Empowered Ease
Welcome to Empowered Ease, hosted by Jenn Ohlinger—a holistic coach, founder of The Moonflower Collective, and critical care nurse dedicated to revolutionizing women's health. Join us each week as we delve into the transformative stories of healers, health practitioners, and everyday women like you, challenging the patriarchal framework through empowerment and holistic healing. Through engaging storytelling, our podcast highlights each woman's unique journey toward embracing their feminine gifts, trusting their body, and prioritizing their mind, body, and soul. Discover how by empowering ourselves, we can pave the way for stronger relationships and a more balanced world.
Empowered Ease
Hannah Ciampini; Intensive Therapy: Transforming Trauma in Fewer Sessions
Hi!! I would love to hear from you!
Trauma doesn't fit neatly into a standard 50-minute therapy session – so why should our approach to healing? Hannah Ciampini shares how EMDR intensive therapy breaks the traditional model by offering longer, more focused sessions that help clients process trauma efficiently rather than dragging healing out over months or years.
My guest, Hannah, explains why the wall that trauma creates between short-term and long-term memory keeps us stuck in fight-or-flight, and how EMDR helps break down that barrier. "It's not that certain memories are ever going to be okay," she notes, "but you're making it okay and safe for your body by acknowledging you're safe now."
Our conversation takes a powerful turn when discussing medical trauma and chronic illness – a specialty Hannah developed through both professional experience and personal struggle with autoimmune disease. Women particularly face an uphill battle against medical gaslighting that compounds physical suffering with psychological trauma.
Most compelling is the emerging research connecting trauma and chronic illness through inflammation pathways. "Trauma keeps your body inflamed, which is already an issue with chronic illness and autoimmune conditions," Hannah explains. "So trauma can really light those symptoms on fire." This understanding makes trauma healing an essential component of physical recovery.
Whether you're struggling with unprocessed trauma, navigating a chronic illness journey, or simply curious about innovative therapy approaches, this episode offers a roadmap to reconnecting with your body's wisdom and healing potential. Ready to transform your relationship with trauma? This conversation is your starting point.
Hannah is a LCSW—a therapist, EMDR intensive specialist, and entrepreneur at heart. I own Hello Calm Therapy, my private practice where I offer EMDR intensives to help clients move through trauma, anxiety, and relational wounds quicker than traditional therapy and in a more tailored and focused way. I work virtually with clients in Florida and Alabama, and also welcome folks in person at my cozy office in Pensacola, FL.
Alongside my clinical work, I recently created Blueprint & Bloom, a coaching business where I help fellow therapists turn their big ideas into thriving practices. I absolutely love the business-building side of things—creating offers that feel aligned, finding ease in the process, and watching other therapists step confidently into entrepreneurship.
Whether I’m in a therapy session or a coaching call, my goal is always the same: to hold space for deep transformation and remind people of what’s possible when they trust themselves.
FIND HANNAH HERE
Hellocalmtherapy.com
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Okay, welcome to Empowered Ease. My guest today is Hannah Champigny. She is an EMDR intensive therapist and business coach helping other therapists build their practices, their dream practices. So welcome, Hannah.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1:I'm excited you're here too. So, hannah, tell me a little bit about yourself and your practice to start with, so we know a little bit about what you do.
Speaker 2:Sure. So I own Hello Calm Therapy, which is my private practice. I started it a few years ago. I was doing group practice work and decided I was ready to kind of build my own thing.
Speaker 2:Group practice work and decided I was ready to kind of build my own thing, so I went into solo private practice work, built up that kind of from the ground up, which was a venture in itself trying to build a private practice in a small community. So I learned a lot about marketing that they definitely do not teach you in school. Since then I have really focused on my niche and kind of zoned in on that, which is the EMDR intensive therapy. So instead of offering the typical 50 minute model of therapy, where you come in and we kind of like poke at some of the concerns or traumas that you're wanting to address and then you leave and come back next week and we do that for the next year, the intensive model is designed to be a little bit quicker paced, so you come in for two hours or three hours and we really hit the ground running and work through as much as we can in that chunk of time so that you get to feeling better faster and you know now versus months down the road.
