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3 Days of Pure Validation with Gabriella Tranchina · The Trauma Therapist

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Trauma Theapist podcast. My name is gamickperson.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I interview incredible people who've dedicated their lives to helping
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: those who've been impacted by trauma. A big thank you
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: to our sponsors and our guests who are supporting this show.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Five four, three, two and one folks, Welcome back to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the podcast. Super excited to have as my guest today.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Gabriella Tranquina. Gabriella, welcome.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. Super honored to
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: be here.
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  Speaker 1: Appreciate that. Gabriella is a creator and host of Gabriella Rebranded,
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  Speaker 1: a spiritual podcast about healing after trauma, brain injury, recovery,
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  Speaker 1: and spiritual growth, told with honesty and dark humor. After
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  Speaker 1: surviving at three and a half week coma, brain surgery
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  Speaker 1: and multiple fractures for being struck by a car, Gabriella
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  Speaker 1: reframed her life around resilience, spirituality, and joy even in
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  Speaker 1: the face of adversity. Her work promotes trauma healing, disability advocacy,
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  Speaker 1: and personal transformation listeners to reconnect with meaning, positive energy
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and their own stories of survival. All right, Gabriella, I
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  Speaker 1: can feel your energy already. I love it. I love
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: it so much? Yeah, love it. I was like, before
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  Speaker 1: we get going share with the listeners where you're from
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: originally and where you are currently?
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  Speaker 2: I am from Long Island, New York. Would you hear
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: when I say Long Island?
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  Speaker 1: Love it? I used to live in Long Island?
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  Speaker 2: Oat? Nice?
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  Speaker 1: Where about in Shoreham?
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  Speaker 2: Okay? Nice?
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  Speaker 1: I'm from Mintlasset It's on the north awesome.
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  Speaker 2: And I currently live in Los Angeles.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, okay, So let's dive in. How the heck did
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: all this start for you?
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  Speaker 2: Oh my god? Well, how it really started was I
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: left a pair of sunglasses at a restaurant and I
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: went back to get them, and I was walking back
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  Speaker 2: to my car and another car appeared and ran over me.
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  Speaker 2: So that's how it really all started. But how this, uh,
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  Speaker 2: the podcast and everything that I've done since has started
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  Speaker 2: is I really needed I needed something to cling to.
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  Speaker 2: I needed something to believe in because so much when
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  Speaker 2: I was recovering was just going wrong and wrong and wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Well, hang on, hang on, hand, I don't want any
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  Speaker 1: but you gotta go back. What the hell happened? You
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  Speaker 1: got hit? And what happened?
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  Speaker 2: Yes? I was hit? I was hit by car I
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  Speaker 2: was crossing the street legally. I like to add legally,
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  Speaker 2: and a car didn't see me. They hit me. Brought
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  Speaker 2: to Cedar Sinai. Really lucky. That's a big spiritual moment.
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  Speaker 2: I chose a great place to get hit by a car,
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  Speaker 2: second best hospital in America. So I was brought to
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  Speaker 2: Cedar Sinai. They did what they had to do in
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  Speaker 2: terms of the brain, brain surgery and all that, but
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  Speaker 2: there was a lot more that went on. I've in
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the past for not recently because it's been a little
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: bit of a break, but I wound up having surgeries
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  Speaker 2: for two and a half years. How old were you
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  Speaker 2: sixteen surgeries. I was twenty three when I got hit
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  Speaker 2: and my last surgery I had when I was twenty five. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: so it was it was a long healing process and
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  Speaker 2: I really needed something to get me through and that's
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  Speaker 2: when I found spirituality. Actually, what started it for me
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  Speaker 2: was I read The Universe as Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein,
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  Speaker 2: who you've also had as a podcast guest, and that's
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  Speaker 2: what started it. It didn't, it didn't really end there.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't I wasn't the best spiritual student right away,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: but that's what originally birthed it?
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  Speaker 1: When Okay, so, at what point did you experience a
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  Speaker 1: coma or were you in the coma?
