April 21, 2025 • 41 mins
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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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Okay, welcome to Empowered Ease.
My guest today is HannahChampigny.
She is an EMDR intensivetherapist and business coach
helping other therapists buildtheir practices, their dream
practices.
So welcome, Hannah.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thank you, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I'm excited you're here too.
So, hannah, tell me a littlebit about yourself and your
practice to start with, so weknow a little bit about what you
do.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Sure.
So I own Hello Calm Therapy,which is my private practice.
I started it a few years ago.
I was doing group practice workand decided I was ready to kind
of build my own thing.
Group practice work and decidedI was ready to kind of build my
own thing, so I went into soloprivate practice work, built up
that kind of from the ground up,which was a venture in itself
(00:52):
trying to build a privatepractice in a small community.
So I learned a lot aboutmarketing that they definitely
do not teach you in school.
Since then I have reallyfocused on my niche and kind of
zoned in on that, which is theEMDR intensive therapy.
So instead of offering thetypical 50 minute model of
(01:14):
therapy, where you come in andwe kind of like poke at some of
the concerns or traumas thatyou're wanting to address and
then you leave and come backnext week and we do that for the
next year, the intensive modelis designed to be a little bit
quicker paced, so you come infor two hours or three hours and
we really hit the groundrunning and work through as much
(01:35):
as we can in that chunk of timeso that you get to feeling
better faster and you know nowversus months down the road.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Oh cool.
So you're spending a little bitmore time, investing a little
more.
Are you seeing people lessoften when you do that, or not
as often.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Um, when I was doing individual work, it was
definitely like a weekly thingor a bi-weekly thing, so I was
seeing people prettyconsistently and I had people
that I would see for a year ortwo years or you know, depending
on what they're working on, andwith intensives it really has
shifted away from that and ismore designed to address your
main concerns coming in.
(02:11):
So I have some people that maysay, hey, I've got these four
things that I really want towork through Maybe it's four
traumatic memories that I reallywant to work through and they
come in and we do our intensivesessions and work through those
and then, once they feel likethey're at a good place, they're
kind of done with me.
Now I will help them getestablished with a individual
(02:33):
therapist.
If they want to do that likehourly session, check in with
somebody, or if they're alreadyseeing a therapist, I work a lot
with other therapists and kindof take on clients for adjunct
work, so they'll see theirprimary therapist for their
regular work and then come to mejust for intensives and then go
back to their originaltherapist.
(02:53):
So I do a lot of that as well.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So when you say intensives, are you just doing
the EMDR or do you do othercorrect things as well?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So, yeah, I mostly right now I'm just doing
intensives.
Now I also am starting a secondbusiness that is coaching
therapists on how to build aprivate practice, especially
building intensive work.
It doesn't have to be EMDR.
They could be trained incognitive behavioral therapy and
want to work intensively inthat that is intensive, Just
(03:24):
mean like the timeframe, likethat you're.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
it means like that, that chunk of time that you're
committing to the person andwhen 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 overthings and moving on instead of
like continuing like a practice, like you're seeing someone
like for years, kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yes, exactly, intensives could really be
anything.
I have you know colleagues thatwill do parenting intensives
where they sit down with parentsto help them work through
that's appropriate Parenting akid?
That's neurodivergent or youknow.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Whatever it may be, I have some milestone is coming
up.
That's a struggle which I thinkis awesome.
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, yeah, it can really be, and this is a really.
It's just like a fancy way ofsaying, like we're meeting for
longer periods of time so that,like I can help you today versus
like six weeks from now, we canhit the ground running in a
large chunk of time instead ofjust 50 minutes.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So yeah, so, like when you're getting into
something with someone, they'renot like well, we got 10 minutes
left, how are we going to wrapup?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
And you're like what yeah, no, and that happened
especially like for me.
I'm EMDR trained, so that'swhat I practice intensively.
But I, you know, there would besessions when I worked in the
50 minute model where peoplewould come in for their 50
minute session.
We spend 10 to 15 minuteschecking in seeing how things
(04:52):
are going, how things been sincethe last session, that kind of
stuff.
Then we start talking aboutjumping back into EMDR.
Well, now we've already lost 15minutes of our 50 minutes.
So then we have this littlechunk of time left to actually
reprocess things.
And then it's like, okay, we'llsave about 10 minutes at the
end too to wrap things up andmake sure that you know you're
(05:14):
in a good space before you leave.
So really you're kind of closeto 30 minutes, yeah.
So a lot of times I'd haveclients that either I would run
over sessions because I was likeI can't let you leave a session
with something that'sunprocessed and raw, you know,
like who wants to do that.
So I would just kind of likecontinue over and ask for
(05:37):
forgiveness later to the personthat was waiting, or we would
have to just try to containthings as best as we could until
they came in.
Next week we would have to justtry to contain things as best
as we could until they came innext week.
So then over the next weekthey've got this trauma that
they've kind of brought to thesurface and not really finished
processing, and that's not funeither.
So, yeah, I found out about theintensive model.
I was like, oh my God, this islike a huge light bulb moment,
(05:57):
like why have I not been doingthis the whole time?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, I like that.
So okay for people who don'tknow what.
I've just learned what EMDR is,because I was telling Hannah
that.
I'm starting it on Friday thisweek with my trauma therapist,
but can you explain that we aretaking a memory that is
associated with trauma for youand reprocessing that in your
brain.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So when we have something traumatic happen, I
think of it kind of like a wall.
A wall comes up that blocksthat 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 itin your short-term memory,
which is why you remaintriggered by it.
So VR helps reprocess thatmemory and move it to your
(06:59):
long-term memory so that thosetriggers aren't there.
You can acknowledge that thatmemory happened in the past.
It's not happening right now.
You're safe, now all that goodstuff.
So we're really shifting itback in your brain so that those
triggers and those symptoms arenot occurring anymore and your
body can kind of get out of thatfight or flight.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
That's what I was going to say.
So, like when something doestrigger, you're not immediately
in fight or flight.
Yes, which for people who havetrauma.
It's not like you read, youdon't remember it, you reliver
it because you get triggeredback into that like full
experience.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You feel that in your body and it's like OK, yeah,
and a lot of times that's youknow, when people come in and do
an EMDR session, a lot of whatI'll hear when they come back,
is like I was talking to mysister about that memory and I
didn't cry, Like she asked meabout it and I didn't
immediately start having a panicattack talking about it, Like I
(07:56):
was able to tell her whathappened and it just felt like
this thing that happened, butit's okay now, you know, and I
always tell people like it's notthat you're.
There are going to be certainmemories, unfortunately, that we
have that are never going to beokay, that they happened, but
you're making it okay and safefor your body and kind of
acknowledging like I'm, I'm safenow.
(08:17):
It's not okay that that persondid that thing to me.
That's still messed up, but I'msafe now and I'm in control
that's still messed up, but I'msafe now and I'm in control.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
I love that.
How helpful too, cause I feellike a lot of people are stuck
in stuff like that, right Causewe have trauma for all kinds of
reasons.
So I love like before we got onhere, we were talking about a
bunch of stuff, but one of thethings I you said was that you
specialize with medical traumasand chronic illnesses.
So tell me a little bit aboutthat, cause, like as an ICU
nurse, the medical trauma thingI mean that's that shit is real,
(08:52):
like you get treated like abody sometimes, which is
necessary in certain moments,but the trauma of it and I'm
actually have had someone on, Ithink, her upside is going to
come out a week before yours.
We're talking about birthtrauma, because how many women
experienced that?
And it's just thrown to theside as well.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So yes, absolutely.
And that's kind of how it'sfunny, because I didn't really
plan when I started doing EMDRto specialize in medical or
chronic illness trauma.
It kind of just happened.
I started getting more and moreclients that fit that bill and
(09:32):
working with them and was likethis is really fascinating to me
and I like helping them throughit.
