The Book Collection of Healers: The Healing Place Podcast Guests Share Their Wisdom

A few months ago I began requesting signed copies of my podcast guests books (offering to pay for the book and shipping, obviously). Many of my guests have gifted their word works of art to me and I consider this collection a treasure. Thinking about this stack of books I have embarked on reading, I am in awe of the amount of hope flowing through the words printed upon their pages. Books on triumph over trauma, some with flare and adventure, others with baby steps and quiet fortitude; books filled with guidance; books that may trigger yet offer strategies; books from a helper’s perspective and others from a survivor’s. Books overflowing with hope, healing, help, and happy endings.

I want to thank these beautiful souls for sharing their brilliant insights with the world. I wish them continued success in reaching those who most need their messages of hope. I wish us all a life filled with tranquility and joy as we travel our individual healing journeys, finding these hands to hold along the way, through books or podcasts or coaching or therapy sessions or a friend’s hug.

Following are 21 of my podcast guests’ books for your review (in order of podcast appearance):

Teri Barila: Community Resilience Initiative Interview

From the Community Resilience Initiative Website: Our Super Heroes book introduces ten very special children, facing challenging life experiences such as homelessness and bullying. Beautiful child-friendly graphics show why it is important to understand how our brains respond to stress, and how we can learn to manage our responses by building a toolkit of strategies. This is an interactive book, encouraging use of the 42 resilience strategies from the child-focused deck of cards, from a child’s perspective. Coming soon in Spanish!

Stephanie McPhail: Being Loved Shouldn’t Hurt Interview

Amazon excerpt: Stephanie McPhail, M.S. wrote “Being Loved Shouldn’t Hurt” to help inspire others to live their best lives now. She begins with a very revealing personal recollection of her own toxic relationships and describes how they affected her on a deep level. In the wake of her last toxic relationship, she experienced depression, legal issues, and a major health scare. Feeling hopeless and alone, she finally made a conscious decision to begin changing and truly create her best life possible. Stephanie shares her struggles and triumphs with readers. The book also includes three other personal stories of triumph after a very difficult past. Part 2 focuses on defining codependency, understanding why people stay in unhealthy relationships, what are red flags and deal breakers, and how to begin the healing process. Stephanie also reflects on the many lessons that she learned from her life experience. Take advantage of the helpful guides at the end of the book to keep you focused on your healing journey!

Bob Lancer: Seven Mindsets Interview

Amazon excerpt: Putting off happiness is all that keeps you feeling unhappy, unsuccessful, depressed, discouraged, angry, deprived or insecure. This book shows you how to accept happiness now, and how happiness empowers you to create the conditions in life that you have been unhappily counting on to bring you happiness.

Belinda Farrell: Huna Healing Interview

Amazon excerpt:

“Belinda Farrell is a courageous woman sharing personal woes so that others may find strength in their own journey. She lights the path of hope, brightens the realm of despair and embraces the act of survival. Cal-Berkeley graduate, Mom,”Snow White,” almost CIA agent, stunt car driver, actor, writer, hot coal walker, Huna teacher, wild dolphin swim guide, she’s a New Millennia Renaissance woman offering good health and holistic healing. Her new book Find Your Friggin’Joy is not for the faint of heart, but a manual for those brave enough to confront their demons, face their feelings, and exalt their potential.”

-Broderick Perkins, Executive Editor at DeadlineNews.com

This book takes you on a journey using Ancient Hawaiian Teachings that invite the reader to take personal responsibility to unplug from the old non-productive stories and step into the frequencies of your Higher Self. Connecting with these frequencies can heal your physical body, bring you back into balance, lighten your load, and fulfill your soul’s purpose. It’s all up to YOU!

When Belinda was forty eight she collapsed with herniated discs and spinal nerve damage. Threatened with paralysis by her medical doctors if she didn’t have surgery, Belinda instead chose to apply the ancient Hawaiian healing practices she had been learning for the past three years which are covered in this book. Her back completely healed including childhood scoliosis.

Belinda retired from stunt car driving and, for fifteen years has been sharing these healing practices with others. She offers Reconnective Healing and Huna in Santa Cruz, Ca. and takes clients to Hawaii to teach Huna and swim with wild spinner dolphins. The dolphins help us to dissolve fear with an open heart expanding our reality through their vibrational tones so that we experience our deepest joy.

Lucia Giovannini: A Whole New Life Interview

Amazon excerpt: An encouraging and transformational guide for living your best, ideal life.

If you wish to follow your heart but don’t know where to start, this book will provide you with the tools needed to finally choose the life you’ve always wanted. If you feel that change is too hard, complicated, or altogether impossible, this book will help you overcome obstacles in a step-by-step, easy-to-understand guide. A Whole New Life teaches you how to turn dreams into achievable goals and how to develop flexibility without losing your sense of direction. In this book, you’ll learn how to identify and eliminate mechanisms that bring you to a standstill, recognizing challenges that evoke fear and anxiety or hinder your full self-realization. This book is first a promise, then an idea, a series of steps and, in the end, an uplifting reality.

“Wow! This is the most insightful and profound book on life and change in many, many years. Clear observations, wise insights and unjudging tone, sprinkled with amazing quotes and relatable anecdotes. Very powerful. Highly recommended.”

—Derek Sivers, Author, Ted speaker, founder and former president of CD Baby

A Whole New Life is the guide you have been looking for. It inspires you to say yes to your life and your dreams.”

—Patricia J. Crane, Ph.D., Author, Master Trainer – Heal Your Life® Training in Louise Hay’s philosophy, San Diego, CA, USA

“Lucia’s voice, her incredible passion for shining the light over others is contagious. A Whole New Lifegives life and a second chance to those wanting to live beyond themselves.”

—Ajit Nawalkha, Co-founder of Mindvalley & Evercoach, Bestselling Author of LIVE BIG

Dr. Greg Williams: Shattered by the Darkness Interview

Amazon excerpt: Brutal Sexual Abuse. Fear. Betrayal. Shame. 
After enduring daily sexual abuse for over twelve years, can there be any hope?

In Shattered by the Darkness: Putting the Pieces Back Together after Child Abuse, author Dr. Gregory Williams shares his dark and horrific childhood of sexual abuse and fifty-year journey of trying to put the pieces of his life back together.  

The vital lessons learned in the process of finally stepping out of the emotional darkness and into the light will give you strength to ultimately open the deepest parts of your heart and find the courage to face your own personal darkness. Today is the day to take your life back!

Discover that no matter what abuse, hurt, pain, or betrayal you have experienced, you no longer have to live your life Shattered by the Darkness. This empowering book transforms the silence of shame into a rallying cry for hope and healing.

Dean Walker: Living Resilience Interview

Amazon excerpt: The Impossible Conversation is that we carry those data and projections into our hearts and discover how to keep our hearts open even when we consider the most challenging aspects of our present and near future. In The Impossible Conversation we are invited to intimately reconnect: with our own inner wisdom, with the miracle that is every other human and with our magnificent, magnanimous Earth. I urge you to take this book into your heart and allow it to become part of your blood and bones.

Carolyn Baker. PhD., author of Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths for Turbulent Times and Dark Gold: The Human Shadow and the Global Crisis.

Craig K. Comstock, Huffington Post. In Walker’s book, what a relief to see the situation defined not as a “problem” that can be “solved,” but as a “predicament” that we must live with. The kinds of “reconnection” described by Walker (reconnection with: deeper self, others and Earth) would be attractive even if the situation were normal. Given our situation, they are necessary. Some of the climate scientists quoted by Walker suggest it’s too late to prevent disaster. From now on, we can only grieve what we have inadvertently done: grieve, and live intensely; behave well as we witness the gathering storm. Very few people want to accept this, and prefer to persist as if our way of life could continue. Besides, as someone always says just before the attempted conversation dribbles away, “what can one person do?” Walker has some answers, which go less to preventing disaster, than to living with the knowledge of what’s happening. Walker praises reconnection with the deeper self, with other people, and with nature. The (workshop and coaching) project announced by Walker and Carolyn Baker (in The Impossible Conversation) is based on the practice of psychotherapy, a knowledge of history, and experience in organizational consulting. For readers, their books offer some of the very best ideas for the enlargement of a community that can make the “conversation” more possible.

In The Impossible Conversation, Dean Walker recounts his transformational journey from his first contact with the shocking data and projections of Abrupt Climate Change – to the mind blowing awareness of the full scope of the global problems and predicaments we all must face. As we engage in The Impossible Conversation we begin to grapple with questions that really matter: “How did we get ourselves and our planet-home into these predicaments?” and “What are the inner skills and capacities that are called for as we confront our global problems and predicaments?” and “How does my life change as I witness the collapse of our environmental and human systems?” and “How can we come together to regain our long lost sense of agency in life?” and “What are the qualities of presence and relationship I can bring to my family, community, workplace, local environment, as I stand with new purpose in the face of our predicaments.?”

The Impossible Conversation is not another feel-good guide to our quick return to a thriving economy and business as usual. It is a sober look at how our business as usual paradigm is, in fact, what has driven us to the brink. The Impossible Conversation is deeply committed to keeping it real as we explore together, how to contact the immense power of human beings who are willing to intentionally break open their hearts and profoundly reconnect with their deeper selves, the people around them, and the miraculous web of life on this glorious planet-home, Earth.

Joyelle Brandt: Parenting with PTSD Interview

Amazon excerpt: Parenting with PTSD is an anthology and workbook for parents who are survivors of childhood abuse. Editors Joyelle Brandt and Dawn Daum are survivors of childhood abuse working to break the cycle for their own families. Raising children as an abuse survivor is often a lonely and isolating experience, as the triggers and flashbacks of abuse can be hard for non-survivors to understand. When they were looking for stories of how other survivors coped, and couldn’t find any, they decided that something needed to change. So together they started an online community specifically for parent survivors, and started collecting essays to create Parenting with PTSD. Breaking the silence allows for an honest conversation about the lifetime journey of healing from childhood trauma. This is a combination of essays, journal questions, and recommended resources. It is intended to be a starting point to more conversations about how we can heal both individually and within our families, communities, and institutions. Our Mission: 1. To build a supportive community for parenting survivors, normalize the PTSD responses they may be having, and share resources for healing from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or other traumatic events. 2. To educate professionals working in the fields of physical, mental, and social health about common triggers that arise for parents with PTSD, and the challenges they experience while working to break cycles of generational dysfunction and abuse. 3. To help partners and families better understand the experience of parenting for abuse survivors.

Dr. Leslie Cole: Quit Pain Pills Without the Withdrawal Interview

Website excerpt: What if I told you that today you could buy this eBook for $25, and by utilizing the educational information and guidance in the book for your own self-improvement, it’s possible for you to finally stop the cycle of fending off withdrawal?