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  Speaker 2: As soon as I was hit, I woke up in
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  Speaker 2: the hospital, woke up. It's not like the movies. It's
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  Speaker 2: not like you wake up and just start talking. It's
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  Speaker 2: like a very gradual A lot of the parts of
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the brain need to heal. So I gained consciousness and
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  Speaker 2: was technically not comatose anymore at three and a half weeks,
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  Speaker 2: but my memory hadn't healed yet. So my earliest memory
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  Speaker 2: was a little over a month, and it was leaving
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  Speaker 2: the hospital to go to inpatient rehab. And even then
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  Speaker 2: it's a very blurry, very chopped up memory. My entire
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: time in rehab is kind of in and out in
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  Speaker 2: black and white. Some things I remember very clearly. A
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  Speaker 2: lot is a blur. But yeah, that's my biggest takeaway
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  Speaker 2: that I want people to know, is that waking up.
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  Speaker 2: So many people ask me what was your first thought
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  Speaker 2: when you woke up from the coma. That's not how
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  Speaker 2: it works, that's not how That's how Hollywood makes it seem,
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  Speaker 2: but that's not how it works. So I wouldn't know,
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  Speaker 2: so you're.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you wake up and what are you feeling?
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  Speaker 1: What are you thinking?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, Well, my first memory was the sound of my
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  Speaker 2: mom's voice telling me I was hit by a car.
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  Speaker 2: No visuals, just the sound of her voice. Apparently I
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  Speaker 2: kept forgetting what had happened, so my mom had to
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  Speaker 2: tell me about six times that I was hit by
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  Speaker 2: a car, which was traumatic for her and her own right,
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  Speaker 2: that's really really hard. But my first concrete thought, aside
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  Speaker 2: from the fact, was being thankful I wasn't texting Walder walking.
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  Speaker 2: I was walking, not driving. But aside from the fact
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: that I wasn't staring at my phone when I had
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  Speaker 2: my accident, was and I was crossing legally. My first
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  Speaker 2: real thought was this will not all be for nothing.
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  Speaker 2: The only way out is through, and this won't all
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  Speaker 2: be for nothing. Something good is going to come out
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  Speaker 2: of this this. I will not just have a break
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  Speaker 2: from my life and that is it. It's going to
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  Speaker 2: produce something really great.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. So that's a pretty kick ass feeling and thought
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  Speaker 1: to have. I mean, was that you even going even
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  Speaker 1: before this?
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  Speaker 2: No, not all. It's so crazy because now people always
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: talk about how positive and bubbly I am No one
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  Speaker 2: would have described me as that before my accident. I
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  Speaker 2: think I was. I was a pretty negative person. I
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: was a pretty negative person. If there was one thing
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  Speaker 2: I was good at, it was complaining. This accident was
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  Speaker 2: it really woke me up? It really sort of changed
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  Speaker 2: everything about the way I moved through the world. I'm
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  Speaker 2: a much better person now.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So how did you get there? Will you just
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  Speaker 1: hang on before you answered that? So? Were you forgive
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  Speaker 1: me for projecting? But were you in bed? I mean
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  Speaker 1: at some point going what the fuck is going on?
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  Speaker 1: How am I gonna? Did you have experienced self pity?
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Yes? So I was determined to move back to La.
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  Speaker 2: I was living in LA at the time, and I
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  Speaker 2: was determined to get back here because I did not
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  Speaker 2: want my life to be on pause. And I thought
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  Speaker 2: the longer I was out of LA, the longer I
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  Speaker 2: wasn't hanging out with my friends, the longer I wasn't
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  Speaker 2: I was an actor at the time, the longer I
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  Speaker 2: wasn't pursuing acting, the farther away I was getting from myself,
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  Speaker 2: and I was determined to get back. And all the
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: way up until La, I had a pretty positive disposition.
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  Speaker 2: And even though I was very underhealed and should not
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  Speaker 2: have moved back. I seemed physically fine enough because my
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: problems were up here and we didn't realize how bad
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: I say we, meaning me, my parents, my deficits were
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: until I moved back, and I was responsible for running
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  Speaker 2: my entire life by myself. Because while I was recovering
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  Speaker 2: at home, you know, I had my parents. They were
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  Speaker 2: making sure the fridge was stocked, they were making me food,
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  Speaker 2: they were driving me here, there, everywhere. And then I
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  Speaker 2: went to La and suddenly I was by myself, alone
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  Speaker 2: in the studio apartment, and I to do everything. I
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  Speaker 2: was determined or I thought that something was going to
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  Speaker 2: click in a place eventually, and I thought the law
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  Speaker 2: of averages. I had a lot of bad and now
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  Speaker 2: I was going to get some good. Something's going to
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  Speaker 2: click in a place me right, Everything went wrong. Everything
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  Speaker 2: I wasn't let back into my acting class. I lost
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  Speaker 2: a lot of friends. I was having panic attacks left
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  Speaker 2: and right, which drove a lot of people away. I
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  Speaker 2: wasn't having panic attacks while I lived at home. They
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  Speaker 2: started when I was back in La living by myself.
