Blog, Heal, Teach–Feedback and Photos

Just want to share some feedback from  two of the participants in my workshop Blog, Heal, Teach at the Carver College of Medicine in Iowa and some photos. This response is from Dr. David G. Thoele: I really enjoyed this presentation and am now filled with ideas for starting my own blog in the future. Wendy [...]

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Immersion!

Three days of intense medical humanities immersion at The Examined Life Conference, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa in Iowa City!  What fun! There’s so much to say. Here’s a snapshot. First, the friendships I made are  the most precious take-away. The support that I received was so heartwarming and generous. Another big gift [...]

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Wind

I was walking late night, the breeze lifting my hair, lifting my hair from my forehead. I was walking late night, the breeze lifting a weight from my shoulders. A weight was carried for me. I was cared about by the wind, talking to me in the trees, the trees, tall black silhouettes, held air [...]

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Many have PTSD but don’t know it

When we think of PTSD, we often associate it with combat vets returning from war. But I have come to realize that PTSD stems from a wide range of circumstances, conditions, and life experiences. PTSD is what I have from an infant surgery, possibly without anesthesia. PTSD is what people may have when they’ve been [...]

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The Healing Art of Writing

What an incredible reading I participated in at Open Secret bookstore in San Rafael, California this past Saturday night. Some of us published in the anthology The Healing Art of Writing, Volume One read to a super  supportive audience. David Watts, one of the editors as well as a contributor, introduced the event, making everyone [...]

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A Time for Sea Creature

I had the most wonderful blogpost in mind for this past Saturday morning. Just one more read-through of the article Friday night and…………….. Not so fast. Snail mail came early Friday afternoon, along with the letter that I had hoped I would never see—my rejection letter from the University of Nebraska American Lives Series. My [...]

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2 poems

Post PTS Me Will the real me please stand up! No, not that hypervigilant rabbit. The real Wendy No, not that self-effacing nobody. The real Wendy Not the one who reaches out to others in learned helplessness. Where is Wendy free of trauma? Is there such a one? Can I ever truly know me, sans [...]

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The Mystery of the Missing Information

I feel my heart rate increasing, like a detective getting closer to the whereabouts of the culprit—the current way in which the chemistry of my brain works due to the trauma of infant surgery without anesthesia. I just read a paper entitled, “Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Early Trauma” by Dr. Janina Fisher, a [...]

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To Form a Question

Sometimes, in order to ask a question one needs vocabulary–amygdala, neurobiology, the biochemistry of trauma–phrases that position tongue in mouth. Sometimes, exposure to an idea must be repeated before one can edge to the lip of the platform and sail off into the water below. Again and again, we step to the ledge, pause, wait, [...]

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“Trauma Therapy: Healing and Hope”

I just finished watching the series of TV Shows on the Freedomscalling.org website that I introduced in my last post. I REALLY enjoyed them and learned so much. What was especially affirming for me was the last segment entitled “Trauma Therapy: Healing and Hope.” Traumatologist Margaret Vasquez details the system of healing that she works [...]

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