Speaker 1:Oh cool. So you're spending a little bit more time, investing a little more. Are you seeing people less often when you do that, or not as often.
Speaker 2:Um, when I was doing individual work, it was definitely like a weekly thing or a bi-weekly thing, so I was seeing people pretty consistently and I had people that I would see for a year or two years or you know, depending on what they're working on, and with intensives it really has shifted away from that and is more designed to address your main concerns coming in.
Speaker 2:So I have some people that may say, hey, I've got these four things that I really want to work through Maybe it's four traumatic memories that I really want to work through and they come in and we do our intensive sessions and work through those and then, once they feel like they're at a good place, they're kind of done with me. Now I will help them get established with a individual therapist. If they want to do that like hourly session, check in with somebody, or if they're already seeing a therapist, I work a lot with other therapists and kind of take on clients for adjunct work, so they'll see their primary therapist for their regular work and then come to me just for intensives and then go back to their original therapist. So I do a lot of that as well.
Speaker 1:So when you say intensives, are you just doing the EMDR or do you do other correct things as well?
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I mostly right now I'm just doing intensives. Now I also am starting a second business that is coaching therapists on how to build a private practice, especially building intensive work. It doesn't have to be EMDR. They could be trained in cognitive behavioral therapy and want to work intensively in that that is intensive, Just mean like the timeframe, like that you're.
Speaker 1:it means like that, that chunk of time that you're committing to the person and when you use that chunk of time you're doing the EM, the MDR, other therapists that you train to do that. They may have a different model, but it's just like that. People are kind of getting over things and moving on instead of like continuing like a practice, like you're seeing someone like for years, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, intensives could really be anything. I have you know colleagues that will do parenting intensives where they sit down with parents to help them work through that's appropriate Parenting a kid? That's neurodivergent or you know.
Speaker 1:Whatever it may be, I have some milestone is coming up. That's a struggle which I think is awesome. Amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it can really be, and this is a really. It's just like a fancy way of saying, like we're meeting for longer periods of time so that, like I can help you today versus like six weeks from now, we can hit the ground running in a large chunk of time instead of just 50 minutes.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so, like when you're getting into something with someone, they're not like well, we got 10 minutes left, how are we going to wrap up?
Speaker 2:And you're like what yeah, no, and that happened especially like for me. I'm EMDR trained, so that's what I practice intensively. But I, you know, there would be sessions when I worked in the 50 minute model where people would come in for their 50 minute session. We spend 10 to 15 minutes checking in seeing how things are going, how things been since the last session, that kind of stuff. Then we start talking about jumping back into EMDR. Well, now we've already lost 15 minutes of our 50 minutes. So then we have this little chunk of time left to actually reprocess things. And then it's like, okay, we'll save about 10 minutes at the end too to wrap things up and make sure that you know you're in a good space before you leave. So really you're kind of close to 30 minutes, yeah.
Speaker 2:So a lot of times I'd have clients that either I would run over sessions because I was like I can't let you leave a session with something that's unprocessed and raw, you know, like who wants to do that. So I would just kind of like continue over and ask for forgiveness later to the person that was waiting, or we would have to just try to contain things as best as we could until they came in. Next week we would have to just try to contain things as best as we could until they came in next week. So then over the next week they've got this trauma that they've kind of brought to the surface and not really finished processing, and that's not fun either. So, yeah, I found out about the intensive model. I was like, oh my God, this is like a huge light bulb moment, like why have I not been doing this the whole time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that. So okay for people who don't know what. I've just learned what EMDR is, because I was telling Hannah that. I'm starting it on Friday this week with my trauma therapist, but can you explain that we are taking a memory that is associated with trauma for you and reprocessing that in your brain.
Speaker 2:So when we have something traumatic happen, I think of it kind of like a wall. A wall comes up that blocks that memory from being able to go into your long-term memory, where we kind of set it aside and don't get triggered by it. This wall comes up and keeps it in your short-term memory, which is why you remain triggered by it. So VR helps reprocess that memory and move it to your long-term memory so that those triggers aren't there. You can acknowledge that that memory happened in the past. It's not happening right now. You're safe, now all that good stuff. So we're really shifting it back in your brain so that those triggers and those symptoms are not occurring anymore and your body can kind of get out of that fight or flight.
