http://www.thechronicillnesstherapist.com/

The Chronic Illness Therapist, 1249 Hartford Avenue SW, Atlanta, GA (2026)

02/16/2026

As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, one of the most important reframes I've learned is this: wellness is seasonal.🧡

You know that wellness wheel with eight different areas? Financial, career, social, physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, environmental? When you're chronically ill, you can't focus on all of those at the same time. And you're not supposed to.

This week on the podcast, Dr. Victoria Rodriguez and I talked about what wellness actually means when you're navigating chronic illness. She pointed out that there are seasons where we can focus on one type of wellness, and seasons where another type takes a backseat.

This completely shifts the pressure. It's not about balance across all areas all the time. It's about recognizing what season you're in and working with that instead of against it.

What would change for you if you gave yourself permission to focus on just one or two areas of wellness right now instead of all eight? 💭

Listen to my full conversation with Dr. Victoria Rodriguez on the latest episode of 🎙️ The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast.✨

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about the mind-body connection.

02/10/2026

One of the biggest blocks I hear from people navigating chronic illness? "I'm not poor enough to qualify for help." But financial therapist Megan Stevenson explained something important: most assistance programs have much higher income limits than you'd expect.

Patient assistance programs for brand-name medications often set their limits around 400-500% of the federal poverty line. When Megan asks people "do you make more or less than this amount?" they're usually shocked to realize they qualify.😲

Some programs provide free medication for a year. Others help offset utility costs, food expenses, or insurance premiums. The support exists—but you have to know about it and have the energy to apply.

Here's the hard part: when you're at your sickest is exactly when you have the least bandwidth to research programs, fill out applications, or advocate for yourself. If you don't have someone in your support network who can help, look for a social worker, patient advocate, or financial therapist who specializes in chronic illness.

Megan also emphasized this: look at your insurance benefits. Some employers give you money just for going to preventative appointments or completing health surveys. Most people have no idea what's available to them.

Save this if you need the reminder to actually look into what you might qualify for.😍

Listen to my full conversation with Megan Stevenson on 🎙️The Chronic Illness Therapist Podcast.✨

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about navigating this system.

02/06/2026

As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, I've seen how money stress gets tangled up with everything else we're dealing with. And it's rarely about just "budgeting better.”

This week on the podcast, Megan Stevenson (a licensed clinical social worker and certified financial social worker) broke down the emotional blocks that show up around money when you're navigating chronic illness. 💛 Two patterns came up constantly in her years working in medical social work:

Impulsive spending as a way to regain control when your life feels chaotic. You can't control your body, but you can control this purchase. The problem isn't the spending itself—it's when it doesn't align with your values and leaves you feeling guilty.

Money shame that keeps you from asking for help. The "I'm not sick enough" or "someone else needs it more" mindset that stops you from applying for programs you actually qualify for.

Here's what makes this so hard: when you're at your sickest is exactly when you have the least energy to navigate assistance programs, research options, or advocate for yourself. But that's also when you need support most.

Financial therapy isn't about spreadsheets first. It's about understanding your relationship with money, identifying your values, and then building practical strategies around what actually matters to you. 💰

What money blocks have come up for you since your diagnosis? Drop a comment—I'd love to hear what resonates.

Listen to my full conversation with Megan Stevenson on 🎙️ The Chronic Illness Therapist Podcast.✨

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about the mind-body connection.

02/04/2026

Grace leads to growth, but shame leads to more of the same. This is something Jason Therrien shared in our conversation that I keep coming back to.🙌

So many of us push ourselves to be perfect with our chronic illness management. We try harder, do more, white-knuckle our way through exercises and treatments. And then we wonder why we're flaring up again. As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, I see this pattern constantly and I've lived it myself.

That critical inner voice that pushes you? It's not wrong or bad. It probably helped you feel safe at some point. But when you're dealing with chronic pain, that same drive to be an A-plus student can actually keep you stuck in a cycle of pushing and crashing.

What if doing less with more attention was actually more effective? What if being gentle with yourself wasn't giving up—it was the strategy that actually works?

Listen to my conversation with Jason on 🎤 The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast.✨

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about self-compassion and healing.

02/02/2026

Pain is more about sensitivity than it is about damage. As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, this reframe changed everything for me.

Jason Therrien, a physical therapist and great colleague of mine, explained it this way: your pain is real, but it's not always a one-to-one match with structural damage. Some days your body is more sensitive to the same activities. Some days it's less. That doesn't mean you're making it up—it means your nervous system is doing its job of protecting you, sometimes a little too well.👍

What Jason calls the "gray picture" of pain means there's usually some structural stuff going on AND a nervous system that remembers where you've been hurt AND life circumstances that make everything feel more threatening. Understanding this can help you stop blaming yourself and start working with your body instead of against it.

Have you noticed your pain shifting even when you're doing the same activities?

Listen to my conversation with Jason on 🎤 The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast.✨

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about the mind-body connection.

