Sarah Helgeson: Trauma and Addiction Therapist, EMDR Specialist, Mother, Survivor, Resource - Columbus Ohio Ep 77

Trauma and Addiction Therapist, EMDR Specialist, Mother, Survivor, and valuable resources in Columbus Ohio.  Sarah has helped me tremendously with learning about trauma.  Specifically, helping me understand that traumatic experiences can be as simple as being scared of the dark as a child or witnessing your parents argue to more extreme examples like being abused in a relationship or experiencing combat as a military veteran.  In the most simple of ways, Sarah describes Trauma as, "anything that happens to us that causes our brain to go into survival mode."  You can never be sure how someone will interpret a life experience.  To one person, an experience can be nothing more than a blip in their day and to another, it can a memory imprinted in their mind as something that changed their life forever.  Even more interesting, looking into the role of generational trauma and how the traumatic experiences of your ancestors still influence our thoughts and feelings today.  Sarah is fascinated with how trauma manifests itself in people's lives.  From addiction to relationships and any variety of risky behaviors, if you are not able to get to the root issues, often long-lasting change can be almost impossible.  Sarah is a big believer in the teachings of Gabor Mate who specializes in addiction and childhood trauma as well as Bessel van der Kolk M.D. who wrote The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.  In this episode, Sarah shares some of her personal experiences with feeling trapped in an abusive relationship and navigating her way into the field of professional counseling.  You may also find it interesting how Sarah is able to pull out a few of my own traumatic experiences that were deeper than I realized.  I explore the effects of growing up in the Bible belt and the confusion I experienced as a kid trying to figure out why my friends and loved ones debated on "who was in" and "who was out."   I loved this conversation and I hope you do as well.  If you have any questions for Sarah, you can reach her at [email protected].  If you know someone that would benefit from hearing this conversation, please share it with them.  We are always grateful for your feedback.  Please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and as always, join us on Facebook.  Our community group page is The High Cost of Anonymity Podcast Group.  PS:  For some reason, the audio overlaps about an hour and a half in and it sounds as if Sarah and I are interrupting each other.  I'm sorry in advance and hope it doesn't take away from the conversation. Love Preston