Sick and Seeking
Sick and Seeking is hosted by Leslie Field who, after a diagnosis in her late teens of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), has been on a 22-year journey of healing and self-discovery.
In this podcast, Leslie invites you to join her for intimate, honest and heartfelt conversations with others who are also on their own healing journeys as they live with and manage the long-term effects of “dis-ease” in the body.
Listen to the stories of courageous people who, in the face of an uncertain medical future, are on a quest to go deeper into their bodies, beyond symptom and diagnosis—or in some cases no diagnosis—to reach a place of intuitive knowing, healing and transformation.
This podcast is, above all, an exploration in healing and examines a variety of modalities and knowledge from conventional medicine to holistic and complementary therapies that bring a spiritual, psychological and mystical perspective to bodily healing in our modern culture.
Sick and Seeking
Ep. 1 | Jessica Gillespie on Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and How Therapy Can Support People Who Want to Find Their Way Back to Connection
In today’s episode I speak with Jessica Gillespie about what it’s like to live with the auto-immune and inflammatory disease called rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Jessica is a Marriage and Family Therapist and she also happens to be my best friend. Much to our surprise, we were both diagnosed with major medical conditions right around the same time. I hope you enjoy listening to her story while getting a sneak peek into our very long, weird and silly friendship.
In this episode we speak about:
- The frustration of knowing that something is off in the body, not having words or familiarity with it, and potentially second guessing yourself and your inner knowing.
- How over time certain sensations in your body become normal for you, and you may not remember or recall what it feels like to not be in this state.
- Invisible disease
- The shame, anger, resentment and that can come with having an illness/disease.
- The fear of a future RA flare-up.
- How your relationship with a disease can change moment to moment.
- The potential for long-term negative effects on your body when taking prescription RA medications.
- Quantity vs quality of life questions that can arise with managing an auto-immune disorder like RA, and how traumatizing this is.
- How trauma and emotional pain can be connected to arthritic flare-ups.
- The need for tough moments on your medical journey to be addressed, witnessed, or soothed and how a therapist can be supportive in these moments.
- The struggle with not being present with your body, the intolerance with being in your body, and the risks of this disconnection.
- Everything we feel emotionally is also felt physically
- How therapy can support people who want to find their way back to connection.
- Validating and recognizing the state of how our body is feeling versus rejecting and pushing this reality away.
- How resting and relaxing can feel like a rebellion against what greater society s
🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥
- In-Person:
- Tuesday, 8:30am PT in South Pasadena, CA
- Wednesdays, 6:00pm PT in San Marino, CA
- Virtual/ ZOOM
- Thursdays, 5:30pm PT on ZOOM
🌟 FREE support group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT
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Sick and Se...
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