#111 Making Meaning While Writing Traumatic Stories As Catalysts for Change Featuring Lisa Cooper Ellison

Lisa Cooper Ellison is an author, speaker, trauma-informed writing coach, and host of the Writing Your Resilience podcast. She works and writes at the intersection of storytelling and healing, and combines her personal experiences with suicide loss and CPTSD with her clinical training to help writers turn tough experiences into art. Her essays and stories have appeared on Risk! and in The New York Times, HuffPost, Hippocampus Literary Magazine, and Kenyon Review Online, among others.   In this episode: How Lisa became a trauma-informed writing coach after she dealt with a debilitating health issue [3:54] The emotional impacts of writing about tough topics [10:21] How the nervous system is impacted when writing about trauma [11:27] The meaning making process; owning our meltdowns and moments [12:13] Estelle’s experience with writing about her ectopic pregnancy and how it required emotional distance and time [12:47] How writers can protect themselves and practice self-care while writing difficult stories  about themselves or loved ones [14:06] Lisa’s experience with writing her own memoir and being a volcano writer [20:34] Lisa’s article in HuffPost Personal on emotional flashbacks and defining them [21:00] How Lisa protects her own mental health through somatic processing [29:56] Why a beat sheet is your BFF for structuring your memoir, and understanding your book’s essential questions [37:59] Connect with Lisa   Website: https://lisacooperellison.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacooperellison/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-cooper-ellison-b5483840/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisacooperellison/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lisacooperellison   Lisa’s article on HuffPost Personal Making the Smallest Little Mistake Filled Me With Terror: Then 2 Little Words Changed My Life https://www.huffpost.com/entry/emotional-flashback-dread-doom-therapy_n_66cb7ae8e4b0f0ded8061ba6   Estelle’s episode Writing That Gets Noticed on Lisa’s podcast Writing Your Resilience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU-Wpm27PhU   Connect with Estelle   ​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at  https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.   Sign up for Estelle’s Personal Essay Class for Writer’s Digest  https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals   Sign up for Estelle’s NYU Classes https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html   Get Her Book  Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0   Order Her Audiobook: https://shorturl.at/4uG2P   Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests   Follow Estelle: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus  People mentioned who had episodes on Estelle’s podcast   Linda Lowen, episode #31 Getting Your Writing Career in Gear When on a Tight Deadline https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freelance-writing-direct-conversations-with-authors/id1647429472?i=1000610817037 Jane Friedman, episode #105 A Look Inside Publishing: Hybrid, Audiobooks, AI & More  https://estelleserasmus.com/105-a-look-inside-publishing-hybrid-audiobooks-ai-more-featuring-jane-friedman/ Minna Dubin, episode #61 All About Mom Rage https://estelleserasmus.com/61-all-about-mom-rage-with-minna-dubin/   Estelle’s article in Brevity Don’t Blow Up Your Life for a Byline https://brevity.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/dont-blow-up-your-life-for-a-byline/