Trigger warning: self-harm, rape, sexual assault, addiction, PTSD. 

Journalist and public speaker, Jaz is one of the most intelligent, inspiring, eloquent and all-round beautiful human beings I've ever met. From an incredibly early age, Jaz learnt to put others first and themselves second. A survival technique and trauma response to their upbringing, Jaz became as small and quiet as possible as a way of avoiding pain or sparking big reactions. Believing you were strong because you hid all the mental pain you were enduring, is something that really resonated with me from Jaz's story. It wasn't until an incident at university, Jaz was able to identify their anger as PTSD. Through therapy, painting, writing and self-reflection, Jaz has begun to understand their behaviour and place the often people-pleasing tendencies in the context of their childhood trauma. Jaz is a phenomenal speaker and will no doubt validate the experiences of so many.