March 12, 2025 • 33 mins
Amy's Story Part 1
Five years after launching this podcast as a "pandemic pivot" from my hammock, I'm marking this milestone by returning to the fundamentals of trauma and PTSD. This episode kicks off a comprehensive series that will guide you through understanding trauma's profound impact on mind, body, and behavior as we build toward PTSD Awareness Month in June.
Trauma isn't simply about what happens to us—it's about what happens inside us when events overwhelm our natural capacity or "window of tolerance." I explain why comparing trauma experiences misses the point entirely and how traumatic responses actually represent your body functioning exactly as designed when pushed beyond its limits. You'll discover why physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and sleep disturbances often accompany emotional and behavioral changes, and why "the body keeps the score" is more than just a catchphrase.
The episode demystifies Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, exploring why many experts (myself included) now prefer dropping the "disorder" label. I share insights from my journey from trauma survivor to trauma specialist, drawing connections between unhealed trauma and autoimmune conditions that developed through decades of avoidance.
I answer poignant listener questions about preventing intergenerational trauma transmission and navigating complex trauma healing when traditional therapies feel overwhelming. The episode culminates with an exciting announcement about Victory Trauma Consulting, my new venture offering personalized trauma support services with sliding-scale pricing.
Whether you're struggling with your own trauma history, supporting someone who is, or simply seeking education, this episode provides the foundational understanding necessary for healing. The only way through trauma is through it—and this series aims to light that path forward with clarity, compassion, and hope.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey everybody and welcome back to the Wednesdays
with Watson podcast.
It is March of 2025.
And we are coming up on theyear or, excuse me, five year.
Lord have mercy.
Five year anniversary of theWednesdays with Watson podcast,
otherwise known as my pandemicpivot.
If you have been tuning in thelast six weeks, the last three
(00:33):
episodes, we re aired thoseoriginal episodes that tell a
little bit about why I am sopassionate about this topic and
helping others, and so, ifyou've not caught those episodes
, this one may still be so ifyou've not caught those episodes
, this one may still be good foryou, but it may be advantageous
for you to know why I care somuch, as I shared my story, my
own journey, with my posttraumatic stress disorder
(00:55):
diagnosis.
Since then, wow, have thingsever changed.
I remember in March of 2020, asmany of you probably do when we
had the quote two weeks toflatten the curve, and I
remember being in my hammockoutside on that beautiful April,
beautiful Florida day,wondering what to do with that
time.
I did know that we would neverget hopefully never get another
(01:19):
opportunity where thisworkaholic could not work and
just was forced to kind of rest.
But during those two weeks toflatten the curve.
We started the Wednesdays withWatson podcast and, like I said,
so many things have changed.
At that time, I was operatingas the president and CEO which I
still am of a restaurantmanagement recruiting group
(01:40):
watermark management group, butthe pandemic did what it did to
so many business owners for us,and so then I started on this
journey that I'm on right now,which is not only working on the
front lines of behavioralhealth but also all but
dissertation for my doctoratedegree in trauma and community
care, and so I hope that youguys will find these next
(02:02):
several episodes advantageous toyou.
We will cover some listenerquestions, and so I have that.
You guys will find these nextseveral episodes advantageous to
you.
We will cover some listenerquestions, and so I have two of
those today.
Ways that you can get thoselistener questions to us is
either right there in your app,while you're listening to this
podcast, click on, send us atext message that is
confidential it only comes to meand over the next several weeks
, as we really dive into PTSDand trauma 101, trying to help
(02:28):
you guys understand it, we alsohave a very, very special
announcement at the end of thispodcast, and so today we are
going to start with the basicswhat is trauma, what is PTSD?
And other things that would beadvantageous to causes of PTSD,
symptoms of PTSD and how wediagnose it and the prevalence
(02:48):
of it.
And so let's drop into thisepisode where I am answering
listener questions and alsobeginning this series that will
probably take us all the way upto PTSD Awareness Month, and so
it will be the next severalepisodes, the next couple of
months.
We will be having some of thesePTSD one-on-one episodes, with
maybe a few guests interspersedthere.
(03:09):
Because of my life right nowand the need to get my
dissertation written.
The podcast is just one of manythings that I am doing.
So here we go, let's drop intothis episode and make sure you
stay all the way to the end whenwe give you an important
announcement about this ministry, that is, the Wednesdays with
Watson podcast.
Okay, so here we are.
(03:34):
Let's start with our PTSD andtrauma 101 from the beginning.
A question that people ask me alot and they don't really know
that they're asking because theyare so not knowledgeable about
what's going on in their ownbodies and about their lives,
and we hear this word traumaused a lot.
We hear trauma used a lot.
We hear the word triggered alot and I am a little bit
(03:57):
worried about that in the sensethat we throw everything, we
throw that, those titles oneverything, we throw trauma on.
You know, things that justaren't trauma and that's just
kind of people say that tonguein cheek, but it is bothersome
to me because trauma isdestructive and most people
don't know what we in the field,as experts call trauma.
(04:21):
So trauma is an intenseemotional and psychological
response to an event that isexperienced deeply.
When you experience it isdistressing and also disturbing.
Trauma can be a single eventand most people are able to
really recover from single eventtraumas like a car accident,
for example, hurricane, anassault.
(04:42):
But then we also have repeatedexposure to distressing
situations.
Now we always talk about thisand we've talked about this many
, many times on this podcastabout trauma and why we don't
compare it and what makes anevent like a car accident or
repeated exposure to distressingevents, what makes that trauma,
what makes those of us in thefield call that trauma?
(05:04):
And we have big T traumas andlittle t traumas, but either way
, trauma is destructive if it'snot handled.
And so think of first of all weknow that everyone on this
planet.
Genesis 1.16 tells us that weare made in the image of God.
Each of us are made differentlyand therefore each of us are
going to respond to eventsdifferently.
And therefore each of us aregoing to respond to events
(05:26):
differently.
I many times have people ask mequestions like I grew up in the
same house with my sibling whobasically we went through the
same thing.
Why am I struggling with this?
What's wrong with me?
And the question is nothing iswrong with you.
We use this term a lot in thefield called the window of
tolerance.
This is how you're made.
(05:46):
This is your ability to dealwith distressing and disturbing
situations.
This does not make you weak.
It does not make you anythingexcept for who you are.
And so when something burststhrough your window of tolerance
or your capacity to deal withthings, then that is when this
can become a traumatic event.
(06:07):
So that sometimes will come inphysical symptoms.
We know this headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, fast heart
rate, inability to sleep, astomach, gi issues, many, many
physical symptoms can happenwhen somebody has experienced a
traumatic event, especially achild who doesn't have the
ability to articulate what'sgoing on when they experience a
(06:31):
traumatic event and rememberthat children, especially up to
around age eight, nine, 10,.
They believe that the worldrevolves around them because
they have not created.
Basically, they are operatingin their ego sense.
