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Surviving Ish: Trauma Triggers, Toxic Positivity, and the Relief of Losing an Abusive Mother (with Jesse, author of Girl Hidden)

Host David welcomes Jesse Gibbs (author of the memoir Girl Hidden) to Surviving Ish for a wide-ranging conversation on how scent and the body can trigger trauma responses, referencing The Body Keeps the Score and the difficulty of trusting intuition. They discuss “solving” feelings instead of feeling them, gentle self-parenting, and rejecting labels like “survivor,” “resilient,” or “hero” when they’re used to shut down vulnerability. Jesse shares her current “ish” about shoppers abandoning meat in non-refrigerated aisles and how small kindnesses matter. The conversation turns to Jessie learning her abusive mother has died, prompting reflections on relief, grief, and closure, plus a brief overview of her childhood abuse, kidnapping, and estrangement. They critique forgiveness as “clean slate,” talk about autonomy, appearance, purity culture, and end with support, validation, and Jesse’s thoughts on possibly writing another book. #books #author #podcast 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59856769-girl-hidden

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/surviving-ish-podcast/id1572182113?i=1000626284084

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