Many children experience medical procedures that leave lasting emotional wounds — even when everyone involved had the best intentions. In this episode, Sarah talks with Christina Gonzalez, MSW, who wrote her graduate thesis on childhood medical trauma. Christina shares her own story of growing up chronically ill and what her research revealed about how forced procedures, lack of informed consent, and emotional neglect impact children for life.
Together, Sarah and Christina explore what medical trauma looks like through a child’s eyes, how parents and providers can do better, and what healing can look like — for both children and parents.
You can find Christina's thesis project here: https://www.medicaltraumasupport.org/all-about-medical-trauma
You can reach Christina's blog post on Childhood Medical Trauma here: https://www.medicaltraumasupport.org/blog
You can read more about ACES here: https://www.cdc.gov/aces/about/index.html
Learn more and access parent resources at medicaltraumasupport.com
Topics covered:
Violation of bodily autonomy in pediatric care
The missing emotional care that children need after medical experiences
How it can feel to the child like their parents have betrayed them — and how parents can rebuild trust
What parents can do now to support their children before, during, and after medical experiences
In this heartfelt conversation, Sarah sits down with licensed professional counselor and chronic illness therapist Destiny Davis to explore what happens when medical systems fail to see, believe, or support you.
Together, they unpack the layers of medical trauma, chronic illness, and the emotional toll of being dismissed or disbelieved. Destiny shares her lived experience growing up with parents who had disabilities, the trauma of being labeled “hypochondriac,” and how that shaped her path as a therapist and advocate.
They talk about the importance of accommodations, neurodiversity, and how society’s “push through” mentality harms those living with invisible illnesses. You’ll also hear powerful insights on:
How medical trauma isn’t always what was done to you, but also what you didn’t receive
Rebuilding trust in a system that has caused harm
The overlap between medical and attachment trauma
Simple, somatic ways to begin feeling safe in your body again
Whether you live with chronic illness, support someone who does, or work in healthcare, this conversation will help you see medical trauma through a more compassionate, nuanced lens.
Show Links:
Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency - https://gvs.georgia.gov/
Connect with Destiny Davis:
Website: thechronicillnesstherapist.com
Membership: thechronicillnesstherapist.com/membership
Podcast: The Chronic Illness Therapist Podcast
Learn more about Medical Trauma Support: medicaltraumasupport.com
In this powerful episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, Sarah Stasica is joined by Dr. Laura Vater, oncologist, writer, and advocate for compassionate, patient-centered care. Dr. Vater shares her journey into medicine, the personal story that inspired her to become a physician, and her work to bring humanity back into healthcare.
Together, they explore:
The impact of medical trauma on patients and providers
How sleep deprivation and burnout affect empathy and compassion in clinicians
What patients wish for in vulnerable moments, from being believed about pain to feeling truly seen
Practical ways to improve the healthcare system for both patients and medical professionals
Why honoring the humanity of both patients and providers is essential for healing
Whether you’ve experienced the pain of not being heard as a patient or the weight of burnout as a clinician, this episode explores how we can reimagine healthcare with empathy at its center.
Check out the Medical Trauma Support website for more resources and support - medicaltraumasupport.com
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, Sarah speaks with Lauren Isbell and Whitney Casal from Nevis Outreach, a patient advocacy organization focused on Congenital Melanocytic Nevi (CMN). They discuss their personal connections to CMN, the challenges families face when navigating medical decisions, and the importance of community support. The conversation highlights the medical risks associated with CMN, the need for shared decision-making in healthcare, and the emotional weight of making treatment choices for children. The episode emphasizes the value of connection and understanding among families dealing with rare diseases, and encourages listeners to seek out supportive communities.
Nevus Outreach - https://www.nevus.org/
Shared Decision Making - https://collaborativecare.wustl.edu/items/shared-decision-making-about-congenital-nevi/
Medical Trauma Support - https://www.medicaltraumasupport.com
Befriend Your Body Community - https://www.medicaltraumasupport.org/befriend-your-body-community
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support podcast, Sarah talks about what Befriending Your Body really means. She also responds to the question, "how can I become friends with a body I am disconnected from or a body that I hate?". And the answer is that it isn't an overnight process, it is a slow, gentle way of being with yourself after learning about your nervous system and building capacity to turn toward your body.
Befriending your body is like coming home to yourself and feeling the safety and wisdom that has been inside of you all along.
Please follow this podcast to be notified when new episodes come out. We have some fabulous guests lined up for the fall.