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  Speaker 2: I couldn't function. Just managing my own life was impossible.
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  Speaker 2: I couldn't even do my part time job. I couldn't
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  Speaker 2: do anything. And just before the first year anniversary of
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: my accident, I came home and I went to a
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  Speaker 2: reiki healer, Tina Conroy. She was She's the one who
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  Speaker 2: told me to read the universe has her back. I
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  Speaker 2: owe everything to her. She was just a local woman
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  Speaker 2: from around my town that my family knew growing up.
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  Speaker 2: And I went to her and I was like, everything's
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  Speaker 2: going wrong. I can't get something to work. I thought
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  Speaker 2: I was the Universe's comedic relief. That was how I
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  Speaker 2: said it. I was like, I think I'm the Universe's
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  Speaker 2: comedic relief. Nothing's going right. Everything I try, I am losing.
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  Speaker 2: I was desperate. I truly had nothing to believe in.
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  Speaker 2: And then in December, because this was about in October
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  Speaker 2: that I saw her. In December, a surgery that I
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  Speaker 2: had went wrong. It was one of the five surgeries
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  Speaker 2: I've had for this ie and it was over a
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: month of five complications. It was ultimately deemed a failure.
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  Speaker 2: So now I wasn't even healing correctly, and I was
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  Speaker 2: just in this self pitying state of life, like I
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  Speaker 2: cannot get everything, Like I've lost everything, and drufully, I
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  Speaker 2: was a little suicidal, and I said I didn't have
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  Speaker 2: plans to kill myself, but I said, if another car
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  Speaker 2: came around and hit me and this time I died,
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be upset about it. That was how I
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  Speaker 2: truly felt. And then I went on a brain injury
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  Speaker 2: retreat via the organization Love Your Brain, great organization, and I.
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  Speaker 1: Had what is what is I've never heard of that?
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  Speaker 1: What is that your brain?
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  Speaker 2: Oh my god? Well, yeah, they are fabulous. They are
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  Speaker 2: an organization that was started by Kevin Pierce. And if
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  Speaker 2: you remember the Vancouver Olympics and twenty ten, there was
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: that snowboarder from America who was expected to beat Sean
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: White and then like a month out from the Olympics,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: he got really hurt. I don't know if you remember that.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: I'm vaguely vaguely yes. That was Kevin Pierce. And he
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  Speaker 2: his entire life was going to be a snowboarder. He
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  Speaker 2: was pro snowboarding. That was all he knew. And then
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: while he was training, he had an arly fall sustained
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: to TBI had brain surgery, which is what I have
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  Speaker 2: going on. He couldn't go back to snowboarding, so similar
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  Speaker 2: to me. His friends were snowboarders, his entire light. He
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  Speaker 2: had dropped out of normal school to work on snowboarding.
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  Speaker 2: That was his everything, his girlfriend was and he lost everything.
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  Speaker 2: How he moved forward is like me. He decided he
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: wanted to bleed something positive to the world and he
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: started Love Your Brain, which is an organization for brain
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: injured persons and also their families. There's a caregiver support
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  Speaker 2: group that my mom and her original tribe. They still
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  Speaker 2: independently meet.
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  Speaker 1: Over three years later.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I went on this retreat and I finally
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  Speaker 2: that's what inspired me to start my podcast because I
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  Speaker 2: was finally validated. I finally met other people who knew
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  Speaker 2: what I was going through, which I hadn't yet had.
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  Speaker 2: I finally met other people that my struggles, and I said,
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  Speaker 2: I need to be this for other trauma survivors. And
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  Speaker 2: I think about all types of trauma, but I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to do the best I can.
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  Speaker 1: Look at you, I love you. I love your your
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  Speaker 1: your your energy, and your passion. So you was that
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  Speaker 1: a turning point for you? Yes?
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  Speaker 2: It was, okay, a major turning point. When I am
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: finally done with my book and it's published, because I
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: have to do a bit more CPTSD therapy healing to
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: not be toxically positive in the book. I owe a
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: lot to that. That retreat was the turning point in
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: my recovery. That moment, it was almost a year and
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: a half after I had had my accident, and that
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: was the start of me creating the life that I
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: have now, creating the disposition I have now, creating the
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: energy that I have now. It was finally being validated,
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  Speaker 2: and that was like, wow, I this was what I need.
