Writing Your Resilience: Building Resilience, Embracing Trauma and Healing Through Writing

Join Jennifer Selig, an LGBTQ+ teacher and author of "Deep Memoir," as she explores the intersection of depth psychology and storytelling. Discover how memoir writing can be a powerful vehicle for healing and self-discovery. Jennifer reveals her unique three stages of transformation—negredo, albedo, and rubedo—turning personal trauma into relatable narratives. Through her insightful blend of psychology and writing, she shares how unpacking unconscious patterns can foster resilience, making your story resonate with a wider audience.

Send us a textWhat happens when a story won’t stay linear—when your life fractures in ways that defy neat beginnings, middles, and ends?In this episode of Writing Your Resilience, I sit down with essayist, professor, and former bookshop owner Kelly McMasters, author of The Leaving Season: A Memoir-in-Essays. From leaving marriages to landscapes, identities to illusions, Kelly’s memoir is a brilliant meditation on grief, desire, and the elastic form of the essay itself.We talk about what it means to write honestly into complexity—how a false childhood memory cracked open the heart of a story, why the essay form became her truest vehicle, and the questions that shape her work long after the final line is written.Episode Highlights2:40: Essays versus Straight Forward Narratives9:39: The Power of Three Scenes16:45: Weaving Themes Into Your Essay Collection 22:09: Navigating Flashbacks27:13: Getting to the Truth 36:00 Caring for Your ShameResources Mentioned During this Episode: What Squirrels Taught Me About Life After DivorceIn Cold Blood by Truman CapoteMichael Foucault’s Theory of HeterotopiaThe Truth About Unringing Phones by Lara LillibridgeTurn Your Short Pieces Into a Finished Nonfiction Book by Lara LillibridgeThe Biggest Memoir Mistake: When Too Much Backstory Derails Your NarrativeKelly’s Bio: Kelly McMasters is an essayist, professor, mother, and former bookshop owner. She is the author of the The Leaving Season: A Memoir-in-Essays (WW Norton) and co-editor of the ABA national bestseller Wanting: Women Writing About Desire (Catapult). Her books have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, award-winning podcasts including The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing, and CSPAN’s Book TV in an episode on Myths of the American DreamHer essays, reviews, and articles have appeared in The Atlantic, Literary Hub, The New York Times, Oprah Daily, The Rumpus, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among others. She currently runs The Magpie Substack and teaches at Hofstra University in New York.Connect with Kelly: Website: https://www.kellymcmasters.com/Instagram: @kelly_mc_mastersSubstack: https://kellymcmasters.subConnect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textWhat makes you weird? Is it something that fills you with pride or something you try to hide, a secret you’re constantly working to cover up? In today’s episode, I’m beyond excited to sit down with the brilliant author, Allison Landa, whose memoir Bearded Lady takes us on a raw and transformative journey of self-acceptance, societal judgment, and the complex relationship we have with both our inner and outer weirdness. Whether you’re a writer or simply someone who wants to connect with a compelling story of resilience and identity, this conversation will inspire and resonate with you. Episode Highlights1:00: The Challenges of Being Weird3:17: How Weirdness Both Unites and Separates Us5:11: Owning Your Story9:36: Overworking Your Story Dough 11:45: The Shame of Being Seen and Not Seen17:50: Building Rounded Characters 23:22: Navigating Time in Memoir29:48: How Writing Changes Your Point of View 32:50: Dealing with Reader Responses38:58: Building Your Resilience Resources for this Episode: Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by Deckle EdgeThe Fact of a Body by Alex Marzano Lesnevich “The Biggest Memoir Mistake: When Too Much Backstory Derails Your Narrative” by Lisa Cooper Ellison“3 Ways to Experiment with Memoir Structure to Improve Your Narrative Arc” by Lisa Cooper EllisonAllison’s Bio: Allison Landa is the author of Bearded Lady, an exploration of what makes you feel weird in the world. Her work has been featured in Business Insider, Parents Magazine, HuffPost, The Guardian US, and The Washington Post, among other venues. She has been awarded artist residencies at MacDowell, WordSpace, Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow. ConnectFacebook: @matzohbreiInstagram: @adlandaThreads: @ adlandaWebsite: www.allisonlanda.com Personal Blog: www.allisonlanda.blogspot.com Connect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textHow do you tell a story of resistance that invites others in? Through the power of your metaphors—something today’s guest, Eiren Caffall has truly mastered. During today’s conversation, we explore how chronic illness and a love for nature shaped Eiren’s memoir The Mourner’s Bestiary, what it means two books in tandem (and release them just months apart), and how crafting metaphor-rich, layered narratives can become both an act of resistance and devotion. It’s time to grab your pen, open your heart, and get ready to learn how collaboration can enhance your writing and how a single essay can become the hinge that holds an entire book together.Episode Highlights4:45: The Power of Juxtaposition 7:50:  Metaphor as a Vehicle for Change 15:30: Structuring a Circular Story 20:33: Writing as a Collaborative Process24:08: Teaching Patience30:07 Red Tides and Amazing Editors Resources for this Episode: Short Film: Becoming Ocean“Red Tides” by Eiren CaffallMeander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Allison Silent Spring by Rachel Carson3 Ways to Experiment with Memoir Structure to Improve Your Narrative Arc by Lisa Cooper EllisonINTERVIEW: Eiren Caffall, Author of The Mourner’s Bestiary by Amy EatonEiren’s Bio: EIREN CAFFALL is a writer and musician. Her work on loss, oceans, and extinction has appeared in Orion, Writer’s Digest, Guernica, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, Al Jazeera, The Rumpus, and the anthology Elementals: Volume IV. Fire, (The Center for Humans and Nature, 2024). She received a 2023 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant, a Social Justice News Nexus fellowship, and residencies at the Banff Centre, Millay Colony, Hedgebrook, and Ragdale. Her books include her memoir The Mourner’s Bestiary (Row House Publishing, 2024) and her novel All the Water in the World (St. Martin’s Press, 2025).Connect with EirenWebsite: www.eirencaffall.comInstagram: @eirencaffall Blue Sky: @eirencaffall.bsky.socialConnect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textHave you ever felt like your creativity isn’t enough or that your artistic endeavors are secondary to everything on your to-do list? Have you tried all the strategies only to find yourself struggling with this yet again? Join me and my client, Carolyn Fallert, as we explore the impact of familial and cultural socializations and how strategies aren’t enough. You need to understand yourself. Get ready to discover the importance of understanding your unique operating system and how it should determine the strategies you use.  Episode Highlights1:40 The Number One Trick for Getting Unstuck6:40 Protecting Time and Your Creative Energy 7:31 Understanding Your Nature 17:20 Overcoming Your Conditioning22:50 Identifying Your WhyResources for this Episode: We Need Your Art by Amie McNeeWhat is Human Design? What are the nine Enneagram types?The True Meaning of Success and the Multiple Paths to Publishing Your Book with Courtney MaumThe Art of Intimacy: Crafting Connections in Memoir and Essay with Lilly DancygerCarolyn’s Bio: Carolyn Fallert is a writer with over four years of dedicated study and practice in creative nonfiction. In 2024, Kenyon Review selected Carolyn for their Residential Writers' Workshop. Her first published essay in Spank the Carp received the highest reader vote for its issue. Before her writing career, Carolyn consulted for Fortune 500 companies and the Gates Foundation. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA-ID (Master of Public Administration in International Development) from Harvard Kennedy School. Carolyn is writing a memoir about learning self-defense as a survivor of sexual assault.Connect with CarolynInstagram: @carolynfallertSubstack: https://yourpowers.substack.com/Connect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a text Writers, if you've ever wondered how to navigate the ever-changing world of writing and publishing, then you are in for a treat. Jane Friedman, who has spent nearly 25 years in the book publishing industry is here today to talk about the second edition of her groundbreaking book, “The Business of Being a Writer.” Join us as we explore the most important part of the business of being a writer: the mindset writers need to cultivate to build a viable writing career. Get ready to learn the secrets to handling