What if I told you that by buying this eBook, and taking steps to implement the information and guidance provided in the book for your own self-improvement, you could save yourself anywhere from $100 to over $1000 per day by stopping your purchase of street opiates?

Too many people wait five years, ten years, twenty years to face their addiction.

You could decide right now to take control of your future.

Jason Lee: Living with the Dragon Interview

Amazon excerpt: In Living with the Dragon, Jason Lee gives an honest and brave account of his life. As a Canadian-born Chinese man in his forties, Lee was raised in a household rife with physical and emotional abuse. He recounts stories of torment, angry outbursts, and beatings in his home that made him feel humiliated and unloved from a young age. Bullying at school and a complicated relationship with his brother who has schizophrenia added to Lee’s feelings of worthlessness and shame.

With stunning vulnerability, Lee confesses to his own emotionally abusive behaviour as an adult. He also shares about his personal struggles with depression and anxiety that he only came to realize in recent years. Through the hard work of counselling, group therapy, meditation, and practices of self-compassion, Lee has turned his life around in remarkable ways.

In Living with the Dragon, he shares lessons and tools for breaking the chain of abuse from one generation to the next. As Lee writes, “There is no greater feeling than liberation and being able to live your most honest self.” This powerful memoir will embolden you to find freedom and healing by facing the truth of your own inner life.

Karen Zilberstein: Parents Under Pressure Interview

Amazon excerpt: One in six American children live in poverty. One in six struggle with a developmental disability. An estimated 70 percent of American adults have experienced a traumatic event. Despite the overwhelming prevalence of these circumstances, societal expectations and the country’s fragmented, under-resourced service systems make it nearly impossible for families experiencing hardship to keep up. In many cases, the system makes their situation worse. In her book, Zilberstein, Clinical Director of the Northampton, Massachusetts chapter of A Home Within, provides a candid look at how parents contending with poverty, illness, disability, or other constraints are expected to do so much with so little-and the price they and society pay. Through the unforgettable portraits of six overburdened families, Parents Under Pressure shows how health crises can quickly devolve into the loss of jobs and homes, how public perceptions of poor people hamper the chances for a better life, and the ways in which race and income affect access to assistance. Judged by family, friends and professionals who question their abilities and choices, parents feel inadequate and drained, rather than supported.

Jim Sporleder: Trauma-Informed Consulting and Paper Tigers Interview

Amazon excerpt: The Trauma-Informed School is an all-inclusive guide designed to give school administrators of any school (elementary, middle or high school), step-by-step instructions of how to turn a school of any size into a trauma-informed school. With over 250 pages of content, this guide gives you the protocols you need along with a link to download all the documents needed for a successful implementation. 

This well written and well-organized guide was developed from the vast experience of a nationally recognized retired school principal and school consultant (Jim Sporleder) and a nationally recognized trauma expert (Heather T. Forbes, LCSW). The combined work of these two authors is a winning combination that will equip and empower you to become a trailblazer in the area of trauma-informed education.

Jaz Ampaw-Farr: Everyday Hero Interview

Amazon exerpt: Pinpoints and celebrates the vital role that educators have in instilling ambitious resilience both in their learners and themselves.

Growing up in poverty, and neglected and abused by her own parents, Jaz Ampaw-Farr was destined to become a statistic. Her story was changed, however, by a handful of teachers who made the point of putting human connection first despite the challenges of the education system.

Because of these people, Jaz went on to become a teacher, writer and international speaker who, through celebration and provocation, engages and galvanises educators into embracing the difference that they can make when they put being a human first too. In ‘Because Of You, This’ is Me Jaz shares her story often harrowing but always uplifting to show the ways in which the everyday heroes in our schools can empower those children who need their help the most.

Suitable for all educators.

Amit Janco: (Un)Bound Together Interview

Amazon excerpt: Four years after falling from a bridge in Cambodia, Amit Janco set off, like thousands before her, on a journey of physical healing along the legendary Camino de Santiago. What was slated to be little more than a restorative hike across the undulating terrain of northern Spain, would become an unexpectedly gratifying, comical, and, at times, emotionally tumultuous odyssey through physical and emotional recovery, into the very heart and soul of her existence.If you loved WILD by Cheryl Strayed, TRACKS by Robyn Davidson, EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert, or I’LL PUSH YOU by Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray, you will also love Amit Janco’s (Un)Bound, Together: A Journey to the End of the Earth (and Beyond).

Donna Jenson: Healing My Life-From Incest to Joy Interview

Amazon excerpt: In chronicling the physical and spiritual steps she took to reclaim her life and peel away the layers of damage done by incest, Jenson has written a powerful narrative of one person’s healing journey. And though the subject matter is deeply serious, Jenson writes with her sense of humor firmly intact, reminding us that joy is possible in the face of great pain. Poignant, brave, and helpful, Healing My Life offers a much-needed testimony for anyone affected by or concerned about childhood sexual abuse. “Healing My Life is a story that is unique and personal in its detail, yet also universal and human in its impact. If we could raise even one generation without violence or shaming, we have no idea what might be possible.” -Gloria Steinem

David J. Kenney: Kid Epics Interview

Amazon excerpt: Based on a true story, Some Way Home is a tale of love and redemption. It depicts the healing of an abused and neglected boy named Dylan. It is a story depicting a dark night’s journey into bright day. Many adults, who try to help along his way, do more harm than good. Until a gullible couple adopt him at five years old. These ‘Forever Parents’ rise to the challenge of parenting a boy in danger of being lost forever. This novel takes a hard look at the inner workings of both the family and the foster care system meant to protect children. It delineates the price society pays when that system does not achieve the results it should. Some Way Home is a passionate portrayal of adoptive parents struggling to heal a child devastated by trauma. It takes its readers through the highs of victory and the inevitable emotional lows of relapse and failure. In the end, the reader is left with an unfathomable victory obtained through enduring compassion.