This is the way God made usbecause they need to depend on
caregivers, and so when a childexperiences a traumatic event,
it is particularly destructiveif we don't notice what's going
(06:55):
on.
And because they don't have thewords to attach to it, and
because they think thateverything is about them, they
make everything their fault, andso lots of children will walk
around from an early, early ageand some of you probably walked
around from an early age withsomething unresolved, because
you experienced a traumaticevent and it bursted through
(07:16):
your capacity or your window oftolerance, and and so children
often will have physicalsymptoms, headaches, they don't
want to go to school, they can'tsleep, those kinds of things.
But the body keeps the score,and this is something that we're
going to talk about a lot onthis series that we're calling
PTSD 101, trauma 101, is thebody keeps the score, and so
(07:37):
this is why we must addresstrauma, and so trauma is again
anything that a personexperiences that will burst
through that window of toleranceand they don't have the coping
skills or you don't have thecoping skills to deal with it,
and so it could be anything.
And just because it's traumaticfor you doesn't mean it's
traumatic for somebody else, andvice versa.
(07:59):
And remember, we do not comparetrauma.
Obviously trauma has with itand we're going to take much
deeper dives in this.
Today is kind of a macrocoverage of the word trauma and
basically how we can understandit.
But it also clearly hasemotional symptoms.
This comes through with fearand anxiety, depression, anger,
(08:19):
difficulty in relationships,hypervigilance, all of these
emotional issues.
Because, again, when an eventhas happened, either a single
event or a repeated event hashappened that burst through your
window of tolerance, then yourbody is going to say yo stop.
And oftentimes we go intosurvival mode and back to the
physical symptoms for a second,when your nervous system is out
(08:42):
of range.
In other words, it iseverything going on in your life
is too much for you to handle.
That energy, that emotion, thatanxiety has to go somewhere.
And so a lot of times in traumawork, we will start with body
work, helping people understandhow they feel in their bodies
and how trauma gets stuck intheir bodies, because if we
can't calm the nervous system,we can't treat the trauma, and
(09:04):
so these physical and emotionalsymptoms that come with when we
have trauma has to be addressedin the body first, and that's
something that we're going totalk about a lot on this series
leading all through June withPTSD Awareness Month.
And so we have the definitionof trauma being something that
bursts through your capacity, itbursts through your window of
tolerance, it bursts throughyour natural ability to deal and
(09:26):
your body will continue to keepthat score.
It'll continue to rack up thedays until you effectively deal
with the trauma.
And in this series we're goingto talk about modalities to
treat trauma.
So we have the physicalsymptoms, we have the emotional
symptoms, we also havebehavioral symptoms, and this is
something that, again, we wantto watch for in children, but we
want to also watch for inourselves.
(09:47):
Things like isolating,withdrawal from social
activities, lack of trust ofother people, sometimes anger.
Sometimes we come across peopleat the hospital where I work,
now that I'm on the front linesof working with trauma patients
and people with severe mentalillness who are hospitalized.
A lot of times these peoplecome in angry and they come in
(10:10):
completely traumatized and theirbehavior sometimes requires us
to give them an emergencytreatment order, because that
stuff has to go somewhere.
If you ignore it, it will comefor you.
And I want to say that again ifyou ignore trauma, it will come
for you, and so that's why itis so important to make sure
that we are addressing thesethings that burst through our
(10:32):
capacity or a window oftolerance.
We understand that physicalsymptoms originally hospitals
and courtrooms how that affectedme physically.
I have four autoimmune diseasesand live with just health
(10:53):
struggles every single daybecause I went 35 years without
addressing the traumatic eventsof my life, and so we're going
to talk a lot about body work inthis series that we're doing on
PTSD.
The second question I want tocover today in this series,
before we get to the twolistener questions, is what is
post traumatic stress disorderSuch a that's a million dollar
(11:14):
question right?
Many of us in the field havedropped the disorder off of the
PTSD part of post traumaticstress disorder.
Because, in fact, when the bodyresponds with PTSD symptoms,
that is exactly what it'ssupposed to do.
Because, in fact, when the bodyresponds with PTSD symptoms,
that is exactly what it'ssupposed to do because it's been
pushed outside of the window oftolerance.
It's been pushed outside ofthat individual's ability to
deal and therefore it is not adisorder.
(11:37):
It is the way God made us andit is the way that we should
respond.
But, and as a matter of fact,we've been looking for language
for post-traumatic stressdisorder since literally the
Civil War and we've used wordsfrom all through war, like war
neuroses, a soldier's heart,shell shock, and it wasn't until
(11:57):
like 1980 that we gave languageto post-traumatic stress
disorder, and now, hopefully, inthe next DSM we will have just
post-traumatic stress and notpost-traumatic stress disorder,
and now, hopefully in the nextDSM we will have just post
traumatic stress and not posttraumatic stress disorder.
This is something that we.
That is pretty simple actuallyfor those of us in the field.
To assess whether or notsomebody has post traumatic
stress disorder is one of thevery few times that I am in
(12:19):
lockstep agreement with the DSMor the diagnostic statistical
manual for mental disorders, andso one of the things that I
love to do is assess for PTSDand help people understand
whether or not they have adiagnosis of PTSD.
I know for me, putting languageon it, putting a diagnosis on
it, was so incredibly helpfulfor me, and so there are certain
(12:41):
things that we go through whenwe assess for PTSD, but some of
the things that we look for verymuch on the macro scale before
we assess is people reliving thetrauma.
This was something that wasparticularly hard for me and
that came in the way ofnightmares and flashbacks and
other intrusive thoughts.
When we look for avoidancebehaviors.
(13:03):
For me, that was put my headdown and keep working and not
addressing the trauma thathappened to us.
So we look for avoidancebehaviors.
For me, that was put my headdown and keep working and not
addressing the trauma thathappened to us.
So we look for avoidancebehaviors.
We look for negative thoughtsand mood changes like guilt and
shame and depression, detachmentfrom loved ones.
We look for hyperarousal,easily startled things of that
nature.
Ptsd can happen in anyone, butpeople that are more vulnerable
(13:26):
to it do have some geneticcomponents, have some
psychological components andhave environmental factors, and
so post traumatic stress can beassessed.
It could be assessed quiteeasily, and it is something that
I love to do Because I again,when we put a diagnosis,
something that everybody canwrap their head around on what
(13:49):
we are feeling inside, that isactually helpful, and so these
episodes are going to be shorter, and so these, as we, as we
lead up to post-traumatic stressdisorder month, and hopefully
we'll get more and morequestions, but today I wanted to
cover what is trauma.
And really, guys, if you'reasking whether something was a
(14:12):
traumatic event in your life, itprobably is.
And so, what is trauma and whatis PTSD?
Now there's also somethingcalled acute stress disorder,
and that is the precursor topost traumatic stress disorder,
and so one of my passions isgetting to people before acute
stress disorder, which happensimmediately after the event,
from turning into post traumaticstress disorder, because, you
(14:33):
see, post traumatic stressdisorder, the symptoms have to
stay around for a while beforewe can diagnose it.
