Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
From ICU to Marathon: The Journey to True Emotional Health
30 Plays5 months ago
Healing from betrayal trauma or emotional crisis can feel impossible at first — like you’re in the ICU just trying to survive. In this episode, Lisa takes you through the stages of emotional recovery, from the initial overwhelm to thriving with resilience and purpose.
You’ll learn how to:
- Navigate the early “ICU” stage, giving yourself permission to simply survive and receive care
- Stabilize through safe relationships, grounding habits, and small daily practices
- Step into outpatient recovery, learning emotional skills and rebuilding routines
- Thrive as an “emotional marathoner,” equipped for endurance, healthier relationships, and purpose-driven living
Packed with scripture, practical tools, and real-life illustrations, this episode will encourage you to trust God in every stage of healing and show you that freedom, strength, and wholeness are possible — mile by mile, prayer by prayer, boundary by boundary.
Recommended
Transcript
Experiencing and Healing Trauma
00:00:00
Speaker
so trauma first hit my life, it felt like I literally needed to be in a hospital. I could have even been in the ICU for how bad i felt. Every breath was hard, every thought heavy, and I could not imagine a future.
00:00:17
Speaker
But here's what I've learned. Healing is a journey. You don't stay in the ICU forever. You stabilize, you rebuild, and with God's help, you don't just recover, you thrive. You become someone stronger, someone freer, and more resilient than you ever thought possible.
Podcast Introduction
00:00:37
Speaker
Today, i want to take you on that journey with me from the ICU to a marathon.
00:00:43
Speaker
Join me. Welcome to Emotional Health for Christian Women brought to you by OurRelentlessPursuit.com where we are pursuing healing, purpose, and freedom in Christ. I'm your host, Lisa Argenal, here to help you break free from emotional baggage, heal from trauma, and live boldly in God's calling. Let's walk this journey together.
00:01:06
Speaker
Hey, welcome back to Emotional Health for Christian Women brought to you by OurRelentlessPursuit.com, pursuing healing purpose and freedom in Christ.
Betrayal Trauma and Faith
00:01:15
Speaker
I'm your host, Lisa Archonall.
00:01:17
Speaker
In our last episode, I shared my story, how betrayal trauma nearly crushed me. But God didn't just put me back together. He made me healthier and stronger than I was before. Today, I want to take you inside a picture that has shaped the way I understand healing. I call it the I see you to marathon journey. Whether you've been through betrayal, loss, or any kind of emotional crisis, this process applies to you.
00:01:48
Speaker
Because healing isn't just about returning to normal. and see me doing air quotes when i say that It's about becoming the radiant, whole, and unshakable woman God designed you to be. Walking in your true identity, overflowing with His love, and living with the kind of courage and purpose that changes the world around you.
Understanding and Addressing Trauma
00:02:15
Speaker
When trauma first hits, it feels like you need to be taken to the ICU. Every breath feels heavy. Every thought takes effort. You can't see the future because you're just trying to survive the next hour.
00:02:31
Speaker
I remember those early days, sleepless nights where the clock seemed frozen at 2.17 a.m. No appetite except for maybe a piece of toast I would force down or a smoothie a friend would bring me.
00:02:47
Speaker
and the disorienting feeling that the ground beneath me had vanished. In betrayal trauma, it's even more isolating. We often don't get the around-the-clock care that you would expect with other types of losses. The shame and shock keep us silent. Some women feel like they're drowning in a crowded room, waving for help, but no one notices.
00:03:13
Speaker
Friend, if that's you right now, hear me say this, you are not weak for feeling this way. You are wounded and your wounds need tending. Psalm 3418 is so beautiful and so reassuring to us. It says, the lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit Let that sink in You don't have to do anything. Your only job right now is to breathe and receive care from God and from safe people.
Early Stages of Trauma Healing
00:03:43
Speaker
We're going to do a deeper dive in future episodes into those early days of trauma and how you can really take care of yourself and set yourself on a path to really solid healing. I understand that if you have been through this type of trauma and you're in those early stages, it you may feel like, but I do have to do something. I have children. i have a job. There are still ways that you can really take good care of yourself in these early days. So stay tuned. We're going to get more into that in future episodes.
00:04:20
Speaker
But I want you to think about a patient in ICU after surgery. No doctor walks in and says, why aren't you up running laps yet? The goal at this stage is simply that your heart keeps beating and your lungs keep working. And if that's you today, survival is success.
