you to fit study around your life. |
| 0:11.3 | What's more, you'll have support from dedicated tutors every step of the way. |
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| 0:20.2 | Registered by the 5th of September to get started. |
| 0:25.3 | The Open University, the future is open. |
| 0:32.1 | Hello and welcome to the Dr. Leaf Show. |
| 0:35.0 | Today I'm really happy to welcome Alison Stoner to the podcast. You may know |
| 0:39.5 | Alison as an actor, dancer, singer and activist, but what I find most remarkable is the way they've |
| 0:45.9 | turned their personal experiences into a platform for collective healing. They are the founder of |
| 0:51.2 | Movement Genius, a platform that blends movement with mental and emotional |
| 0:54.8 | wellness. They've spoken powerfully about navigating fame, identity and mental health, and they've |
| 1:00.8 | done so with such clarity, humility and courage. One of the things we often explore on this |
| 1:05.9 | podcast is how our experiences shape our mind and how with awareness and intentional practice we can shape it back. |
| 1:12.9 | Alison's story is a profound example of this. |
| 1:15.6 | They've gone through the fires of public life, intense pressure, personal transformation, |
| 1:20.4 | and emerged not only with insight, but with tools that really help others. |
| 1:24.8 | So whether you're familiar with Allison's work or meeting them for the first |
| 1:28.6 | time today, I invite you to listen with curiosity because this is a conversation not just about |
| 1:33.5 | the spotlight, but about what it means to reclaim your inner world and make it a safer, wiser place to |
| 1:40.1 | live. |
| 1:53.0 | Thank you. to live. Alison, I'm so happy to have you back again. Honestly, we had the most beautiful discussion before. |
| 1:55.8 | You touch on a subject that is not spoken about enough yet has implications globally for all of us for mental |
... |
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