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  Speaker 2: I felt so alone for a year and a half.
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  Speaker 2: I need to give this to other people because it
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  Speaker 2: was really just finally being heard.
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  Speaker 1: Finally being heard. Talk to us about that experience. Was
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  Speaker 1: it like you're in a group and just people got it,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: they understood you say more.
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  Speaker 2: It was three days of pure validation, That's how I
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: describe it. And the first day there was a lot
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: of us, so we only got ninety seconds. But for
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: ninety seconds, you talked about what brought you to love
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  Speaker 2: your brain. You talked about what happened and hearing what
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: everyone had been through, no matter how big or small,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: they were overlaps in all of our experiences and It
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: was an incredibly emotional moment for me just being there
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  Speaker 2: and the three days we got to know each other.
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  Speaker 2: We had a lot of activities, there was a lot
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  Speaker 2: of bonding. I'm so close with a lot of people
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: from my original retreat. I love volunteering there now I volunteer,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: I go back all the time. And it was just
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: finally connecting with other people. And also for me, I
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: was twenty three when I had my injury. I was
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: twenty four when I wanted this retreat. Not many people
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: have a traumatic brain injury, or not a traumatic brain injury,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: but a severe brain injury, a severe medical situation when
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: they're as young as I was. And it was finally
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: meeting other people that were as young as I was,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: when they were sort of picked up and thrown out
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: of their life. And it was this camaraderie that it
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: was developed among all ages. But wow, it's not just me,
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: because for a while it felt like it was just me,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: But when you met other people, it's not just me.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: And then it was also I learned that I was
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: healing really well, and I was doing everything I was
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: supposed to do, and that I still maintained my voice
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: and the ability to articulate and as clearly as I
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: still can after everything I had been through. Visually, I
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: can't do anything Visually, I'm the queen of losing my phone.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: But I've still maintained this, and I was like, holy shit,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: this is a blessing. I need to use this.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: So love it. So you you decide there that you're
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: gonna was it. You're going to start a podcast, share
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: with our listeners the name of your podcast.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Gabriella Rebranded. That is the name of my podcast. That's
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: my social media, that's everything, and it's that was the
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: name of my podcast. And I had always so many
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: people had told me to write a book, and so
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: many people had told me to start a podcast. Before
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: I'd gotten hurt. People were telling me to start a
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: podcast because I'm great at talking, but I was like,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: I don't have anything to talk about in a podcast.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: And then this happened and I was like, Oh, I've
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: got a really big I've got a really huge topic
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: to talk about in a podcast. And that was the
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: moment I got serious about starting a book that again
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: we're still not done with because I have to heal
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: some of the CPTSD a little bit more to finish
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: the book. But that was when I got really real
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: about the podcast, because if I wasn't perfectly healed, I
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: could start the podcast because I could take it from
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: the perspective of I'm a student and I'm I'm learning
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: all this with you, and I'm figuring all all of
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: this out too. I don't have it all figured out yet.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: I don't think any of us will ever have it
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: all figured out. But I'm still at the beginning of
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: my journey, and I'm journey and I'm right there with you.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: So my podcast is very much from the perspective of
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: student and learning.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: When what is it, Gabriella that I mean? I understand
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: it was validation was huge, But walking, let's say, walking
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: into that retreat, you were thinking you were all alone?
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: What no one would understand, no one understands you. What
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: is it that you was keeping you so isolated in
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: a sense, maybe physically and psychologically before you walked into
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: that room.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Well, I think the most beautiful moment that I had
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: while I was in impatient rehab that my mom brings
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: up all the time is there is one point where
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: I was in my bed like I could barely talk,
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: So it was like this, but I said, I'm the
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: only person under eighty here, like on this brain injury floor.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: That's how I felt LA. Unfortunately, at the time I
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: was there, there were no brain injury support groups in LA,
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: and there was none, and sure there were online ones,
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: but it wasn't the same. I needed someone with me
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: and there were none. Now, California Rehab, which is where
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: I was posted up in Century City, Los Angeles, has
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: a brain injury support group, so why everyone did know that?
