If ever someone was born to write a book, that person was trauma survivor Elizabeth A Stanley. And the book was Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma.

And the most important things Elizabeth wants readers to know are: One, she has skin in the game, and two, whatever you have experienced, there is a solution to your suffering.

“There’s nothing in Widen the Window that I haven’t grappled with in my own mind and body and no tool or concept I teach that hasn’t personally helped me and thousands of other people,” explains Elizabeth. “I’ve experienced a lot of stress and trauma in my life, from childhood abuse and family alcoholism to rape to military deployments (including a near-death experience after I stopped breathing while deployed in Bosnia), to sexual harassment. For many years, I coped by powering through, compartmentalizing, and denying these experiences. My body bore the burden of that denial, which manifested in a range of physical illnesses, depression, and PTSD. It finally took losing my eyesight to see that there’s an easier way.”

Widen the Window grew from Elizabeth’s own healing journey and from teaching the resilience program she created—Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT®), which has been tested through rigorous neuroscience research, and published in top-tier science journals. To date, MMFT research has been featured on 60 Minutes, ABC Evening News, NPR, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and many other media outlets. She has also partnered with Sounds True to create an online version of the MMFT course.

Dr. Elizabeth Stanley joins Rebecca and Sandie this week to share her story and the tools that she has subsequently taught to thousands in high-stress environments, including corporate leaders, first responders, healthcare workers, diplomats, military service-members, and members of Congress.