Speaker 1:That's what I was going to say. So, like when something does trigger, you're not immediately in fight or flight. Yes, which for people who have trauma. It's not like you read, you don't remember it, you reliver it because you get triggered back into that like full experience.
Speaker 2:You feel that in your body and it's like OK, yeah, and a lot of times that's you know, when people come in and do an EMDR session, a lot of what I'll hear when they come back, is like I was talking to my sister about that memory and I didn't cry, Like she asked me about it and I didn't immediately start having a panic attack talking about it, Like I was able to tell her what happened and it just felt like this thing that happened, but it's okay now, you know, and I always tell people like it's not that you're. There are going to be certain memories, unfortunately, that we have that are never going to be okay, that they happened, but you're making it okay and safe for your body and kind of acknowledging like I'm, I'm safe now. It's not okay that that person did that thing to me. That's still messed up, but I'm safe now and I'm in control that's still messed up, but I'm safe now and I'm in control.
Speaker 1:I love that. How helpful too, cause I feel like a lot of people are stuck in stuff like that, right Cause we have trauma for all kinds of reasons. So I love like before we got on here, we were talking about a bunch of stuff, but one of the things I you said was that you specialize with medical traumas and chronic illnesses. So tell me a little bit about that, cause, like as an ICU nurse, the medical trauma thing I mean that's that shit is real, like you get treated like a body sometimes, which is necessary in certain moments, but the trauma of it and I'm actually have had someone on, I think, her upside is going to come out a week before yours. We're talking about birth trauma, because how many women experienced that? And it's just thrown to the side as well.
Speaker 2:So yes, absolutely. And that's kind of how it's funny, because I didn't really plan when I started doing EMDR to specialize in medical or chronic illness trauma. It kind of just happened. I started getting more and more clients that fit that bill and working with them and was like this is really fascinating to me and I like helping them through it. And a lot of the clients that I'm getting fall within the chronic illness side of things and have unfortunately experienced like medical gaslighting or just not getting services at all because you know it's fine, you're fine, whatever. And so I had a lot of women that I was working with in particular that fit with that.
Speaker 2:And then I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease two years ago and experienced it for myself and was like, holy shit, this sucks Like, this is like going to different. You know specialists and they're like oh, you're fine, You're young, you have a kid, so that's why you're tired, your hair's falling out, because you're anxious Like just like the most bizarre things, and you're like, is anybody listening? Like how do I get help? And it wasn't until I started seeing a holistic doctor that I started like getting the diagnosis and working on it and more of like a naturopathic way.
Speaker 2:So with all of that, I've really zoned in on helping other women with that, because that's the story that I hear like time and time again is like I've gone to five different doctors. None of them believe that anything is wrong. They don't even want to do labs Like they just tell me I'm fine. They diagnose me with borderline personality disorder because I cried, like just the craziest stuff. And that's traumatic in itself, like feeling like your body is failing you in a way and then you can't get help because everybody just thinks you're crazy. So I've really zoned in on that within the last couple of years and that's been so powerful for women. But also sad that it's even happening to begin with. So sad it's so sad I can't it's.
Speaker 1:I think it's more prevalent among women and especially with chronic illnesses, which is absolutely ridiculous as a nurse, like there's something I've shifted about. So everybody always calls me, you know, and they're like yeah, my kid has a rasher, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This happened to my sister, you know. Everyone's like give me your advice. And one thing I've started telling people right off the bat. I'm like did the doctor take you seriously? Did he listen to you? Cause, if the answer is no, find another one.
Speaker 1:Like that's where I start, like, did he listen to you? Did he make you feel like you were ridiculous? Or did he hear you out? Did he tell you you were wrong? Because, like that, that's where I'm at these days, cause that's where you start, honestly, which is sad, but it's the reality of life, and if you want to be taken care of, while you have to be going to someone who takes you seriously, yes, and that's you know.