But acute stress disorder, weis what we expect to happen when
somebody is in a, in a fight orflight, or fawn or freeze
because they have had atraumatic event, burst through
their window of tolerance orburst through their capacity.
(14:54):
And so I hope that these twoquestions, or these two points
are helpful for you on this PTSD101 or trauma 101 series that
we're doing.
We are going to take our time,and so I again wanted you guys
to understand the veryfoundations of what we're
dealing with, but understandthat, if many of you out there
(15:14):
are walking around withdysregulated nervous systems and
one of the best things thatever happened to me was when I
got connected with LaurenStarnes.
Happened to me was when I gotconnected with Lauren Starnes
who went I went through aprogram when the body talks and
I will link that episode in thisone.
But when I began to do the bodywork was just a nice one to
(15:42):
punch for when I actually endedup really kind of working
through the trauma to where itwasn't causing me maladaptive
issues.
And again, if you want to knowwhy I care and what I've been
through, just the episodesbefore these, the three episodes
what is the Wednesday withWatson podcast?
What is the Wednesdays withWatson podcast, part two and
part three?
Listen to those.
Start with the first one andyou'll understand why I care and
how I went from that hammockthat April day when the pandemic
(16:03):
first started and completelychanged my life, to where I now
am all but dissertation, with adoctorate degree in trauma and
community care and I work on thefront lines with patients.
And so, with that said, let'sanswer these two listener
questions.
And then the announcement thatyou've all been waiting for.
And I say that with tongue incheek because I know that's
probably not actually true, butit is an exciting and exciting
(16:28):
announcement.
So here are the two listenerquestions and then after that
the announcement.
Okay, so this comes to us viadirect message on Facebook.
The Wednesdays with Watsonpodcast does have a Facebook
page it's called the Wednesdayswith Watson podcast and so you
(16:49):
can certainly go there to leavequestions.
You can message us throughthere.
You can also catch us onInstagram author Amy Watson, and
or on Twitter.
Also, I believe that one is AmyWatson.
Author.
I'll put my link tree in theshow notes.
So I believe that one is AmyWatson.
Author.
I'll put my link tree in theshow notes as well, as you can
also send a message through thepodcast by just hitting send a
(17:10):
text message and again, I'm theonly one that gets that.
And so if you want me to addressa question while we are really
putting our heads down andfocusing on helping you
understand trauma and PTSDleading up to June, which is
PTSD Awareness Month, thenplease reach out in any way that
you can.
As NEF Downs says, I'membarrassingly easy to find, and
(17:31):
so this one comes to us viaFacebook Messenger.
She said what I want to knowabout trauma is how can I
protect my children from my owntrauma and prevent myself from
causing trauma to other people?
What a great question, and onethat comes from somebody who
really just wants to get thisright.
And so what I want to knowabout trauma is how can I
protect children from my owntrauma?
(17:52):
And the answer to this questionis simple but not easy.
And how we can protect ourchildren from trauma is by
dealing with that trauma.
And what I mean by dealing withthat trauma is you have to walk
through it, you have to dealwith it, you have to address it,
and that's the hard part.
And so my suggestion to thislistener is to reach out to
(18:14):
someone who can help walkthrough trauma, somebody that
can assess whether or not youhave PTSD and whether or not you
need some help.
That would be advantageous tofirst you and I love this
question because this questionis deeply rooted in the desire
to take care of children andother people.
But I know this listener andlove this listener and hope that
(18:36):
you will make the decision todeal with your trauma because
it's good for you and then thatbeing the first thing that you
do, and then obviously, it'sgood for other people when you
have walked through your owntrauma.
There's a saying out there thatsays hurting people hurt people
and healed people heal people.
And what I would say to thislistener is hurting people, hurt
(18:58):
people and heal people healpeople.
I love that saying, I believethat it is true and I think that
, as a parent, when you haveyour own trauma and when your
children get older and you'reable to share, if you're so
inclined with those children andthey look back on their lives
and look at how that neveraffected them or if it did
affect them, you guys walkedthrough it in a way that was
(19:21):
healthy and good.
I think that that is the highestform of love, when you take
care of yourself so that you cantake care of your children.
And I get emotional when Ianswered this question simply
because my mom didn't do thatand because of that, her trauma
was passed down to me.
And I don't say that toactivate anything and any
listener out there, but thebottom line is, if you've got
(19:43):
unresolved trauma, it willaffect you and your children at
some point.
I have a very actually my bestfriend in the whole wide world
who I grew up with in thechildren's home has been really
my whole life, since I've knownher for almost gosh, I think we
figured out that it would be 40years in a couple years.
She is just now rememberingthings that happened to her in
(20:06):
her childhood because she justkind of went through life and,
like I did, and just kept doing,kept being, kept doing all the
things and then finally traumacame knocking at her door it
will do that, guys.
It will either do that like wetalked about early and emotions
and physical senses andbehavioral issues, or it will
shut down your body.
And so I appreciate thislistener question because she
(20:28):
does not want to pass herchildren, her trauma, onto her
children, and the answer forthat listener is quite simple
the way through it is through it, and so working with your own
trauma will ensure that youdon't pass it on to them in the
way that would be negative, andso I hope that helps this
listener.
We've got one more question.
This one is a little bit deeperin the way, and so I'm just
(20:51):
going to read it exactly as itcame to me and attempt to answer
it as much as I can.
But this came to us throughtext messaging.
A listener in Connecticut sentthis message and this is what it
says hey, I have PTSD andbipolar disorder the worst
combination in the history ofmental illness.
That, along with severe angerissues, mostly because I can't
(21:14):
understand why God chose me tohave disorder.
My therapist wants to do EMDRwith me.
I keep avoiding it because ofthe last time I went there my
feelings were terribly hurt.
I told the EMDR therapist thatand they laughed at me for being
beat by my foster mother andsome of her family.
On top of that, I have beenabused twice and there's a word
(21:34):
there that I won't use on thepodcast, but it is not
physically abused twice in mylife, on top of being bullied at
school when I was a child.
Do you think I should betreated with EMDR Because I wish
there was another treatment,better than I'm getting right
now in therapy?
I have been untreated my wholechild until I turned 18.
I'm terrified to revisit thosedays of my life and my foster
(21:57):
mother tried to kill me.
How do I face the fear of mytrauma?
Looking away from my life,anytime I revisit it, I have the
ache of revenge and fury.
I get flashbacks to back up thehospital more times than I can
count.
I've been hospitalized 13 times.
I hate myself for that.
It just makes me feel insaneand crazy.
I just want to be happy and atpeace and I hate when my past
(22:19):
revisited me.
And nowhere.
Please, there has to be abetter way.
First of all, this message brokemy heart and, because it is
filled, it is laced withmultiple, multiple concerns and
multiple questions for thislistener.
