Teri Wellbrock

June 2024 Issue
Photography by Lindsay Pettinicchi Photography, LLC

Residence: Hilton Head Island
Career: Trauma-warrior, International Podcaster, Writer, Speaker, Audiobook Producer & Narrator, Insurance Broker
Connect:
www.teriwellbrock.com

Teri, Your story is one of rising from the ashes like a powerful Phoenix. Let’s start in the present and work backwards because where you have landed is the pinnacle of triumph over tragedy. Your podcast, The Healing Place, is rated in the top 2% of most listened to podcasts globally. Tell us more about it.
I love that visual of rising like an empowered phoenix! I was working in a mental health agency when a therapist friend approached me about starting a podcast. I began reaching out to trauma-recovery specialists around the country to invite them to join me on my new show. Word spread quickly and the podcast blossomed. Best-selling authors, therapists, and healers across the globe have been sitting down with me to share their empowering missions over these last seven years.

Who have been your top 3 most favorite or impactful guests you’ve had on your podcast, and what are the No. 1 take-away lessons you learned from each?
The majority of my top 10 episodes have an underlying theme of childhood wounds. ACEs Science (Adverse Childhood Experiences) teaches us that early life experiences are held in the body if they are not processed in a healthy manner, and can show up later in adult life. I like to call it “stored negative energy,” and until we can rid ourselves of it, it finds a way to surface, calling our attention to that long unprocessed pain.

Dr. Stephen Porges, psychologist and neuroscientist, as well as founding member of the Polyvagal Institute shared his brilliant insights on threat reactions and the impact of trauma on the nervous system, which resonated with me on a soul level.

Kelly McDaniel joined me to discuss Mother Hunger and early attachment injuries. Having traveled my own healing journey with my alcoholic mother, I learned how the person who was supposed to be protecting me was the one who had emotionally abandoned me. Using lessons learned in that interview, my mom and I traveled a beautiful healing journey prior to her death.

My third favorite guest and, honestly, all-time favorite, was my mom. She joined me more than once to discuss tidbits of our journey together. I feel beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to witness her sobriety. Traversing our beautiful forgiveness path together will be one of my life’s most treasured gifts.

It’s time to talk about your life before the age of 22. We know this is hard, but please fill us in.
The quick version: sexually molested by multiple predators, emotional and physical abuse, alcoholic parent, two bank robberies in which co-workers were stabbed and shot, one of whom died.

Within months of that second bank robbery, the trial of which was featured on the television series On Trial hosted by Nick Clooney (George Clooney’s uncle), I began experiencing severe panic attacks. I struggled over the next 25 years with symptoms of Complex PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks.

Did you ever feel suicidal or want to give up? How did you survive all of the trauma you experienced? What words of wisdom or courage do you have for others?
Only once did I feel suicidal, but my children were my saving grace. While I have a high ACE Score, I also have a high Resilience Score (see my website) as I had incredibly loving and supportive adults in my life.

My dad tried his best to fill the role of a nurturing parent. He tucked us into bed at night, told us fantastical stories of dragons, and took us to our soccer games. He did seek counseling for his violence and held to the promise to never hit me again.

My words of wisdom for those on a healing journey would be to patiently honor yourself wherever you are on your individual path. If you are experiencing anxiety, pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you. Listen. Meditate. Practice mindfulness during nature walks. Live a life of gratitude.

Your mother was an alcoholic, which made for a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. How did you ever come to peace with that?
I became my mother’s mother at a very young age. The one who would swoop in to clean up the mess. In co-dependent fashion, I was in desperate need of her love and approval, so I would do everything I could to make our lives as peaceful as possible.

In 2019, after receiving a call to pick my mom up from yet another rehab stint, I decided to walk away. For three months I cut her off. No daily phone calls, no visits, no check-ins, no cleaning up the mess. I cried daily. But I knew it was time. Time for her to become her own hero. To clean up her own messes. To believe in herself enough to actually make the changes. And she did. She quit drinking in her 80s!

Upon reconnecting, we blossomed. She became my best friend. The mom I had oh so desperately craved my whole life. And even though she occasionally fell off the wagon, she kept trying. Her entire outlook shifted. We would talk about childhood trauma, and she shared her truths with me. She tried to understand the impact her own violent and abusive childhood had on her addiction.

She passed away on my birthday last year. My sister was hanging a Happy Birthday banner over her head when she released her final breath. She dropped the banner and only the word happy hung over our beautiful mother’s head as a radiant smile filled her face on her release from her earthly body.

You truly are one of the most positive people, where does that come from, especially with all the adversity you have faced?
Resilience, faith, and gratitude. I cannot change what has happened. But I can seek the lessons to be found in those experiences. I have learned to persevere even in the face of adversity. When I see a glorious beach sunrise, or as I sing to the little lizards as I garden, I always whisper, Thanks, God.

When we moved into Hilton Head Plantation in 2020, within months I became very ill with mycotoxin poisoning from aspergillus. The house had been condemned due to toxic mold, but we had no clue as a previous seller did not disclose this truth. I moved out of our home and away from my family as we hired three remediation teams to safely repair our home. While I had moments of woe-is-me, I focused on the lessons to be learned from this experience and how to honor my body’s need for proper nutrition, detoxification, and a shift in my self-care rituals.

Tell us about Chapter 21!
One of my previous podcast guests invited me to be a contributing author for a book titled The Caregiver Chronicles: 22 Family Caregivers Get Real About the Ties That Bind. I wrote chapter 21, The Addicted Angel. The book has received rave reviews on Amazon. I feel blessed to have been a part of this beautiful project, as all proceeds are being donated to charity. It launched in January 2024 and hit No. 1 in New Releases in three different categories!

What are you currently working on that fuels your spirit and brings you joy?
I am finishing up the manuscript of my memoir, Unicorn Shadows: From Trauma to Triumph—A Healing Guide. I sent up a little prayer to the Holy Spirit asking for help with a title. I had a vision of a little girl (me), knelt in prayer with my hands clasped over my head, begging for help. As God’s light shone down upon me, a unicorn shadow was cast upon the wall beside me. That unicorn shadow is a symbol of both the desperation of my prayer and the hope contained within it.

Do you ever fall into the darkness of your past.
If so, what do you do to pull yourself out?
I focus on gratitude as a daily practice. I have discovered through my podcast interviews that many trauma survivors who find their way into the light, make it their purpose to reach their hand back into the darkness. I am one of them.

What do you do for fun?
I love swimming, riding bikes, listening to live music, laughing, and living on this beautiful island. Most importantly, I love helping others along their healing journeys. I believe we all have the capacity to live a life filled with joy and tranquility...even in the midst of chaos.

You can Hear Me Roar by…
Connecting with me at teriwellbrock.com, listening to The Healing Place Podcast, stopping by Restore Hyper Wellness on Hilton Head Island to visit me in person, downloading my narrated audiobooks on Audible, and/or chatting with me about your financial health needs, as I represent over 30 companies as a licensed broker.

Finally, you can hear me ROAR about love. It’s the single most important reason we are here. To be a beacon of light and love for others. I received this beautiful message from God: You are both of the earth and of the light. Be a prism of that light for others. I strive to be a prism!