Speaker 2:It's sad that a lot of times like that is the case, like you have to ask you know, like did they listen? And a lot of times the answer is no, you know, or I. It's funny because even before I started working with EMDR and chronic illness, I worked a lot with parents at one point and did kind of infant mental health stuff. Of times parents would come in just like distraught because they're like this thing is going on with my kid and I talked to the doctor and they just said that I'm like being a paranoid mom and it's because I'm a new parent and it's because the and it's like, even if it is those things like, even if there it ends up being like you're just an overly protective parent that's anxious, they can still treat it like educate them, then you don't have anything to be worried about If you're educated.
Speaker 1:That's how I feel. Okay, here's your opportunity. Then here's some information. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's you know. I still do see kids for autism evaluations and a lot of times that's how parents come in for those too. It's like you know. They come in and they're finally getting the testing done and they're just like in tears because they're like I've been telling the doctor for four years that something is going on. My kid could have gotten treatment way sooner, but they didn't think it was that big of an issue. They thought I was just being dramatic. They thought I was being paranoid, whatever, so they ignored it. And now all of a sudden, my kid is seven and nonverbal and they're like oh, that is an issue you know.
Speaker 1:So it's like wait a minute yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like I've been telling you this the whole time, you know so it's. I definitely have zoned in more with the EMDR for adults that have chronic illness, but realistically it's in all aspects. It's with parents, it's with kids. You know it's everybody's experiencing it.
Speaker 1:My most popular episode I've had so far is with it's a local nonprofit here in St Louis but it's called Lado Ferns and they are a nonprofit for chronic illnesses for adults who fall between like not being sick but not being sick enough for support, which is so many of the chronic illness suffers. So they do really cool stuff like help people find resources and fill out paperwork to get support and they also do like body doubling sessions and help people do their taxes and stuff like that, which is so awesome. But that's my most popular episode and I think that's a testament to like how common this really is. Like a lot of my like I coach women through burnout. Yeah, cause I, as an ICU nurse, got very, very burnt out at one point, like had health effects and all that. But many of my clients are have are chronic illnesses Cause I coach just women. So many of them are chronic illness sufferers from years of stuffing their emotions.
Speaker 2:It's so prevalent right now and, like I think, for so many different reasons. But I saw something the other day that was talking about chronic illness in women and how it you're like 80% more likely to have a chronic illness as a woman than men do, and I'm like that makes sense, because if you tell, like a man, about half of like the chronic illness symptoms that women experience, they're like what are you talking about? Like you mean you're fatigued or you have hair loss or you have gi issues or you know like whatever it is, they're like I'm fine, like yeah, you know, so it's. And I think that doesn't help either. A lot of doctors that you see are male, and so they're like you're fine, it's okay.
Speaker 1:It's like. No, it's not. Yeah, Please listen to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's it. It also you know the nonprofit idea and how they're kind of running it. That's something that I feel like we need everywhere because, like here we don't have anything like that, and For me it took me going through three different doctors and then deciding I'm just going to find a holistic doctor to treat me, so I pay her out of pocket because she can't bill insurance.
Speaker 2:They won't pay for a holistic doctor, so I pay her out of pocket to do all my labs and help me, like supplement, and do things like that. And not everybody can do that. That's not feasible for most people. So it's like, did they just not get treatment? Or like, where do we draw the line?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, when I went through burnout I had, I went to so many doctors and all I was given was pills and it wasn't until I went like the holistic route and did coaching and all of that stuff that I finally was able to heal. And all of that is out of pocket. And even like now, perimenopause has been a pretty big thing in my life and to get, I mean, I went to a traditional medicine doctor and they're like tested, like whatever basic stuff. They do that where they're like, oh yeah, you're not even in the range but like if I'm pretty positive, if I went and paid for the very expensive testing, I would have much, many things in the rain.
Speaker 2:Okay, I feel it. I would like light up.