First of all, the double punchof PTSD and bipolar disorder the
worst combination in history,as this listener said and, yes,
(22:40):
a bad combination.
Bipolar disorder is not myspecialty, but it is one that we
see a lot in patients that havetrauma extreme highs, extreme
lows and very difficult to treat.
You add to that trauma, and youadd in this particular listener
talks about angry being anger.
Anger is definitely a somethingthat we see a lot in patients
(23:02):
with post-traumatic stress andbipolar disorder, for that
matter.
We often say that anger isfear's bodyguard, and so when
people are angry, they areactually afraid, and so what I
would say to this listener whohad a negative experience with
EMDR?
I'm, first of all, that I am sosorry.
Emdr is my favorite treatmentmodality that I like, but what I
(23:23):
would suggest for you is to getwith someone that you do trust
that can properly assess you forall of the things and then walk
you through different treatmentmodalities If it's not EMDR.
We have a lot of success withcognitive processing therapy,
cognitive behavior therapy,internal family systems,
narrative therapies.
(23:44):
There's many, many more thingsthat you can do, but the bottom
line is that you've got multiplelayers of trauma that need
someone to that.
You need someone to work withyou for a good amount of time
that you can trust, and so thatwe can get, first of all, get
that anger and the compartmentwhere it belongs, and that you
can use that anger to fuel youto help you.
(24:04):
You did mention in here thatyou're angry at God for all of
the things I get you.
I hear you, and I know thatthere are other listeners out
there who feel the same.
What I would tell you is get inthe ring and have that
wrestling match with God, but myanswer to you is to find
somebody that you do trust, thatcan help you, that can assess
you, that can help understandyour trauma and that can find a
(24:26):
treatment modality that doeswork for you.
That perhaps isn't EMDR, butthat is something else.
There are many empiricallysupported treatments for trauma
that we can use, and so I hopethat helps you to the listener
in Connecticut, and please knowthat I am praying for you and
definitely hope that you can getthrough this.
I know that you can, but I alsoknow that the only way through
(24:49):
it is through it, and so I dowish you the best and hope that
you can find somebody that canhelp you and that you trust and
that can help you have a lifeand that you can have a life
that is abundant and free.
Okay, guys, that does it forthis first episode of Trauma 101
, ptsd 101.
We are going to be divingdeeply in all the things over
(25:15):
the next several episodes.
This episode, hopefully, washere to help you understand
trauma and help you understand alittle bit about PTSD.
We'll talk about assessing PTSDand some more specific things
about how we do that and theupcoming episodes, more specific
things about how we do that inthe upcoming episodes.
And so now for the announcementthat you've all been waiting
for and I say that intongue-in-cheek, but it is an
announcement that I'm excited togive you.
(25:36):
And so in this five-year journeythat has been the Wednesdays
with Watson podcast and myselfbecoming an advocate, a voice,
if you will, for trauma and forPTSD and for nervous system
regulation, I have continuedjust to ask the Lord what he
would require of me and what hewants of me.
One of the episodes I told youguys a story about when I was a
(25:58):
teenager and I went to a summercamp and I remember learning the
verse in Isaiah 6, verse 8 and9, where the Lord says who shall
I send and who will go for us?
And Isaiah said, then, said Ihere am, I send me.
And so I've been fightingsomething for a very long time,
and that is getting on the frontlines and actually helping
(26:19):
people one-on-one not through amicrophone walk through trauma,
understand PTSD and, moreimportantly, get some really
good coping mechanisms andcoping strategies so that they
could have victory over theirtrauma with some professional
help.
As many of you know, thispodcast always has had a heart
(26:40):
to raise money for those peoplewho can't afford counseling, who
can't afford somebody to helpthem, whether that's from
assessing trauma or helping themwalk through it, or helping
address these behavioral issuesthat we talked about today, or
these physical issues that wetalked about today, or these
emotional issues that we talkedabout today.
And so when I started thisjourney of getting my doctorate
(27:02):
degree in trauma and communitycare, I said to everybody but I
won't be, I won't be workingone-on-one with with people,
because that's I'm not built forthat.
Well, the Lord said really youare, because that's exactly what
I want you to do.
And so this is the announcementwe are launching, soft
launching victory traumaconsulting, and this is a new
(27:23):
business that I'm opening thatwill open services to anyone who
wants some one-on-one work withunderstanding trauma, how to
walk through it, how to addressthese emotional, behavioral and
physical issues that come withtrauma, and much, much more.
It will include speaking tochurches and to workplaces and
the trauma-informed workplace,the trauma-informed church.
(27:45):
It will include just aboutanything that the Lord opens up
or brings to me.
Pricing will be based on whatthe individual has the ability
to pay and, as this is somethingthat the Lord has called me to
and so I am not super concernedabout any of that, that will be
on a one-on-one basis and so, ifyou are interested in that, be
(28:06):
watching all the socials again,mainly Instagram, author Amy
Watson and we will provide waysfor you to book a quick little
15 minute session with me to seewhether or not this is a fit,
whether I can help you.
But Victory Trauma Consultingis.
I got the name from when I wasin college, my senior year of
(28:27):
college, I took a class frombiblical counseling and training
and I had to do a capstoneproject, and in that capstone
project I said that I wanted toopen a counseling center one day
and I called it VictoryCounseling Center.
And so here we are almost 40years later actually 30, 35
years later and I am doing justthat.
And so be looking on all thesocials years later, and I am
(28:49):
doing just that.
And so be looking on all thesocials.
Again, it is for Instagram.
It is author Amy Watson, andfor Twitter, or x, amy Watson,
author.
And again, I will put that inmy link tree.
But if you would like to do aconsultation with me, go ahead
and check out socials or checkout my link tree and you can
schedule a little 15 minutesession with me and we will see
if I can help you and if theLord has called me to stand in
(29:10):
that place for you.
And so I am so excited tofinally make this announcement.
And this is the passion of myheart, is the passion of my work
, and now is what I'm educatedto do while I am writing my
dissertation.
I have had all of thecoursework and certainly have
been through it all myself, andso I am here to help.
Victory Trauma Consulting islaunched this day, on March the
(29:32):
12th 2025.
Oh, what a journey this lastfive years has been.
The Lord is faithful and I haveanswered the call.
Then said I send me.
You guys have a great two weeks.
Remember you are seen, you areknown, you are heard, you are
loved and you are so, so lovedhere.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I am.
You can see that I'm nowherenear where I want to be, but you
, you remain so good.
You remain so good.
You never change.
You love me still in theperfect way.
(30:16):
You stay always so good.
You have pulled me out from thedepths.
You have saved me from certaindeath.
You have shown yourselffaithful to me Over and over
(30:39):
Jesus.
So let my life glorify you.
Teach me to walk beside you.
I want to be more like you, solet my life be one marked by you
.
(31:09):
Here I am, on my knees, righthere with you is where I want to
be, cause you, you remain sogood.
Yes, you never change.