Amazon excerpt: Crossing In-finity will help parents,teachers, and all students of human behavior understand the effects ofemotional injuries on the developing personality. It will illustrate the thinking and learning of the developing child and lay a clear path to recovery from rage and shame to trust and forgiveness. Crossing In-finity is based on the experience of David J. Kenney, a foster dad, adoptive parent and child psychologist. It is dedicated to healthy emotional development. At certain developmental times, the traumas of early childhood have specific sets of possible effects onthe emergent ego. These effects have impact on the personality in definite ways, which lead to predictable behavior patterns. These are knowable.Therefore, we can act in a strategic way to redirect growth towards well being.In this manner, we can immunize the abused or abandoned child against significant mental disorders as adults. Much has been written concerning mental illness. Book after book, edition after edition of working manuals are dedicated to describing what sickness is in profound minutia. As a society,we’ve spent an uncounted fortune in time and money on investigating what we don’t want but have given little or no thought to what we do. Crossing Infinity attempts to improve this imbalance.

Janyne McConnaughey: Brave Interview

Amazon excerpt: ‘The story of a successful journey from broken and dissociative to integrated and fully aware.’ This personal memoir describes a woman’s journey through pyschotherapy. In middle age, Janyne began to sense that her wonderful, successful life was a cover for deep inner pain she called ‘the dark cloud.’ During her first EMDR therapy session, three fractured adult parts made a perfect three-point landing in her conscious awareness. Thus began three years of intensive therapy, as she fought to heal from sexual abuse that began in a home daycare at the age of three. With a sometimes conflicted faith in God, and with the support of both her therapist and her husband, Janyne fought to heal and integrate.

This is Janyne’s story but also a tribute to how a therapist and client worked together as a team to heal attachment wounds and increasingly tragic memories. Insights into the early wiring of unmet attachment needs, as well as dissociative coping mechanisms, are included throughout. Both pain and hope for healing are present on every page. Janyne is both vulnerable and triumphant in her writing and will help her readers believe healing from childhood trauma is possible. 

Amazon excerpt: The author interweaves her own dissociative-personality story and her expertise in child development with beloved literary characters to demonstrate how she worked to re-frame the unhealthy messages she internalized as a child. This healing process cleared a path to behavioral change, forgiveness, growing faith, and the rediscovery of simple joys. The unfolding relationship between the author and her child self, Jeannie, illustrates the dedication, trials, and triumphs inherent in developing an attachment relationship that is necessary for full healing. 

Kathleen Hanagan: Loveseed Interview

Amazon excerpt: The Most Powerful Thing You Can Do is Be Fully Yourself. Indigenous societies believe that we each possess original medicine, a kind of personal power, that is ours and ours alone. The greatest challenge of our lives is to find the seed of that power and let it bloom. Combining dramatic real- life experiences with mythic tales, Kathleen Hanagan draws on her 30 years as a psychotherapist, modern mystic, and spiritual adventurer to weave the threads of ancient wisdom with today’s intelligence. As you read, you will learn how to discover and grow your Loveseed, and then, shine its brilliant light by living with loving kindness, generosity, and truth.

Rachel Grant: Beyond Surviving Interview

Amazon excerpt: For survivors of childhood sexual abuse who are sick and tired of feeling broken, unfixable, and burdened by the past. Learn to let go of the pain of sexual abuse and finally feel normal.

Author Rachel Grant brings to the table a passionate belief that you do not have to remain trapped or confronted daily by the thoughts or behaviors that result from abuse. Through her own journey of recovery from sexual abuse, she has gained insight and understanding about what it takes to overcome abuse. This makes it possible for her to relate to and appreciate your struggles intimately. 

The Beyond Surviving guidebook is specifically designed to change the way we think about and heal from abuse. Based on her educational training, study of neuroscience, and lessons learned from her own journey, readers have successfully used the guidebook to break free from the past and move on with their lives. 

Through completing the guidebook, you will:

    *    Train in techniques for identifying the lies that abuse taught you about yourself
    *    Learn strategies for breaking free of patterns of thought or behavior
    *    Let go of shame, guilt, and any belief that the abuse was your fault
    *    Release your anger, loneliness, and fear of abandonment
    *    Develop strong communication skills and self-confidence
    *    Learn how to trust again, set boundaries, and enjoy intimate relationships
    *    Reconnect with your genuine self and feel normal

Beyond Surviving enables survivors of sexual abuse to take back their rights and realize their own ability to make powerful choices about who they are and how they live. This guidebook offers an opportunity to reach the final stage of recovery and begin living authentically and free from the burdens of past experiences. ​

Thank you for sharing these inspirational books and podcast interviews! I would love to have you join me on a Hope for Healing Journey at www.teriwellbrock.com.

