What if the pressure to be "good" is making women physically sick? Dr. Dan sits down with filmmaker, entrepreneur, and author Sara Hirsh Bordo to explore the powerful connection between autoimmune disease, trauma, people-pleasing, and self-abandonment, and her new book Autoimmunity and the Good Girls: How Permission to Put Ourselves First Has the Power to Keep Us Well.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
How "good girl" conditioning leads to self-abandonment
Why autoimmune disease disproportionately affects women
How unprocessed trauma shows up in the body
Self-permission as a pathway to healing
Why small acts of truth-telling matter
The role men play in women's healing
Why transformation means letting go of others' expectations
LEARN MORE
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June 4, 2026
Sara Hirsh Bordo
Why Women Get Sick Trying to Be Good: A Conversation on Autoimmunity & Authenticity
"A self in compromise is creating an immune system in compromise."
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 — Introduction
1:17 — Meet Sara Hirsh Bordo
6:01 — The butterfly metaphor
12:25 — Telling your own story
15:00 — The research behind the book
20:30 — A self in compromise
25:35 — What is autoimmune disease?
33:28 — The cost of transformation
42:23 — The role of men
52:13 — Where healing begins
SHOW NOTES
In this powerful episode, Dr. Dan interviews Sara Hirsh Bordo, award-winning filmmaker, founder of Women Rising, and author of Autoimmunity and the Good Girls: How Permission to Put Ourselves First Has the Power to Keep Us Well, to explore the connection between autoimmune disease, trauma, and self-abandonment.
After being diagnosed with multiple serious conditions, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis, melanoma, Epstein-Barr, mold poisoning, and heavy metal toxicity, Sara began asking a life-changing question: what if years of self-betrayal were causing her body to turn against itself? She shares how decades of prioritizing others over herself created patterns that impacted both her emotional and physical well-being, and how reclaiming authenticity may be one of the most powerful healing journeys of all.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Sara Hirsh Bordo
Website: autoimmunityandthegoodgirls.com
Instagram: @sarahirshbordo
Key Concepts
Good girl conditioning. The internalized belief, often learned in childhood, that being agreeable, selfless, and accommodating is required for belonging and love, at the cost of one's own authentic needs.
Self-abandonment. The chronic pattern of overriding one's own needs, feelings, and truth in order to maintain approval or avoid conflict, a pattern Sara links directly to physical health outcomes.
Autoimmunity as identity. The hypothesis that, just as autoimmune disease causes the body to attack itself, years of self-suppression may create an internal identity crisis that manifests physically.
GUEST BIO
Sara Hirsh Bordo is an award-winning filmmaker, founder of Women Rising, and author of Autoimmunity and the Good Girls: How Permission to Put Ourselves First Has the Power to Keep Us Well. After navigating multiple serious diagnoses, Sara turned her personal journey into a movement exploring the intersection of identity, trauma, and women's health.
Her research and storytelling have helped women around the world recognize the hidden cost of self-abandonment and find their way back to themselves.
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