What hap­pens when a life marked by epilep­sy and emer­gency med­ical work col­lides with a spir­i­tu­al call­ing? This week, we wel­come Chris Wasko, a com­pas­sion­ate hos­pi­tal chap­lain and for­mer EMT para­medic, to share her remark­able jour­ney of heal­ing and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty. Chris opens up about her life with gen­er­al­ized epilep­sy and how it guid­ed her spir­i­tu­al path, trans­form­ing her approach to heal­ing oth­ers. From the essen­tial need for human con­nec­tion to the pro­found impacts of grief and loss, Chris shares her insights on how moments of dis­con­nec­tion can lead to deep soul-search­ing and even­tu­al recon­nec­tion. Her unique per­spec­tive as a psy­chic medi­um adds anoth­er lay­er of depth, high­light­ing the impor­tance of com­pas­sion in guid­ing vic­tims of nar­cis­sis­tic abuse.

We shift gears to dis­cuss the intense emo­tion­al and psy­cho­log­i­cal chal­lenges faced by those in emer­gency med­ical ser­vices and health­care. Chris recounts har­row­ing expe­ri­ences, from trau­mat­ic calls and unsafe envi­ron­ments to the sec­ondary trau­ma felt by dis­patch­ers. The con­ver­sa­tion also delves into the strug­gles of work­ing dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, par­tic­u­lar­ly the chal­lenge of facil­i­tat­ing good deaths in such dire cir­cum­stances. We under­score the crit­i­cal need for self-care and men­tal health sup­port, empha­siz­ing that acknowl­edg­ing and pro­cess­ing these intense expe­ri­ences is essen­tial for well-being.

Final­ly, we explore the last­ing impact of expe­ri­enc­ing trau­ma from a young age and the impor­tance of rec­og­niz­ing dif­fer­ent types of loss. Chris reflects on how these ear­ly expe­ri­ences shaped her per­spec­tive on grief, loss, and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty. We dis­cuss the deep sense of pur­pose found in sup­port­ing peo­ple through the most intense moments of their lives, and the del­i­cate bal­ance between acknowl­edg­ing suf­fer­ing and find­ing grat­i­tude. Through Chris’s jour­ney, we uncov­er the resilience of the human spir­it and the pro­found heal­ing pow­er of empa­thy and con­nec­tion. Join us for an insight­ful, heart­felt dis­cus­sion on nav­i­gat­ing trau­ma, spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, and heal­ing.

Please feel free to leave a com­ment here.

Sub­scribe to our newslet­ter

🌱 Sup­port the show

Tran­scrip­tion

Chap­ter mark­ers

00:00:07 Nav­i­gat­ing Long­ing Through Spir­i­tu­al­i­ty and Heal­ing

00:11:22 Nav­i­gat­ing Trau­ma Through Health­care Expe­ri­ences

00:17:37 Expe­ri­enc­ing Trau­ma Through Young Eyes

00:24:51 Find­ing Strength Through Shared Expe­ri­ence

00:29:01 Explor­ing Fear and Loss in Death

00:38:42 Grat­i­tude in Trau­ma and Heal­ing

Guest Bio

Chris Wasko