Structure & Scars
Structure & Scars is a trauma-informed podcast for anyone navigating the emotional aftermath of life’s hardest chapters. Hosted by Nikki Hensler Gordon, a licensed trauma therapist and crisis response expert, each episode explores themes of recovery, resilience, and regulation — without toxic positivity or clinical jargon.
Through grounded storytelling and practical insights, Structure & Scars highlights what it means to heal in real life — one part at a time. Whether you're a trauma survivor, clinician, or someone trying to understand mental health more deeply, this podcast offers a steady voice in the storm.
Structure & Scars
The Weight We Carry: Memorial Day and the People Who Never Came Home
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Memorial Day isn’t about burgers or sales—it’s about grief. This episode honors the ones who didn’t come home, and the weight we carry for them.
In this special Memorial Day episode of Structure & Scars, Nikki reflects on what this day truly means—not as a kickoff to summer, but as a moment of collective grief, memory, and reverence.
Drawing from her own family’s legacy of service, years spent leading community tributes, and her clinical work with veterans and first responders, Nikki unpacks the co-opting of Memorial Day, the emotional weight behind the Missing Man Table, and why calling them “heroes” often misses the point.
These weren’t superhumans. They were kids who did what needed to be done—and did it scared.
This is not a light episode.
But maybe it’s not supposed to be.
Structure & Scars
Unfiltered dialogue about the structures that shape us.
✉️ Continue the conversation: nikki@perspectivestherapywi.com