Blink of an Eye

#45 - Death Be Gone, Part 1   In this 2-part final episode of season 1, Louise considers the implications for families when things go wrong in hospitals, especially when medical staff remain tight-lipped about what happened, or are unwilling to admit that they don’t know. This isn’t an abstract thought: Last night’s crisis is full of unanswered questions and causes for concern. She’s asked for a m...

#44 - Death Be Gone, Part 1   The ability to reflect on our lives is what makes us human, able to construct a moral framework, look for meaning, and make decisions. Louise explores this extraordinary human capacity in today’s Trauma Healing Learning. While some things are beyond our control, we can choose how we respond, making decisions that reduce suffering and keep us rooted in the present. Lou...

#43 - Peripheral Friends   Sometimes, support comes from the places you least expect it. The crisis that had Archer in a Silent Scream has passed, at least for now, but Louise has no more answers from the medical team than she did yesterday. She’s also worried about all the narcotics her son has been prescribed. The nurses tell her to ask the doctors, but even the doctors aren’t forthcoming. She i...

#42 - Peripheral Friends   Frontline trauma workers may be more prone than others to compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and substance abuse, but they aren’t the only ones who might find themselves numbing out. Drawing from her experience teaching conflict transformation to workers in crisis situations, as well as her own experience in the ICU, Louise explores what trauma-informed care might loo...

#41 - Stay Alert   Louise explores why families’ presence bedside to a loved one in an ICU is one of the strongest risk management secrets for hospitals. She gives tips on how family members can be engaged with medical staff, and why medical staff might want to welcome the input of families, including their questions. Join Louise for this provocative look at how hospitals may transform to be more...

#40 - Stay Alert   Louise and her family sat at Archer’s bedside every day and every night, caring for him in the aftermath of his accident. Louise recounts various interactions with nurses and doctors, and the conflicting information she was getting and wonders aloud about the danger this was creating for coordinated medical care. You will be inspired to consider your own role as a family member...

#39 - The Painful Past Informs Us   As the heat rushed through Louise’s body, she wondered how dark is the place where she and Billy were in their marriage, or was it dark at all? Past conflicts, unresolved anger can surface suddenly engulfing us in their force with strong bodily sensations. Did past trauma play a role in Louise’ trauma with Archer?  Louise steps into the collective traumatic expe...

#38 - The Painful Past Informs Us Trauma Healing Learning   Past trauma, either personally, or collectively takes a toll on our bodies. It can also give us valuable information to handle current traumatic situations.  We may just need to take the time to pause, get curious and ask, “WHY is this bothering me so much? What am I remembering that is triggering this reaction in my body?” Louise gives u...

#37 - Mediation for the Mediator   The volume, the tension, old wounds filled the dining room as Billy and Louise knew they were in trouble and needed to come to some resolution in order to get back to Archer as one unified heart. This is a messy episode. Louise’s trusted and professional friend, Rachel Wohl, was more than a fly on the wall while witnessing two people she cared about in the throws...

#36 - Mediation for the Mediator Trauma Healing Learnings   Two steps forward, one step back was the best Billy and Louise could hope for as they were in the throws of mediation to give them strength to pick themselves up again and again after falling apart several times since Archer’s accident. In this trauma healing learnings episode, Louise drives home the importance of bringing in a neutral pa...

#35 - Tell Him Everything   Do people remember their near-death experiences? Will telling someone in the hospital everything dash their hopes or empower them?  Put their mind at ease or create despair? What about when it’s your child? This is what Louise and Archer discussed as Archer continued to ask when he would be off the lung machines. Does he want to know everything?  Everything? What about...

#34 - Tell Him Everything Trauma Healing Learnings   Medical information should be complete, forthcoming and easy to digest. But when you have many people at many levels involved in the care of a loved one, they all interpret the truth differently. They may think it’s complete, but they can only share what they understand and what they feel they are permitted to share. Then we have the job to deci...

#33 - No Time for Tears Trauma Healing Learnings   Trauma takes a long-term toll on the body, especially if all we do is store it away and simply say, “I held it together, I’m fine, it’s over.” If it were only that simple. What about tears? Is a good cry helpful or not? Trauma can settle into our bodies and cause us trouble years later. Holding it together may be commendable, but it’s only a Band-...

