You will see those words on a plaque in my office because I love this saying. I love it for personal and professional reasons. I will dig deeper into the personal reasons in my next blog post. But I grew greatly through my high-risk pregnancy and nearly fatal delivery and then my postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Professionally, I get to witness this in the lives of my patients. Most times even in the deepest and darkest of spots, I can see growth. I work hard to try and help patients see that too.
Anyone that has worked with me knows I hop on a “journal soapbox” because I can see the difference it makes. I know journaling can be viewed as homework or just something else to do, but a journal is so much more. First and foremost, it gets “those thoughts” (you know the ones that make us feel panicked, sad and overwhelmed, which then lead to us experiencing headaches, nausea, trembling) out of our mind and onto paper or an electronic device. This is step #1, getting those thoughts out of our minds.
Then we save those journals. We save them for ourselves or maybe even others. We save them, look at them down the road, and see how far we have come. We see growth! Then if comfortable we can save the journals and share them with others who are experiencing similar things and can be used to help someone else.
The journals I have from my last pregnancy and delivery are fascinating for me to read. All I see when I read those is a changed person. I see what I walked through and not only did I survive it, I am thriving. I took that whole experience and have now formed my entire professional career around helping other individuals in the perinatal period. In other words, I Grew Through What I Went Through.
Learn more about the All of You Matters program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon St. Louis Fetal Care Institute, run by the author of this blog series Valerie Akerson, MSW, LCSW.