Seven Strategies I Use To Reregulate As Anxiety Symptoms Surface

I am heading to Denver, Colorado in the next few weeks to visit my oldest son. Three days in downtown Denver and three days in Estes Park, which we are being told is simply breath-taking. I am super excited to hug on my boy! Yes, he’s twenty-five, but always my baby boy. Yet, there is this little pest named Anxiety that keeps popping its head up to remind me how terrified I am of heights, that there is a possibility of altitude sickness, and I am not a fan of being far from home and my “safe space” along with a whole checklist of long-ago created avoidance behaviors.

However, I am bound and determined to enjoy every waking moment soaking up all the positive Colorado has to offer. I live in Ohio. The heart of the Midwest. I have never traveled further west than Illinois. For those of you who may be geographically-challenged, that is two states west of Ohio. Not even to the Mississippi River. When we have traveled south into Tennessee, I have closed my eyes as we drove over the Great Smoky Mountains. Yeah. Jelico, Tennessee on I-75 has been known to trigger a full blown panic attack.

Flying results in similar panic-induced responses – sweaty palms, flipping stomach, racing thoughts, and other overwhelming body sensations.

So, how do I bring myself back into a state of calm once the anticipatory anxiety has been triggered? Here is my personal go-to list. Please keep in mind I created this plan on a trial and error basis. I have loaded my coping skills toolbox with exercises, fidgets, courses, books, therapy suggestions, and techniques discovered through personal research. Following are my top seven strategies, however, please note that I have a much larger bag-o-tricks I pull from if needed.

  • Calming Stones

Whenever I travel, I pack a backpack and fill it with my favorite calming aids. These two stones are always included in that collection of soothing strategies.

There is something settling about the weight of the stones in my hand and the silky smooth surface as I move my thumb and fingers over them. A transition happens, as well, as they move from icy cold to radiating heat as my energy transfers into them.

I purchased mine through a local store which carries various crystals and stones. However, you can find them online, as well.

  • Calming Coloring Books

Another one of my favorites, especially when flying, is to lose myself in the intricate designs of my coloring books. As with my calming stones, I find soothing comfort in the process of creating bursts of color on the white pages. This is very much a mindfulness practice as it brings me into the now, into this present moment. I forget whatever past trauma may be attempting to surface and I lose all worry of future what-ifs. I merely focus on staying in the lines as my gel pens glide along, enjoying the right-here-right-now moment.

I have purchased these at craft stores, my local grocery store, put them on my birthday wish list, and even won one as part of a writing contest prize. These, too, can be purchased online. My favorite is The Mindfulness Coloring Book which is smaller in size and easy to transport.

  • Gel Pens
A small sampling of my gel pen collection
My collection of pens and coloring books

Coinciding with my coloring book calming strategy is my use of gel pens as I color and practice mindfulness. Again, there is something peaceful about converting the page from white with black squiggly lines into a vibrant work of art.

I have tried using colored pencils, Sharpies, and markers from my daughter’s school supply collection, but my preference is most assuredly gel pens. Particularly the pack of 120 pens I have found at Target. There are glitter, neon, swirl, pastel and more in the pack. A bundle of fun! Of course, they are available online, as well.

  • Nature

all photos copyright Teri Wellbrock

As you can tell by my collection of photos, I am drawn to the beauty that can be found in “the now”. From breathtaking sunbeams to dew-soaked spiderwebs, insects scurrying about their days, a seal basking in a meditative moment in the sunlight, from muddy hikes to rain-soaked blossoms, there is wonder all around us.

I use my Samsung phone to capture these moments, although if I remember to grab my Nikon D3300 camera before heading out the door, I will snap higher quality pics on that. But, most moments I simply stop, take in a slow deep breath and savor.

We live near a nature preserve (four minutes from our driveway to be exact!) and I find myself and lose myself all at once on those trails. The sounds of water rushing through the creeks as they sing along with the symphony of birds. The scents, oh how I wish I could record the scents for playback at a later time, sometimes stop me in my tracks. Again, I pause to close my eyes and breath in renewal into my soul.

However, I can find nature in my office as a lady bug appears on my desk as if she just stopped by to check in and chat or during a dinner date downtown Cincinnati as I smile at the muddy Ohio River carrying the paddle boats upstream or even as I step into the parking lot of my local grocery store only to be greeted by God, waving to me via sunbeams peeking from dark clouds.

What a gift I have found in being cognizant of the beauty in the now.

  • Angels, Faith, and Prayer

Growing up Catholic . . . my dad was a Jesuit brother for eight years from age sixteen to twenty-four and my mom wanted to be a nun but they wouldn’t allow her in due to her partying tendencies, a.k.a. alcoholism . . . was both restrictive and comforting. It wasn’t until I was in my forties and started my healing journey that I found my faith truly blossoming beyond the dogma of the Catholic Church. I started to embrace other faiths and found myself experiencing a higher power, God, universe, whatever label you would like to apply, outside of the walls of a church.

I pray throughout my day. But not The Lord’s Prayer and formal prayers. I throw out prayers of gratitude and pleas of compassion and requests for guidance. My faith is now weaved into my breath. It is merely a part of who I am, not how often I attend mass or donate to a charity.

I am my prayer. A living, breathing, loving prayer.

Angels surround me. Literally. In statue form and spirit form. I have had three different mediums approach me and say the exact same thing . . . I have never met anyone surrounded by as many angels as you are. Pretty cool! And makes me feel quite blessed and comforted. I have always been drawn to them. I have angel paintings, calendars, statues, and books surrounding me as I type this.