#32 - No Time for Tears   You will hear Insights from Archer’s highschool friends, young men, on what it was like for them to experience their paralyzed friend. Why do we hold back our tears? She explores this with them. Louise also explores why she is beginning to experience mixed emotions with the medical staff: all the medical information is conflicting. Which is it? She wants to know the truth...

#31 - Little Angel   It’s such a privilege to take care of someone when they truly cannot for themselves. Sometimes in a moment, no matter how strong we are, we don’t realize we are incapable of taking care of ourselves. That’s when angels step in. Louise’s beach friend, Mary Ellen McNally was in the right place at the right time to catch Louise as she collapsed. How they ended up in the perfect p...

#30 - Little Angel Trauma Healing Learnings   Trauma happens. Healing trauma is a process. We can get stuck in our trauma experiences, but some memories step in to give us respite during the journey without our even realizing it. Have you ever been in a stressful situation and your mind wanders to a peaceful memory that calms you? That’s no accident. Those epiphanies can renew us, give us strength...

#29 - I Didn't See This One Coming   Louise and Billy were in trouble as they were both stretched beyond capacity in Day 5 of Archer’s catastrophic injury. There were many people in and out of Archer’s hospital room, many machines, too much unknown, and too much was out of their control. It was way beyond simple, sleep deprivation and fear. Did they need to sell their house, their business, move?...

#28 - I Didn't See This One Coming Trauma Healing Learnings   Even the strongest marriages can crumble when faced with trauma. This doesn't mean that the distorted statistics of divorce are descending on your marriage, at least it doesn't have to. Join Louise as she walks you through some of what she’s learned as a transformative mediator, but mainly as a wife and mother walking through her own tr...

#27 - The ABC Board   If your nose itches, you scratch it. If you can’t reach something, you ask someone to help you get it. But what if you can’t do either? Sometimes the best tools we have at our disposal are not high-tech. They can cost less than a cup of coffee but can be more valuable than a brick of gold. In this episode Louise and her oldest son, Pete, talk about the ABC Board and the gift...

#26 - The ABC Board Trauma Healing Learnings   The story of Archer’s ABC board reminds us of resources within our grasp for communication such as simple tools of a notebook and pen, notes app on a phone, and a message board that you can make quickly and inexpensively. In this learning you’ll also hear why writing updates may aid you and others to live wholly again after a traumatic event and the d...

#25 - The Body Knows the Score Part 2   Has your heart leapt when you received a call, an email, a piece of mail, a visit from a specific person before you even knew the purpose of their communication? Do you ever tighten up with dread, fear, stress when certain people write to you as well? This is the body giving us wisdom and often protecting us, and Louise is reminded about somatic awareness. L...

#24 - The Body Knows the Score   Heroes, including seasoned ones, experience trauma from the rescue event. It can change them forever. Louise reflected back on yesterday’s beautiful visit from Archer’s life-saving hero, James Schmucker, and the impact it had on both Archer and James as Archer expressed the gratitude he felt for his friend who saved his life. It was a gift of a deep moment between...

#23 - Never Underestimate the Humanity of Boys   Louise strongly encourages, almost begs us to PLEASE GO when we have loved ones in the hospital or in a debilitating situation. Your visits are life to the person in trauma and the family caring for them. You’ll hear about the spontaneity of two friends who drove through three states knowing they just had to go, even knowing they’d be “intruding” in...

#22 - A Most Remarkable Day   Can a professional be both emotionally present and expert at the same time? Do professionals need professional distance in order to best serve those they are protecting? Does a doctor’s clinical distance promote healing? Louise questions this. How do doctors and nurses go home at night to their families, while patients in the Intensive Care Units and their families st...

#21 - You Didn't Have To, But You Did   “You almost lost your son last night,” was what that trauma nurse was really saying. It was a kindness. She didn’t have to say it, but she did. Archer had been close to dying last night and that reality was slowly and forcefully sinking in for Louise. For the very first time that she had observed, another nurse engaged Archer in conversation. She wasn’t just...