In the lat­est episode of our pod­cast, we delve into the remark­able jour­ney of Chris Wasko, a com­pas­sion­ate hos­pi­tal chap­lain and for­mer EMT para­medic. Titled “Heal­ing the Spir­it: A Jour­ney Through Epilep­sy, EMS, and Empa­thy,” this episode explores the inter­sec­tions of spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, trau­ma, and the pro­found impacts of human con­nec­tion. Chris opens up about her life with gen­er­al­ized epilep­sy and how it steered her spir­i­tu­al path, ulti­mate­ly trans­form­ing her approach to heal­ing oth­ers. Through this explo­ration, we uncov­er the resilience of the human spir­it and the pro­found heal­ing pow­er of empa­thy and con­nec­tion.

Chris’s jour­ney began in her ear­ly years when she was diag­nosed with gen­er­al­ized epilep­sy. This med­ical con­di­tion not only shaped her per­son­al life but also sig­nif­i­cant­ly influ­enced her spir­i­tu­al jour­ney. Grow­ing up in a town with fre­quent inci­dents of sui­cides on train tracks, Chris was exposed to trau­ma from a young age. These ear­ly expe­ri­ences made her ques­tion the mean­ing of life and her rela­tion­ship with God. This soul-search­ing laid the foun­da­tion for her even­tu­al role as a hos­pi­tal chap­lain, where she could help oth­ers nav­i­gate their own spir­i­tu­al crises.

In her role as an EMT, Chris encoun­tered numer­ous trau­mat­ic events that test­ed her emo­tion­al and psy­cho­log­i­cal resilience. From per­form­ing CPR on patients who did not sur­vive to enter­ing unsafe envi­ron­ments, these expe­ri­ences high­light­ed the crit­i­cal need for self-care and men­tal health sup­port among emer­gency med­ical pro­fes­sion­als. Chris’s sto­ry under­scores the inevitabil­i­ty of being affect­ed by the suf­fer­ing wit­nessed in these pro­fes­sions and the impor­tance of acknowl­edg­ing and pro­cess­ing these impacts to sup­port men­tal well-being.

One of the most com­pelling aspects of Chris’s jour­ney is her abil­i­ty to con­nect with oth­ers on a deep, spir­i­tu­al lev­el. As a psy­chic medi­um, she offers guid­ance to vic­tims of nar­cis­sis­tic abuse, empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of com­pas­sion and human con­nec­tion in the heal­ing process. This unique per­spec­tive adds anoth­er lay­er of depth to her work, allow­ing her to address the spir­i­tu­al and emo­tion­al needs of those she serves.

The episode also explores the intense emo­tion­al and psy­cho­log­i­cal chal­lenges faced by health­care work­ers, par­tic­u­lar­ly dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. Chris recounts the dif­fi­cul­ty of facil­i­tat­ing good deaths in such dire cir­cum­stances, high­light­ing the emo­tion­al toll this took on med­ical pro­fes­sion­als. The con­ver­sa­tion empha­sizes the need for men­tal health sup­port and self-care, acknowl­edg­ing that health­care work­ers are not immune to the emo­tion­al impacts of their work.

Chris reflects on the last­ing impact of expe­ri­enc­ing trau­ma from a young age and the impor­tance of rec­og­niz­ing dif­fer­ent types of loss. Her ear­ly expe­ri­ences with trau­ma, includ­ing han­dling sui­cides and wit­ness­ing the after­math of vio­lence, shaped her per­spec­tive on grief and loss. These expe­ri­ences taught her the impor­tance of being present with oth­ers dur­ing their most intense moments of suf­fer­ing and find­ing a sense of pur­pose in sup­port­ing them through these times.

The episode delves into the chal­lenges of bal­anc­ing trau­ma and heal­ing in the med­ical and spir­i­tu­al realms. Chris dis­cuss­es the hard­en­ing and even­tu­al soft­en­ing of per­spec­tives when fac­ing trau­ma and grief, empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of con­trol and order dur­ing chaot­ic times. The con­ver­sa­tion high­lights the cop­ing mech­a­nisms, such as dark humour, that med­ical pro­fes­sion­als employ to han­dle the intense sit­u­a­tions they encounter. Addi­tion­al­ly, Chris reflects on the inter­sec­tion of spir­i­tu­al sup­port and med­ical care, not­ing how famil­iar­i­ty and shared expe­ri­ences fos­ter trust and open­ness among EMTs and hos­pi­tal staff.

In explor­ing the fear and loss asso­ci­at­ed with death, Chris offers var­i­ous tech­niques and prac­tices for sup­port­ing indi­vid­u­als strug­gling with these emo­tions. She dis­cuss­es the impor­tance of iden­ti­fy­ing and nam­ing dif­fer­ent types of loss­es, whether they be the death of a loved one, cumu­la­tive loss, or the death of younger indi­vid­u­als and chil­dren. These loss­es can be par­tic­u­lar­ly chal­leng­ing for health­care prac­ti­tion­ers, who must nav­i­gate their own emo­tion­al respons­es while pro­vid­ing sup­port to oth­ers.

The episode also address­es the dynam­ic where patients are ready for death, but their fam­i­lies are not. Chris explains the emo­tion­al com­plex­i­ties this cre­ates and the impor­tance of sup­port­ing both patients and their fam­i­lies through this process. Addi­tion­al­ly, she touch­es on the cri­sis of faith some indi­vid­u­als expe­ri­ence as they near death, par­tic­u­lar­ly frus­tra­tion at unan­swered prayers and anger at God. These emo­tions are often kept pri­vate from reg­u­lar cler­gy, high­light­ing the unique role hos­pi­tal chap­lains play in pro­vid­ing spir­i­tu­al sup­port.

Through Chris’s jour­ney, we uncov­er the resilience of the human spir­it and the pro­found heal­ing pow­er of empa­thy and con­nec­tion. Her sto­ry offers valu­able insights into nav­i­gat­ing trau­ma, spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, and heal­ing, empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of being present with oth­ers dur­ing their most intense moments of suf­fer­ing. Join us for an insight­ful, heart­felt dis­cus­sion on nav­i­gat­ing trau­ma, spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, and heal­ing, and dis­cov­er the strength found in vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty and the sig­nif­i­cance of mind­ful­ness and care in our dai­ly lives.