Check out For Grace founder Cynthia Toussaint's latest post on Pain News Network. Coping with the challenges of childhood trauma that lead to chronic pain can become overwhelming, even unreal. Toussaint shares how an unfortunate incident in her teens sparked a lifetime of distorted seeing, hearing and feeling. After getting much-needed help, she learned that "derealization", a form of dissociation, is the mind's way of coping with what is too overwhelming. Today, Toussaint has found appreciation for this former foe that has kept her functioning despite all odds.
In 2023, For Grace leaders Cynthia Toussaint and John Garrett will produce and co-host "Trauma Talk", a show that will focus on trauma as a driver for chronic pain and how one can recover and move on to the all-important Post-Traumatic Growth experience. Live streaming on The Mighty's Facebook pages, Cynthia and John will lead spirited conversations with trauma experts and survivors who will share insight and personal stories about coping and transformation. Audience participation is key to the show's format and we look forward to your questions and comments.
For the 20th consecutive year, For Grace is sponsoring a resolution that will proclaim September as Pain Awareness Month and September 1st as Women In Pain Awareness Day in California! Partnering again with Senator Maria Elena Durazo as Author, this bill will bring critical awareness to Sacramento legislators and policy makers about chronic pain as a public health crisis as well as the implicit and explicit bias toward women that often accompanies pain care. A big THANK YOU to staffer Fernando Rameriz for your great passion and support of this ongoing effort. Bravo!
Check out For Grace's 2023 kick-off Story of the Month as we continue to explore the connection between chronic pain and trauma. Kathleen Sutherland experienced a sexual assault at 16 which triggered an eating disorder, causing her to quickly gain 40 lbs. and experience body self-loathing. Kathleen believes this body dissociation was a trauma coping mechanism that seeded her development of fibromyalgia. More recently, a 12-step program re-established Kathleen's healthy relationship with food, and she now recognizes that she was "not broken, and never was."