00:04:38
Speaker
Let's move on to stage two. We call this the regular room. This is where you're stabilizing. Eventually, with time and intentional steps, you do move from the ICU to a regular hospital room. This is when you start eating again, maybe not much, but something. You start sleeping a little better. The waves of panic aren't quite as constant. In this stage, you're still fragile, but you're beginning to stabilize. You might even have moments, believe it or not, where you smile without forcing it.
00:05:10
Speaker
Think of this like learning to sit up in bed after surgery. It feels good to sit up, but you still need help to stand. This is where you really start letting truth in, God's truth about who he is and his truth about who you are. Isaiah 41.10 says, So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. i will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Okay, let's talk about some practical encouragement at this stage.
Emotional Healing Practices
00:05:45
Speaker
I want to encourage you, first of all, to surround yourself with safe friends, even if it's just one person. Make sure that whoever you are sharing with is a safe place for you.
00:06:00
Speaker
And then the second piece of advice or encouragement is to select some some grounding habits. What that could look like is prayer, could be journaling, could be taking a walk outside.
00:06:14
Speaker
So let me talk just for a minute about these. First of all, when I talk about safe friends or safe voices, I don't just mean people who agree with you or who are, quote, on your side. A safe friend is someone who's going to listen to you without judgment, who makes space for your feelings and doesn't try to rush you out of your pain.
00:06:39
Speaker
But at the same time, they don't just leave you stuck there. They gently point you back to the truth. They point you to what's healthy for you, to who God says you are. a safe person doesn't gossip about what you've shared.
00:06:54
Speaker
They respect your boundaries. They remind you that you are not crazy. But they also encourage you to grow. That combination of compassion plus truth is what makes someone safe. Those are the voices that you want in your life right now.
00:07:11
Speaker
And then along with those safe voices, it's important to have a simple daily habit that helps you stay grounded because your nervous system is off the charts when you are going through trauma. So you really need to think about what are some things I can do to just help calm my nervous system down. That's going to help calm your body down. It's going to help you think more clearly. And these aren't complicated things. You don't have to do all of them at once. You can choose one. if you want to, and practice it daily. So here's three, just three suggestions for now. We're going to dive more deeply into these in future episodes, so make sure you stay tuned.
00:07:53
Speaker
But let's talk about prayer. For some of you... Prayer might feel hard right now, especially if you feel angry with God for what you've been through. Let me assure you, God can handle your anger. He can handle your confusion, even your silence. Prayer doesn't have to be formal. It can be as simple as, God, this hurts.
00:08:17
Speaker
I mean, literally, the word help is something that I prayed. That would be my prayer sometimes. You can pray, i don't understand, but I need you.
00:08:29
Speaker
i want to encourage you to lean into honesty with God. I mean, that is where the real relationship is going to happen. Prayer is less about getting words right, and it's more about showing up in relationships. so I do want to encourage you to to lean into that. And then another option that helped me a lot was learning how to journal. I was never Much of a journaler before trauma, but journaling gives your thoughts and emotions a safe landing place. When everything feels jumbled in your mind, you've got a thousand thoughts going on and a thousand feelings going on at once, writing it down helps you slow it down. You don't have to write pages and pages, jotting down like three sentences about how you've feel or one thing you're grateful for can really help you release what's inside instead of carrying it all day.
00:09:26
Speaker
And then another suggestion is taking a walk outside. Taking a short walk outdoors connects you back to the present moment. Notice the ground beneath your feet. The sound of the birds, the wind on your skin. This may sound cheesy, friends, but this is real help for your body right now. Those little sensory details remind your body that you're safe right now. Even if your emotions feel chaotic, just 10 minutes outside can really help reset your nervous system in a powerful way.
00:10:04
Speaker
So these practices may seem small, but they're powerful steps towards stability and healing. And when you're in this stage, when you're in like that hospital room stage, this is what you need. And don't worry, we'll dive deeper, like I said, into grounding and, and things like that in future episodes to help our nervous system. But for now, You know, maybe choose one habit to begin today and pair it with surrounding yourself with safe and truth-filled voices.
00:10:37
Speaker
Here's a mini reflection question for you. What is one truth from God's word that you could write down and place it where you'll see it every day? You're listening to Emotional Health for Christian Women, brought to you by OurRelentlessPursuit.com, pursuing healing, purpose, and freedom in Christ.
Navigating Recovery and Thriving
00:10:57
Speaker
Before we jump back in, I want to let you know about a free resource I created for you. It's called the Safe Voices Checklist, and it will help you recognize who's truly safe to let speak into your life right now and who isn't. This simple guide will give you clarity as you build a circle of support that points you toward healing and truth. You can download it for free at OurRelentlessPursuit.com. That's OurRelentlessPursuit.com. All right, let's keep going.