And a lot of the clients thatI'm getting fall within the
chronic illness side of thingsand have unfortunately
experienced like medicalgaslighting or just not getting
services at all because you knowit's fine, you're fine,
(09:54):
whatever.
And so I had a lot of womenthat I was working with in
particular that fit with that.
And then I got diagnosed with anautoimmune disease two years
ago and experienced it formyself and was like, holy shit,
this sucks Like, this is likegoing to different.
You know specialists andthey're like oh, you're fine,
(10:14):
You're young, you have a kid, sothat's why you're tired, your
hair's falling out, becauseyou're anxious Like just like
the most bizarre things, andyou're like, is anybody
listening?
Like how do I get help?
And it wasn't until I startedseeing a holistic doctor that I
started like getting thediagnosis and working on it and
more of like a naturopathic way.
(10:36):
So with all of that, I've reallyzoned in on helping other women
with that, because that's thestory that I hear like time and
time again is like I've gone tofive different doctors.
None of them believe thatanything is wrong.
They don't even want to do labsLike they just tell me I'm fine
.
They diagnose me withborderline personality disorder
(10:56):
because I cried, like just thecraziest stuff.
And that's traumatic in itself,like feeling like your body is
failing you in a way and thenyou can't get help because
everybody just thinks you'recrazy.
So I've really zoned in on thatwithin the last couple of years
and that's been so powerful forwomen.
But also sad that it's evenhappening to begin with.
(11:19):
So sad it's so sad I can't it's.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I think it's more prevalent among women and
especially with chronicillnesses, which is absolutely
ridiculous as a nurse, likethere'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, youknow.
Everyone's like give me youradvice.
And one thing I've startedtelling people right off the bat
(11:44):
.
I'm like did the doctor takeyou seriously?
Did he listen to you?
Cause, if the answer is no,find another one.
Like that's where I start, like,did he listen to you?
Did he make you feel like youwere ridiculous?
Or did he hear you out?
Did he tell you you were wrong?
Because, like that, that'swhere I'm at these days, cause
that's where you start, honestly, which is sad, but it's the
(12:06):
reality of life, and if you wantto be taken care of, while you
have to be going to someone whotakes you seriously, yes, and
that's you know.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
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 answeris no, you know, or I.
It's funny because even beforeI started working with EMDR and
chronic illness, I worked a lotwith parents at one point and
did kind of infant mental healthstuff.
(12:36):
Of times parents would come injust like distraught because
they're like this thing is goingon with my kid and I talked to
the doctor and they just saidthat I'm like being a paranoid
mom and it's because I'm a newparent and it's because the and
it's like, even if it is thosethings like, even if there it
(12:57):
ends up being like you're justan overly protective parent
that's anxious, they can stilltreat it like educate them, then
you don't have anything to beworried about If you're educated
.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's how I feel.
Okay, here's your opportunity.
Then here's some information.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, and that's you know.
I still do see kids for autismevaluations and a lot of times
that's how parents come in forthose too.
It's like you know.
They come in and they'refinally getting the testing done
and they're just like in tearsbecause they're like I've been
telling the doctor for fouryears that something is going on
.
My kid could have gottentreatment way sooner, but they
(13:36):
didn't think it was that big ofan issue.
They thought I was just beingdramatic.
They thought I was beingparanoid, whatever, so they
ignored it.
And now all of a sudden, my kidis seven and nonverbal and
they're like oh, that is anissue you know.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
So it's like wait a minute yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
It's like I've been telling you this the whole time,
you know so it's.
I definitely have zoned in morewith the EMDR for adults that
have chronic illness, butrealistically it's in all
aspects.
It's with parents, it's withkids.
You know it's everybody'sexperiencing it.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
My most popular episode I've had so far is with
it's a local nonprofit here inSt Louis but it's called Lado
Ferns and they are a nonprofitfor chronic illnesses for adults
who fall between like not beingsick but not being sick enough
for support, which is so many ofthe chronic illness suffers.
So they do really cool stufflike help people find resources
(14:31):
and fill out paperwork to getsupport and they also do like
body doubling sessions and helppeople do their taxes and stuff
like that, which is so awesome.
But that's my most popularepisode and I think that's a
testament to like how commonthis really is.
Like a lot of my like I coachwomen through burnout.
Yeah, cause I, as an ICU nurse,got very, very burnt out at one
(14:51):
point, like had health effectsand all that.
But many of my clients are haveare chronic illnesses Cause I
coach just women.
So many of them are chronicillness sufferers from years of
stuffing their emotions.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
It's so prevalent right now and, like I think, for
so many different reasons.
But I saw something the otherday that was talking about
chronic illness in women and howit you're like 80% more likely
to have a chronic illness as awoman than men do, and I'm like
that makes sense, because if youtell, like a man, about half of
like the chronic illnesssymptoms that women experience,
(15:28):
they're like what are youtalking about?
Like you mean you're fatiguedor you have hair loss or you
have gi issues or you know likewhatever it is, they're like I'm
fine, like yeah, you know, soit's.
And I think that doesn't helpeither.
A lot of doctors that you seeare male, and so they're like
(15:48):
you're fine, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
It's like.
No, it's not.
Yeah, Please listen to me.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, and that's it.
It also you know the nonprofitidea and how they're kind of
running it.
That's something that I feellike we need everywhere because,
like here we don't haveanything like that, and For me
it took me going through threedifferent doctors and then
deciding I'm just going to finda holistic doctor to treat me,
(16:17):
so I pay her out of pocketbecause she can't bill insurance
.
They won't pay for a holisticdoctor, so I pay her out of
pocket to do all my labs andhelp me, like supplement, and do
things like that.
And not everybody can do that.
That's not feasible for mostpeople.
So it's like, did they just notget treatment?
(16:37):
Or like, where do we draw theline?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, I mean, when I went through burnout I had, I
went to so many doctors and allI was given was pills and it
wasn't until I went like theholistic route and did coaching
and all of that stuff that Ifinally was able to heal.
And all of that is out ofpocket.
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'relike tested, like whatever basic
(17:03):
stuff.
They do that where they're like, oh yeah, you're not even in
the range but like if I'm prettypositive, if I went and paid
for the very expensive testing,I would have much, many things
in the rain.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Okay, I feel it.
I would like light up.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Right, but it's very, very expensive to go see those
people, and none of it's coveredby insurance, though Totally
worth it.
But you know it's just likeit's not an option for
everything, especially if you'vegot more than one thing going
on.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yes, and that's you know.
What you're describing isexactly how it was for me.
Like it was like I went toendocrinologists they're
supposed to work with thesethings a lot and I had family
members that were getting I'mdiagnosed with Hashimoto's.
I had family members that werediagnosed before me and I was
like, hey, I've got a mom, asister, an uncle, an aunt like
(17:49):
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 differentendocrinologists were like, uh,
no, you're fine, okay.
And then I went to thisholistic doctor and she did a
full thyroid panel and was likeyour antibodies are like through
the roof.
What do you mean?
Like they shouldn't be thishigh.
(18:10):
And I was like, yeah, try totell them, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
But yeah, and the sad thing is like it doesn't
wouldn't be anything more workfor a doctor to order that panel
.
It's just, I think, likeprobably under education, and
just you know what I mean.
Like, yeah, because it's likeyou, don't he just not who draws
your blood anyway, or whoresults it, or?
Speaker 2 (18:30):
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, becauseif you come in with too much
information then it just lookslike you're anxious.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Or you're seeking, because that's a big one, like I
mean that's like a very, verycommon word thrown around in
health care and I mean there arepeople that are, but sometimes,
like you know, there's a reason.
You know what I mean.
Like, yeah, he's seeking andhis legs riding off.
Can we give him some nuts?
I'd be seeking too if my legwas riding off.
He made poor choices, but yeah,and that's.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You know, that was kind of like by Dr Three.
That was kind of the vibe thatI was getting, was like I had
like notes and was like wouldyou like for me to tell you all
of the things you know?