You love me still in theperfect way.
(31:31):
You stay always so good.
You have pulled me out from thedepths.
You have saved me from certaindeath.
You have shown your fromcertain death.
You have shown yourselffaithful to me Over and over
(31:54):
Jesus.
So let my life glorify you andteach me to walk beside you.
And I want to be more like you.
So let my life be one marked byyou.
And when my hope is fading andwhen worries do assail me, I
(32:26):
will remember how you, you neverfailed me.
You have pulled me out from thedepths.
You have saved me from certaindeath.
You have shown yourselffaithful to me over and over
(32:46):
Jesus.
So let my life glorify you andteach me to walk beside you.
I want to be more like you, solet my life be one marked by you
, marked by you, mind by you,mind by you.
Hey everybody and welcome back to the Wednesdays
with Watson podcast.
It is March of 2025.
And we are coming up on theyear or, excuse me, five year.
Lord have mercy.
Five year anniversary of theWednesdays with Watson podcast,
otherwise known as my pandemicpivot.
If you have been tuning in thelast six weeks, the last three
(00:33):
episodes, we re aired thoseoriginal episodes that tell a
little bit about why I am sopassionate about this topic and
helping others, and so, ifyou've not caught those episodes
, this one may still be so ifyou've not caught those episodes
, this one may still be good foryou, but it may be advantageous
for you to know why I care somuch, as I shared my story, my
own journey, with my posttraumatic stress disorder
(00:55):
diagnosis.
Since then, wow, have thingsever changed.
I remember in March of 2020, asmany of you probably do when we
had the quote two weeks toflatten the curve, and I
remember being in my hammockoutside on that beautiful April,
beautiful Florida day,wondering what to do with that
time.
I did know that we would neverget hopefully never get another
(01:19):
opportunity where thisworkaholic could not work and
just was forced to kind of rest.
But during those two weeks toflatten the curve.
We started the Wednesdays withWatson podcast and, like I said,
so many things have changed.
At that time, I was operatingas the president and CEO which I
still am of a restaurantmanagement recruiting group
(01:40):
watermark management group, butthe pandemic did what it did to
so many business owners for us,and so then I started on this
journey that I'm on right now,which is not only working on the
front lines of behavioralhealth but also all but
dissertation for my doctoratedegree in trauma and community
care, and so I hope that youguys will find these next
(02:02):
several episodes advantageous toyou.
We will cover some listenerquestions, and so I have that.
You guys will find these nextseveral episodes advantageous to
you.
We will cover some listenerquestions, and so I have two of
those today.
Ways that you can get thoselistener questions to us is
either right there in your app,while you're listening to this
podcast, click on, send us atext message that is
confidential it only comes to meand over the next several weeks
, as we really dive into PTSDand trauma 101, trying to help
(02:28):
you guys understand it, we alsohave a very, very special
announcement at the end of thispodcast, and so today we are
going to start with the basicswhat is trauma, what is PTSD?
And other things that would beadvantageous to causes of PTSD,
symptoms of PTSD and how wediagnose it and the prevalence
(02:48):
of it.
And so let's drop into thisepisode where I am answering
listener questions and alsobeginning this series that will
probably take us all the way upto PTSD Awareness Month, and so
it will be the next severalepisodes, the next couple of
months.
We will be having some of thesePTSD one-on-one episodes, with
maybe a few guests interspersedthere.
(03:09):
Because of my life right nowand the need to get my
dissertation written.
The podcast is just one of manythings that I am doing.
So here we go, let's drop intothis episode and make sure you
stay all the way to the end whenwe give you an important
announcement about this ministry, that is, the Wednesdays with
Watson podcast.
Okay, so here we are.
(03:34):
Let's start with our PTSD andtrauma 101 from the beginning.
A question that people ask me alot and they don't really know
that they're asking because theyare so not knowledgeable about
what's going on in their ownbodies and about their lives,
and we hear this word traumaused a lot.
We hear trauma used a lot.
We hear the word triggered alot and I am a little bit
(03:57):
worried about that in the sensethat we throw everything, we
throw that, those titles oneverything, we throw trauma on.
You know, things that justaren't trauma and that's just
kind of people say that tonguein cheek, but it is bothersome
to me because trauma isdestructive and most people
don't know what we in the field,as experts call trauma.
(04:21):
So trauma is an intenseemotional and psychological
response to an event that isexperienced deeply.
When you experience it isdistressing and also disturbing.
Trauma can be a single eventand most people are able to
really recover from single eventtraumas like a car accident,
for example, hurricane, anassault.
(04:42):
But then we also have repeatedexposure to distressing
situations.
Now we always talk about thisand we've talked about this many
, many times on this podcastabout trauma and why we don't
compare it and what makes anevent like a car accident or
repeated exposure to distressingevents, what makes that trauma,
what makes those of us in thefield call that trauma?
(05:04):
And we have big T traumas andlittle t traumas, but either way
, trauma is destructive if it'snot handled.
And so think of first of all weknow that everyone on this
planet.
Genesis 1.16 tells us that weare made in the image of God.
Each of us are made differentlyand therefore each of us are
going to respond to eventsdifferently.
And therefore each of us aregoing to respond to events
(05:26):
differently.
I many times have people ask mequestions like I grew up in the
same house with my sibling whobasically we went through the
same thing.
Why am I struggling with this?
What's wrong with me?
And the question is nothing iswrong with you.
We use this term a lot in thefield called the window of
tolerance.
This is how you're made.
(05:46):
This is your ability to dealwith distressing and disturbing
situations.
This does not make you weak.
It does not make you anythingexcept for who you are.
And so when something burststhrough your window of tolerance
or your capacity to deal withthings, then that is when this
can become a traumatic event.
(06:07):
So that sometimes will come inphysical symptoms.
We know this headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, fast heart
rate, inability to sleep, astomach, gi issues, many, many
physical symptoms can happenwhen somebody has experienced a
traumatic event, especially achild who doesn't have the
ability to articulate what'sgoing on when they experience a
(06:31):
traumatic event and rememberthat children, especially up to
around age eight, nine, 10,.
They believe that the worldrevolves around them because
they have not created.
Basically, they are operatingin their ego sense.
This is the way God made usbecause they need to depend on
caregivers, and so when a childexperiences a traumatic event,
it is particularly destructiveif we don't notice what's going
(06:55):
on.
And because they don't have thewords to attach to it, and
because they think thateverything is about them, they
make everything their fault, andso lots of children will walk
around from an early, early ageand some of you probably walked
around from an early age withsomething unresolved, because
you experienced a traumaticevent and it bursted through
(07:16):
your capacity or your window oftolerance, and and so children
often will have physicalsymptoms, headaches, they don't
want to go to school, they can'tsleep, those kinds of things.
