Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community. Whether you’re a veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and now let’s get on with the show.

Scott DeLuzio: Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Drive On Podcast. Today my guest is Elizabeth Power. Elizabeth is an adjunct instructor in psychiatry at Georgetown Medical Center, the founding director of the Trauma Informed Academy, and the author of Healer Reducing Crises, which offers everyday actions people can take to recover from traumatic experiences and be more resilient in the face of stress and discomfort.

Scott DeLuzio: So welcome to the show, Elizabeth. I’m glad to have you here.

Elizabeth Power: Thanks so much. It’s great to be here, Scott. Good, good show. Looking forward.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I’m looking forward to this conversation as well. Before we get into the [00:01:00] conversation I’d like to give the listeners just a little background on yourself and a little bit of who you are, just so we have some context.

Scott DeLuzio: Who

Elizabeth Power: it is that we’re talking here. Oh my God. I don’t even, I hardly know how to start this. One way I could say is, well, I came to Nashville as a shoe repairer in 1979 because I didn’t think I could do anything else. because I was certain I was dumb. Defective, damaged and all that. I could say I was diagnosed with P T S D as soon as it’d hit the books.

Elizabeth Power: Non-combat related, still P T S D is the impact. Is the impact irrespective of the cause, you know? Mm-hmm. , the symptoms don’t care about the diagnosis. I could say that I’m an anomaly, absolutely an anomaly. I’m not, people with my degree don’t get to teach at medical schools, but I do because of some research I did.

Elizabeth Power: With Georgetown, and I could say that when I get really, really well, you know, pissed off, I don’t know if I can say that on your shore or not, but if, sure, I’ll try and keep the f-bomb to a minimum. The first thing I do is I go out and I grab a hammer and I start building something because I know that if I don’t get it [00:02:00] outta my body, I’m gonna be in big trouble.

Elizabeth Power: Other than that, I’m just your average little old, sweet, southern lady. What can I say? , if you buy that, I’ve got a bridge for you. .

Scott DeLuzio: So far, I’m on track with that. So I think you’re doing a good job at at presenting that anyway, so thanks. Before we got started recording, you were talking about some troubles that you were having and you took some time off and you went out and just built the shed in the, in your yard.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. You know, that’s an interesting thing. It wasn’t even something I was planning on talking about, but you sort of, Brought that up. Is that, that’s just sort of one of your coping mechanisms, it seems like, is Yeah, yeah, yeah. Going out and just

Elizabeth Power: building something, right? Yeah. Yeah. It’s a really big deal.

Elizabeth Power: I mean, trauma stores up in our bodies. It takes its toll in our body. And one of the things that, that, that has been really helpful to me, and there’s actually some...