Speaker 1:Right, but it's very, very expensive to go see those people, and none of it's covered by insurance, though Totally worth it. But you know it's just like it's not an option for everything, especially if you've got more than one thing going on. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's you know. What you're describing is exactly how it was for me. Like it was like I went to endocrinologists they're supposed to work with these things a lot and I had family members that were getting I'm diagnosed with Hashimoto's. I had family members that were diagnosed before me and I was like, hey, I've got a mom, a sister, an uncle, an aunt like all of these people have this. Got a mom, a sister, an uncle, an aunt like all of these people have this. And I have the same symptoms. I'm pretty sure I have it. And there's three different endocrinologists were like, uh, no, you're fine, okay. And then I went to this holistic doctor and she did a full thyroid panel and was like your antibodies are like through the roof. What do you mean? Like they shouldn't be this high. And I was like, yeah, try to tell them, you know.
Speaker 1:But yeah, and the sad thing is like it doesn't wouldn't be anything more work for a doctor to order that panel. It's just, I think, like probably under education, and just you know what I mean. Like, yeah, because it's like you, don't he just not who draws your blood anyway, or who results it, or?
Speaker 2:any of that, why is it a big deal for you to order it? Yeah, it's very interesting, like how things are set up, and I think it's also hard, because if you come in with too much information then it just looks like you're anxious.
Speaker 1:Or you're seeking, because that's a big one, like I mean that's like a very, very common word thrown around in health care and I mean there are people that are, but sometimes, like you know, there's a reason. You know what I mean. Like, yeah, he's seeking and his legs riding off. Can we give him some nuts? I'd be seeking too if my leg was riding off. He made poor choices, but yeah, and that's.
Speaker 2:You know, that was kind of like by Dr Three. That was kind of the vibe that I was getting, was like I had like notes and was like would you like for me to tell you all of the things you know? And I'd been doing my own research because nobody was listening. And she gave me a handout on anxiety and was like I think this is what you're experiencing. Are you familiar with it?
Speaker 2:And I started laughing and was like, yeah, I'm familiar, I'm a therapist. And she was like oh, okay, well, okay, and that was kind of it, like she was just like I don't, I don't know what to say from here. I was like okay, well not hyper-focusing?
Speaker 1:I'm frustrated. I'm taking this seriously. Will you Not hyper-focusing? I'm frustrated. I'm taking this seriously, will you?
Speaker 2:I was like yes, I know what anxiety it is. Thank you Like. Can we move on to the next thing? Like yes, I'm anxious because I don't know that you're going to listen to me.
Speaker 1:Right, and I'm tired of doing this. I have a life. I'd like to get back to living, can you?
Speaker 2:help me and that is what so many women come in complaining about is like I am trying to be taken seriously and it really messes with your belief in yourself, which is something that we work on with EMDR is those negative core beliefs, like I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, I'm not safe, my body is failing me, like all of those things you know, those negative beliefs. Nobody believes me. All of those things you know, those negative beliefs, nobody believes me. And a lot of times when we have these experiences in the medical field, we get kind of broken down and eventually start kind of believing like I must be crazy, I must be pill seeking, I must be paranoid, I, you know, I must have borderline personality disorder, like all of these things about me that people are saying must be true because nobody is treating me.
Speaker 1:So that must be it yeah, and with like I mean, I do a lot of work with like good girl conditioning too, and it's like that's already a struggle. Yes, it's already a struggle.
Speaker 2:It's already a struggle we don't need any help for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no wonder people get shut down and discouraged.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely. So that's where EMDR really comes into play for the medical trauma and the chronic illness stuff is working on those negative beliefs and helping get back to a place where you can feel empowered to take your health stuff back into your control and advocate for yourself in a medical setting.
Speaker 1:So where are you practice? You live in Florida, so you practice in Florida. Is there anywhere else that you practice that you see clients in?
Speaker 2:Yes, so I'm in Pensacola, florida, and I have an office here that I see clients in person in. But I am licensed for the state of Florida and Alabama with my LCSW, so I see clients virtually throughout Florida or Alabama. And then I also have clients that sometimes want to travel to me, which is an option. As long as you are in one of those states I can see you. So if you are from California but you want to travel to the beach in Florida, then you're welcome to and we can work together that way. And then I've even had, you know, people in South Florida that travel up to do intensives or work with me in person in that way, so that you know they can kind of get that connection and not have to rely on video.
Speaker 1:Cool, that's awesome. So you're also a business coach, so tell me a little bit about that. How did that come about and how do you? How does that work?