To find out more about Medical Trauma Support, you can find us here:
MTS website: https://www.medicaltraumasupport.com
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@MedicalTraumaSupport
IG - https://www.instagram.com/medicaltraumasupport/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561327602614
In this deeply moving episode, we bring together patient Vanessa Abraham and her ICU doctor, Dr. Jared Rosen, for an honest, tender conversation about what it means to show up with humanity in medicine.
Vanessa shares how Dr. Rosen’s attunement, compassion, and presence helped her through one of the scariest moments of her life. Dr. Rosen opens up about how this experience shaped his entire medical career — and how he protects his own mental health to continue showing up for patients with empathy and care.
Together with host Sarah, they explore:
What makes a medical experience feel safe, even during trauma
The emotional impact of being truly seen by your care team
How medical professionals can protect themselves from burnout and compassion fatigue
Why little human gestures — like music, photos, and presence — can be life-changing
Whether you're a patient, a loved one, or a healthcare provider, this conversation will stay with you.
🎧 Listen now and follow for more stories that humanize medical care and support healing after trauma.
Here are the ways you can contact Vanessa and Sarah if you need help finding support.
Medical Trauma Support Website
Medical Trauma Support Instagram Account
#MedicalTrauma #ICUStories #HumanizingHealthcare #DoctorPatientBond #CompassionateCare #VanessaAbraham #BefriendYourBody #SomaticHealing #HealthcareBurnout #TraumaSupport
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support podcast, Sarah speaks to Vanessa Abraham, a mother and medical trauma survivor, about the untold impact of ICU hospitalization, medical PTSD, and parenting during and after illness. From the shock of sudden critical illness to the emotional pain of being separated from her young daughter and the worry that she would not live to raise her daughter, Vanessa shares her story with raw honesty and deeply earned wisdom.
Together, they explore:
The experience of post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) and family post-intensive care syndrome (PICS-F)
What it feels like to parent through and after a medical crisis
The hidden layers of grief, guilt, and identity loss that accompany serious illness
How medical systems often miss the emotional and nervous system needs of patients and families
The role of nervous system regulation in healing trauma after an ICU stay
How to begin feeling safe in your body again after medical trauma
If you're navigating medical PTSD, recovering from an ICU experience, parenting while ill, or supporting a loved one who's been hospitalized, this conversation offers compassion, understanding, and practical insight.
Search terms & support topics in this episode:medical trauma, ICU trauma, medical PTSD, post intensive care syndrome, family post intensive care syndrome, parenting while ill, nervous system regulation, somatic healing, parenting after ICU, grief after medical crisis, how to cope with medical trauma
What happens after you survive the ICU? For Vanessa Abraham — a speech pathologist, author, and ICU survivor — the real trauma began after she came home.
In this powerful episode, we talk about:
Vanessa’s sudden illness that left her paralyzed and unable to speak
The grief, identity loss, and depression she faced after ICU
The emotional cost of being a caregiver and navigating life after medical trauma
What PICS (Post-Intensive Care Syndrome) is — and why no one talks about it
Healing tools: nervous system support, community, somatic practices, and more
Whether you're a survivor, caregiver, or provider, this conversation offers validation, education, and hope.
Get Vanessa’s book “Speechless”: https://a.co/d/0Ks1DSe
Are you looking for support and community with others who understand medical trauma? Join the Befriend Your Body Community: https://www.medicaltraumasupport.org/befriend-your-body-community
✨ You are not alone. There is hope, healing, and support waiting for you.
Medical trauma is real — and you are not alone.
In this podcast, we talk about the emotional and nervous system impact of medical procedures, ICU stays, chronic illness, and caregiving. Whether you’re healing from your own experience or supporting someone else, these conversations will help you feel seen, supported, and less alone.
Hosted by Sarah from Medical Trauma Support, each episode offers gentle insight, nervous system tools, and stories from people who truly understand.
🎧 Subscribe and start your healing journey.
In this deeply personal and validating episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, host Sarah Stasica welcomes psychologist Rachel Allen for a heartfelt conversation about healing from medical trauma—both as a professional and as someone with lived experience.
Rachel shares her journey through a traumatic birth and her role as a caregiver during her husband’s cancer diagnosis, highlighting the emotional weight of being unseen in medical systems. Sarah and Rachel explore what it means to feel safe in your body again, how to build supportive care systems, and the importance of sitting in discomfort to access healing.
From navigating the medical system to the power of community care and showing up for others without needing to be asked, this episode is a reminder that healing is possible—and we need community on our journey.
