Therapy for Chronic Illness, Disability & Medical Trauma

When Your Health Affects Every Part of Your Life

Living with chronic illness, disability, pain, or ongoing medical concerns can change much more than your physical health.

It can affect your relationships, work, parenting, independence, identity, routines, and sense of what the future will look like.

You may be trying to adjust to a new diagnosis or change in your abilities. You may have been living with a condition for years and feel worn down by the ongoing effort it takes to manage symptoms, appointments, treatments, accommodations, and other people’s reactions.

You may also feel pressure to stay positive, be grateful, or keep functioning as though nothing has changed.

Therapy gives you a place where you do not have to minimize how hard this can be.

You May Be Navigating:

• Chronic pain, fatigue, or limited energy
• A new diagnosis or changes in your health
• Disability or changes in mobility and independence
• Anxiety about symptoms, appointments, or the future
• Grief for the life, body, or abilities you expected to have
• Feeling dismissed or misunderstood by medical providers
• Medical gaslighting or difficulty trusting healthcare systems
• Changes in relationships, parenting, work, or family roles
• The stress of repeatedly explaining or advocating for your needs
• Isolation from people who do not understand your experience
• Trauma related to a medical emergency, procedure, diagnosis, or hospitalization
• Changes in identity, self-image, confidence, or belonging

You may feel grief, anger, relief, fear, resentment, hope, or uncertainty. Sometimes several of these feelings exist at the same time.

Living With Chronic Illness or Disability

Chronic illness and disability are not problems that can always be solved through a better attitude, more effort, or the right coping skill.

They are lived experiences that may require continual adjustment.

You may be learning how to respect your limits without feeling guilty. You may be deciding when to ask for help, how to communicate your needs, or how to make room for rest in a culture that places so much value on productivity and independence.

You may also be exploring how illness or disability fits into your identity and what it means to build a meaningful life that works with your body rather than constantly fighting against it.

Therapy is not about helping you overcome your disability or ignore what has been lost. It is about helping you understand your experience, care for yourself with more compassion, and create a life that honors both your needs and who you are.

When Medical Care Has Been Traumatic

Medical care can be frightening, invasive, painful, or deeply disempowering.

You may have felt that you had little control over what was happening. You may have been dismissed, misdiagnosed, exposed, restrained, rushed, or unable to fully understand or consent to your care.

Even when a procedure was medically necessary, your body and nervous system may still remember the fear, pain, or helplessness of the experience.

Medical trauma may show up as:

• Panic or anxiety before appointments
• Avoiding medical care even when you need it
• Feeling frozen, detached, or unable to speak during appointments
• Intrusive memories or nightmares
• Increased fear when symptoms appear
• Difficulty trusting providers or your own body
• Feeling constantly alert for signs that something is wrong
• Strong emotional or physical reactions to hospitals, procedures, or medical language

Therapy can help you process what happened while rebuilding a greater sense of choice, safety, and trust.

EMDR for Medical Trauma

Some medical experiences continue to feel present long after they are over.

You may understand logically that you are safe now, while your body still reacts as though the procedure, emergency, hospitalization, or diagnosis is happening again.

EMDR can help the brain and nervous system process distressing experiences that have become stuck.

It may be helpful for:

• Traumatic procedures or hospitalizations
• Medical emergencies
• Birth trauma
• Delayed or missed diagnoses
• Feeling dismissed, restrained, or powerless during care
• Fear of appointments, procedures, needles, or medical settings
• Distressing memories connected to illness or treatment

EMDR does not require you to describe every detail of what happened. Your therapist will work at your pace and help you build a sense of safety before processing difficult experiences.

EMDR is one option, not a requirement. Your therapist will help you decide whether it feels appropriate for you.

Somatic and Nervous-System Support

Chronic illness, pain, disability, and medical trauma can affect the way your nervous system responds to the world.

You may feel constantly alert, easily overwhelmed, shut down, disconnected from your body, or unsure whether you can trust the sensations you experience.