They are most definitely a go-to as a calming strategy. Prayer and conversations with my angels bring me right back here to the present moment.

  • Finding Hearts
Heart rock found in the creek at our local nature preserve

The majority of the time I am not purposefully searching for hearts. They just come across my radar. I was recently hiking with a friend when I paused to catch my breath as we trudged up a hill. I told myself to “stop and smell the flowers” and upon turning my head, right there next to me on the path, was a leaf which had an insect-eaten heart hole in it. I couldn’t help by laugh out loud. Of all of the places to pause and of all of the leaves surrounding me in that forest, I happened to find a tiny little heart eaten out of a leaf. I laughed because it happens every single day. As in every . . . single . . . day. Without fail.

As a matter of fact, I wrote an e-book about it, filling it with heart pics I have snapped along with photos friends have taken and gifted to me. I even have a page on my website dedicated to those hearts (although it is just a small sampling of my collection).

Again, I find comfort in the reminder that I am loved, surrounded by love signs, and helping me be present in the moment.

  • Sammie Doodle – Therapy Dog

Oh, this sweet, sweet dog. Sammie is our labradoodle. She is the kindest soul I have ever met. She loves everyone and everything. Except pigs. I took her to a farm once and a pig snorted at her through a fence and she ran away terrified.

Wow, does she adore kids. We are a registered therapy dog team through Pet Partners and we volunteer at schools, visiting with kiddos in order to help them with feelings of anxiety or struggles with bullying or offering comfort after traumatic events. She just knows. She is drawn to those most needing love and dog snuggles.

The perk is that she is a member of our family outside of her therapy dog gig. And due to the fact that I have a history with panic attacks and heightened anxiety, this sweet pup is always by my side. She is my snuggle buddy, hiking pal, comforter, and best friend. She listens without judgment and offers stinky-breath kisses in support.

If ever I need grounding, just putting my hand upon her fluffy being radiates calm into my soul. She is a gift to us all. Sammie even has her own website, Facebook page, and Instagram account!

I love hearing back from others about calming strategies and coping skills used to bring oneself back into the now. Please feel free to reach out and share your experiences.

I wish you tranquility and joy along your healing journey.

The Ten Books That Changed My Life – Healing ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and Building Resilience

After struggling with severe panic attacks for over twenty-five years, following horrific trauma during my first twenty-two years of life, I finally found my way onto the healing path in 2013. I began EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) along with reading everything I could on trauma-recovery. I began practicing mindfulness exercises, meditation, yoga, tapping (or EFT), and many other healing modalities in order to “fill my coping skills tool box.”

Following is a list of those books that had a profound impact on my life and have helped me create a life filled with tranquility and joy. While I may not have agreed with every word written, I did find powerful answers, delicious little tidbits, and inspirational guidance within each book.

I am always amazed when my podcast guests refer to these same books during our interviews. I would love to know if you have read any of these empowering books and their impact on your healing journey: https://teriwellbrock.com/contact-us/ .

I wish you continued healing and success in finding the tools that best help you along your path to recovery.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. (read more at book link)

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You are not doomed by your genes and hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of your life. A new science is emerging that empowers all human beings to create the reality they choose. In Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, renowned author, speaker, researcher, and chiropractor Dr. Joe Dispenza combines the fields of quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and genetics to show you what is truly possible. (read more at book link)

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In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. (read more at book link)

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In this beautiful and lucid guide, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness–being awake and fully aware. (read more at book link)

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A totally accessible user’s guide from the creator of a scientifically proven form of psychotherapy that has successfully treated millions of people worldwide.

Whether we’ve experienced small setbacks or major traumas, we are all influenced by memories and experiences we may not remember or don’t fully understand. Getting Past Your Past offers practical procedures that demystify the human condition and empower readers looking to achieve real change. (read more at book link)

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How can we live our lives when everything seems to fall apart—when we are continually overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain? The answer, Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what you expect. (read more at book link)

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Waking the Tiger offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed. (read more at book link)

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An astonishing new science called “neuroplasticity” is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. In this revolutionary look at the brain, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., provides an introduction to both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they’ve transformed. (read more at book link)

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The fear of abandonment is one of our most primal fears, and deservedly so. Its pain is often overwhelming, and can leave its mark on the rest of your life. In the midst of the hurt, it’s hard to see an end to your feelings of rejection, shame, and betrayal.
 
In this updated edition of the groundbreaking book, Susan Anderson, a therapist who has specialized in helping people with loss, heartbreak, and abandonment for more than thirty years, shares recent discoveries in neuroscience that help put your pain in perspective. (read more at book link)

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A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions. (read more at book link)

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The Healing Place Podcast: Rachel Grant – Beyond Surviving

Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on iTunesBlubrrySpotify, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also watch our insightful interview on YouTube.

I enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with Rachel Grant of Rachel Grant Coaching to discuss The Three Stages of Recovery from Childhood Abuse, her Beyond Surviving program, who inspires her, healing opportunities, and much more.

Bio:

“Rachel Grant is the owner and founder of Rachel Grant Coaching and is a Sexual Abuse Recovery Coach. She is also the author of Beyond Surviving: The Final Stage in Recovery from Sexual Abuse.

She brings to the table a passionate belief that her clients do not have to remain trapped or confronted daily by the thoughts or behaviors that result from abuse. Through her own journey of recovery from sexual abuse, she has gained insight and understanding about what it takes to overcome abuse. This makes it possible for her to relate to and appreciate your struggles intimately.