And I'd been doing my ownresearch because nobody was
listening.
And she gave me a handout onanxiety and was like I think
this is what you're experiencing.
Are you familiar with it?
(19:31):
And I started laughing and waslike, 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 nothyper-focusing?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I'm frustrated.
I'm taking this seriously.
Will you Not hyper-focusing?
I'm frustrated.
I'm taking this seriously, willyou?
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I was like yes, I know what anxiety it is.
Thank you Like.
Can we move on to the nextthing?
Like yes, I'm anxious because Idon't know that you're going to
listen to me.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Right, and I'm tired of doing this.
I have a life.
I'd like to get back to living,can you?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
help me and that is what so many women come in
complaining about is like I amtrying to be taken seriously and
it really messes with yourbelief in yourself, which is
something that we work on withEMDR is those negative core
beliefs, like I'm not goodenough, I'm not smart enough,
I'm not safe, my body is failingme, like all of those things
(20:27):
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 havethese experiences in the
medical field, we get kind ofbroken down and eventually start
kind of believing like I mustbe crazy, I must be pill seeking
, I must be paranoid, I, youknow, I must have borderline
(20:50):
personality disorder, like allof these things about me that
people are saying must be truebecause nobody is treating me.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
So that must be it yeah, and with like I mean, I do
a lot of work with like goodgirl conditioning too, and it's
like that's already a struggle.
Yes, it's already a struggle.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
It's already a struggle we don't need any help
for it.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah, no wonder people get shut down and
discouraged.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yes, definitely.
So that's where EMDR reallycomes into play for the medical
(21:36):
trauma and the chronic illnessstuff is working on those
negative beliefs and helping getback to a place where you can
feel empowered to take yourhealth stuff back into your
control and advocate foryourself in a medical setting.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So where are you practice?
You live in Florida, so youpractice in Florida.
Is there anywhere else that youpractice that you see clients
in?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yes, so I'm in Pensacola, florida, and I have
an office here that I seeclients in person in.
But I am licensed for the stateof Florida and Alabama with my
LCSW, so I see clients virtuallythroughout Florida or Alabama.
And then I also have clientsthat sometimes want to travel to
(22:07):
me, which is an option.
As long as you are in one ofthose states I can see you.
So if you are from Californiabut you want to travel to the
beach in Florida, then you'rewelcome to and we can work
together that way.
And then I've even had, youknow, people in South Florida
that travel up to do intensivesor work with me in person in
(22:29):
that way, so that you know theycan kind of get that connection
and not have to rely on video.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
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 howdo you?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
So the business coaching is a little bit newer.
I'm super excited about it, butit came about because I started
.
When I started my privatepractice a few years ago and
went out on my own, I kind ofjust figured things out myself
as I went.
I did, you know, buy trainingshere and there to kind of help
(23:10):
guide me a little bit, but forthe most part it was just like
doing my own research andlearning how to market and
learning how to find my nicheand like all of these things and
it was exhausting but I've beendoing here and it's so much.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I was a nurse before Okay, I had no technical
complete shift.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, okay, I had no technical complete shift.
Yeah yeah, that's, it'sexhausting and you know it's
feasible.
I mean, obviously you can do it.
I did it.
But I realized after talking toa lot of colleagues that a lot
of them want the same things butthey have no idea where to
start.
And so they'll come to me andthey're like how'd you do this,
how did you do that?
(23:49):
Like, where did you find thisinformation?
And so I've kind of like becomelike the information board for
a lot of colleagues in the areaand they'll come to me and ask
these questions, which is alwaysfun because I like talking
about it.
But I was like you know what Ishould.
I've got my private practicedown pat.
You know, I know what I'm doingwith it.
(24:10):
I've got it where I want it.
I should look into starting upthe coaching side of things and
start offering this stuff topeople.
And, like they're alreadyasking for the information, like
what if I put it all in oneplace for them and say here you
go, you know?
So this year I started workingon establishing the coaching
business and getting that up andgoing, and I want to.
(24:32):
The goal is to have one-on-onecoaching and then some coaching
intensive sessions, so let'smeet for chunks of times for
that, and then also have someworkbooks and courses and things
like that.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
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 goodhappens for me.
You know what I mean and, likethe holistic health world,
there's so much good happeningon that end.
But it's such a learning curveand it changes all the time and,
(25:06):
depending on, like, where youare and what you're doing,
everything's different.
Like even if you're likeadvertising and social media,
all of them are different andeverything, like all the systems
you're using and all theoptions.
It's very overwhelming.
So it's definitely nice to havesomeone to help steer you.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Definitely.
And that's, I think, what kindof dawned on me was like I I do
work in a smaller area Pensacolais not very big and marketing
something like intensives in asmall area, that was like a
whole different piece, because alot of people in my area are
(25:44):
not offering intensives at all.
I think right now I'm actuallythe only one offering intensives
, so a lot of them don't evenknow what they are.
Think right now I'm actuallythe only one offering intensive,
so a lot of them don't evenknow what they are.
And if they do, they're likescared to offer that price,
because intensives do come witha higher price.
You're doing a little bit morework in the beginning versus
spacing it out, and a lot oftimes therapists are like I
(26:06):
don't know if I can do that, Idon't know if anybody would pay
for it, like I don't know whatthat would look like, and so
they get intimidated.
And that was kind of where itwas like okay, I've got to like
put this all in writing and likemap it out so that I can just
say, like here, here's how youdo it.
Like if I did it in a smallarea, you can do it.
And it will work.
You just have to stick with it,and they don't teach you that
(26:27):
stuff in school.
Unless you were in school formarketing, you don't learn this
stuff and it is a lot of liketrial and error and figuring out
as you go, so it can beoverwhelming for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Yeah yeah.
I've hired a couple of businesscoaches and it's still
overwhelming following otherpeople's stuff, cause you don't
always align with like I'm notthat person.
So like I take some of whatworks for them, but some of them
I'm like, hey, I'm not thatperson.
So like I take some of whatworks for them, but some of it
I'm like, hey, that's not reallyme.
So it's interesting, so I lovethat you're offering that.
So if people are interested incoaching with you or interested
(27:02):
in seeking, like, yeah, theintensives with you, how do they
find you so?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
my private practice website is hellomTherapycom.
You can book a free consultcall with me so we can kind of
talk about is an intensive rightfor you?
What are you looking for?
What are you kind of hoping toget out of it?
I also, with my consult calls, Ilike to send a questionnaire
(27:28):
that is designed to help youguide or kind of get a guide on
how many intensive hours youwould want to do, because a lot
of people don't know, like, do Iwant to do four hours on one
day or is that too much?
You know?
So I have a littlequestionnaire that I'll send
people and say, hey, like answerthese things and that can kind
of help us decide how much youmight want or need.
So that's how they can reach mefor EMDR intensives and kind of
(27:53):
get more information on that.
And then my coaching businessis blueprint and bloom and they
can reach me through email athello, at blueprint and bloomcom
.
So either of those I, thecoaching I kind of keep open to
anybody that is in that mentalhealth space.
(28:15):
It doesn't have to be for EMDRintensives and it doesn't have
to be an LCSW specifically.
It can be anybody that's kindof working in that space and
wants guidance on, like how do Ioffer these services Whatever I
decide to do with my practice?
How do I offer that and get itgoing and build that private
practice?
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Awesome.
I always ask every guest thatcomes on this.
But what is your go-to likeself-care?
Whenever you're gettingoverwhelmed or things are out of
control, what do you do to feellike balanced or regain control
?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
That is a good one.
So right now, because theweather is great in Florida
it'll be too hot for this soon,but right now, while the weather
is great, I have really beenfocusing on slow walking, which
I feel like always sounds like acliche, like go for a walk,
you'll feel better.
(29:10):
But I like to do more likemindfulness walks.