Somatic interventions focus on noticing what is happening in your body with curiosity rather than judgment.

This may include:

• Recognizing signs of activation, shutdown, or overwhelm
• Developing grounding practices that work for your body
• Learning how to move between stress and a greater sense of steadiness
• Exploring physical sensations without forcing yourself to push through them
• Rebuilding a sense of choice and safety in your body
• Finding ways to regulate that respect pain, fatigue, mobility, and sensory needs

Somatic therapy is not about assuming symptoms are psychological. It is about recognizing that the body and nervous system are part of how we experience stress, safety, trauma, and healing.

Any body-based work will be adapted to your needs, abilities, and comfort level.

How Therapy Can Help

Therapy may help you:

• Process grief, anger, fear, and uncertainty
• Adjust to changes in your health, body, or abilities
• Navigate disability identity and belonging
• Develop a more compassionate relationship with your body
• Recognize and communicate your limits
• Strengthen boundaries and self-advocacy
• Ask for accommodations without feeling ashamed
• Prepare for appointments or difficult medical conversations
• Cope with pain, fatigue, and treatment demands
• Navigate changes in relationships, work, parenting, or caregiving
• Rebuild trust after being dismissed or invalidated
• Process traumatic medical experiences
• Create a life that feels meaningful and sustainable

The goal is not to convince you that everything is fine.

It is to help you feel more supported, grounded, and connected to yourself while navigating what is real.

A Therapy Approach That Fits You

There is no single right way to support someone living with chronic illness, disability, or medical trauma.

You may want space to talk about grief, identity, relationships, accessibility, or the exhaustion of having to advocate for yourself.

You may want practical support with boundaries, accommodations, appointments, or communicating your needs.

You may also benefit from EMDR, Brainspotting, creative expression, mindfulness, or somatic approaches.

Your therapist will not assume that one method is right for you. Therapy will be collaborative and shaped around your goals, energy, preferences, and lived experience.

Meet Our Chronic Illness & Medical Trauma Therapists

Living with chronic illness, disability, or the effects of difficult medical experiences can affect far more than physical health. Our therapists recognize the emotional, relational, and practical complexities of navigating health challenges and offer individualized support that honors your experiences, autonomy, and strengths.

Deb White, PhD, LP brings more than 20 years of clinical experience supporting individuals navigating chronic illness, disability, grief, and major life transitions. Her collaborative, affirming approach creates space to explore changes in identity, relationships, and daily life while honoring the realities of living with ongoing health challenges.

Minda Sanborn, LMFT supports clients navigating medical trauma, chronic illness, anxiety, and distressing healthcare experiences. She integrates EMDR, Brainspotting, and trauma-informed approaches to help clients process difficult experiences, strengthen emotional regulation, and develop a greater sense of safety and connection.

Naysha Stone, LPCC, ATR-BC, LADC offers compassionate, creative support for individuals navigating chronic illness, medical stress, and the emotional impact of health-related changes. Through art therapy and psychodynamic approaches, she helps clients explore grief, identity, emotional expression, and the complexities of living with ongoing health concerns.

Our therapists understand that medical experiences and chronic health conditions can shape how people experience themselves, their relationships, and the world around them. Therapy is not about minimizing those realities or suggesting that physical symptoms are psychological. It's about providing a supportive space where your experiences are believed, your needs are respected, and your whole self is welcome.

You Are More Than a Diagnosis

You are more than your symptoms, medical history, productivity, or ability to function the way others expect.

You deserve support that recognizes your strengths without overlooking what is difficult.

There is room here for grief, anger, humor, fear, hope, exhaustion, relief, and uncertainty.

The Art of Healing offers therapy for adults navigating chronic illness, disability, chronic pain, medical trauma, health-related anxiety, grief, and changes in identity or daily life.

Therapy is available in person in Edina, Minnesota, and through telehealth for clients located in Minnesota.

Find a Therapist Who Understands

You do not need to know which type of therapy you need before reaching out.

Tell us a little about what you are experiencing, and we will help connect you with a therapist who may be a good fit.