Based on her desire to foster community, intimacy, and connection, she has dedicated much of her time to understanding relationships and communication and how they are impacted by abuse. For her, how we are relating to others is crucial to improving the overall quality of our lives. In addition to the lessons she’s learned along the way, she has attended various lectures and trainings to further hone her skills.

Her program, Beyond Surviving, has been specifically designed to change the way we think about and heal from abuse. Based on her educational training, study of neuroscience, and lessons learned from her own journey, she has successfully used this program since 2007 to help her clients break free from the past and move on with their lives.”

Find out more about Rachel’s mission at http://rachelgrantcoaching.com/

Peace to you all!
Teri

Hope for Healing Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/741bdf08d718/hope-for-healing-newsletter-may-2019

Book Launch Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unicornshadows/

The Healing Place Podcast: Kathleen Hanagan – Loveseed

Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on iTunesBlubrrySpotify, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also watch our insightful interview on YouTube.

A huge thank you to Kathleen Hanagan for joining me on the podcast to discuss her role as a psychotherapist, healer, author, and much more! What a beautiful conversation we shared as we touched on subjects such as her book Loveseed: The Template for Birthing a New World, Jesus and Mary Magdalene, various healing modalities, nature, and the abounding possibilities available for healing.

Bio:

“Kathleen is a psychotherapist, modern mystic, shaman, and spiritual adventurer and author of Loveseed: The Template For Birthing A New World. Her personal mission is to help her clients liberate themselves from their fears and limiting perceptions of who they are and what they can do.”

Find out more about Kathleen’s mission at https://www.kathleenhanagan.com/

Peace to you all!
Teri

Hope for Healing Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/741bdf08d718/hope-for-healing-newsletter-may-2019

Book Launch Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unicornshadows/

The Healing Place Podcast: Jen Johnson – Everyday Mindful

Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on iTunesBlubrrySpotify, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also watch our insightful interview on YouTube.

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Jen Johnson to discuss the gifts contained in mindfulness practice, her counseling services as well as her coaching work with clients all over the world, her photography and writing outlets, along with sharing pieces of her own healing journey with us. Thank you, Jen, for joining me on the podcast and shining your beautiful light of hope into the world.

Bio:

“Jen Johnson, MS, MS, MFA, LPC, CRC, BCC, E-RYT is a mindfulness coach, Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and Licensed Professional Counselor. She is also a photographer and writer. Jen teaches mindfulness for mind body healing. Her areas of specialty include women’s health and wellness (thyroid disorders, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, weight loss), stress reduction, healing from trauma and difficult times, creativity, and grief and loss. Jen offers a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction MBSR online 8-week course that teaches mindfulness meditation and gentle yoga for stress reduction.”

Find out more about Jen’s mission at www.everydaymindful.com.

Facebook: @EverydayMindful   Instagram:@MeditateCreate  Twitter: @EverydayMindful


copyright Jen Johnson

copyright Jen Johnson

Peace to you all!
Teri

Hope for Healing Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/741bdf08d718/hope-for-healing-newsletter-may-2019

Book Launch Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unicornshadows/

Yesterday Came and Went . . . Like an Ordinary Day – Robberies and Murder Thirty-One Years Later

Yesterday came and went . . . like an ordinary day.

I never thought it would happen. But, it has finally come to that. A place of peace, of healing, of forgiveness, and compassion.

It has taken thirty-one years. Thirty-one hard-fought, terror-filled, tearful, soul-searching, prayerful, journal-filling, therapy-seeking years on this healing journey. A path filled with lessons from healthy processing to coping skills to forgiveness techniques to self-compassion.

I tell my podcast guests and audience that my two most profound lessons learned throughout these years have been:

1) Be gentle with yourself.

2) Just notice.

I used to be so damn hard on me. Get over it, Teri. Stop living in the past, Teri. Let it go, for God’s sake. Then I learned about ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) and C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) and the impact of trauma on our brain, body and spirit. THAT is when I started to be gentle with myself and true healing began.

By learning to “just notice” (without judgment of whatever was surfacing), I learned to become comfortable in my own body. I then began to understand triggers (both benign and real) and my brain and body’s response to those triggers. Another much needed tool to helping me heal.

These two bank robberies – a mere ninety-three days apart – were a gift in that they brought me out of my trauma-coma. I had stuffed my childhood into little boxes, stored in the back of a scary closet in a cold dark basement. The sexual molestations, the date-rape, the physical abuse, living with the emotional abandonment of an addict, the bullying . . . all of it waiting for that final straw. This second robbery was that straw.

The gift from all of this? I have learned to appreciate life. Every little ladybug. Every giggle heard across a restaurant after falling from a child’s carefree little self. Every magnificent sunset. Every heart I find whether it’s bird poop or a wildflower bouquet. Every moment with my mom trying to be patient in her battles with her own demons. Every evening spent laughing with friends. Every phone call in which I hear one of my children’s voices. Every hug. Every podcast interview with beautiful healing souls. Every sign from God.

What a gift that I lived to share the story of hope and healing.

The Healing Place Podcast: Janyne McConnaughey – Brave

Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on iTunesBlubrrySpotify, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also watch our insightful interview on YouTube.

I loved connecting with Janyne McConnaughey to discuss being brave, childhood trauma, dissociative coping mechanisms, healing strategies, EMDR therapy, and so much more! Thank you, Janyne, for joining me on the podcast and shining your beautiful light of hope into the world.