You can find more about Dr. Rachel Allen at
https://www.everwellbehavioralhealth.com/
https://www.instagram.com/resetwithdrrachel
Find out more about the Medical Trauma Support Community at https://www.medicaltraumasupport.org/befriend-your-body-community
In this powerful episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, Sarah Stasica is joined by leadership and wellness consultant Kelsey Wesley for an honest conversation about the emotional complexities of childhood medical trauma.
Kelsey shares her lived experience of undergoing multiple childhood surgeries and how those early medical experiences significantly impacted her. Together, Kelsey and Sarah explore how medical trauma impacts not only the child—but also the parent making heart-wrenching decisions in high-stakes moments.
They discuss:
The emotional aftermath of childhood medical trauma
The importance of consent and agency in healthcare, even for children
How parents can co-regulate and support their child without bypassing their own emotions
Why understanding the nervous system is a crucial part of trauma-informed parenting
The healing power of presence, storytelling, and community
Healing doesn’t happen in isolation. If you’re navigating medical trauma—whether as a parent, patient, or practitioner—the Befriend Your Body Community offers steady support, trauma-informed guidance, and a space where your story is understood.
➡️ Learn more and join the community
Learn more about Kelsey Wesley here!
Keywords: medical trauma
parenting and trauma
medical PTSD
childhood medical trauma
nervous system regulation
trauma-informed care
emotional resilience
parenting challenges
healthcare consent
community support for trauma
healing journey
somatic practices
parental guilt and shame
medical practitioners and trauma
presence after procedures
In this powerful episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, I’m joined by Dana Hammerstrom, a journalism student at USC, who shares her deeply personal story of being diagnosed with scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease, as a child. Dana opens up about the medical trauma she experienced — from frightening medical experiences and painful treatments to the emotional impact of being a young child facing a complex chronic illness.
Together, we explore how childhood medical trauma can leave lasting emotional scars, especially when it’s misunderstood or minimized. Dana also discusses how revisiting her medical history through the lens of her college capstone project helped her reclaim her voice and begin to heal.
This conversation sheds light on:
Whether you're navigating your own healing or supporting a child through chronic illness, this episode offers insight, validation, and hope.
You can find Dana's childhood medical trauma website here.
Learn more about the medical trauma community, Befriend Your Body to Heal from Medical Trauma.
In this heartfelt episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, host Sarah Stasica speaks with dancer and choreographer Allison Thomas about her powerful healing journey after the devastating loss of her infant. Together, they explore the deep layers of medical trauma, infant loss, and the complex emotions of grief, and how movement—especially dance—became a transformative outlet for Allison's healing.
Allison shares how her body carried both her pain and her path toward recovery. Through somatic practices, breath awareness, and nervous system support, she began to process her trauma and reconnect with her inner wisdom. The episode also touches on the isolation that often comes with loss, and the critical role of community, remembrance rituals, and gentle self-expression in the healing process.
Whether you are navigating your own experience with infant loss, supporting a loved one through grief, or healing from medical trauma, this episode offers hope, validation, and a reminder that your journey matters—and you don’t have to walk it alone.
You can find Allison on Instagram @all_is_on_the_move
If you would like to see the short film she made for her son, Indy, you can view it here.
In this powerful episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, Sarah Stasica is joined by Emily Guarnotta, clinical psychologist and founder of Phoenix Health, for an honest conversation about the often-unspoken emotional and medical trauma of infertility. Emily shares her personal experience with postpartum depression and how it led her to create a supportive space for others navigating infertility and perinatal mental health challenges.
Together, they explore the deep isolation and anxiety that can come with fertility treatments and medical interventions, and the crucial role that mindfulness, breathwork, and community support play in the healing process. Whether you're in the middle of your infertility journey or supporting someone who is, this episode offers compassion, coping strategies, and a reminder that you are not alone.
Keywords: infertility, medical trauma, perinatal mental health, mindfulness, breathwork, support systems, coping strategies, emotional healing, Phoenix Health
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, host Sarah Stasica welcomes Leah Levitan, certified lymphatic therapist and founder of Lymph Love Club, for an empowering conversation about lymphatic system health and its vital role in healing after medical trauma.
Leah shares her personal story of how her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis led her to explore the world of lymphatic drainage, somatic healing, and nervous system regulation. Together, Sarah and Leah discuss how the lymphatic system supports detoxification, immune function, and trauma recovery—especially for those living with autoimmune conditions or recovering from chronic illness and medical interventions.
