Deborah shares her medical trauma story and how her near death experience impacted her journey to healing and how she lives her life. This was such a beautiful experience that really felt like it was all about the importance of love and sharing love and how that can be so incredibly healing. Deborah has also started a support group in Canada for people with ostomy bags. Click here if you would like to contact Deborah about her support group.

Find out more about medical trauma and the support options we offer at the Medical Trauma Support website. We offer peer support groups as well as one on one support and trauma informed yoga with somatic practices. We also offer an affordable online course to support you on your healing journey.

In this powerful episode, Matt Maxwell interviews Sarah Stasica, founder of Medical Trauma Support, about her personal journey through medical trauma as a mother—and how it led her to create a healing space for others navigating similar paths.

Sarah shares how her child’s medical diagnosis and the overwhelming experience of medical procedures revealed the deep emotional and somatic impact of medical trauma—both for children and their caregivers. As a trauma-informed professional, yoga teacher, and somatic practitioner, Sarah now supports individuals and families in understanding how medical trauma affects the nervous system and what steps we can take to heal.

Together, Matt and Sarah explore:

• How to recognize signs of childhood medical trauma

• Practical ways to help your child feel safer during medical procedures

• The importance of nervous system regulation for both kids and caregivers

• What Sarah wishes she had known 14 years ago during her own family’s journey

• How to prevent medical trauma when possible and support healing when it’s already happened

This episode is filled with compassionate insight and practical tools to help caregivers, parents, and professionals better understand and address medical trauma—especially for children.

🎁 Free Resource: Download 8 Steps to Help Your Child Feel Safe Before a Medical Procedure

Other helpful links:

Medical Trauma Support website

Befriend Your Body Community

Matt Maxwell's Coaching Website

How to Hold a Cockroach Book

In this heartfelt episode, I talk with a mother whose child has undergone multiple surgeries starting at just eight months old. She shares the emotional toll of navigating pediatric medical interventions and the crucial (but often overlooked) need for parental support during these experiences.

We explore how hard it is to care for yourself while you're also advocating for your child, managing appointments, and coping with the fear and uncertainty that come with medical trauma. Her story is an important reminder that caregivers deserve care too—and that self-regulation and support are key to helping both you and your child through these difficult moments.

🎧 Keywords: medical trauma, childhood surgery, parenting through medical interventions, caregiver burnout, parental support during pediatric illness, supporting parents with sick children, pediatric surgery trauma, somatic healing for caregivers, nervous system support, trauma-informed parenting

🔗 Resources Mentioned:
Explore our online resources and check out our community at medicaltraumasupport.com

• Download our free guide:Eight Steps to Help Your Child Feel Safe Before a Medical Procedure

In this episode I speak with Nic Schmoyer-Edmiston, Ph.D., NCC an asistant professor in the department of counseling at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, about Integrated Behavioral Healthcare and the Enduring Somatic Threat Model and how these two topics can significantly reduce and medical trauma! You will hear a concrete call to action to help move us more towards a supportive integrated healthcare system where you get the mental health support you need before, during and after a challenging medical experience.

Find out more at our ⁠Medical Trauma Support website⁠. We offer peer support groups as well as one on one peer support and nervous system focused trauma informed yoga with somatic practices. We also offer an ⁠online course to support you ⁠on your journey of healing from medical trauma.

It was so moving to talk with Matt Maxwell about his experience of medical trauma and how he processed it and found hope and beauty. Matt is a professional life coach, a meditation teacher, and author of How to Hold a Cockroach: A book for those who are free and don't know it. He shares his experience with cancer as a teenager and his transformative healing journey. You can find out more about Matt at: https://www.thisishearthstone.com and https://www.howtoholdacockroach.com

Find out more at our ⁠Medical Trauma Support website⁠. We offer peer support groups as well as one on one peer support and nervous system focused trauma informed yoga with somatic practices. We also offer an ⁠online course to support you ⁠on your journey of healing from medical trauma.

In this episode, I speak with Jessica Jessee, founder of Operation Bliss, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families whose children are facing difficult medical journeys. Jessica shares how Operation Bliss provides joy, comfort, and practical support to families navigating hospital stays, chronic illness, and medical trauma.

We talk about what it means to walk alongside families during some of their hardest moments—and how essential it is to offer emotional support, tangible care, and connection. From delivering custom care packages to organizing special experiences that offer moments of peace, Operation Bliss is helping families feel seen, supported, and less alone.

If you're a parent caring for a medically complex child, or someone who wants to make a difference, this conversation is filled with compassion, inspiration, and resources.

🔗 Learn more or get involved with Operation Bliss:
🌐 Website: https://operationbliss.org
📷 Instagram: @operationbliss
📘 Facebook: facebook.com/operationbliss

✨ Related Resources from Medical Trauma Support:
We offer peer support groups, nervous system-informed trauma healing, and somatic-based yoga for caregivers and families experiencing medical trauma.
🎁 Download our free guide: 8 Steps to Help Your Child Feel Safe Before a Medical Procedure
🧘‍♀️ Learn more at Medical Trauma Support

I discuss many different aspects of medical trauma with Christen Mullane of Gingko Leaf Health. We cover topics on systemic causes of medical trauma, the grief that so many of us have to process as part of the recovery process from medical trauma and the financial implications of engaging with the medical system in the U.S.

Gingko Leaf Health

Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation

National Physician Suicide Awareness Day

Undue Medical Debt

Find out more at our Medical Trauma Support website. We offer peer support groups as well as one on one peer support and nervous system focused trauma informed yoga with somatic practices.

This short trailer gives an introduction to the Medical Trauma Support podcast and what to expect for future episodes. Find out more at our Medical Trauma Support website. We offer peer support groups as well as one on one peer support and nervous system focused trauma informed yoga with somatic practices.