Bio:

“Janyne McConnaughey, Ph.D., retired from a forty-year career in education while healing from the attachment wounding and trauma she experienced as a child. During therapy, she wrote her way to healing and now is redeeming her story by helping others to understand the lifelong effects of childhood trauma and insecure attachment.

Janyne is a frequent guest blogger for the Attachment and Trauma Network, blogs at her own website (Janyne.org), and other organizations addressing trauma and attachment. She accepts a limited number of speaking engagements and can be contacted through her website.

Along with Brave: A Personal Story of Healing Childhood Trauma, and the companion book, Jeannie’s Brave Childhood: Behavior and Healing through the Lens of Attachment and Trauma, Janyne is working to complete three other books in the BRAVE series. She enjoys living in and exploring the Seattle area with her husband, Scott, children, and grandchildren. Her favorite activity is to follow her GPS to “green spaces” along the coast of Puget Sound.

To Find Janyne online, visit:

Website: http://Janyne.org

Twitter: @janynetweets

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/janynemc/Janyne McConnaughey, Ph.D.Puyallup, WAjamcconnaughey@gmail.comhttps://www.janyne.org/

BRAVE: A Personal Story of Healing Childhood TraumaJeannie’s BRAVE Childhood: Behavior and Healing through the Lens of Attachment and Trauma 

https://cladach.com/brave/ Local Author: https://ppld.org/local-authors/mcconnaughey-janyne

Find out more about Janyne’s mission at https://www.janyne.org/.

Peace to you all!
Teri

Hope for Healing Newsletter: 
https://mailchi.mp/741bdf08d718/hope-for-healing-newsletter-may-2019

Book Launch Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unicornshadows/

The Healing Place Podcast: David J. Kenney – Kid Epics

Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on iTunesBlubrrySpotify, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also watch our insightful interview on YouTube.

David Kenney shares his insights on adopting traumatized children, the impact of ACEs (adverse childhood experiences), healing avenues, trauma recovery, and much more during our in-depth conversation. Thank you, David, for joining me on-air and helping others along their healing journey.

Bio:

“David J. Kenney is a seasoned speaker having presented to parent and professional groups at colleges, universities and educational in-services on topics such as healing trauma, stress management, anxiety reduction, helping children with attention deficits, behavior as a language, general parenting and achieving success in our schools.

David has been a school psychologist for over twenty-eight years in a diverse group of educational settings, from rich to poor, from one of the highest ranked schools in the state to one with much less success. He has worked in urban, suburban and rural settings. He currently teaches psychology courses at Lansing Community College.

As an undergraduate student, David was invited to the 1985 National Fairweather conference to present a program he developed using creative writing with chronic, schizophrenic patients. This project was spotlighted in the Detroit Free Press on August 30, 1985. In 1986, David graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Detroit with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and again as a Specialist in School Psychology in 1989. He was liaison to the Michigan State Board of Education from 1995 to 1997 and served as President of the Michigan Association of School Psychologists in 1997-98.

But all achievements pale when compared to raising traumatized children to a healthy maturity. Children wounded by the world have been given little reason to trust it, so there were no guarantees of successful outcomes. Through his committed efforts, Dave and Barb learned strategies to heal harmed children. His expertise and insight has been noted by colleagues, who continue to seek him out for mentoring and training.”

Find out more about David’s mission at https://www.kid-epics.com/

Peace to you all!
Teri

Hope for Healing Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/9813e51db66b/hope-for-healing-newsletter-december-2018

Book Launch Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unicornshadows/

Therapy Dog Thank You: Sammie Brings Joy to Schools

Every Tuesday morning this school year, Sammie and I have visited the kids at Terrace Park Elementary school. Sammie melts my heart as I witness her work her therapy dog magic with these sweet little humans. The idea of helping a child who is experiencing anxiety or feelings of overwhelm touches me on a soul level. I know how much small gestures of kindness and gentle acceptance meant to me as a child. That’s what helped me live through my hell and come out smiling. Sammie is helping me pay it forward with her gentle ways with kids.

Today these kids and the amazing staff at that school made my heart smile . . . and Sammie’s tail wag. A lot!! They gifted us with a new backpack (mine was falling apart and my menopause brain kept forgetting to switch over to another backpack!), bags of dog treats, much needed Dentastix (Sammie has stinky dog breath even though I brush her teeth), toys for Sam, even toys for our puppy Max . . . and noodles!!!

But, the cards. These hand-written thank yous teared me up and, again, had my heart smiling. To know my beautiful dog touches so many lives just by radiating love and giving stinky kisses and sharing hugs (she has started to put her head on a shoulder and push her head against the hugger’s head) . . . is fulfilling in ways I can’t really express in words. It’s like my soul is filled with light.

So I send out a thank you to the awesome staff who welcome us each week with smiles and dog treats in the office before we head upstairs, thank you to the amazing teachers who invite us into their classrooms, thank you to Tricia and Liz for helping me continue to learn the gifts contained in just listening and for offering Sammie a space to shine, thank you Jen Hrovat for introducing us all and giving an adorable hint on the rainbow tennis balls. And THANK YOU to the kids for loving my Sammie girl and brightening our Tuesday mornings.

I love this dog. She’s a therapy dog. She’s The Doodle with the Noodle. She’s sweet. And snuggly. And funny. And overflowing with love. She’s my best friend. And my snuggle buddy. My hiking pal. And my calming presence.

But most of all, she is love. A lot of love in a furry body.