So when I go out and walk I'llpick somewhere that is really
pretty for me, that I like tosee, so maybe the beach or a
park or whatever, somewhere withlike a really pretty scenery,
and I try to focus on what'saround me and kind of do like
the five senses technique thatsome people may be familiar with
(29:32):
, where we're like lookingaround and seeing like what are
five things that I see, fourthings that I hear, three things
that I smell, you know kind ofgoing through all of those.
So I really focus on slowingdown and using those senses to
be mindful and bring myself kindof back to present moment.
And that has been like superhelpful lately because I have
(29:54):
been so busy.
So I do stay kind ofoverwhelmed and whatever when
I'm juggling all the things andthat is what forces me to like
relax and slow down and stepaway from everything.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I love that.
I love that.
I was wondering if you're goingto say walking on the beach too
, but because walking in generalis like the healthiest thing
anyone can do for themselves.
They like.
The more they study it theymight.
There's like sensors in yourfeet that directly like relate
to like cardiac sensors in yourheart.
So it's crazy, but when I livedin Florida it was like one of
my favorite things to do.
It was like I worked on thistrauma unit and I was like a bad
(30:28):
.
I was like my ex-husband and Iwere like the end of our
relationship there and it was sostressful.
But I remember like I would getup but I couldn't sleep.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Like five in the morning I just drive to the
beach and no one was out thereand just walk and like look what
had washed up in the tide poolsand barefoot, and it was just
like the best, peaceful, likegrounding, like like I feel like
a lot of times, like when yousay like go for a walk or like
walk on the beach, like peopleare like oh yeah, okay, you know
(30:56):
, but it's like when you do it,you feel it like you know that
shift, like just being in thesun in general, like you need
sunlight, but also being outsideand grounding the sound and the
air and all of it.
So right now, like I said it,you know, soon enough in Florida
it will be way too hot for meto do that, but right now we're
(31:19):
like in the seventies and justlike chilling, so and it's like
beautiful and sunny.
So I've been taking fulladvantage of that while I can,
and then we'll reevaluate if wehave to when it gets a thousand
degrees outside.
But right, great, great I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
That's beautiful.
Um, is there anything else youwant to add or leave us with
before we go?
Speaker 2 (31:42):
I would say my biggest thing for anybody that
is struggling with chronicillness or medical trauma or
anything that kind of fallswithin that realm, is listen to
your gut and definitely you knowonce obviously you have gotten
in with a professional that islistening to you and taking you
seriously.
Do look at doing trauma work,because there are so many
(32:06):
studies now that have come outabout the connection between
trauma and autoimmune issues,which is interesting.
But I mean it talks a lot abouthow, like trauma keeps your body
inflamed, which is already anissue with chronic illness and
autoimmune.
So we're already inflamed, wedon't need extra inflammation.
(32:28):
So trauma can really kind oflight those symptoms on fire.
And I think you know, the moreand more research comes out
around it, the more we're goingto see that like you need to do
the therapy work in order toreally help the autoimmune and
the chronic illness symptoms andthe healing process, because
(32:48):
they all kind of go hand in hand.
The body keeps the score andyou can't really out treat it
with just the medicine side ofthings.
You got to do some of thebackground stuff and get rid of
that, that inner trauma stuffthat's holding you back.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, it's all very interconnected is what we learn,
like the more and more it'scrazy.
One thing I love about likeEMDR and um therapies like this
is like that.
I think you know we're notalways aware of what our trauma
is and sometimes we experiencetrauma before we're even old
(33:23):
enough to like have words orhave memories, but they're still
stored.
Like I know you referenced, thebody keeps the score which
people talk reference all thetime on here, which I love it's
great book, but it's so trueLike it gives you a chance to
cause like talk therapy is greatand helps with some things.
Like nothing against talktherapy, but there's some things
(33:45):
you can't talk through or youdon't have words for, or maybe
they were just so horrific, likethere are not words and that's
okay, there shouldn't be wordsfor.
Or maybe they were just sohorrific, like there are not
words and that's okay, thereshouldn't be words for things
that are like that.
But you can reprocess the wayyour body's responding to it and
like kind of let it lose itsgrip on you a little bit, which
you know, absolutely, and that's, you know.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I think a lot of people, like you said, it
happens before they even havethe words, which I do a lot of
pre-verbal trauma, emdr, whichis crazy, but it's worth getting
into because we do have traumasthat happen before we have that
language to explain them andthey're still affecting us.
We just don't always have thewords to describe it, you know,
(34:26):
and so I think that's reallycool to see somebody work
through those things that havejust been holding them back and
they didn't realize they werethere.
And, like you said, you know,talk therapy is great and it has
its place.
But when you are experiencingtrauma and triggers from that
trauma, sometimes going in andtalking about them, the traumas
(34:47):
and these like little,bite-sized pieces, is almost
more triggering because you justbrought it to the surface and
you did nothing with it and nowit's just like front of your
mind and you can't.
You know, you've probablylearned how to compartmentalize
it on some level and now you'renot because you brought it to
the front.
So sometimes it's moretriggering to try to just like
(35:08):
talk your way through it.
And that's where I get a lot ofpeople that work with me and
their other therapists to youknow, do the trauma work, but
then they go back to them forthe coping skills and the
regular talk, therapy and all ofthose things that they still
need but got to get through thetrauma.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I love that.
I love that I'm doing like thischakra series right now, like
workshop, and I love like thecrossover of like mental health,
like you know, the Maslow'shierarchy of needs and how we
our development with the chakrasystem.
There's a lot of like oh yeah,similarities and, you know,
(35:46):
physical like the chakra is veryphysical, but if you take the
like emotional aspect they fittogether pretty well.
And it's so interesting, likewhen things are developed, the
kinds of traumas that happenlike just like silly stuff.
Like you know, you maybeweren't, weren't a good eater
when you were little, so you hada little bit of like food
issues, you know.
(36:06):
So now, like you have traumarelated around food or like
weird tendencies around food youdon't understand, or you know,
just like a birth trauma thathappened when you were born that
you don't even know and youhave like you know what I mean.
There's just so much.
And then there's like the otherstuff that we all know about
and like can't get past.
But then there's all this otherlike tiny stuff that like maybe
your parents had a traumahappen in their lives and we
(36:32):
were not as comforting to you ata point when you were a baby,
and it's nobody's fault.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
They had shit going on and that's something that you
are responding to physicallyyou know, yes, it's interesting,
like how many things we canhave going on and not even
realize you know what, what itis or where it's coming from.
But I mean, like you said, someof them are just starting so
young and like I've, you know,worked with people that their
parents have had a horrible timelike the first year and you
(36:58):
know that caused some trauma.
Or I've had, you know, somethat like mom struggled during
delivery and that caused sometrauma and they're like and that
is like fascinating to workwith, like somebody like that's
going back and experiencing andworking through a birth trauma
is just like it's so abstractbut it is so interesting.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Plus, we all know so much more now about that stuff
and who even knows what we'rewrong about still but we know so
much more about that than we'veever known.
So, like the things that weredone, the practices back then
some of them probably causedtrauma that they thought they
were doing the right thing.
I mean, there's a lot of fault,necessarily Nothing to blame,
(37:40):
it's just what they thought wasbest.
And guess what?
It wasn't.
Oopsies.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
And that's, I think a lot of people have to, you know
, get to that place where theyacknowledge that there is a
trauma there and it doesn't meanthat anybody is to blame.
I think a lot of times we feelguilty if we blame mom for
having a shitty delivery,because it's like, well, it
wasn't mom's fault.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
And it's like, yeah, we know that, we know it's not
mom's fault.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
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 doanything wrong.
And it's like, yeah, no,definitely she did it, but that
doesn't change the fact that itwas traumatic.
So both things can be true shecan be great and you can still
be traumatized, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
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 toleave us with before we go?
I think that is it.
Well, enjoy the beach.
It was so nice talking with you, thanks.
(38:43):
Have a good rest of your day,me too.