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Now they have that, but they did it at the time,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: so I knew no one that understood it. And the
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: problem was I present like this. I look pretty physically
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: fine on the outside. I can walk, I can use
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: both my arms, I can talk, I can do all that.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: So no one really knew how her I still was.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: No one really knew how damaged the brain was. So
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: from everyone around me's perspective, all the other former friends
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: from before my accident, it was like, well, why isn't
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: she back to normal? And they a lot of people,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: I think they they didn't have the energy or the
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: capacity to be patient with me and extend the energy
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: that I needed because I needed a lot. I needed
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: a lot of handholding. Still and it was this completely
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: lost moment where I couldn't drink, which was wound up
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: being the smallest thing in the world. But loud noises.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: I have hearing sensitivity. I couldn't take that. Bright lights.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: I couldn't take that. I still need to sleep more
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: than the average person, but it was especially bad then
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: over stimulation. I still get very overstimulated. So I couldn't
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: go out with my friends. I wasn't My job was
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: remote and it was only part time, so I did
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: because I could barely do anything. So I didn't have
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: friends from work. I lived in a studio. I was
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: so alone. I had no one around me, and I
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: was so desperate for connection because I couldn't find any.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: What is your goal with the podcast? Like, when you've
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: decided I'm going to do this, what was this you
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: wanted to do?
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: To be the voice for others that I needed when
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: I was going through the worst and the worst of
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: the word the worst of the worst, sorry, but to
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: be the voice for others that I needed because I
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: I had no one. I didn't think anyone got it.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Brain injury is very very intricate, and it's very confusing,
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: and even I'm blessed. My father is a doctor, so
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: he's a better understanding, but even my mom sort of
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: had no idea what was going on with me. She
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: kind of still she tries her best, and she's great.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: I'm the best mom in the world, but there's still
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: a lot that she doesn't get because it's it's here,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: it's internal. And as much as my dad has a
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: knowledge more than most, there is a bit he will
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: never understand because it's in here, and it's it's you
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: gotta feel it, you gotta you gotta live. From my perspective,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: so it felt like no one got it and no
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: one understood me. And people tried their best, but no
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: one was fully there. And I know how when I
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: was isolated, when I was so alone, I was so
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: net if that it wasn't aiding my recovery. Positivity aids
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: or physical healing so much it aids. Everything in your
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: life just flows to you the more positive energy you exude,
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: and the first place that that positive energy starts is
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: just someone who understands. And I still to this day
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: when I meet other not just brain injury survivors, but
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: medical trauma survivors, it's such relief. It's like Oh my god,
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: someone finally someone understands. My friend Alyssa says that it's
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: like we have a shorthand with each other and that
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: like we're able to just understand, pick right up what
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: the other person is going through, and I was like, Wow,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: all other trauma survivors, regardless if it's medical or not medical,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: but need this too. They probably also feel this way.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: So my goal with the podcast was that.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: So give us a little understanding, and not that we're
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: gonna completely understand. But what is it that people don't
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: understand about people who've experienced a trauma such as yours.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I think what people don't understand is a brain injury.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: It's lifelong, it's not an event. There is no it's
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: actually recently found out considered a chronic illness now, so
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: it's not something I won't one day just.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Be back to normal, like get over it. Get Yeah.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: I am different who I was before the accident. I'm
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: not her anymore. I love her, I miss her. She
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: would be really excited to know who I am now.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: But I'm different. That is very true.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Would you mind sharing how you're different?
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: I was someone who was I never needed alone time.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: I didn't like to be home by myself for more
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: than five minutes. I was so extroverted. I was always
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: down to do anything.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Pretty extroverted.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Now I'm still extroverted, but I need my recharge time.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: If I'm doing something on a Friday or Saturday, I
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: have to be very selective with who I give my
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: energy to. Now I can't say yes to everything. If
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: I'm doing something on a Saturday, then I have to
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: stay in on Friday. I'm a lot more cautious now.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: I was kind of which isn't a bad thing. I
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: was a little too reckless, as a lot of young
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: people are. We all think we're invincible. I have to
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: be more cautious.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: I'm so much more empathetic. Now I'm so much more sense.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: I cry all the time. It is so easy to
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: make me cry. But because of that, I also feel
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: so much more for people, and I take pain so
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: much more seriously. I have a lot more of a
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: refined grasp on the fragility of life, and there is
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: definitely a level of emotional intelligence. I like the people
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: that are close to me to half. And before that
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: I was a very I mean, I was very like
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to find the words, I didn't give a
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: fuck Like that's I was a very I didn't give
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: a fuck. I was negative. I was I was kind
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: of like whatever about other people. I was very. I
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: mean I was super super dramatic about which I still
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: am a little bit, but dramatic in terms of anger
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: and dramatic in terms of sadness, and dramatic in terms
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: of everything had to be an event. And I was
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: so confrontational, whereas now it's definitely more. That's not that serious.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: It's not that serious. I promise you. That little thing
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: that you're throwing to temper tantrum about, I promise you
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: it does not matter. And I used to throw a
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: tempertensium about everything, and now I promise you, as long
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: as your health is okay, your loved ones health is okay,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: you know where your next meal is coming from. There's
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: a roof of her head. The rest you will figure out.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: The rest will all be figured the fuck out. It's
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: not that deep. And I made everything deep.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So you mentioned that you were you were working
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: at a particular job. You weren't able to do that.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: What is your employment situation like now, are you able
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: to work?
