Marilyn J. Wooley

Kathryn interviews Author Marilyn J. Wooley PhD.Firefighters run into burning buildings, police officers chase active shooters, and EMTs rush to provide life-saving medical support, no matter how gruesome the crime scene. First responders are the action heroes of our time, but they are not invincible. Nearly 30% of first responders will develop PTSD, and many will experience increased suicidality and other psychiatric conditions, explained psychologist and traumatologist Marilyn J. Wooley. And far too many responders struggle in silence wondering if they will ever get better. She outlines what happens in the body and mind during a critical incident that makes it both normal and natural to experience difficult thoughts and feelings. With more than 40 years of experience in the field of psychology she teaches Critical Incident Stress Management. She worked with the American Red Cross to help victims of 9/11 and served as a clinician for the West Coast Post-trauma Retreat.Kathryn also interviews Author Meg Stafford.Award-winning memoirist Meg Stafford has an adventurous spirit, and this time she takes us along for the ride. When her daughters venture into terra incognita – one of them meditating in the Himalayas and the other providing unarmed protection in the Colombian countryside – Stafford decides to go too. In the process, she reflects on her own lifetime of wanderlust and what it means for a parent to love and let go. Generous, insightful, and deeply funny, Stafford is the ideal tour guide for a journey as big as the world and as intimate as the human heart. She illuminates how there may be no greater test in parenting than trekking around the globe with your adult daughters. She is an award winning author and as a social worker in private practice, she's been helping others negotiate the terrain of relationships and connections for over 35 years.