Okay, welcome to Empowered Ease.
My guest today is HannahChampigny.
She is an EMDR intensivetherapist and business coach
helping other therapists buildtheir practices, their dream
practices.
So welcome, Hannah.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thank you, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I'm excited you're here too.
So, hannah, tell me a littlebit about yourself and your
practice to start with, so weknow a little bit about what you
do.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Sure.
So I own Hello Calm Therapy,which is my private practice.
I started it a few years ago.
I was doing group practice workand decided I was ready to kind
of build my own thing.
Group practice work and decidedI was ready to kind of build my
own thing, so I went into soloprivate practice work, built up
that kind of from the ground up,which was a venture in itself
(00:52):
trying to build a privatepractice in a small community.
So I learned a lot aboutmarketing that they definitely
do not teach you in school.
Since then I have reallyfocused on my niche and kind of
zoned in on that, which is theEMDR intensive therapy.
So instead of offering thetypical 50 minute model of
(01:14):
therapy, where you come in andwe kind of like poke at some of
the concerns or traumas thatyou're wanting to address and
then you leave and come backnext week and we do that for the
next year, the intensive modelis designed to be a little bit
quicker paced, so you come infor two hours or three hours and
we really hit the groundrunning and work through as much
(01:35):
as we can in that chunk of timeso that you get to feeling
better faster and you know nowversus months down the road.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Oh cool.
So you're spending a little bitmore time, investing a little
more.
Are you seeing people lessoften when you do that, or not
as often.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Um, when I was doing individual work, it was
definitely like a weekly thingor a bi-weekly thing, so I was
seeing people prettyconsistently and I had people
that I would see for a year ortwo years or you know, depending
on what they're working on, andwith intensives it really has
shifted away from that and ismore designed to address your
main concerns coming in.
(02:11):
So I have some people that maysay, hey, I've got these four
things that I really want towork through Maybe it's four
traumatic memories that I reallywant to work through and they
come in and we do our intensivesessions and work through those
and then, once they feel likethey're at a good place, they're
kind of done with me.
Now I will help them getestablished with a individual
(02:33):
therapist.
If they want to do that likehourly session, check in with
somebody, or if they're alreadyseeing a therapist, I work a lot
with other therapists and kindof take on clients for adjunct
work, so they'll see theirprimary therapist for their
regular work and then come to mejust for intensives and then go
back to their originaltherapist.
(02:53):
So I do a lot of that as well.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So when you say intensives, are you just doing
the EMDR or do you do othercorrect things as well?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So, yeah, I mostly right now I'm just doing
intensives.
Now I also am starting a secondbusiness that is coaching
therapists on how to build aprivate practice, especially
building intensive work.
It doesn't have to be EMDR.
They could be trained incognitive behavioral therapy and
want to work intensively inthat that is intensive, Just
(03:24):
mean like the timeframe, likethat you're.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
it means like that, that chunk of time that you're
committing to the person andwhen 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 overthings and moving on instead of
like continuing like a practice, like you're seeing someone
like for years, kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yes, exactly, intensives could really be
anything.
I have you know colleagues thatwill do parenting intensives
where they sit down with parentsto help them work through
that's appropriate Parenting akid?
That's neurodivergent or youknow.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Whatever it may be, I have some milestone is coming
up.
That's a struggle which I thinkis awesome.
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, yeah, it can really be, and this is a really.
It's just like a fancy way ofsaying, like we're meeting for
longer periods of time so that,like I can help you today versus
like six weeks from now, we canhit the ground running in a
large chunk of time instead ofjust 50 minutes.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So yeah, so, like when you're getting into
something with someone, they'renot like well, we got 10 minutes
left, how are we going to wrapup?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
And you're like what yeah, no, and that happened
especially like for me.
I'm EMDR trained, so that'swhat I practice intensively.
But I, you know, there would besessions when I worked in the
50 minute model where peoplewould come in for their 50
minute session.
We spend 10 to 15 minuteschecking in seeing how things
(04:52):
are going, how things been sincethe last session, that kind of
stuff.
Then we start talking aboutjumping back into EMDR.
Well, now we've already lost 15minutes of our 50 minutes.
So then we have this littlechunk of time left to actually
reprocess things.
And then it's like, okay, we'llsave about 10 minutes at the
end too to wrap things up andmake sure that you know you're
(05:14):
in a good space before you leave.
So really you're kind of closeto 30 minutes, yeah.
So a lot of times I'd haveclients that either I would run
over sessions because I was likeI can't let you leave a session
with something that'sunprocessed and raw, you know,
like who wants to do that.
So I would just kind of likecontinue over and ask for
(05:37):
forgiveness later to the personthat was waiting, or we would
have to just try to containthings as best as we could until
they came in.
Next week we would have to justtry to contain things as best
as we could until they came innext week.
So then over the next weekthey've got this trauma that
they've kind of brought to thesurface and not really finished
processing, and that's not funeither.
So, yeah, I found out about theintensive model.
I was like, oh my God, this islike a huge light bulb moment,
(05:57):
like why have I not been doingthis the whole time?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, I like that.
So okay for people who don'tknow what.
I've just learned what EMDR is,because I was telling Hannah
that.
I'm starting it on Friday thisweek with my trauma therapist,
but can you explain that we aretaking a memory that is
associated with trauma for youand reprocessing that in your
brain.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So when we have something traumatic happen, I
think of it kind of like a wall.
A wall comes up that blocksthat 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 itin your short-term memory,
which is why you remaintriggered by it.
So VR helps reprocess thatmemory and move it to your
(06:59):
long-term memory so that thosetriggers aren't there.
You can acknowledge that thatmemory happened in the past.
It's not happening right now.
You're safe, now all that goodstuff.
So we're really shifting itback in your brain so that those
triggers and those symptoms arenot occurring anymore and your
body can kind of get out of thatfight or flight.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
That's what I was going to say.
So, like when something doestrigger, you're not immediately
in fight or flight.
Yes, which for people who havetrauma.
It's not like you read, youdon't remember it, you reliver
it because you get triggeredback into that like full
experience.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You feel that in your body and it's like OK, yeah,
and a lot of times that's youknow, when people come in and do
an EMDR session, a lot of whatI'll hear when they come back,
is like I was talking to mysister about that memory and I
didn't cry, Like she asked meabout it and I didn't
immediately start having a panicattack talking about it, Like I
(07:56):
was able to tell her whathappened and it just felt like
this thing that happened, butit's okay now, you know, and I
always tell people like it's notthat you're.
There are going to be certainmemories, unfortunately, that we
have that are never going to beokay, that they happened, but
you're making it okay and safefor your body and kind of
acknowledging like I'm, I'm safenow.
(08:17):
It's not okay that that persondid that thing to me.
That's still messed up, but I'msafe now and I'm in control
that's still messed up, but I'msafe now and I'm in control.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
I love that.
How helpful too, cause I feellike a lot of people are stuck
in stuff like that, right Causewe have trauma for all kinds of
reasons.
So I love like before we got onhere, we were talking about a
bunch of stuff, but one of thethings I you said was that you
specialize with medical traumasand chronic illnesses.
So tell me a little bit aboutthat, cause, like as an ICU
nurse, the medical trauma thingI mean that's that shit is real,
(08:52):
like you get treated like abody sometimes, which is
necessary in certain moments,but the trauma of it and I'm
actually have had someone on, Ithink, her upside is going to
come out a week before yours.
We're talking about birthtrauma, because how many women
experienced that?
And it's just thrown to theside as well.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So yes, absolutely.
And that's kind of how it'sfunny, because I didn't really
plan when I started doing EMDRto specialize in medical or
chronic illness trauma.
It kind of just happened.
I started getting more and moreclients that fit that bill and
(09:32):
working with them and was likethis is really fascinating to me
and I like helping them throughit.
