Ronni and Jennie are sharing their story of growing up with addiction, abuse, and untreated mental illness in their childhood home, to raise awareness around childhood trauma and the damage it does to both individuals and sibling relationships. Ronni has a PhD is Sociology (specializing in family studies); Jennie is a board-certified family nurse practitioner who has worked for nearly 30 years in family practice and mental health. Drawing on their personal and professional experiences, they explore the ups and downs of recovery-- sharing how they've worked to find individual healing, to repair/rebuild their relationship, and to break the intergenerational cycle of trauma and abuse as they built families of their own. Their intention is to assist and uplift others who are walking the same path in trying to heal from childhood trauma--to show them that it is possible to build healthy, joyful lives of their own!
We are two sisters who weren’t supposed to be friends. We grew up in a family with addiction, abuse, and untreated mental illness that harmed us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It also pitted us against each other; there was even some abuse between us.
We managed to come together in adulthood, to rebuild our relationship and find healing. Having each other for support and validation, especially of painful childhood memories, dramatically accelerated the healing process for us both!
In the beginning, we followed conventional approaches to healing (counseling, Al Anon/ACOA groups), which gave us more insight, but only took us so far. From there we have continued to explore yoga, meditation, energy healing, sound healing, breathwork, and intuitive work---all of which have brought amazing transformation in our lives, as well as the lives of those we love.
We have worked for years in fields related to family trauma. Ronni has conducted research and taught courses on family violence. Jennie has seen the physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes of childhood trauma as a clinician in family practice. Now, our mission is to bring together our personal and professional experiences to help others find the remarkable healing that we have experienced, both individually and in our relationship. We are sharing our story (in ...
