There’s a large swath of healing that exists somewhere between complete denial of tragedy and allowing trauma to swallow your identity completely.
Jennifer Guttman, a clinical psychologist who specializes in giving people a sense of personal control, calls this space “assimilating into the narrative of your life.” The work, often involving cognitive behavioral tools, is something she frequently undergoes with clients who are dealing with difficult diseases such as cancer, Type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.
