008 | Navigating a Life with Depression with Rev. Rachel Hollander

Written By Toby Goodman
 

Reverend Rachel Hollander is a minister, singer, songwriter, counselor, and author of From There to Here: An Insider’s Guide to Navigating the Darkness, where she shares her reflections and insights on living with chronic severe depression. In addition to her book, Rachel further supports people living with depression through hosting the uplifting podcast, I Wasn’t Always Like This, and through Choose Again: A Journey to Wholeness, a performance piece that recounts her adventures (and misadventures) in a life with depression, its challenges, and its gifts. 

Rev. Rachel joins me today to share her life living with depression. She discusses how she hid her depression from others and how, at one point in her life, she didn’t realize she was hiding her trauma. She explains how acting her way out of people discovering her depression protected her and hindered her from forming relationships with others at the same time. She also discusses the turning point where she became ready to share her emotions with the world and underscores the possibility of living life with depression.

“There were years where I felt like I was a victim of the world, of life, of God. When that turned around and changed, I had deep compassion for the person I was.”
- Rev. Rachel Hollander


This week on the Trauma Hiders Club Podcast:

  • Hiding depression as a form of caretaking for others

  • Owning trauma and Rachel’s “rescue mission”

  • Her message about living with depression

  • The waiting room of emotions and the challenges of identifying and sharing feelings

  • The Goofiest Girl and how acting to keep her depression hidden from others “benefitted” Rachel

  • Longing for intimacy and how hiding her depression kept Rachel from having deeper connections with others

  • The conundrum of being a minister and the challenges of asking for help and support

  • The vulnerability involved in asking someone for help

  • Choosing life and being triumphant

Connect with Rev. Rachel Hollander:

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Toby Goodman
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009 | Know There Is Life After Trauma
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