Speaker 2:So the business coaching is a little bit newer. I'm super excited about it, but it came about because I started. When I started my private practice a few years ago and went out on my own, I kind of just figured things out myself as I went. I did, you know, buy trainings here and there to kind of help guide me a little bit, but for the most part it was just like doing my own research and learning how to market and learning how to find my niche and like all of these things and it was exhausting but I've been doing here and it's so much.
Speaker 1:I was a nurse before Okay, I had no technical complete shift.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, I had no technical complete shift. Yeah yeah, that's, it's exhausting and you know it's feasible. I mean, obviously you can do it. I did it.
Speaker 2:But I realized after talking to a lot of colleagues that a lot of them want the same things but they have no idea where to start. And so they'll come to me and they're like how'd you do this, how did you do that? Like, where did you find this information? And so I've kind of like become like the information board for a lot of colleagues in the area and they'll come to me and ask these questions, which is always fun because I like talking about it.
Speaker 2:But I was like you know what I should. I've got my private practice down pat. You know, I know what I'm doing with it. I've got it where I want it. I should look into starting up the coaching side of things and start offering this stuff to people. And, like they're already asking for the information, like what if I put it all in one place for them and say here you go, you know? So this year I started working on establishing the coaching business and getting that up and going, and I want to. The goal is to have one-on-one coaching and then some coaching intensive sessions, so let's meet for chunks of times for that, and then also have some workbooks and courses and things like that.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I love it. It's really hard to break into, like entrepreneurship. It's like the coolest thing. I love it. I wish everyone was into it, because there's so much to do and it's like where all the good happens for me. You know what I mean and, like the holistic health world, there's so much good happening on that end. But it's such a learning curve and it changes all the time and, depending on, like, where you are and what you're doing, everything's different. Like even if you're like advertising and social media, all of them are different and everything, like all the systems you're using and all the options. It's very overwhelming. So it's definitely nice to have someone to help steer you.
Speaker 2:Definitely. And that's, I think, what kind of dawned on me was like I I do work in a smaller area Pensacola is not very big and marketing something like intensives in a small area, that was like a whole different piece, because a lot of people in my area are not offering intensives at all. I think right now I'm actually the only one offering intensives, so a lot of them don't even know what they are. Think right now I'm actually the only one offering intensive, so a lot of them don't even know what they are. And if they do, they're like scared to offer that price, because intensives do come with a higher price.
Speaker 2:You're doing a little bit more work in the beginning versus spacing it out, and a lot of times therapists are like I don't know if I can do that, I don't know if anybody would pay for it, like I don't know what that would look like, and so they get intimidated. And that was kind of where it was like okay, I've got to like put this all in writing and like map it out so that I can just say, like here, here's how you do it. Like if I did it in a small area, you can do it. And it will work.
Speaker 2:You just have to stick with it, and they don't teach you that stuff in school. Unless you were in school for marketing, you don't learn this stuff and it is a lot of like trial and error and figuring out as you go, so it can be overwhelming for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah. I've hired a couple of business coaches and it's still overwhelming following other people's stuff, cause you don't always align with like I'm not that person. So like I take some of what works for them, but some of them I'm like, hey, I'm not that person. So like I take some of what works for them, but some of it I'm like, hey, that's not really me.
Speaker 1:So it's interesting, so I love that you're offering that. So if people are interested in coaching with you or interested in seeking, like, yeah, the intensives with you, how do they find you so?
Speaker 2:my private practice website is hellomTherapycom. You can book a free consult call with me so we can kind of talk about is an intensive right for you? What are you looking for? What are you kind of hoping to get out of it?
Speaker 2:I also, with my consult calls, I like to send a questionnaire that is designed to help you guide or kind of get a guide on how many intensive hours you would want to do, because a lot of people don't know, like, do I want to do four hours on one day or is that too much?