But the body keeps the score,and this is something that we're
going to talk about a lot onthis series that we're calling
PTSD 101, trauma 101, is thebody keeps the score, and so
(07:37):
this is why we must addresstrauma, and so trauma is again
anything that a personexperiences that will burst
through that window of toleranceand they don't have the coping
skills or you don't have thecoping skills to deal with it,
and so it could be anything.
And just because it's traumaticfor you doesn't mean it's
traumatic for somebody else, andvice versa.
(07:59):
And remember, we do not comparetrauma.
Obviously trauma has with itand we're going to take much
deeper dives in this.
Today is kind of a macrocoverage of the word trauma and
basically how we can understandit.
But it also clearly hasemotional symptoms.
This comes through with fearand anxiety, depression, anger,
(08:19):
difficulty in relationships,hypervigilance, all of these
emotional issues.
Because, again, when an eventhas happened, either a single
event or a repeated event hashappened that burst through your
window of tolerance, then yourbody is going to say yo stop.
And oftentimes we go intosurvival mode and back to the
physical symptoms for a second,when your nervous system is out
(08:42):
of range.
In other words, it iseverything going on in your life
is too much for you to handle.
That energy, that emotion, thatanxiety has to go somewhere.
And so a lot of times in traumawork, we will start with body
work, helping people understandhow they feel in their bodies
and how trauma gets stuck intheir bodies, because if we
can't calm the nervous system,we can't treat the trauma, and
(09:04):
so these physical and emotionalsymptoms that come with when we
have trauma has to be addressedin the body first, and that's
something that we're going totalk about a lot on this series
leading all through June withPTSD Awareness Month.
And so we have the definitionof trauma being something that
bursts through your capacity, itbursts through your window of
tolerance, it bursts throughyour natural ability to deal and
(09:26):
your body will continue to keepthat score.
It'll continue to rack up thedays until you effectively deal
with the trauma.
And in this series we're goingto talk about modalities to
treat trauma.
So we have the physicalsymptoms, we have the emotional
symptoms, we also havebehavioral symptoms, and this is
something that, again, we wantto watch for in children, but we
want to also watch for inourselves.
(09:47):
Things like isolating,withdrawal from social
activities, lack of trust ofother people, sometimes anger.
Sometimes we come across peopleat the hospital where I work,
now that I'm on the front linesof working with trauma patients
and people with severe mentalillness who are hospitalized.
A lot of times these peoplecome in angry and they come in
(10:10):
completely traumatized and theirbehavior sometimes requires us
to give them an emergencytreatment order, because that
stuff has to go somewhere.
If you ignore it, it will comefor you.
And I want to say that again ifyou ignore trauma, it will come
for you, and so that's why itis so important to make sure
that we are addressing thesethings that burst through our
(10:32):
capacity or a window oftolerance.
We understand that physicalsymptoms originally hospitals
and courtrooms how that affectedme physically.
I have four autoimmune diseasesand live with just health
(10:53):
struggles every single daybecause I went 35 years without
addressing the traumatic eventsof my life, and so we're going
to talk a lot about body work inthis series that we're doing on
PTSD.
The second question I want tocover today in this series,
before we get to the twolistener questions, is what is
post traumatic stress disorderSuch a that's a million dollar
(11:14):
question right?
Many of us in the field havedropped the disorder off of the
PTSD part of post traumaticstress disorder.
Because, in fact, when the bodyresponds with PTSD symptoms,
that is exactly what it'ssupposed to do.
Because, in fact, when the bodyresponds with PTSD symptoms,
that is exactly what it'ssupposed to do because it's been
pushed outside of the window oftolerance.
It's been pushed outside ofthat individual's ability to
deal and therefore it is not adisorder.
(11:37):
It is the way God made us andit is the way that we should
respond.
But, and as a matter of fact,we've been looking for language
for post-traumatic stressdisorder since literally the
Civil War and we've used wordsfrom all through war, like war
neuroses, a soldier's heart,shell shock, and it wasn't until
(11:57):
like 1980 that we gave languageto post-traumatic stress
disorder, and now, hopefully, inthe next DSM we will have just
post-traumatic stress and notpost-traumatic stress disorder,
and now, hopefully in the nextDSM we will have just post
traumatic stress and not posttraumatic stress disorder.
This is something that we.
That is pretty simple actuallyfor those of us in the field.
To assess whether or notsomebody has post traumatic
stress disorder is one of thevery few times that I am in
(12:19):
lockstep agreement with the DSMor the diagnostic statistical
manual for mental disorders, andso one of the things that I
love to do is assess for PTSDand help people understand
whether or not they have adiagnosis of PTSD.
I know for me, putting languageon it, putting a diagnosis on
it, was so incredibly helpfulfor me, and so there are certain
(12:41):
things that we go through whenwe assess for PTSD, but some of
the things that we look for verymuch on the macro scale before
we assess is people reliving thetrauma.
This was something that wasparticularly hard for me and
that came in the way ofnightmares and flashbacks and
other intrusive thoughts.
When we look for avoidancebehaviors.
(13:03):
For me, that was put my headdown and keep working and not
addressing the trauma thathappened to us.
So we look for avoidancebehaviors.
For me, that was put my headdown and keep working and not
addressing the trauma thathappened to us.
So we look for avoidancebehaviors.
We look for negative thoughtsand mood changes like guilt and
shame and depression, detachmentfrom loved ones.
We look for hyperarousal,easily startled things of that
nature.
Ptsd can happen in anyone, butpeople that are more vulnerable
(13:26):
to it do have some geneticcomponents, have some
psychological components andhave environmental factors, and
so post traumatic stress can beassessed.
It could be assessed quiteeasily, and it is something that
I love to do Because I again,when we put a diagnosis,
something that everybody canwrap their head around on what
(13:49):
we are feeling inside, that isactually helpful, and so these
episodes are going to be shorter, and so these, as we, as we
lead up to post-traumatic stressdisorder month, and hopefully
we'll get more and morequestions, but today I wanted to
cover what is trauma.
And really, guys, if you'reasking whether something was a
(14:12):
traumatic event in your life, itprobably is.
And so, what is trauma and whatis PTSD?
Now there's also somethingcalled acute stress disorder,
and that is the precursor topost traumatic stress disorder,
and so one of my passions isgetting to people before acute
stress disorder, which happensimmediately after the event,
from turning into post traumaticstress disorder, because, you
(14:33):
see, post traumatic stressdisorder, the symptoms have to
stay around for a while beforewe can diagnose it.
But acute stress disorder, weis what we expect to happen when
somebody is in a, in a fight orflight, or fawn or freeze
because they have had atraumatic event, burst through
their window of tolerance orburst through their capacity.
(14:54):
And so I hope that these twoquestions, or these two points
are helpful for you on this PTSD101 or trauma 101 series that
we're doing.
We are going to take our time,and so I again wanted you guys
to understand the veryfoundations of what we're
dealing with, but understandthat, if many of you out there
(15:14):
are walking around withdysregulated nervous systems and
one of the best things thatever happened to me was when I
got connected with LaurenStarnes.
