Welcome to the place we find ourselves, the podcast where we not only talk about all things related to story, trauma and therapy,

but also have the privilege of hearing some of the sacred real-life stories of interview guests.

I'm Adam Young and this is Episode 3 of the podcast.

It's also the first episode in which we hear a portion of someone's story.

Today we'll be hearing from Mandy and anytime you share a true story from your life with the general public,

you are risking the possibility that there will be listeners who don't hold your story with the sacredness and honor that it deserves.

And so as you listen, I invite you to consider what does it mean to hold with honor the story of another human being whom you don't know?

And how can you receive her story with both the sense of sacredness and gratitude, knowing that it has caused her something to engage this material in such a public forum?

Let me just briefly tell you a bit about Mandy.

Mandy is a licensed professional counselor in Naperville, Illinois, outside Chicago, where she specializes in trauma and abuse.

And in today's episode, Mandy talks a bit about how and why she began to engage her story.

And then she generously reads aloud a story from her own life, a story about being bullied in elementary school,

a story that had a major impact on how she began to see herself and relate to those around her.

Mandy talks about the necessity of finding words for the harm that one has experienced and the importance of bringing one's pain to God.

I think I also learned even though the message was often pretty implicit and subtle that I'm not allowed to embrace all parts of my story.

There was definitely a focus on the light and the positive and neglecting anything that could even appear too dark or too uncomfortable.

Mandy goes on to explain how she needed the help of another person to fully engage her own story.

In other words, you can't find yourself by yourself. It's the place we find ourselves. It's always we not on.

Now here is my interview with Mandy.

When did the whole notion of I have a story and it matters kind of enter your world?

I'm someone who was always gravitated towards story and toward imagery and symbol archetypes. I just love all that stuff I eat it up.

So to think of my own life in that way was was pretty natural. At the same time, though, growing up in the particular Christian subculture that I have.

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