And a lot of the clients thatI'm getting fall within the
chronic illness side of thingsand have unfortunately
experienced like medicalgaslighting or just not getting
services at all because you knowit's fine, you're fine,
(09:54):
whatever.
And so I had a lot of womenthat I was working with in
particular that fit with that.
And then I got diagnosed with anautoimmune disease two years
ago and experienced it formyself and was like, holy shit,
this sucks Like, this is likegoing to different.
You know specialists andthey're like oh, you're fine,
(10:14):
You're young, you have a kid, sothat's why you're tired, your
hair's falling out, becauseyou're anxious Like just like
the most bizarre things, andyou're like, is anybody
listening?
Like how do I get help?
And it wasn't until I startedseeing a holistic doctor that I
started like getting thediagnosis and working on it and
more of like a naturopathic way.
(10:36):
So with all of that, I've reallyzoned in on helping other women
with that, because that's thestory that I hear like time and
time again is like I've gone tofive different doctors.
None of them believe thatanything is wrong.
They don't even want to do labsLike they just tell me I'm fine
.
They diagnose me withborderline personality disorder
(10:56):
because I cried, like just thecraziest stuff.
And that's traumatic in itself,like feeling like your body is
failing you in a way and thenyou can't get help because
everybody just thinks you'recrazy.
So I've really zoned in on thatwithin the last couple of years
and that's been so powerful forwomen.
But also sad that it's evenhappening to begin with.
(11:19):
So sad it's so sad I can't it's.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I think it's more prevalent among women and
especially with chronicillnesses, which is absolutely
ridiculous as a nurse, likethere'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, youknow.
Everyone's like give me youradvice.
And one thing I've startedtelling people right off the bat
(11:44):
.
I'm like did the doctor takeyou seriously?
Did he listen to you?
Cause, if the answer is no,find another one.
Like that's where I start, like,did he listen to you?
Did he make you feel like youwere ridiculous?
Or did he hear you out?
Did he tell you you were wrong?
Because, like that, that'swhere I'm at these days, cause
that's where you start, honestly, which is sad, but it's the
(12:06):
reality of life, and if you wantto be taken care of, while you
have to be going to someone whotakes you seriously, yes, and
that's you know.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
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 answeris no, you know, or I.
It's funny because even beforeI started working with EMDR and
chronic illness, I worked a lotwith parents at one point and
did kind of infant mental healthstuff.
(12:36):
Of times parents would come injust like distraught because
they're like this thing is goingon with my kid and I talked to
the doctor and they just saidthat I'm like being a paranoid
mom and it's because I'm a newparent and it's because the and
it's like, even if it is thosethings like, even if there it
(12:57):
ends up being like you're justan overly protective parent
that's anxious, they can stilltreat it like educate them, then
you don't have anything to beworried about If you're educated
.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's how I feel.
Okay, here's your opportunity.
Then here's some information.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, and that's you know.
I still do see kids for autismevaluations and a lot of times
that's how parents come in forthose too.
It's like you know.
They come in and they'refinally getting the testing done
and they're just like in tearsbecause they're like I've been
telling the doctor for fouryears that something is going on
.
My kid could have gottentreatment way sooner, but they
(13:36):
didn't think it was that big ofan issue.
They thought I was just beingdramatic.
They thought I was beingparanoid, whatever, so they
ignored it.
And now all of a sudden, my kidis seven and nonverbal and
they're like oh, that is anissue you know.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
So it's like wait a minute yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
It's like I've been telling you this the whole time,
you know so it's.
I definitely have zoned in morewith the EMDR for adults that
have chronic illness, butrealistically it's in all
aspects.
It's with parents, it's withkids.
You know it's everybody'sexperiencing it.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
My most popular episode I've had so far is with
it's a local nonprofit here inSt Louis but it's called Lado
Ferns and they are a nonprofitfor chronic illnesses for adults
who fall between like not beingsick but not being sick enough
for support, which is so many ofthe chronic illness suffers.
So they do really cool stufflike help people find resources
(14:31):
and fill out paperwork to getsupport and they also do like
body doubling sessions and helppeople do their taxes and stuff
like that, which is so awesome.
But that's my most popularepisode and I think that's a
testament to like how commonthis really is.
Like a lot of my like I coachwomen through burnout.
Yeah, cause I, as an ICU nurse,got very, very burnt out at one
(14:51):
point, like had health effectsand all that.
But many of my clients are haveare chronic illnesses Cause I
coach just women.
So many of them are chronicillness sufferers from years of
stuffing their emotions.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
It's so prevalent right now and, like I think, for
so many different reasons.
But I saw something the otherday that was talking about
chronic illness in women and howit you're like 80% more likely
to have a chronic illness as awoman than men do, and I'm like
that makes sense, because if youtell, like a man, about half of
like the chronic illnesssymptoms that women experience,
(15:28):
they're like what are youtalking about?
Like you mean you're fatiguedor you have hair loss or you
have gi issues or you know likewhatever it is, they're like I'm
fine, like yeah, you know, soit's.
And I think that doesn't helpeither.
A lot of doctors that you seeare male, and so they're like
(15:48):
you're fine, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
It's like.
No, it's not.
Yeah, Please listen to me.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, and that's it.
It also you know the nonprofitidea and how they're kind of
running it.
That's something that I feellike we need everywhere because,
like here we don't haveanything like that, and For me
it took me going through threedifferent doctors and then
deciding I'm just going to finda holistic doctor to treat me,
(16:17):
so I pay her out of pocketbecause she can't bill insurance
.
They won't pay for a holisticdoctor, so I pay her out of
pocket to do all my labs andhelp me, like supplement, and do
things like that.
And not everybody can do that.
That's not feasible for mostpeople.
So it's like, did they just notget treatment?
(16:37):
Or like, where do we draw theline?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, I mean, when I went through burnout I had, I
went to so many doctors and allI was given was pills and it
wasn't until I went like theholistic route and did coaching
and all of that stuff that Ifinally was able to heal.
And all of that is out ofpocket.
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'relike tested, like whatever basic
(17:03):
stuff.
They do that where they're like, oh yeah, you're not even in
the range but like if I'm prettypositive, if I went and paid
for the very expensive testing,I would have much, many things
in the rain.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Okay, I feel it.
I would like light up.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Right, but it's very, very expensive to go see those
people, and none of it's coveredby insurance, though Totally
worth it.
But you know it's just likeit's not an option for
everything, especially if you'vegot more than one thing going
on.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yes, and that's you know.
What you're describing isexactly how it was for me.
Like it was like I went toendocrinologists they're
supposed to work with thesethings a lot and I had family
members that were getting I'mdiagnosed with Hashimoto's.
I had family members that werediagnosed before me and I was
like, hey, I've got a mom, asister, an uncle, an aunt like
(17:49):
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 differentendocrinologists were like, uh,
no, you're fine, okay.
And then I went to thisholistic doctor and she did a
full thyroid panel and was likeyour antibodies are like through
the roof.
What do you mean?
Like they shouldn't be thishigh.
(18:10):
And I was like, yeah, try totell them, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
But yeah, and the sad thing is like it doesn't
wouldn't be anything more workfor a doctor to order that panel
.
It's just, I think, likeprobably under education, and
just you know what I mean.
Like, yeah, because it's likeyou, don't he just not who draws
your blood anyway, or whoresults it, or?
Speaker 2 (18:30):
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, becauseif you come in with too much
information then it just lookslike you're anxious.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Or you're seeking, because that's a big one, like I
mean that's like a very, verycommon word thrown around in
health care and I mean there arepeople that are, but sometimes,
like you know, there's a reason.
You know what I mean.
Like, yeah, he's seeking andhis legs riding off.
Can we give him some nuts?
I'd be seeking too if my legwas riding off.
He made poor choices, but yeah,and that's.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You know, that was kind of like by Dr Three.
That was kind of the vibe thatI was getting, was like I had
like notes and was like wouldyou like for me to tell you all
of the things you know?
