Could I Be A Voice For Those Still Suffering? Pt. 5

Dear Listeners,

Welcome to today’s podcast, the conclusion of our five-part series of Julia’s first-person recovery story. By its nature, what’s being told here is certainly unique, as each person’s journey is completely individual. But in this case, the highly unusual nature of our series goes further, as her team—Janneli Chapin, Jack Gipple, and Chuck Knapp—are also sharing their perspective, making this a truly rare opportunity to experience the multifaceted inner workings of a recovery journey.

We had originally planned to have this series end after four segments. However, once we’d finished with the original plan, Julia recognized that there was a bit more we needed to discuss–having to do with looking at recovery altogether—what it meant to her, and its “moving target” nature. This led us into looking at what it took for her to actually want to recover, and the conditions at hand, including luck. There’s a tremendous amount to learn from this series, but probably the most important takeaway is about the power of healthy, honest, and committed therapeutic relationships. Over the arc of their work together, the team helped her to rouse her natural courage to keep stepping back into the wilderness of change, and to eventually tolerate feeling more healthy—and more loved—than she had in a very long time. Julia’s wonder at how she made it out of such entrapment gave rise to so much gratitude and love on her part—actually, on everyone’s part. That in itself will make listening to this podcast well worth the freight—a heart-opening glimpse into the kind of love that can come out of sharing a recovery path.

In wrapping up, let’s come back to Julia’s original inspiration for sharing her story, which is her question: could I be a voice for those still suffering? We didn’t know how this series would play out when we first began, but now that we’re done, I would most emphatically say YES—you, Julia, have been a voice for those still suffering! And most importantly, you’ve offered something to our audience which could be truly lifesaving, what Joanne Greenberg calls “our most prized possession: hope”.

Thank you for making this journey with us,