00:11:26
Speaker
Then we move to stage three. This is the outpatient recovery. This is where we learn to walk again. When the crisis fog starts to lift, that's when you enter this outpatient recovery stage. You're not in the hospital anymore, but you're still in healing mode. You're learning new ways to move through life. You're setting back boundaries and you're building new routines. This stage can sometimes be frustrating because you want to run, but you're still wobbly emotionally.
00:11:55
Speaker
Imagine a little girl learning to ride a bike. She's excited, determined, but she still needs those training wheels and a steady hand on her back. That's what this stage is like. You're testing your strength in a safe way.
00:12:09
Speaker
For me, this was the season where God revealed things in me that needed healing, things that weren't even caused by my husband's actions.
00:12:20
Speaker
Psalm 139, 23, and 24, it says, search me, God, and know my heart. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting. God used this stage to teach me emotional skills I had never learned. Things like identifying my feelings, communicating my needs, and truly trusting him with my worth.
00:12:45
Speaker
And then the final stage is the marathon stage. This is where we're thriving beyond trauma. And then something beautiful happens. If you walk through each stage intentionally with God as your healer, you don't just get back to where you were. You will surpass it, my friend. This is what I mean when I talk about becoming an emotional marathoner.
00:13:08
Speaker
Think about it. Before trauma, many of us were sprinters. We handled what was in front of us. We got by, but maybe we weren't equipped for the long haul. We avoided conflict. We were people pleasers. We felt responsible for everyone else's happiness. We may have even blamed others for our emotions or felt powerless to change. But when you choose healing, something shifts. You don't just limp back to the starting line. God builds endurance in you that you never had before. You become someone who can go the distance emotionally.
00:13:47
Speaker
And here's what that could look like. First, it's healthier relationships. Because you're no longer living out of fear, control, or people pleasing, you can love others without losing yourself.
00:14:02
Speaker
It could be freedom in your emotions. Because you stop making other people responsible for how you feel and you stop blaming them for your reactions, your own choices, and with God's help, you grow stronger. And then it could be purpose-driven living. Because you're no longer just surviving, you're running your race with direction and clarity. Can you tell I'm passionate about this, friends? um Listen, this is a road that I have walked, and that's why I'm here, because I want this for you, and it's possible. This is what emotional resilience looks like.
00:14:40
Speaker
You bend, but you don't break. You can handle life's setbacks without crumbling, because you've trained mile by mile, prayer by prayer, boundary by boundary. Marathoners don't get to the finish line by accident. Every mile is proof of the training that came before. In the same way, every tear you've cried, every prayer you've whispered, every boundary you've set, it all becomes part of the endurance God has built in you.
00:15:12
Speaker
Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Building Emotional Resilience
00:15:23
Speaker
For me, this is where my ministry and my coaching were born. This is where the Our Relentless Pursuit podcast comes from, because I want every woman to know there is so much life, so much freedom, and so much purpose on the other side of pain.
00:15:39
Speaker
If you take nothing else from this episode, hear this. First, don't rush the stages. Everyone is building you for the next one. Next, invite God into every stage. Healing is not self-help. It's God's transforming work in you. And then lastly, hold on to hope.
00:16:01
Speaker
Even if you feel stuck in ICU, the marathon is possible. If you're in the ICU right now, I want you to reach out to one safe person today and let them know where you are.
00:16:14
Speaker
If you're further along, I want you to thank God for how far He's brought you and ask Him to keep building your strength for the next stage. Your trauma is not the end of your story. God can and He desires to make you stronger, freer, and more whole than you were before this pain.
00:16:35
Speaker
If today's episode encouraged you, make sure you subscribe so you never miss what's ahead.
Conclusion and Engagement
00:16:42
Speaker
And if you have a moment, would you leave a rating and review? It helps more women discover our relentless pursuit and join us in the brave, beautiful chase toward all God created us to be.
00:16:54
Speaker
i am cheering you on, friend. Keep going, keep growing, and keep pursuing the life God has for you. Take care. Thanks for joining me today on Emotional Health for Christian Women brought to you by OurRelentlessPursuit.com. If you found this episode helpful, would you take a moment to follow the podcast and leave a review? Your feedback helps other women discover this message of healing and hope. And if you want more encouragement and resources, visit OurRelentlessPursuit.com. or connect with me on Instagram at a brave and beautiful life. Remember, your healing matters, your purpose is real, and with Christ, you are free to live the brave and beautiful life you were created for.