And I'd been doing my ownresearch because nobody was
listening.
And she gave me a handout onanxiety and was like I think
this is what you're experiencing.
Are you familiar with it?
(19:31):
And I started laughing and waslike, 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 nothyper-focusing?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I'm frustrated.
I'm taking this seriously.
Will you Not hyper-focusing?
I'm frustrated.
I'm taking this seriously, willyou?
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I was like yes, I know what anxiety it is.
Thank you Like.
Can we move on to the nextthing?
Like yes, I'm anxious because Idon't know that you're going to
listen to me.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Right, and I'm tired of doing this.
I have a life.
I'd like to get back to living,can you?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
help me and that is what so many women come in
complaining about is like I amtrying to be taken seriously and
it really messes with yourbelief in yourself, which is
something that we work on withEMDR is those negative core
beliefs, like I'm not goodenough, I'm not smart enough,
I'm not safe, my body is failingme, like all of those things
(20:27):
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 havethese experiences in the
medical field, we get kind ofbroken down and eventually start
kind of believing like I mustbe crazy, I must be pill seeking
, I must be paranoid, I, youknow, I must have borderline
(20:50):
personality disorder, like allof these things about me that
people are saying must be truebecause nobody is treating me.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
So that must be it yeah, and with like I mean, I do
a lot of work with like goodgirl conditioning too, and it's
like that's already a struggle.
Yes, it's already a struggle.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
It's already a struggle we don't need any help
for it.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah, no wonder people get shut down and
discouraged.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yes, definitely.
So that's where EMDR reallycomes into play for the medical
(21:36):
trauma and the chronic illnessstuff is working on those
negative beliefs and helping getback to a place where you can
feel empowered to take yourhealth stuff back into your
control and advocate foryourself in a medical setting.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So where are you practice?
You live in Florida, so youpractice in Florida.
Is there anywhere else that youpractice that you see clients
in?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yes, so I'm in Pensacola, florida, and I have
an office here that I seeclients in person in.
But I am licensed for the stateof Florida and Alabama with my
LCSW, so I see clients virtuallythroughout Florida or Alabama.
And then I also have clientsthat sometimes want to travel to
(22:07):
me, which is an option.
As long as you are in one ofthose states I can see you.
So if you are from Californiabut you want to travel to the
beach in Florida, then you'rewelcome to and we can work
together that way.
And then I've even had, youknow, people in South Florida
that travel up to do intensivesor work with me in person in
(22:29):
that way, so that you know theycan kind of get that connection
and not have to rely on video.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
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 howdo you?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
So the business coaching is a little bit newer.
I'm super excited about it, butit came about because I started
.
When I started my privatepractice a few years ago and
went out on my own, I kind ofjust figured things out myself
as I went.
I did, you know, buy trainingshere and there to kind of help
(23:10):
guide me a little bit, but forthe most part it was just like
doing my own research andlearning how to market and
learning how to find my nicheand like all of these things and
it was exhausting but I've beendoing here and it's so much.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I was a nurse before Okay, I had no technical
complete shift.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, okay, I had no technical complete shift.
Yeah yeah, that's, it'sexhausting and you know it's
feasible.
I mean, obviously you can do it.
I did it.
But I realized after talking toa lot of colleagues that a lot
of them want the same things butthey have no idea where to
start.
And so they'll come to me andthey're like how'd you do this,
how did you do that?
(23:49):
Like, where did you find thisinformation?
And so I've kind of like becomelike the information board for
a lot of colleagues in the areaand they'll come to me and ask
these questions, which is alwaysfun because I like talking
about it.
But I was like you know what Ishould.
I've got my private practicedown pat.
You know, I know what I'm doingwith it.
(24:10):
I've got it where I want it.
I should look into starting upthe coaching side of things and
start offering this stuff topeople.
And, like they're alreadyasking for the information, like
what if I put it all in oneplace for them and say here you
go, you know?
So this year I started workingon establishing the coaching
business and getting that up andgoing, and I want to.
(24:32):
The goal is to have one-on-onecoaching and then some coaching
intensive sessions, so let'smeet for chunks of times for
that, and then also have someworkbooks and courses and things
like that.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
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 goodhappens for me.
You know what I mean and, likethe holistic health world,
there's so much good happeningon that end.
But it's such a learning curveand it changes all the time and,
(25:06):
depending on, like, where youare and what you're doing,
everything's different.
Like even if you're likeadvertising and social media,
all of them are different andeverything, like all the systems
you're using and all theoptions.
It's very overwhelming.
So it's definitely nice to havesomeone to help steer you.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Definitely.
And that's, I think, what kindof dawned on me was like I I do
work in a smaller area Pensacolais not very big and marketing
something like intensives in asmall area, that was like a
whole different piece, because alot of people in my area are
(25:44):
not offering intensives at all.
I think right now I'm actuallythe only one offering intensives
, so a lot of them don't evenknow what they are.
Think right now I'm actuallythe only one offering intensive,
so a lot of them don't evenknow what they are.
And if they do, they're likescared to offer that price,
because intensives do come witha higher price.
You're doing a little bit morework in the beginning versus
spacing it out, and a lot oftimes therapists are like I
(26:06):
don't know if I can do that, Idon't know if anybody would pay
for it, like I don't know whatthat would look like, and so
they get intimidated.
And that was kind of where itwas like okay, I've got to like
put this all in writing and likemap it out so that I can just
say, like here, here's how youdo it.
Like if I did it in a smallarea, you can do it.
And it will work.
You just have to stick with it,and they don't teach you that
(26:27):
stuff in school.
Unless you were in school formarketing, you don't learn this
stuff and it is a lot of liketrial and error and figuring out
as you go, so it can beoverwhelming for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Yeah yeah.
I've hired a couple of businesscoaches and it's still
overwhelming following otherpeople's stuff, cause you don't
always align with like I'm notthat person.
So like I take some of whatworks for them, but some of them
I'm like, hey, I'm not thatperson.
So like I take some of whatworks for them, but some of it
I'm like, hey, that's not reallyme.
So it's interesting, so I lovethat you're offering that.
So if people are interested incoaching with you or interested
(27:02):
in seeking, like, yeah, theintensives with you, how do they
find you so?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
my private practice website is hellomTherapycom.
You can book a free consultcall with me so we can kind of
talk about is an intensive rightfor you?
What are you looking for?
What are you kind of hoping toget out of it?
I also, with my consult calls, Ilike to send a questionnaire
(27:28):
that is designed to help youguide or kind of get a guide on
how many intensive hours youwould want to do, because a lot
of people don't know, like, do Iwant to do four hours on one
day or is that too much?
You know?
So I have a littlequestionnaire that I'll send
people and say, hey, like answerthese things and that can kind
of help us decide how much youmight want or need.
So that's how they can reach mefor EMDR intensives and kind of
(27:53):
get more information on that.
And then my coaching businessis blueprint and bloom and they
can reach me through email athello, at blueprint and bloomcom
.
So either of those I, thecoaching I kind of keep open to
anybody that is in that mentalhealth space.
(28:15):
It doesn't have to be for EMDRintensives and it doesn't have
to be an LCSW specifically.
It can be anybody that's kindof working in that space and
wants guidance on, like how do Ioffer these services Whatever I
decide to do with my practice?
How do I offer that and get itgoing and build that private
practice?
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Awesome.
I always ask every guest thatcomes on this.
But what is your go-to likeself-care?
Whenever you're gettingoverwhelmed or things are out of
control, what do you do to feellike balanced or regain control
?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
That is a good one.
So right now, because theweather is great in Florida
it'll be too hot for this soon,but right now, while the weather
is great, I have really beenfocusing on slow walking, which
I feel like always sounds like acliche, like go for a walk,
you'll feel better.
(29:10):
But I like to do more likemindfulness walks.
