A Trauma Warrior Learns To Be Her Own Hero 11/7/21

This post comes to us from Guest Contributor and Two-Time Trauma Survivor Speaker at our Annual Fall TIC Conference (2017 & 2020): Teri Wellbrock

For those of you working as trauma recovery advocates, I applaud you. And I thank you with all of my heart. I could not have made it to this beautiful place of tranquility and joy without the guidance of my therapists, most notably my four years in EMDR therapy. As healing guides, you know that it is up to survivors to do the necessary work. There is no magic wand to be waved over the adverse experiences and their resulting impact on the brain, body, and spirit. As much as we survivors wish it so. We are the ones who must return to the darkness, and, at the very least, allow the remnants of those bleak experiences to be processed in a healthy manner.

As I dumped my compartmentalized traumas onto the floor in the safety of Dr. Hensley’s office, I was also working in a mental health agency with kids through the school system. There we were, these struggling kiddos and me, learning about breathing strategies for re-regulating our bodies, and silly-fun animal yoga poses, and taking nature walks on the playground searching for treasures and heart-shaped pebbles. I was helping them build their coping skills toolboxes . . . not realizing I was building my own in the process. A beautiful podcast guest on my show once named these skills: complimentary healing strategies. And that spoke to my soul.

I walked away from my Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (that’s a mouthful!) therapy and my mental health agency position feeling empowered and hopeful. Knowing my brain was malleable, due to learning about the science of neuroplasticity, I knew I had to share my story of hope with others in every way possible. A blog. A podcast. A book. Therapy dog volunteer work. Speaking engagements. Online summits. Interviews. And now . . . online courses and coaching!

I had reached out to several of my previous podcast guests, many of whom are #1 best-selling authors and successful therapists, coaches, researchers, and motivational speakers, asking for their guidance on growing my audience, publishing my book, and helping my soul work blossom. Over forty of them responded with an enthusiastic, “Of course I’ll help you!”. I now have a spreadsheet filled with resources, from the names of their publishers and agents, to marketing ideas and free Facebook groups for writers, podcasters, coaches, and healers. What a treasured gift.

Several of them advised me, “Teri, you need to take your incredible trauma recovery knowledge and create online courses.” The survivor in me thought, “Me? Why would anyone want to learn from ME?” The thriver in me, however, did a happy dance and exclaimed, “Yeah, I do!” So, I started researching my options. Kajabi, Udemy, Thinkific, Podia, Teachable, and so many more had my head swirling. However, as I always do, I persevered and finally narrowed it down to Teachable. It helped that I had just joined PodMatch and its creator, Alex Sanfilippo, had reached out to me seeking my advice on improving his platform. As we chatted, I mentioned creating an online course and possibly using Teachable, when he responded, “That’s who I use.” That answered that prayer!

And I dove in. Spending weeks creating content, editing, mulling over ideas, cheering myself on, submitting lectures to my Teachable Onboarding Specialist for her feedback, and launching a pre-sale on the two courses I completed: a Trauma-Warrior 1-Day Introductory Course and a Be Your Own Hero 10-Day Course. I cried tears of joy as they went live, knowing the pain of my past was weaved with the hope of my triumph to create these complimentary healing lessons!

The Warrior by Scandal ft Patty Smyth

Stay tuned for full information on Teri’s Trauma Warrior and Hero courses in the upcoming Part 2 of this blog!

Wishing you a day sprinkled with HOPE,

Melissa