rejection, thinking not just about a book, but about your writing career, and Jane's number one tool for creating sustainability over the long haul.Episode Highlights:2:20: The Benefits of Seeing Writing as a Business4:30: Writing a Second Edition6:50: Writing with Foresight11:54: Jane’s Evolving Mindset16:20: Mindset Considerations24:36: Navigating Setbacks30:15 The Power of Boundaries Resources Mentioned During this Episode: Write is a Verb by Bill O’HanlonThe Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin ZanderMy Latest Rejection Story by Jane FriedmanThe Attention Economy SubstackWriting with Hunger: Mindset, Goals, and The Publishing ShiftJane’s Bio: Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. Her latest book is THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER, SECOND EDITION (The University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.Connect with Jane: https://janefriedman.comhttps://youtube.com/@janefriedmanhttps://linkedin.com/in/janefriedmanConnect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textJoin me and editor extraordinaire Lilly Dancyger as we discuss her latest book, First Love, an intimate, electric collection of essays on friendship, identity, and what it means to grow into yourself in community. During our conversation, Lilly shares her sharp insights on the craft of memoir, why she bristles at the idea of writing as catharsis, and how she pushes back against the dead girl trope by keeping her cousin Sabina fully alive on the page. If you’ve ever wondered how to turn memory into art without falling into the trap of polishing your pain, this one’s for you.Episode Highlights3:36: The Problem of Connecting Memoir with Catharsis10:12: Essays as a Space for Play and Variation13:04: Showing Intimacy on the Page21:12: Zooming In and Zooming Out27:00: Pushing Against the Dead Girl Trope33:44: Strategies for Cleansing Your Creative Palette Resources for this Episode: Canceling My Book Deal Was the Best Career Move I’ve Ever Made” by Lilly Dancyger“Why Your Memoir Won’t Sell” by Jane FriedmanMore Than True Crime with Sarah Perry Lilly’s Bio: Lilly Dancyger is the author of First Love: Essays on Friendship, and Negative Space. Her work has been published by The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Playboy, and Rolling Stone, among others, and she writes the Substack newsletter The Word Cave. Dancyger lives in New York City, and teaches creative nonfiction in the MFA programs at Columbia University and Randolph College.Connect with Lilly: Website: https://www.lillydancyger.com/Substack: https://substack.com/@lillydancygerBlue Sky: @lillydancyger.bsky.socialInstagram: @lillydancyger on InstagramConnect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textWhether we like it or not, writers are content creators. And one of the biggest struggles I watch writers face is understanding their audience—what they want, what they need, and how to authentically engage with them. In this episode, podcast coach, content strategist, and host of the award-winning The Proffitt Podcast, Krystal Proffitt shares valuable insights on how writers can navigate this challenge and build meaningful relationships with their readers. If you're a writer looking to expand your platform and reach, this episode is for you. Let’s dive in!Episode Highlights2:22: Maintaining An Attitude of Gratitude During Busy Seasons 4:08: Building Authentic Audience Engagement 6:32: Humor Is Your Secret Weapon 8:05: Tailoring Your Content to Your Platform13:32: The Magic of Taking Readers Behind the Scenes15:09 The Power of Audience Surveys20:32: How Asking Closed Questions Gets Better Results27:35: Building Your Launch SquadResources Mentioned During this Episode: Start a Binge Worthy Podcast: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating a Podcast Your Audience Craves by Krystal ProffittHow to Survey Your Audience for Feedback Content IdeasAudience Engagement and Feedback on Your ContentPodcasters ConnectEmbracing the Full Catastrophe: Writing About Loss and Finding Belonging with Casey Mulligan WalshThe Caregiver Cup with Cathy VandenHuevelKrystal’s Bio: Krystal Proffitt is a Podcast Coach, Content Strategist, and host of the award-winning show The Proffitt Podcast. She specializes in helping content creators create with confidence. Having published over 1,450 podcast episodes, she knows what it takes to keep creating year after year.Krystal teaches content strategy, repurposing, branding, and marketing through her podcast, digital courses, and