So when I go out and walk I'llpick somewhere that is really
pretty for me, that I like tosee, so maybe the beach or a
park or whatever, somewhere withlike a really pretty scenery,
and I try to focus on what'saround me and kind of do like
the five senses technique thatsome people may be familiar with
(29:32):
, where we're like lookingaround and seeing like what are
five things that I see, fourthings that I hear, three things
that I smell, you know kind ofgoing through all of those.
So I really focus on slowingdown and using those senses to
be mindful and bring myself kindof back to present moment.
And that has been like superhelpful lately because I have
(29:54):
been so busy.
So I do stay kind ofoverwhelmed and whatever when
I'm juggling all the things andthat is what forces me to like
relax and slow down and stepaway from everything.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I love that.
I love that.
I was wondering if you're goingto say walking on the beach too
, but because walking in generalis like the healthiest thing
anyone can do for themselves.
They like.
The more they study it theymight.
There's like sensors in yourfeet that directly like relate
to like cardiac sensors in yourheart.
So it's crazy, but when I livedin Florida it was like one of
my favorite things to do.
It was like I worked on thistrauma unit and I was like a bad
(30:28):
.
I was like my ex-husband and Iwere like the end of our
relationship there and it was sostressful.
But I remember like I would getup but I couldn't sleep.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Like five in the morning I just drive to the
beach and no one was out thereand just walk and like look what
had washed up in the tide poolsand barefoot, and it was just
like the best, peaceful, likegrounding, like like I feel like
a lot of times, like when yousay like go for a walk or like
walk on the beach, like peopleare like oh yeah, okay, you know
(30:56):
, but it's like when you do it,you feel it like you know that
shift, like just being in thesun in general, like you need
sunlight, but also being outsideand grounding the sound and the
air and all of it.
So right now, like I said it,you know, soon enough in Florida
it will be way too hot for meto do that, but right now we're
(31:19):
like in the seventies and justlike chilling, so and it's like
beautiful and sunny.
So I've been taking fulladvantage of that while I can,
and then we'll reevaluate if wehave to when it gets a thousand
degrees outside.
But right, great, great I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
That's beautiful.
Um, is there anything else youwant to add or leave us with
before we go?
Speaker 2 (31:42):
I would say my biggest thing for anybody that
is struggling with chronicillness or medical trauma or
anything that kind of fallswithin that realm, is listen to
your gut and definitely you knowonce obviously you have gotten
in with a professional that islistening to you and taking you
seriously.
Do look at doing trauma work,because there are so many
(32:06):
studies now that have come outabout the connection between
trauma and autoimmune issues,which is interesting.
But I mean it talks a lot abouthow, like trauma keeps your body
inflamed, which is already anissue with chronic illness and
autoimmune.
So we're already inflamed, wedon't need extra inflammation.
(32:28):
So trauma can really kind oflight those symptoms on fire.
And I think you know, the moreand more research comes out
around it, the more we're goingto see that like you need to do
the therapy work in order toreally help the autoimmune and
the chronic illness symptoms andthe healing process, because
(32:48):
they all kind of go hand in hand.
The body keeps the score andyou can't really out treat it
with just the medicine side ofthings.
You got to do some of thebackground stuff and get rid of
that, that inner trauma stuffthat's holding you back.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, it's all very interconnected is what we learn,
like the more and more it'scrazy.
One thing I love about likeEMDR and um therapies like this
is like that.
I think you know we're notalways aware of what our trauma
is and sometimes we experiencetrauma before we're even old
(33:23):
enough to like have words orhave memories, but they're still
stored.
Like I know you referenced, thebody keeps the score which
people talk reference all thetime on here, which I love it's
great book, but it's so trueLike it gives you a chance to
cause like talk therapy is greatand helps with some things.
Like nothing against talktherapy, but there's some things
(33:45):
you can't talk through or youdon't have words for, or maybe
they were just so horrific, likethere are not words and that's
okay, there shouldn't be wordsfor.
Or maybe they were just sohorrific, like there are not
words and that's okay, thereshouldn't be words for things
that are like that.
But you can reprocess the wayyour body's responding to it and
like kind of let it lose itsgrip on you a little bit, which
you know, absolutely, and that's, you know.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I think a lot of people, like you said, it
happens before they even havethe words, which I do a lot of
pre-verbal trauma, emdr, whichis crazy, but it's worth getting
into because we do have traumasthat happen before we have that
language to explain them andthey're still affecting us.
We just don't always have thewords to describe it, you know,
(34:26):
and so I think that's reallycool to see somebody work
through those things that havejust been holding them back and
they didn't realize they werethere.
And, like you said, you know,talk therapy is great and it has
its place.
But when you are experiencingtrauma and triggers from that
trauma, sometimes going in andtalking about them, the traumas
(34:47):
and these like little,bite-sized pieces, is almost
more triggering because you justbrought it to the surface and
you did nothing with it and nowit's just like front of your
mind and you can't.
You know, you've probablylearned how to compartmentalize
it on some level and now you'renot because you brought it to
the front.
So sometimes it's moretriggering to try to just like
(35:08):
talk your way through it.
And that's where I get a lot ofpeople that work with me and
their other therapists to youknow, do the trauma work, but
then they go back to them forthe coping skills and the
regular talk, therapy and all ofthose things that they still
need but got to get through thetrauma.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I love that.
I love that I'm doing like thischakra series right now, like
workshop, and I love like thecrossover of like mental health,
like you know, the Maslow'shierarchy of needs and how we
our development with the chakrasystem.
There's a lot of like oh yeah,similarities and, you know,
(35:46):
physical like the chakra is veryphysical, but if you take the
like emotional aspect they fittogether pretty well.
And it's so interesting, likewhen things are developed, the
kinds of traumas that happenlike just like silly stuff.
Like you know, you maybeweren't, weren't a good eater
when you were little, so you hada little bit of like food
issues, you know.
(36:06):
So now, like you have traumarelated around food or like
weird tendencies around food youdon't understand, or you know,
just like a birth trauma thathappened when you were born that
you don't even know and youhave like you know what I mean.
There's just so much.
And then there's like the otherstuff that we all know about
and like can't get past.
But then there's all this otherlike tiny stuff that like maybe
your parents had a traumahappen in their lives and we
(36:32):
were not as comforting to you ata point when you were a baby,
and it's nobody's fault.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
They had shit going on and that's something that you
are responding to physicallyyou know, yes, it's interesting,
like how many things we canhave going on and not even
realize you know what, what itis or where it's coming from.
But I mean, like you said, someof them are just starting so
young and like I've, you know,worked with people that their
parents have had a horrible timelike the first year and you
(36:58):
know that caused some trauma.
Or I've had, you know, somethat like mom struggled during
delivery and that caused sometrauma and they're like and that
is like fascinating to workwith, like somebody like that's
going back and experiencing andworking through a birth trauma
is just like it's so abstractbut it is so interesting.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Plus, we all know so much more now about that stuff
and who even knows what we'rewrong about still but we know so
much more about that than we'veever known.
So, like the things that weredone, the practices back then
some of them probably causedtrauma that they thought they
were doing the right thing.
I mean, there's a lot of fault,necessarily Nothing to blame,
(37:40):
it's just what they thought wasbest.
And guess what?
It wasn't.
Oopsies.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
And that's, I think a lot of people have to, you know
, get to that place where theyacknowledge that there is a
trauma there and it doesn't meanthat anybody is to blame.
I think a lot of times we feelguilty if we blame mom for
having a shitty delivery,because it's like, well, it
wasn't mom's fault.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
And it's like, yeah, we know that, we know it's not
mom's fault.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
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 doanything wrong.
And it's like, yeah, no,definitely she did it, but that
doesn't change the fact that itwas traumatic.
So both things can be true shecan be great and you can still
be traumatized, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
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 toleave us with before we go?
I think that is it.
Well, enjoy the beach.
It was so nice talking with you, thanks.
(38:43):
Have a good rest of your day,me too.
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