"It's not that we are the pain. We are carrying pain, but we are not the trauma that has happened to us. We carry it."
My guest this week on, Off the Cuff, is licensed psychotherapist Natalie Gutierrez. I sit down with Natalie to talk about the different types of PTSD, the art of meaning confrontation, how she works with trauma victims of all ethnic backgrounds and how she came up with the idea and title for her new book, The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color.
“My book first was supposed to be just a book about complex PTSD, generally speaking. But then my publisher said, Write the book from your heart, like when you envision the book from your heart, what is that book? And said, It's not just complex PTSD, it's really how it is uniquely expressed in folks of the global majority, in people of color.” – Natalie (33:22)
During my conversation with Natalie, we talk about some very heavy topics on which she reflects on with immense detail and maturity. On one occasion Natalie reflects on internalized racism and how it pours into institutional racism that we see around us such as in schools.
“I understand internalized racism to be the messages that we internalize about ourselves regarding race. So, I think it starts first with the messages that we hear systemically. The laws or the laws systems that just kind of create the ideology of race, the construct of race also for oppression, ideological oppression that then pours into institutional racism.” – Natalie (22:44)
During the podcast, Danny reflects on how trauma can be, both a good and bad thing based on his life experience in the psych ward to which Natalie informs the need to grow around the trauma rather than glorify it.
“We don't want to glorify trauma and we can also grow around it. Yeah. And to varying degrees for some people it. It creates the I don't want to say resilience because I know that word is tiring and old depending on what we do with it. It can inform how we grow from.” Natalie – (52:46)
This is one conversation you don’t want to miss as both of us vent, reflect, discuss and confess together. Be sure to listen to the entire show, and let me know what you think of the episode with your comments.
“It's not that we are the pain. We are carrying pain, but we are not the trauma that has happened to us. We carry it.” Natalie – (35:15)
Listen in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and check out our Off the Cuff with Danny LoPriore Instagram to stay up-to-date on our podcast news! Off The Cuff with Danny LoPriore is presented by 1AND1. Become 1% Better, together at www.1and1life.com.