YouTube channel dedicated to content creation. She has also appeared as a Content Expert for brands like Podcast Movement, Buzzsprout, Ramsey Solutions, Amy Porterfield, and Streamyard.Connect with Krystal: Website: https://krystalproffitt.com/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/krystalproffitttx/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KrystalProConnect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textIf you’ve ever sat down to write about a tough experience, only to find yourself avoiding the page, feeling emotionally wrecked, or questioning whether you should even be writing this story—you are not alone. Writing about trauma can be healing, but it can also trigger us in ways we don’t expect. Today, we’re going to unpack this. We’ll talk about what trauma triggers really are, how they show up on the page and inside us, and—most importantly—what you can do to navigate them so your writing process supports your well-being rather than working against it.Episode Highlights4:30: Trauma Triggers6:16: Types of Triggers 9:08: What Triggers Look Like On the Page12:24: Trauma Triage and Self-Care15:43: Two Powerful Journal Prompts 19:17: How Choices Empower You Resources for this Episode: HuffPost Essay on Emotional FlashbacksGet Your Copy of Write More, Fret LessWatch my Building a Resilient Writing Practice Series Jacob Nordby Episode: The Creative Cure for WritersJessica Buchanan Episode: From Captivity to ClaritySeeking Wisdom by Julia CameronLisa’s Bio: Lisa is a writer, speaker, trauma-informed writing coach, and host of the Writing Your Resilience podcast. Her writing and work live at the intersection of healing and creativity, and she combines her experiences with Complex PTSD and suicide with her clinical training and storytelling expertise to help writers tell stories that transform lives, especially their own. Her work has been featured in Risk!, The New York Times, HuffPost, and Kenyon Review Online, among others. Connect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Send us a textImagine working tirelessly for years to publish your first novel—only to have the moment of celebration collide with the collapse of your country. Imagine being forced to flee, leaving behind everything you’ve ever known, and yet… still finding your voice through poetry, storytelling, and advocacy.Today, I have the honor of speaking with Samman Akbarzada—a poet, novelist, refugee, and fierce advocate for human rights. Her novel, Life is a Movie, tells the story of a working child in Afghanistan, while her poetry collection, A Glimmer in the Dark, captures the heartbreak of exile and the enduring hope of survival. Join us as we discuss the power of storytelling, the resilience of the human spirit, and how writing can bear witness to both personal and collective grief. Episode Highlights2:04: Publishing in a War Zone9:43: The Impact of Crisis and Loss on Our Writing Lives17:31: Giving a Voice to Someone Who’s Gone21:35: How Helping Others Empowers You28:50: Listening to the Howl 32:48 Writing as an Act of Service35:20: Samman’s Best Writing AdviceResources for this Episode: Afghan refugees head to Washington asking special visas be issued for familiesAfghan refugee pleads for resettlement support on Capitol HillVolunteer Information: https://www.volunteermatch.org/Volunteer Organizations in Charlottesville: https://soundjusticelab.org/cville-tulipshttps://www.charlottesvilleunited.org/https://www.virginiaequitycenter.org/Watch the Trailer for LimboSamman’s Bio: Samman Akbarzada is an Afghan refugee and the author of two books: A Glimmer in the Dark, her poetry collection, and Life is a Movie, her debut novel. A second-year student at the University of Virginia, she is committed to working with NGOs and advocating for the rights of underserved communities. Her words capture the suffering, heartbreak, gratitude, and redemption that mark a life lived on the blade of conflict, with love and empathy as her constant guiding light.Connect with SammanAuthor Website: https://www.amazon.com/author/samman-akbarzadaInstagram.com/sammanwritesLinkedIn: Connect with your host, Lisa:Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret LessWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn Free Your Writing Voice, Fuel Your Motivation is a 12-week course designed to help you reconnect with the creative spark that brought you to the page in the first place. https://lisacooperellison.com/free-your-writing-voice-find-your-motivation/ Produced by Espresso Podcast Production