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: No, I'm definitely not able to do a typical nine
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: to five. I'm not allowed to look at a computer
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: screen for more than like an hour and a half.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I just need more rest than the average person staying over.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: I get over stimulated very easily. It's the unfortunate reality
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: that the people with my level of injury I think
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: only about it's either five percent or three percent, will
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: be able to go back to working a normal nine
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: to five job with my level of injury, which was
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: a very severe traumatic brain injury. So I am not
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: able to do that. What I am doing now is
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: I'm writing my book and I'm producing this podcast, and
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: I'm really blessed to be in a situation. And I
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: know how blessed I am. That does not lost to
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: me at all. I give thanks for that every day.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: But I'm really blessed to be in a situation where
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I am able to do that. And part of how
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: I'm paying it forward being so blessed to be here
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: currently is that with all this free time, or not
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: free time, but with all this ability and flexibility to
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: not need to have a standard nine to five job,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: I could be kind of living a purely self serving
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: life and doing whatever I wanted and instead I'm using
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: it to give, and I'm using it to spend every
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: day devoted to how can I help other people? And
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: it's kind of self serving. I will say that it
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: is kind of self serving because it helps.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Me sure sure, well not unlike a lot of things
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: we all do, right, we all there's a give and
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: take there. Wow. Okay, So in your pot, tell us
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: a little bit more about your podcast. How is it structured?
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Do you invite people on or is it you or what?
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: It's both. It's a mix of solo episodes, it's a
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: mix of having guests. It depends. I'm definitely still figuring
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: it out. I'm only my second season right now, but
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: I think I've got a better grasp on what I
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: want it to be. So I'm moving into a way
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: of my solo episodes or tending to be more short.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Get those quick episodes in like less than forty five minutes,
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: an easy thing to put on on your commute to work.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: And when I have guests on guests, I don't necessarily
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: want to cut short what they're saying if they're talking
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: about something really important, So guest episodes may be a
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: bit longer, around an hour. What's important to me with
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: the guest episodes is I had a veteran on recently,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: I had a sexual scholar who's an expert in sexual
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: assault and things like that and sexual trauma on I'm
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: having a breast cancer survivor, come on. So there's a
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: lot that I don't know. And that's sort of how
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: I'm hitting the basis of addressing other types of trauma.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: And then in my sole episodes, I talk about what
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: I know, and I also give general spiritual lessons for
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: all types of trauma survivors, no matter how big or
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: smaller trauma is, because all of life is traumatizing.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: True that Yeah, all right, Keviriella. How do people learn
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: more about you and your podcast?
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Okay, the way to learn more about me is Gabriella
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: rebranded everything. So, Gabriella Rebranded is the name of my podcast,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: it's the name of my instagram, my TikTok, that's my website,
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: sign up for my news letter on my website. That's
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: the best way to get access on when new episodes drop,
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: and yeah, that is that is it. Gabriella Rebranded. Also,
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: if you would like to be a guest on the podcast,
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: you can head over to my website. We have a
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: fun little form for you to fill out.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Love it, love it. We'll have all that linked up
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: here at the show notes page at the Trauma Therapist
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: podcast dot com. Gabriella, you are a breath of fresh air.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: I love it. Love you seriously. Love to have you
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: back at a later date, no pressure if you don't
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: want to, but would love it, love me. I would
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: love to love your energy. And I think in this
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: world we need people like you who are just like
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: exuding this this not just positivity, but this courage and strength.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: So thank you for joining me today.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: And I wouldn't have gotten here without the coma, so.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Appreciate it. All right, we'll be in touch.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: Great, all right,