In this episode, registered nurse and personal medical strategist Kayla Thompson-Riviere shares practical strategies for getting off what she calls the "medical merry-go-round" when you're stuck, dismissed, or misdiagnosed.

Kayla reminds us that even with clinical training, being the patient activates the emotional brain in ways that make self-advocacy incredibly difficult. Her work focuses on being that clinical partner who takes the time to know everything about you and helps coordinate the care you deserve.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

Dr. Kara Pepper joins the podcast to discuss her approach to treating the vastly overlooked triad of EDS, POTS, and MCAS, along with eating disorders. After leaving the commercial healthcare model to open her own practice, Dr. Pepper now spends an hour with patients instead of 10 minutes, giving her time to actually listen and put together the puzzle pieces that other doctors miss.

She explains why validation is often the most therapeutic thing she offers, how she navigates the gray space of diseases without reliable testing, and why some of her most dramatic patient improvements come from looking at blood vessel compression rather than just prescribing more salt and water. This conversation is for anyone who's been told their labs are normal while feeling anything but fine.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, Sarah Stasica, LMSW and founder of the membership community Medical Trauma Support, joins me to talk about the realities of healing from medical trauma and why going slowly might be the best thing you can do for your nervous system. We explore why people isolate during medical crises, the overlap between complex trauma and medical trauma, how our nervous system responses show up in our bodies, and why befriending your body isn't about positive thinking but about building the capacity to trust yourself again. Sarah reminds us that this work isn't fast or overnight, and that our nervous systems deserve to be treated gently and slowly, even when parts of us think we don't deserve that care.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Brentia Caldwell-Smith, founder of the UP Center and a licensed professional counselor who specializes in chronic illness navigation. We discuss disenfranchised grief—the kind of loss that comes with chronic illness that people don't always recognize or validate—and explore how cultural expectations around strength, religion, and perseverance can complicate the healing process. Dr. Brentia shares her personal experience living with lupus and interstitial lung disease, and we talk about the importance of building community, finding joy in the midst of uncertainty, and making your life work for you even when it looks different than you expected.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Kara Wada, a board-certified allergist and immunologist who also lives with Sjögren's disease and dysautonomia. We talk about what happens when your labs come back "normal" but your body is anything but, why 30-40% of people with Sjögren's have normal blood work, and how to navigate the gap between a medical system that dismisses you and wellness influencers who promise quick fixes. Dr. Kara shares her own story of going down the supplement rabbit hole, the three questions to ask when vetting providers, and why hypervigilance—both mental and physical—keeps so many people stuck in chronic illness. We also dig into the 80/20 rule for symptom management, the concept of de-prescribing, and why partnership beats certainty every single time.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, clinical social worker and psychotherapist Kate Zera Kray joins Destiny to explore Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and its powerful application for those living with chronic illness. Kate breaks down the three types of "parts" we all have – managers (our organized protectors), firefighters (our emergency responders), and exiles (the vulnerable parts holding our pain) – and explains how chronic illness can send these internal systems into overdrive. Through personal stories about Lyme disease, diabetes management, and the challenge of de-identifying from illness, they discuss how understanding our protective parts can lead to more self-compassion during the medical journey.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Kelly Clark, a physical therapist and owner of Patient PT in Bloomington, Indiana, to challenge the popular narrative that chronic pain is a "false alarm." Kelly shares her personal journey with chronic pain and explains why pain is actually valuable biological data that deserves our attention, not dismissal. We explore the crucial difference between "good pain" and "bad pain" in therapeutic exercise, why the relational aspect of healing matters so much for chronic pain recovery, and how learning to listen to smaller pain signals can prevent your nervous system from turning up the volume.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, Destiny sits down with Kamilah Jones, PharmD, LPC, CRC, to explore the crucial difference between stress and burnout, particularly for healthcare professionals. Kamilah shares her personal journey from pharmacist to therapist, including her own experience with burnout while building her private practice - and why knowing what to do wasn't enough to prevent it. They talk about why healthcare workers are uniquely vulnerable to burnout due to competitive training, emotional labor, and systemic constraints, and discuss the uncomfortable truth that resources (financial, social, and professional support) often matter more than resilience when it comes to recovery.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ ⁠⁠/ ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regulated Therapist, Attuned Client: Movement Practices for Clinical Excellence⁠⁠⁠⁠: A 4-week live virtual program for mental health therapists who want to incorporate movement into their work life to be more present and sustainable in their practice. Led by Destiny Davis, LPC, CRC and Jason Therrien, DPT. Starts Tuesday May 5th, runs through May 26th. 

→⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the Skool community for free and browse past on-demand continuing education workshops (free & paid) in the classroom tab. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join The Next Workshop Here!⁠⁠⁠⁠

→⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month from 12-1pm EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays from 11am-12pm EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, sports and orthopedic physical therapist Rick Olderman explains why chronic pain is a systems problem, not a component problem, and how our medical system's focus on individual tissues misses the bigger picture. Through fascinating patient stories - like how a 20-year-old ankle injury can cause back pain 30 years later when left unchecked - Rick demonstrates how compensation patterns create chains of dysfunction throughout the body. We explore the science of myofibroblasts, specialized connective tissue that responds to stress hormones and provides a real, physical pathway for how emotional states manifest as tension in the body.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

______________________________

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

In this episode, I sit down with Shana Evans Basset, a Licensed Professional Counselor from Atlanta, to explore the complex intersection of chronic illness, emotional regulation, and healing. We get into why living with chronic pain is like being trapped in an abusive relationship you can't leave, the profound grief that comes with losing the life you thought you'd have, and how our "snap out of it" culture makes everything harder. Shana explains why emotional regulation isn't about fixing yourself or positive thinking your way out of symptoms - it's about learning to be with uncertainty, accepting what you can't control, and recognizing when trying harder actually makes things worse.

Connect with Destiny:  ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠

______________________________

🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER

______________________________

🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

💬 Clinical Consultation

→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.

🎓 Continuing Education

→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.

→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. 

______________________________

🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

🛋️Therapy:

→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.

🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education

→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠

→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:

• General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 EST

• Sex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.

• Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each month

These groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.

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⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.