Speaker 2:You know? So I have a little questionnaire that I'll send people and say, hey, like answer these things and that can kind of help us decide how much you might want or need. So that's how they can reach me for EMDR intensives and kind of get more information on that. And then my coaching business is blueprint and bloom and they can reach me through email at hello, at blueprint and bloomcom. So either of those I, the coaching I kind of keep open to anybody that is in that mental health space. It doesn't have to be for EMDR intensives and it doesn't have to be an LCSW specifically. It can be anybody that's kind of working in that space and wants guidance on, like how do I offer these services Whatever I decide to do with my practice? How do I offer that and get it going and build that private practice?
Speaker 1:Awesome. I always ask every guest that comes on this. But what is your go-to like self-care? Whenever you're getting overwhelmed or things are out of control, what do you do to feel like balanced or regain control?
Speaker 2:That is a good one.
Speaker 2:So right now, because the weather is great in Florida it'll be too hot for this soon, but right now, while the weather is great, I have really been focusing on slow walking, which I feel like always sounds like a cliche, like go for a walk, you'll feel better.
Speaker 2:But I like to do more like mindfulness walks. So when I go out and walk I'll pick somewhere that is really pretty for me, that I like to see, so maybe the beach or a park or whatever, somewhere with like a really pretty scenery, and I try to focus on what's around me and kind of do like the five senses technique that some people may be familiar with, where we're like looking around and seeing like what are five things that I see, four things that I hear, three things that I smell, you know kind of going through all of those. So I really focus on slowing down and using those senses to be mindful and bring myself kind of back to present moment. And that has been like super helpful lately because I have been so busy. So I do stay kind of overwhelmed and whatever when I'm juggling all the things and that is what forces me to like relax and slow down and step away from everything.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. I was wondering if you're going to say walking on the beach too, but because walking in general is like the healthiest thing anyone can do for themselves. They like. The more they study it they might. There's like sensors in your feet that directly like relate to like cardiac sensors in your heart. So it's crazy, but when I lived in Florida it was like one of my favorite things to do. It was like I worked on this trauma unit and I was like a bad. I was like my ex-husband and I were like the end of our relationship there and it was so stressful. But I remember like I would get up but I couldn't sleep.
Speaker 2:Like five in the morning I just drive to the beach and no one was out there and just walk and like look what had washed up in the tide pools and barefoot, and it was just like the best, peaceful, like grounding, like like I feel like a lot of times, like when you say like go for a walk or like walk on the beach, like people are like oh yeah, okay, you know, but it's like when you do it, you feel it like you know that shift, like just being in the sun in general, like you need sunlight, but also being outside and grounding the sound and the air and all of it.
Speaker 2:So right now, like I said it, you know, soon enough in Florida it will be way too hot for me to do that, but right now we're like in the seventies and just like chilling, so and it's like beautiful and sunny. So I've been taking full advantage of that while I can, and then we'll reevaluate if we have to when it gets a thousand degrees outside. But right, great, great I love that.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful. Um, is there anything else you want to add or leave us with before we go?
Speaker 2:I would say my biggest thing for anybody that is struggling with chronic illness or medical trauma or anything that kind of falls within that realm, is listen to your gut and definitely you know once obviously you have gotten in with a professional that is listening to you and taking you seriously. Do look at doing trauma work, because there are so many studies now that have come out about the connection between trauma and autoimmune issues, which is interesting.
Speaker 2:But I mean it talks a lot about how, like trauma keeps your body inflamed, which is already an issue with chronic illness and autoimmune. So we're already inflamed, we don't need extra inflammation. So trauma can really kind of light those symptoms on fire. And I think you know, the more and more research comes out around it, the more we're going to see that like you need to do the therapy work in order to really help the autoimmune and the chronic illness symptoms and the healing process, because they all kind of go hand in hand. The body keeps the score and you can't really out treat it with just the medicine side of things. You got to do some of the background stuff and get rid of that, that inner trauma stuff that's holding you back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all very interconnected is what we learn, like the more and more it's crazy. One thing I love about like EMDR and um therapies like this is like that. I think you know we're not always aware of what our trauma is and sometimes we experience trauma before we're even old enough to like have words or have memories, but they're still stored. Like I know you referenced, the body keeps the score which people talk reference all the time on here, which I love it's great book, but it's so true Like it gives you a chance to cause like talk therapy is great and helps with some things.
