Dr. Patty Johnson, USA

Dr. Patty Johnson is a writer and psychologist who believes in healing through stories. She is currently working on a memoir and has 2 published books—Essays of Night and Daylight and Breathe & Release: A 12 Month Journal for Healing from Anxiety.

In this episode, Dr. Johnson discusses what sparked her interest in becoming a psychologist… being guided by behavioral medicine, a model of integrating both the physiological and the psychological… how important listening to people's stories has been in her life… being born in America to immigrant parents, and cultural differences that she and her family navigated… behavioral medicine, a model of integrating the physiological and the psychological… exploring how the mind and body work together... generational trauma… immigrant trauma… the beauty and complexity of growing up in two cultures… the importance of helping people align their physical symptoms with what is happening in their life or with what they have been thinking about… her love of writing and how, as an adolescent, writing helped her process feelings she was unable to discuss… the healing power of stories… our experience of seeing ourselves differently from how others see us… meditating on the power, strength, and ability we have to do things that we were told we could not do… the importance of realizing that it doesn't matter what other people say about us if we know who we are… and these inspiring words, “There's so much strength in fighting to be who we are.” (United States)