19 Joy Bornstein | Using Art to Cope with Loss and Trauma

Send us Fan MailToday on the podcast I’m speaking with Joy, who I've known since 2015 as part of the May We All Heal community. This community was born out of a group of women from the Grieving Parents Support Network. They came together year after year during the month of May to focus on dealing with their grief using creativity. Joy has used a unique approach with her artwork, which can be seen on her Instagram channel. Joy describes how she moved from feeling ashamed for disassociating from her pain, which was her coping mechanism to understanding and appreciating it as her survival strategy at the time. Joy says:‘You deal with it when you can. That is how you are surviving. That is how your brain is keeping you safe in a situation that is not safe so now it's like ‘oh yeah just disassociating, it's okay, I’ll deal with it later.’ I mean it doesn't mean it's easy to deal with but just knowing that yeah that's an ok thing to do for my brain to survive.’About this week’s guest Joy Bornstein uses art as a way to process everyday emotions and the long-term scars left by trauma. She is the mother of 3 living children, the mother of a stillborn son, Bennet, and a former victim of domestic abuse. Joy uses colour, line, and shape to explore emotions in a way that can't be expressed in words in an attempt to turn pain into beauty.Joy’s Instagram: @fire_fly_joyTopics discussed in this episodeStillbirth and physical traumaShame around the coping strategy of disassociating Dissolving a marriage, domestic abuse, divorce, custody battles, and dealing with the children’s traumaMay We All Heal – using art to cope with loss and trauma Resources mentioned in this episodeMay We All Heal: Creative Healing After LossMay We All Heal BookLinks--> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website. --> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.--> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.comIf you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Support this PodcastTo support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier. Support the show💡 If today’s episode touched you, please share it with someone who might need it. 🤝 Become a supporter of the show! Starting at $3/month & leave a review.Stay Connected🌐 Visit nathaliehimmelrich.com💌 Subscribe to the newsletter for resources and updates🎧 Never miss an episode—follow the podcast!💛 Socials   Instagram   FacebookFind Support Resources 💜 For Grievers – Resourceshttps://nathaliehimmelrich.com/grief-trauma-support/💜 For Supporters – Supporting someone https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/supporters-resources/💜 Books – Explore books on grief and healing https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/books/💜 Support – Offers - free and paid https://nathaliehimmelrich.com/free-resources-hub/