01
When you feel far away
You’ll find practices that helped me reconnect with the present when I felt numb, distant, or disconnected.
About Amy
You deserve a life you can enjoy, not just get through.
I’m Amy, the creator of Healing That Matters. I created these guides from my own experience of healing from trauma and learning how to find my way back to myself in the moments when everything felt like too much.
Amy
Creator, Healing That Matters
For a long time, asking for help felt risky.
I grew up with childhood trauma where it didn’t feel safe to express my feelings. I was always reading the room, watching people’s moods, and second-guessing what I said or did because I was afraid of getting in trouble.
I learned to keep the peace by putting everyone else’s feelings before my own. Asking for help felt risky. Putting myself first felt wrong.
Those fears didn’t disappear when I left home. Complex PTSD, or CPTSD, followed me into adulthood.
I know how lonely it can feel to need support and still be afraid to say, “I’m not okay.”
I started finding more room for joy.
When I met my husband, Packy, I was already working to manage my symptoms. His love and support helped me work through trauma triggers and gain more confidence in being myself.
He also helped me discover how much joy I found in exploring the wild outdoors.
Being in nature together helped us heal and enjoy life more. We wanted that peace and adventure in our everyday lives, so we took a leap of faith and made the mountains our home.
More than surviving
Healing also meant making room for the parts of life that felt good.
Quiet. Connection. Adventure. Time outside. Moments that reminded me I was still here.
A hard turn
Then life took a turn I didn’t see coming.
Unforeseen circumstances led us to leave the mountains and move to another state. We unknowingly moved into a house with a serious mold problem, and we both became very sick.
During that illness, my trauma symptoms became overwhelming again. I was struggling with emotional flashbacks, dissociation, shame, confusion, deep sadness, grief, anxiety, and despair.
I felt lost. I barely recognized myself, and I didn’t like who I thought I’d become. It was one of the darkest times of my life. After all the progress I’d made, I was losing sight of who I truly was.
Where this began
That’s when Healing That Matters began.
Before we knew about the mold, I started making videos to share the practices that were helping me through those dark moments.
Guided breathwork was part of it, along with grounding, gentle movement, reflection, and learning to speak to myself with more kindness.
These practices helped me feel more settled in my body, reconnect with the present, and work through trauma triggers without being so hard on myself.
I wanted someone else who felt lost in those moments to have something they could reach for, too.
After we discovered the mold and left, Packy’s photography book deal gave us the green light to return to the mountains.
Being back brought more peace, connection, and opportunities to enjoy life again.
What that means for you
Sometimes you need one small thing you can actually try.
Those experiences shape the guides I create. I remember needing support when I could barely sort through what I was feeling. A long explanation wasn’t always something I could take in.
02
When everything feels overwhelming
The goal is not to do everything at once. It is to find one small, manageable next step.
03
When something hurts
Some of the tools are there to help you pause before responding and give yourself a little more room to choose what comes next.
Start with what feels manageable. You don’t have to do everything at once.
And I know it’s not all beautiful views and good days. Sometimes the good is much smaller: a moment of quiet, something that makes you smile, or realizing you handled a hard moment with a little more kindness toward yourself.
Healing That Matters is my way of taking what I’ve been through and offering something useful, comforting, and hopeful to you.
My hope is that these guides help you find more of those small moments, and more room for the peace, connection, and adventure you want in your life.
Your hard moments deserve care. You deserve good moments, too.
Start with the support that feels most useful to you right now.
I’m not a therapist. These guides offer education and self-support drawn from lived experience. They are not a substitute for therapy, medical treatment, or crisis care.