The Murray Method: How Marilyn Murray Continues To Redefine Trauma Recovery (An Interview with Marilyn Murray and Joe Polish)

Joe Polish talks with Marilyn Murray—creator of the Murray Method—about healing trauma, overcoming workaholism, and finding emotional balance. Marilyn shares her incredible journey from personal pain to global impact, helping people heal in prisons, war zones, and boardrooms. A powerful conversation on turning adversity into purpose.

Here’s a glance at what you’ll discover in this episode: 

• From Art Dealer to Global Healer: At 45, Marilyn Murray left a successful art career to pioneer trauma therapy that now spans 40+ countries.
• The Murray Method: A simple yet powerful model for healing trauma, born from Marilyn’s own recovery and now used by top professionals worldwide.
• Triumph Over Trauma: Her personal pain became the foundation for helping thousands—from war victims to Hollywood elites.
• Breaking Barriers in Russia: Marilyn introduced intensive trauma therapy to Russian medical and mental health communities, reshaping a nation’s approach to healing.
• It’s Never Too Late: Marilyn began her psychology career midlife and taught internationally into her 80s—proving reinvention has no age limit.
• Pioneering Women’s Support: Co-founded one of America’s first women’s groups, expanding emotional support and community at scale.
• Healing in War Zones: Marilyn’s trauma centers in Ukraine offer vital therapy to civilians and soldiers amidst ongoing conflict.
• Empathy Behind Bars: She worked inside prisons, offering therapy to sex offenders and proving the power of compassion in the darkest places.
• Training the World’s Experts: Marilyn equips psychologists and psychiatrists with actionable tools—not just theory.
• Purpose from Pain: Her darkest experiences became the spark for a global movement in emotional healing.
• Healing Through Connection: Marilyn transforms empathy into a life-saving force—from violent offenders to world-famous clients.

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Show Notes

The Murray Method – What It Is and Why It Works

• A trauma recovery model built on the idea that everyone has a “pool of pain” and a defense mechanism that forms around it.
  
  
• Designed to help people find emotional balance and heal from trauma without losing ambition or compassion.
  
  
• Combines practical tools (22 instruments) with a simple, accessible theory taught globally since 1983.
  
  

Marilyn’s Story – From Trauma to Transformation

• Sexually assaulted at age 8. Suffered in silence with chronic illness, emotional repression, and overachievement.
  
  
• Built a highly successful career in the art world—while physically and emotionally breaking down.
  
  
• Underwent intensive therapy at age 44 that changed her life and laid the foundation for her future work.
  
  

Legacy of Global Impact

• Taught over 4,000 professionals in Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia.
  
  
• Established trauma recovery centers in Moscow, Poltava (Ukraine), Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
  
  
• Created a trauma-informed therapy model now used internationally—including in war zones.
  
  
• Worked pro bono with sex offenders and prisoners—transforming shame into accountability and healing.
  
  

Understanding Workaholism and Codependency

• These often “socially acceptable” behaviors can be trauma-driven defense mechanisms.
  
  
• Marilyn teaches how to remain high-functioning and ambitious without using overwork or caretaking to numb pain.
  
  
• Emotional health means having boundaries and learning to feel, not just think or do.
  
  

The Power of Seeing People as They Were Meant to Be

• Marilyn looks beyond surface behaviors (even in rapists and sex offenders) to see the wounded inner child.
  
  
• Her approach combines radical empathy with unshakable boundaries—creating space for real transformation.

Resources

Prisoner of Another War, A Remarkable Journey of Healing from Childhood Trauma

 Marilyn’s personal journey through trauma and recovery
📖 Buy on Amazon

The Murray Method: Creating Wholeness Beyond Trauma, Abuse, Neglect and Addiction

 A comprehensive guide to her trauma healing model, including 33 practical exercises
📖 Buy on Amazon