You have enormous healing potential; the goal is learning to access it. You can do this. Dig deep. I believe in you! ~Michele Rosenthal

Back then ….

One month prior to trauma

At just thirteen years old I survived a trauma that left me emotionally devastated. For more than twenty-five years afterward I lived in the fog of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In other words, the past constantly shadowed my present, making me feel unconfident, overwhelmed, confused, fragile, fearful and out of control. Determined to conquer the past, reclaim the present and create the future, I went on a healing rampage.

By the time I successfully came out of the dark post-trauma fog and 100% completed my recovery I had learned a lot about what it takes to overcome life’s challenges and move forward with courage, confidence and calm. I also developed an enormously deep desire to do something with all that knowledge. I began blogging about my healing journey; other survivors responded. Conversations began, a community formed and I realized that the best thing I could do with what I learned would be to give back.

Now….

I inspire trauma survivors to overcome depression, anxiety and fear so that they build lives full of freedom, meaning, purpose and joy. With a strong focus on post-trauma identity development, I coach clients to make choices and take actions to move from confusion and loss to clarity and reconnection.

As a keynote speaker, post-trauma coach, award-winning blogger, poet, author and radio show host, I inspire and motivate survivors to make the shift from powerless to powerful. By sharing my own story, I lead survivors forward through connection, communication, collaboration, education and dedication to building the best life after trauma.

I has been interviewed on television and radio, plus featured in such places as The Palm Beach Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, St. Petersburg Times, Orlando Sentinel, CBS, NBC, and The Dennis Miller Show. I am a top health blogger for the Stress Management Community of Wellsphere.com, and the host of the radio show, Changing Direction . I’m also the founder of HealMyPTSD.com.

My book, Before the World Intruded: Conquering the Past and Creating the Future, was released in April 2012 and was a finalist for the BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE award.

With a passion for helping survivors of every type of trauma, I sit on the advisory board of Hope4PTSDvets.org and the St. Clair Butterfly Foundation and am the Program Director of Health Services for the Warrior Pathfinder Program. I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Vermont College, is certified in hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and is an alumna of The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. My forthcoming book, Life After Trauma: Simple Practices for Constructing Post-Trauma Identity, will be available in 2014.