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Teri Wellbrock - writer, speaker, podcaster, therapy dog handler, glitter-shitter

 

Hope for Healing

 

Start Your Healing Journey Here!

Thank you for joining me on this new adventure and welcome to my first Hope for Healing newsletter! I feel blessed to have you here with me. I would love and appreciate your feedback as I learn to navigate the world of newsletters, blogs, and websites. Feel free to reach out via my website contact page or through e-mail at info@teriwellbrock.com with comments, feedback, or any questions. 

 
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Defining Resilience
 
Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome adverse conditions; with healthy bonding relationships, guidance, support, and compassion as the catalysts. Basically, it entails having the capacity to bounce back from stressful or overwhelming experiences. 

What are some steps we can take to ensure we are building resilience in our lives?

 
  1. Focus on the positives. 
  2. Seek out and nurture supportive relationships.
  3. Utilize self-care strategies. 
  4. Take action steps to create positive change.
  5. Work on healthy habit formation. 
  6. Find a guiding hand to hold.
  7. Learn to become our own hero. 
  8. Be gentle with ourselves.
Over the next few months, we will dive into the details on these eight steps. I will offer suggestions, ideas, and share my personal journey from trauma to triumph utilizing resilience and self-empowerment strategies.

 
Defining ACES
The concept of ACES (adverse childhood experiences) has exploded onto the mental health scene. Thanks to an informative interview on CBS News "60 Minutes" by Oprah Winfrey of Dr. Bruce Perry, the leading expert on childhood trauma, information on ACEs and trauma-informed care is now popping up everywhere we turn.

There is a validation, of sorts, for those of us who have experienced ACEs. Having a personal history with any of the following: abuse (sexual, emotional, physical), neglect, witnessing violence, exposure to substance abuse, imprisonment of a parent, suicidal ideation, mental illness, and more, puts us at a much greater risk of developing mental disorders (such as depression), physical illnesses (i.e. diabetes), and unhealthy behaviors (for instance drug or alcohol abuse). Knowing we are not doomed to a life of struggle, however, brings much needed hope to us all. That's where trauma-informed care and resulting resilience comes into play.

"Oprah Winfrey: It's not lost on me the irony of being back in the same city, Milwaukee, where I grew up on welfare, poor. A lot of negative experiences. Sexual abuse and all of that.  What's the difference between a really bad childhood and being able to overcome that and a traumatic childhood and someone not being able to overcome that?

Dr. Bruce Perry: Really it boils down to something pretty simple. And it's relationships.

Oprah Winfrey: And a lot of people can say, "Oh, I went through that. I went through that. I was, you know, physically abused, sexually abused. And I made it. I pulled myself up by the bootstraps." What you're saying is at some point in your life there was a relationship, or a helping hand, or some kind of healing process that helped you to get where you are.

Dr. Bruce Perry: Absolutely. Somebody helped you pull up those boots."

Full interview can be found at CBS News.


According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), adverse childhood experiences are defined as:
  • Abuse
    • Emotional abuse: A parent, stepparent, or adult living in your home swore at you, insulted you, put you down, or acted in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt.
    • Physical abuse: A parent, stepparent, or adult living in your home pushed, grabbed, slapped, threw something at you, or hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured.
    • Sexual abuse: An adult, relative, family friend, or stranger who was at least 5 years older than you ever touched or fondled your body in a sexual way, made you touch his/her body in a sexual way, attempted to have any type of sexual intercourse with you.
  • Household Challenges
    • Mother treated violently: Your mother or stepmother was pushed, grabbed, slapped, had something thrown at her, kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, hit with something hard, repeatedly hit for over at least a few minutes, or ever threatened or hurt by a knife or gun by your father (or stepfather) or mother’s boyfriend.
    • Household substance abuse: A household member was a problem drinker or alcoholic or a household member used street drugs.
    • Mental illness in household: A household member was depressed or mentally ill or a household member attempted suicide.
    • Parental separation or divorce: Your parents were ever separated or divorced.
    • Criminal household member: A household member went to prison.
  • Neglect
    • Emotional neglect: Someone in your family helped you feel important or special, you felt loved, people in your family looked out for each other and felt close to each other, and your family was a source of strength and support.
    • Physical neglect: There was someone to take care of you, protect you, and take you to the doctor if you needed it, you didn’t have enough to eat, your parents were too drunk or too high to take care of you, and you had to wear dirty clothes.

Thankfully prevention strategies can be implemented to prevent ACEs from occurring. If they have happened, trauma-informed care and trauma-sensitive environments can help build resilience in those who have experienced them. 

I will be discussing preventative measures and the concepts of trauma-informed and trauma-sensitivity in future newsletters.
 
Becoming Your Own Hero: The Fire Within

I love the idea of all of us becoming our own super hereos! Self-empowerment has been crucial in my own healing journey. Learning how to "just notice" when scary feelings would surface, allowing whatever was being triggered to set itself free, and not judging my responses to it falls into the category of life-altering for me.

Another powerful concept along my healing adventure has been that of "being gentle" with myself. I remind myself on an almost daily basis that I am still learning: how to process, how to cope, how to allow, how to be comfortable in my own skin, how to release, all of those how-to's. As I learn to be at ease in the quiet spaces, a once terrifying place to be as my thoughts were filled with painful memories and their resulting fears, I found myself living a more tranquil existence.

I am on a mission to create a self-empowerment super hero course. I am contemplating all of the details now. I'd love some feedback on the names I am tossing around in my head:

Name it. Claim it. Heal it. 

Hope for Healing - learn how YOU can become your own hero.

Become Your Own Hero - a course on self-empowerment.

Who knows . . . maybe I'll do all three (eventually!)

Stay tuned for further details!
Coping Strategy
 
I want to share one coping strategy a month. These are strategies I use (or have used) in my own life as I travel the healing journey. I hope they bring you tranquility, as well!

Coloring. Yep. As in coloring books and a cup full of markers, colored pencils, and crayons. My favorites are the calm and mindfulness books. I make it an almost daily practice to color while praying or practicing mindfulness. 

Here is my latest collection:

 

 

Until next month, remember to be gentle with yourself!
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Copyright © 2018 Teri Wellbrock, All rights reserved.


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