Speaker 1:Like nothing against talk therapy, but there's some things you can't talk through or you don't have words for, or maybe they were just so horrific, like there are not words and that's okay, there shouldn't be words for. Or maybe they were just so horrific, like there are not words and that's okay, there shouldn't be words for things that are like that. But you can reprocess the way your body's responding to it and like kind of let it lose its grip on you a little bit, which you know, absolutely, and that's, you know.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people, like you said, it happens before they even have the words, which I do a lot of pre-verbal trauma, emdr, which is crazy, but it's worth getting into because we do have traumas that happen before we have that language to explain them and they're still affecting us. We just don't always have the words to describe it, you know, and so I think that's really cool to see somebody work through those things that have just been holding them back and they didn't realize they were there. And, like you said, you know, talk therapy is great and it has its place.
Speaker 2:But when you are experiencing trauma and triggers from that trauma, sometimes going in and talking about them, the traumas and these like little, bite-sized pieces, is almost more triggering because you just brought it to the surface and you did nothing with it and now it's just like front of your mind and you can't. You know, you've probably learned how to compartmentalize it on some level and now you're not because you brought it to the front. So sometimes it's more triggering to try to just like talk your way through it. And that's where I get a lot of people that work with me and their other therapists to you know, do the trauma work, but then they go back to them for the coping skills and the regular talk, therapy and all of those things that they still need but got to get through the trauma.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 1:I love that I'm doing like this chakra series right now, like workshop, and I love like the crossover of like mental health, like you know, the Maslow's hierarchy of needs and how we our development with the chakra system.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of like oh yeah, similarities and, you know, physical like the chakra is very physical, but if you take the like emotional aspect they fit together pretty well. And it's so interesting, like when things are developed, the kinds of traumas that happen like just like silly stuff. Like you know, you maybe weren't, weren't a good eater when you were little, so you had a little bit of like food issues, you know. So now, like you have trauma related around food or like weird tendencies around food you don't understand, or you know, just like a birth trauma that happened when you were born that you don't even know and you have like you know what I mean. There's just so much. And then there's like the other stuff that we all know about and like can't get past. But then there's all this other like tiny stuff that like maybe your parents had a trauma happen in their lives and we were not as comforting to you at a point when you were a baby, and it's nobody's fault.
Speaker 2:They had shit going on and that's something that you are responding to physically you know, yes, it's interesting, like how many things we can have going on and not even realize you know what, what it is or where it's coming from.
Speaker 2:But I mean, like you said, some of them are just starting so young and like I've, you know, worked with people that their parents have had a horrible time like the first year and you know that caused some trauma. Or I've had, you know, some that like mom struggled during delivery and that caused some trauma and they're like and that is like fascinating to work with, like somebody like that's going back and experiencing and working through a birth trauma is just like it's so abstract but it is so interesting.
Speaker 1:Plus, we all know so much more now about that stuff and who even knows what we're wrong about still but we know so much more about that than we've ever known. So, like the things that were done, the practices back then some of them probably caused trauma that they thought they were doing the right thing. I mean, there's a lot of fault, necessarily Nothing to blame, it's just what they thought was best. And guess what? It wasn't. Oopsies.
Speaker 2:And that's, I think a lot of people have to, you know, get to that place where they acknowledge that there is a trauma there and it doesn't mean that anybody is to blame. I think a lot of times we feel guilty if we blame mom for having a shitty delivery, because it's like, well, it wasn't mom's fault.
Speaker 1:And it's like, yeah, we know that, we know it's not mom's fault.
Speaker 2:You know like, yeah, you're trying to protect somebody else, yeah, Like you're, yeah, You're trying to, you know kind of protect mom. And like she, she didn't do anything wrong. And it's like, yeah, no, definitely she did it, but that doesn't change the fact that it was traumatic. So both things can be true she can be great and you can still be traumatized, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, postpartum all that shit's real. Oh yeah, definitely. Well, this has been so fun, hannah. I learned so much. I'm so happy you came on here. Yeah, thanks for having me. This was a blast. Yeah, anything else you want to leave us with before we go? I think that is it. Well, enjoy the beach. It was so nice talking with you, thanks. Have a good rest of your day, me too.