Happened to me was when I gotconnected with Lauren Starnes
who went I went through aprogram when the body talks and
I will link that episode in thisone.
But when I began to do the bodywork was just a nice one to
(15:42):
punch for when I actually endedup really kind of working
through the trauma to where itwasn't causing me maladaptive
issues.
And again, if you want to knowwhy I care and what I've been
through, just the episodesbefore these, the three episodes
what is the Wednesday withWatson podcast?
What is the Wednesdays withWatson podcast, part two and
part three?
Listen to those.
Start with the first one andyou'll understand why I care and
how I went from that hammockthat April day when the pandemic
(16:03):
first started and completelychanged my life, to where I now
am all but dissertation, with adoctorate degree in trauma and
community care and I work on thefront lines with patients.
And so, with that said, let'sanswer these two listener
questions.
And then the announcement thatyou've all been waiting for.
And I say that with tongue incheek because I know that's
probably not actually true, butit is an exciting and exciting
(16:28):
announcement.
So here are the two listenerquestions and then after that
the announcement.
Okay, so this comes to us viadirect message on Facebook.
The Wednesdays with Watsonpodcast does have a Facebook
page it's called the Wednesdayswith Watson podcast and so you
(16:49):
can certainly go there to leavequestions.
You can message us throughthere.
You can also catch us onInstagram author Amy Watson, and
or on Twitter.
Also, I believe that one is AmyWatson.
Author.
I'll put my link tree in theshow notes.
So I believe that one is AmyWatson.
Author.
I'll put my link tree in theshow notes as well, as you can
also send a message through thepodcast by just hitting send a
(17:10):
text message and again, I'm theonly one that gets that.
And so if you want me to addressa question while we are really
putting our heads down andfocusing on helping you
understand trauma and PTSDleading up to June, which is
PTSD Awareness Month, thenplease reach out in any way that
you can.
As NEF Downs says, I'membarrassingly easy to find, and
(17:31):
so this one comes to us viaFacebook Messenger.
She said what I want to knowabout trauma is how can I
protect my children from my owntrauma and prevent myself from
causing trauma to other people?
What a great question, and onethat comes from somebody who
really just wants to get thisright.
And so what I want to knowabout trauma is how can I
protect children from my owntrauma?
(17:52):
And the answer to this questionis simple but not easy.
And how we can protect ourchildren from trauma is by
dealing with that trauma.
And what I mean by dealing withthat trauma is you have to walk
through it, you have to dealwith it, you have to address it,
and that's the hard part.
And so my suggestion to thislistener is to reach out to
(18:14):
someone who can help walkthrough trauma, somebody that
can assess whether or not youhave PTSD and whether or not you
need some help.
That would be advantageous tofirst you and I love this
question because this questionis deeply rooted in the desire
to take care of children andother people.
But I know this listener andlove this listener and hope that
(18:36):
you will make the decision todeal with your trauma because
it's good for you and then thatbeing the first thing that you
do, and then obviously, it'sgood for other people when you
have walked through your owntrauma.
There's a saying out there thatsays hurting people hurt people
and healed people heal people.
And what I would say to thislistener is hurting people, hurt
(18:58):
people and heal people healpeople.
I love that saying, I believethat it is true and I think that
, as a parent, when you haveyour own trauma and when your
children get older and you'reable to share, if you're so
inclined with those children andthey look back on their lives
and look at how that neveraffected them or if it did
affect them, you guys walkedthrough it in a way that was
(19:21):
healthy and good.
I think that that is the highestform of love, when you take
care of yourself so that you cantake care of your children.
And I get emotional when Ianswered this question simply
because my mom didn't do thatand because of that, her trauma
was passed down to me.
And I don't say that toactivate anything and any
listener out there, but thebottom line is, if you've got
(19:43):
unresolved trauma, it willaffect you and your children at
some point.
I have a very actually my bestfriend in the whole wide world
who I grew up with in thechildren's home has been really
my whole life, since I've knownher for almost gosh, I think we
figured out that it would be 40years in a couple years.
She is just now rememberingthings that happened to her in
(20:06):
her childhood because she justkind of went through life and,
like I did, and just kept doing,kept being, kept doing all the
things and then finally traumacame knocking at her door it
will do that, guys.
It will either do that like wetalked about early and emotions
and physical senses andbehavioral issues, or it will
shut down your body.
And so I appreciate thislistener question because she
(20:28):
does not want to pass herchildren, her trauma, onto her
children, and the answer forthat listener is quite simple
the way through it is through it, and so working with your own
trauma will ensure that youdon't pass it on to them in the
way that would be negative, andso I hope that helps this
listener.
We've got one more question.
This one is a little bit deeperin the way, and so I'm just
(20:51):
going to read it exactly as itcame to me and attempt to answer
it as much as I can.
But this came to us throughtext messaging.
A listener in Connecticut sentthis message and this is what it
says hey, I have PTSD andbipolar disorder the worst
combination in the history ofmental illness.
That, along with severe angerissues, mostly because I can't
(21:14):
understand why God chose me tohave disorder.
My therapist wants to do EMDRwith me.
I keep avoiding it because ofthe last time I went there my
feelings were terribly hurt.
I told the EMDR therapist thatand they laughed at me for being
beat by my foster mother andsome of her family.
On top of that, I have beenabused twice and there's a word
(21:34):
there that I won't use on thepodcast, but it is not
physically abused twice in mylife, on top of being bullied at
school when I was a child.
Do you think I should betreated with EMDR Because I wish
there was another treatment,better than I'm getting right
now in therapy?
I have been untreated my wholechild until I turned 18.
I'm terrified to revisit thosedays of my life and my foster
(21:57):
mother tried to kill me.
How do I face the fear of mytrauma?
Looking away from my life,anytime I revisit it, I have the
ache of revenge and fury.
I get flashbacks to back up thehospital more times than I can
count.
I've been hospitalized 13 times.
I hate myself for that.
It just makes me feel insaneand crazy.
I just want to be happy and atpeace and I hate when my past
(22:19):
revisited me.
And nowhere.
Please, there has to be abetter way.
First of all, this message brokemy heart and, because it is
filled, it is laced withmultiple, multiple concerns and
multiple questions for thislistener.
First of all, the double punchof PTSD and bipolar disorder the
worst combination in history,as this listener said and, yes,
(22:40):
a bad combination.
Bipolar disorder is not myspecialty, but it is one that we
see a lot in patients that havetrauma extreme highs, extreme
lows and very difficult to treat.
You add to that trauma, and youadd in this particular listener
talks about angry being anger.
Anger is definitely a somethingthat we see a lot in patients
(23:02):
with post-traumatic stress andbipolar disorder, for that
matter.
We often say that anger isfear's bodyguard, and so when
people are angry, they areactually afraid, and so what I
would say to this listener whohad a negative experience with
EMDR?
I'm, first of all, that I am sosorry.