You’ll learn about the connection between movement, breathwork, self-care, and community in supporting lymphatic flow, and Leah offers a powerful, beginner-friendly somatic practice called The Big Six to help you connect with your body and support your healing.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about lymphatic healing, body awareness, and finding accessible tools for post-trauma recovery.
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, we explore the wisdom of the body with Devon Hornby, a manual therapist and Chinese medicine practitioner at Tao Health Clinic in Austin, TX. We discuss how somatic awareness, nervous system regulation, and trauma-informed healing can help rebuild trust and safety within the body. Learn why there is no wrong place to start your healing journey, how slowing down fosters deep healing, and why you have more agency in your recovery than you realize. Tune in for expert insights on befriending your body, accessing its innate wisdom, and using somatic practices to heal from medical trauma.
To learn more about Devon's work you can visit his website at https://taohealthclinic.com/ and you can follow him on Instagram @taohealthclinic
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, Sarah Stasica and Jenn Wooten discuss the profound impact of medical trauma on the nervous system and the importance of understanding this relationship for healing. There is so much wisdom in the body but it takes nervous system capacity to be able to turn toward the body. When we can increase our nervous system capacity, it allows us to turn in and befriend the body.
Jenn shares her expertise in somatic practices to heal the nervous system and the Via Somatic methodology, emphasizing self-regulation, resilience, and the significance of community support in navigating medical trauma. They explore practical techniques for managing stress responses, the role of deep rest in recovery, and the necessity of advocating for trauma-informed care in healthcare settings.
Jenn and Sarah also discuss the journey of post-traumatic growth and the power of lived experience in fostering compassion and understanding in both practitioners and patients.
You can learn more about Jenn and her work at:
Keywords for this episode: medical trauma, nervous system, trauma-informed care, somatic practices, healing, resilience, self-regulation, post-traumatic growth, peer support, yoga therapy
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, I speak with Dr. Sasha McBain about medical trauma and the emotions that often go along with it. We particularly focus on anger because it is such a common experience for those of us who have experienced medical trauma. We discuss Sasha's journey into this field, the psychological impact of medical experiences, and the importance of addressing trauma in healthcare settings. We also address the need for systemic change in healthcare to better support patients and their families. In this conversation, Sacha McBain, PhD, and I explore the complex emotions surrounding medical trauma, particularly focusing on anger and its underlying causes. We discuss how ableism affects perceptions of illness and recovery, the importance of recognizing and processing anger, and the role of self-compassion in healing. The conversation emphasizes that while anger can be a protective emotion, it is crucial to understand its roots and transform it into constructive actions. We also highlight the significance of acceptance and the various coping strategies available for individuals navigating these challenges.
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kim Humphrey, an Austin based speech therapist, yoga teacher, sound healer and all around magic person, about her personal journey through medical trauma and how it led her to healing practices that she now shares with others. Kim shares her medical trauma experiences and the emotional toll of her medical journey, and we talked about the importance of finding words to describe medical trauma. We explored the role of yoga in healing, how yoga nidra helps with finding peace, and the connection between emotions and somatic experiences. Kim and I talked a lot about the importance of connecting with one's body to uncover deep-seated beliefs and emotions and the wisdom that the body holds. We explored Kim's transition from personal healing to teaching others, and the significance of lived experience in guiding others through their struggles. She shared a lot of resources during the episode, you can find links to those resources here:
In this episode of the Medical Trauma Support Podcast, I welcome back Christen Mullane to discuss her new book, Medical Stress and Trauma: A Mindfulness-Based Approach To Reclaiming Safety And Empowerment. Our conversation explores the themes of safety, empowerment, and the importance of understanding medical stress for patients, caregivers, and providers. Christen shares insights on how her workbook can serve as a tool for healing and reflection, and everyone can benefit from its content, regardless of their role in medical trauma or stage in the healing journey. The episode also includes an experiential exercise on safety, highlighting the significance of building authentic relationships and emotional safety in the healing process. In this conversation, Christen Mullane and I explore the complexities of medical trauma, emphasizing the importance of safety, empowerment, and mindfulness in healthcare settings. We discuss how caregivers and medical providers can navigate their own experiences of trauma while supporting patients. Our conversation really highlights the significance of trauma-informed care and the need for personalized mindfulness practices that cater to individual experiences and challenges. I hope you enjoy this episode and that you buy Christen's workbook as a companion on your healing journey! Please follow and review our podcast.
Show Links:
Click here to order Christen's book
