Hi, I’m Elizabeth M Johnson. I write Beginning Where You Are*…an exploration of how personal history shows up in everyday living.
Like why what happens in Vegas never stays in Vegas. (Despite our wanting it to or being told to keep it there.) Or how family of origin, culture, class, gender or trauma history influence what we think|do. When triggers might show up. And what we can do to respond with greater self compassion when something from our past trip us up.
This isn’t me taking guesses. My background includes 15+ years as a coach and trauma trainer.
I do talk about trauma but my focus is on understanding and managing—like you would a chronic health condition for example— as opposed to healing and recovery. We recover and heal from broken bones or the flu but people are inherently whole. No matter what you went through, I don't believe you are damaged or needing to be fixed.
A friend told me once:
“You are really good, Elizabeth, at distilling complex ideas down, making them practical, and engaging with people around those ideas.”
That’s what I’m trying to do here.
“Here” in my free newsletter and in this consent-focused, trauma-informed space.
“And who are you?”
I’m a writer | rape survivor working on two books:
a memoir about the the fantasy of healing from sexual abuse and the reality of learning something better.
a novel about a woman who wakes up one day and realizes she is too frightened to leave the house. Did life change overnight or is she not the person she thought she was?
Since 2002, I’ve been blogging (you can see some of that here) and sending newsletters, first with Emma( 2004-2008ish) and then MailChimp. I left Mailchimp in 2019 and stopped blogging. I joined Substack to combine both endeavors.
I started leading groups (support groups, community groups, consciousness raising groups, workshops) in 2003. I have worked with inter-personal trauma survivors for 15 years, first as a volunteer on an overnight hotline. As paid staff, I trained hundreds of community professionals on abuse dynamics and active listening.
You can purchase my ebook Relationship Red Flags: The Ten Secrets You Need to Know here.
I’ve also offered trauma-informed continuing ed trainings on the long-term affects of sexual abuse on reproductive and sexual health to clients like North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), Duke University School of Medicine, Lamaze and others. You can purchase some of those trainings here. A bigger bio is available here.
In the early days of Covid, I co-hosted a time-limited podcast with my friend Larissa Parson called Wondermine. You can find that archive here.
My family and I will be in Berlin Germany until July 4. But usually, I live on the unceded lands of the Shaktori and Lumbee tribes, otherwise known as Durham, North Carolina with my husband, daughter and a rescue dog named Nestor.
You can also find me on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Below are some kind words that others have shared with me.
*formerly called Ripe Time.