Emdr is my favorite treatmentmodality that I like, but what I
(23:23):
would suggest for you is to getwith someone that you do trust
that can properly assess you forall of the things and then walk
you through different treatmentmodalities If it's not EMDR.
We have a lot of success withcognitive processing therapy,
cognitive behavior therapy,internal family systems,
narrative therapies.
(23:44):
There's many, many more thingsthat you can do, but the bottom
line is that you've got multiplelayers of trauma that need
someone to that.
You need someone to work withyou for a good amount of time
that you can trust, and so thatwe can get, first of all, get
that anger and the compartmentwhere it belongs, and that you
can use that anger to fuel youto help you.
(24:04):
You did mention in here thatyou're angry at God for all of
the things I get you.
I hear you, and I know thatthere are other listeners out
there who feel the same.
What I would tell you is get inthe ring and have that
wrestling match with God, but myanswer to you is to find
somebody that you do trust, thatcan help you, that can assess
you, that can help understandyour trauma and that can find a
(24:26):
treatment modality that doeswork for you.
That perhaps isn't EMDR, butthat is something else.
There are many empiricallysupported treatments for trauma
that we can use, and so I hopethat helps you to the listener
in Connecticut, and please knowthat I am praying for you and
definitely hope that you can getthrough this.
I know that you can, but I alsoknow that the only way through
(24:49):
it is through it, and so I dowish you the best and hope that
you can find somebody that canhelp you and that you trust and
that can help you have a lifeand that you can have a life
that is abundant and free.
Okay, guys, that does it forthis first episode of Trauma 101
, ptsd 101.
We are going to be divingdeeply in all the things over
(25:15):
the next several episodes.
This episode, hopefully, washere to help you understand
trauma and help you understand alittle bit about PTSD.
We'll talk about assessing PTSDand some more specific things
about how we do that and theupcoming episodes, more specific
things about how we do that inthe upcoming episodes.
And so now for the announcementthat you've all been waiting
for and I say that intongue-in-cheek, but it is an
announcement that I'm excited togive you.
(25:36):
And so in this five-year journeythat has been the Wednesdays
with Watson podcast and myselfbecoming an advocate, a voice,
if you will, for trauma and forPTSD and for nervous system
regulation, I have continuedjust to ask the Lord what he
would require of me and what hewants of me.
One of the episodes I told youguys a story about when I was a
(25:58):
teenager and I went to a summercamp and I remember learning the
verse in Isaiah 6, verse 8 and9, where the Lord says who shall
I send and who will go for us?
And Isaiah said, then, said Ihere am, I send me.
And so I've been fightingsomething for a very long time,
and that is getting on the frontlines and actually helping
(26:19):
people one-on-one not through amicrophone walk through trauma,
understand PTSD and, moreimportantly, get some really
good coping mechanisms andcoping strategies so that they
could have victory over theirtrauma with some professional
help.
As many of you know, thispodcast always has had a heart
(26:40):
to raise money for those peoplewho can't afford counseling, who
can't afford somebody to helpthem, whether that's from
assessing trauma or helping themwalk through it, or helping
address these behavioral issuesthat we talked about today, or
these physical issues that wetalked about today, or these
emotional issues that we talkedabout today.
And so when I started thisjourney of getting my doctorate
(27:02):
degree in trauma and communitycare, I said to everybody but I
won't be, I won't be workingone-on-one with with people,
because that's I'm not built forthat.
Well, the Lord said really youare, because that's exactly what
I want you to do.
And so this is the announcementwe are launching, soft
launching victory traumaconsulting, and this is a new
(27:23):
business that I'm opening thatwill open services to anyone who
wants some one-on-one work withunderstanding trauma, how to
walk through it, how to addressthese emotional, behavioral and
physical issues that come withtrauma, and much, much more.
It will include speaking tochurches and to workplaces and
the trauma-informed workplace,the trauma-informed church.
(27:45):
It will include just aboutanything that the Lord opens up
or brings to me.
Pricing will be based on whatthe individual has the ability
to pay and, as this is somethingthat the Lord has called me to
and so I am not super concernedabout any of that, that will be
on a one-on-one basis and so, ifyou are interested in that, be
(28:06):
watching all the socials again,mainly Instagram, author Amy
Watson and we will provide waysfor you to book a quick little
15 minute session with me to seewhether or not this is a fit,
whether I can help you.
But Victory Trauma Consultingis.
I got the name from when I wasin college, my senior year of
(28:27):
college, I took a class frombiblical counseling and training
and I had to do a capstoneproject, and in that capstone
project I said that I wanted toopen a counseling center one day
and I called it VictoryCounseling Center.
And so here we are almost 40years later actually 30, 35
years later and I am doing justthat.
And so be looking on all thesocials years later, and I am
(28:49):
doing just that.
And so be looking on all thesocials.
Again, it is for Instagram.
It is author Amy Watson, andfor Twitter, or x, amy Watson,
author.
And again, I will put that inmy link tree.
But if you would like to do aconsultation with me, go ahead
and check out socials or checkout my link tree and you can
schedule a little 15 minutesession with me and we will see
if I can help you and if theLord has called me to stand in
(29:10):
that place for you.
And so I am so excited tofinally make this announcement.
And this is the passion of myheart, is the passion of my work
, and now is what I'm educatedto do while I am writing my
dissertation.
I have had all of thecoursework and certainly have
been through it all myself, andso I am here to help.
Victory Trauma Consulting islaunched this day, on March the
(29:32):
12th 2025.
Oh, what a journey this lastfive years has been.
The Lord is faithful and I haveanswered the call.
Then said I send me.
You guys have a great two weeks.
Remember you are seen, you areknown, you are heard, you are
loved and you are so, so lovedhere.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I am.
You can see that I'm nowherenear where I want to be, but you
, you remain so good.
You remain so good.
You never change.
You love me still in theperfect way.
(30:16):
You stay always so good.
You have pulled me out from thedepths.
You have saved me from certaindeath.
You have shown yourselffaithful to me Over and over
(30:39):
Jesus.
So let my life glorify you.
Teach me to walk beside you.
I want to be more like you, solet my life be one marked by you
.
(31:09):
Here I am, on my knees, righthere with you is where I want to
be, cause you, you remain sogood.
Yes, you never change.
You love me still in theperfect way.
(31:31):
You stay always so good.
You have pulled me out from thedepths.
You have saved me from certaindeath.
You have shown your fromcertain death.
You have shown yourselffaithful to me Over and over
(31:54):
Jesus.
So let my life glorify you andteach me to walk beside you.
And I want to be more like you.
So let my life be one marked byyou.
And when my hope is fading andwhen worries do assail me, I
(32:26):
will remember how you, you neverfailed me.
You have pulled me out from thedepths.
You have saved me from certaindeath.
You have shown yourselffaithful to me over and over
(32:46):
Jesus.
So let my life glorify you andteach me to walk beside you.
I want to be more like you, solet my life be one marked by you
, marked by you, mind by you,mind by you.
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