01/31/2026

Full 13-min episode with lots more nuance on the podcast now

01/23/2026

We didn’t just look for big names. We looked for the gaps.

When we curated the lineup for The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference, we asked:

What are the conversations clinicians are afraid to have?

Where are the blind spots in our grad school training?

& the result was curriculum that covers the full spectrum of chronic illness—from the financial to the physical, the sexual to the systemic.

✨ March 6-7 in Atlanta (+ virtual option)

You’ll learn from experts tackling:
* Body partnership vs. body betrayal (with a DPT who gets it)
* Supporting clients in diagnostic limbo when the medical system hasn’t caught up to their suffering
* Financial therapy for medical costs that drain bank accounts and fracture families
* The “Invisible Patient”—caregivers managing complex medical needs
* Kink & disability, neurodivergent clinicians, pediatric medical trauma, and more

Whether you’re joining us in person or virtually, you’re about to be part of a community that refuses to stay on the surface.

Comment CONFERENCE & I’ll send you the link and $100 off code ✨

We can’t wait to see you all learning and growing together!

01/23/2026

We’re flipping the script. My talk at this conference is all about the biological and emotional symptoms that occur BECAUSE OF a lack of diagnosis.

The traditional narrative is that if they can’t find a diagnosis, then you just have anxiety or you’re making it up.

On the contrary, knowing something is wrong inside of your body, and having no answers for it causes anxiety, and it also causes us to have higher and higher responses to the pain inside of our body, which then leads other people to label us as dramatic.

If you’re a therapist or physical therapist, 76% of our country now has at least 1 chronic condition.

You’re working with them in your practices, whether you think you are or not.

We hope you’ll join us and become THE sought-after chronic illness therapist in your own state.

01/11/2026

Today I had the absolute privilege and honor to host a training that 225 therapists signed up for -

That’s 225 therapists purely dedicated to the art and craft that is therapy for people with chronic illnesses when the therapist also has a chronic illness.

The work we do as therapists is highly relational. It’s highly personal. And there’s often a dual process happening inside the therapy space.

To do this work as a lifelong career, supervision and consultation is imperative.

It’s an absolute must, and I wouldn’t be the clinician I am without it.

To join us for 8 in depth presentations over the course of 2 days, comment “CONFERENCE” and I’ll send the registration link for our March conference right to your DMs.

I can’t wait to keep connecting with each and every one of you.

Conference - March 6 & 7 - Atlanta GA and VIRTUAL.

09/23/2025

Your body might be feeling the collective stress even when you’re “not watching the news.” (Read more👇)

I’m Destiny, a therapist living with chronic illness, and I do a lot of work to help people see and manage their stress loads.

I see this pattern constantly - people trying to protect their mental health by completely shutting off from current events, but still feeling unexplained fatigue, irritability, and that underlying sense of unease.

We’re wired for social connection and awareness. Complete news avoidance might feel safer short-term, but it can actually increase anxiety because your nervous system knows something’s happening - you’re just not getting the information it needs to process.

Sometimes the healthiest choice isn’t complete avoidance, rather it’s intentional, boundaried engagement with what’s happening in our world.

Your nervous system is trying to stay informed to keep you safe. That makes perfect sense given how we’re designed as social beings.

Try this: Choose 2-3 trusted news sources. Check in once or twice daily or weekly, not hourly.

Turn off push notifications- immediately.

The moment you hear the same story for the third time, step away - that’s when the news cycle becomes more harmful than helpful.

Being specific about what you’re feeling (election anxiety, climate grief, social justice fatigue) helps you ask for the exact support you need, rather than just feeling generally “off.”

Your body isn’t wrong, it’s normal, for responding to collective stress.

What helps you stay informed without overwhelming your nervous system? You’re not alone in figuring this out. 👇

Not medical advice - just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I’ve learned about the mind-body connection

09/18/2025

Next Saturday: Workshop on how your home environment can support nervous system regulation for chronic illness.

I’m bringing you Giovanna Akins, LPC - she works with something I find so important: how the spaces we live in can either support or strain our bodies’ ability to manage symptoms.

Think about it - if you’re already using so much energy to manage symptoms, why not have your home working for you instead of against you?

Giovanna will walk us through research-backed ways to modify your living space that can actually impact things like cortisol levels, sleep quality, and pain perception. We’re talking practical stuff - not expensive renovations or picture-perfect Pinterest boards.

The focus is on what works when you have limited energy, mobility considerations, sensory sensitivities, or a tight budget.

Because real life isn’t Instagram, and your solutions shouldn’t have to be either.

If you’ve ever felt like your space adds to your stress instead of relieving it, this one’s for you.

Details in the carousel above, DM me “environment” for the link or registration link in bio. Let me know if you have questions - always happy to chat about what might be helpful for our community.

The Chronic Illness Therapist

02/16/2026

02/10/2026

02/06/2026

02/04/2026

02/02/2026

01/31/2026

01/23/2026

01/23/2026

01/11/2026

09/23/2025

09/18/2025

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