328: Can You Save Someone Without Drowning Yourself? PTSD, Caregiving, and Wilderness Survival

What happens when caring for someone you love begins to pull you under too? In this episode of Stories from the Field, Will speaks with journalist and author Virginia Eubanks about her new memoir, A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival. After her partner, Jay, survived two violent attacks and developed severe PTSD, Virginia became a primary caregiver while trying to navigate a fragmented mental health and healthcare system. Years later, she was diagnosed with collateral PTSD herself. Searching for practical guidance, Virginia found some of the most useful lessons not in traditional caregiving advice, but in an unexpected place: a lifesaving manual. Virginia went on to become a certified lifeguard and study wilderness first aid, kayak self-rescue, navigation, bushwhacking, and winter survival. She shares how these experiences taught her that caregivers need more than self-care—they need competence, training, tools, and a team. Virginia and Will explore what wilderness survival can teach us about responding to crisis without becoming another victim, how she used progressively challenging experiences in the outdoors to rebuild her own tolerance for fear, and why she is skeptical of the simple idea that nature itself is inherently healing. At the heart of their conversation is a powerful question: How do we care deeply for another person without losing ourselves in the process? This podcast is supported by the White Mountain Adventure Institute (WMAI.org), where Dr. Will White helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate growth, change, and life transitions through coaching, consulting, and retreats.    Check out Virginia Eubank's website at https://virginia-eubanks.com/ to buy books or see where she it speaking in the near future: