The Missing Piece

Why Healing Trauma Requires More Than Just Willpower

You’re doing everything right. You’re journaling, you’re in therapy, you’re showing up for yourself in all the ways the experts tell you to. But somehow, the healing you’re working so hard for feels just out of reach. The results aren’t matching the effort, and you’re starting to wonder if maybe you’re broken in some unfixable way.

I found out that sometimes the block isn’t in your mind or your heart. It’s in your body.

Trauma shows up everywhere. It can manifest as anxiety, insomnia, digestive issues, skin problems, or a dozen other physical symptoms that seem completely unrelated to the emotional work you’re doing. And while you can’t focus on every aspect of health all at once, it’s worth periodically stepping back and asking yourself: where am I thriving, and where could I use some help? You might be spiritually grounded but financially stressed. Physically strong but relationally struggling. Or like me, doing all the emotional work while your body was literally falling apart.

When Everything Falls Apart

After having children, my physical health started declining in ways I couldn’t ignore. It’s not exactly shocking. Pregnancy puts the body through an incredible amount of stress. But when eczema took over my entire body, I spiraled into a years-long deterioration that seemed to have no bottom.

I bounced from doctor to doctor - a D.O., a dermatologist, a naturopath, and more - all of whom I believe genuinely wanted to help me. They sent me on a seemingly endless treasure hunt between prescription creams that got stronger with each refill and homemade natural remedies that promised relief but delivered nothing. No one could figure it out. I was only getting worse, and the helplessness was crushing.

Then I met Dr. Jill Plentl, a chiropractor in North Richland Hills, Texas. And everything changed.

Unlike the allopathic doctors I’d seen, Dr. Jill looked at me through a holistic lens. She didn’t just ask about my symptoms - she asked about my lifestyle, my nutrition, my mental state, my emotional health. She spent over an hour in our first consultation, asking question after question, actually listening to my answers. For the first time, I felt seen. Understood. And then she said something no other doctor had even hinted at: “Let’s figure out the root of the problem.”

Lightbulb moment.

Getting to the Root

Dr. Jill recommended testing - lots of it. Blood work, a GI map, nutrigenomic tests to understand how my body was genetically programmed to absorb nutrients. The testing was expensive and spanned several years, but Dr. Jill prioritized what would most efficiently uncover answers based on her experience.

The early results were eye-opening. I was severely deficient in crucial vitamins and minerals. “I’ve never seen a case this bad,” Dr. Jill told me in the kindest way possible. I was eating well - tons of vegetables, whole foods, all the “right” things. But according to my body’s specific genetic coding, I could eat vegetables for every waking hour of every day and still not absorb what I needed for optimal health.

That’s when I started a supplement regimen under Dr. Jill’s guidance. Within a couple of weeks of taking the carefully prescribed supplements daily, my skin started improving. We did annual consultations to tweak the regimen and ran periodic tests to track progress. Dr. Jill has an incredible ability to read test results and translate them into actionable steps - all using natural means.

The Bigger Picture

Here’s the 30,000-foot view: you are a work of art, just like the ones painted by the great masters. A vivid, detailed, textured masterpiece with colors that shift as light and shadows move across you. You know how some people sit for hours in front of a Monet to contemplate it from different angles and in every variation of light? You can’t possibly take everything in with one viewing. That’s the kind of reverence your health deserves - thoughtful observation from every possible perspective.

Sometimes you’re doing everything right - everything! - but you’re still not seeing the results you want. That’s when it’s time to step way back and observe from a much broader perspective. Better yet, get outside eyes on the situation. Then do something different.

Hope is only one tiny part of the equation to healing, and yet Hope is everything. Without it, we stop looking for answers, stop believing change is possible, and settle for suffering as our permanent address. Dr. Jill knows this in her bones. As she recounts on her website, after years of being the “sick one” in her family and hearing specialists tell her, “This is just you, you’ll have to learn to live with it,” she finally found real answers and real healing through deeper testing and holistic care, which is why she built a practice around one fierce conviction: when you hand someone back their hope, you hand them back their future.

What I love most about Dr. Jill isn’t just her skill - it’s her heart. She and her entire staff genuinely care about their clients. Even when I call and leave a message, someone always gets back to me promptly with the information I need. And the best part? Dr. Jill does most of her work virtually. If you want chiropractic adjustments, you’ll need to visit her office in Texas. But for holistic care, she can order tests and have results sent to her office, then consult with you via Zoom or phone. I’ve even consulted with her internationally!

If you're curious about working with Dr. Jill at Give Hope Chiropractic, you can reach her here: givehopechiro.com | (817) 656-4760 | DrJillPlentl@gmail.com. I'm not affiliated with her practice - I just know firsthand how life-changing it can be to finally find someone who gets it.

Your Turn

It’s a new year, which means it’s the perfect time to stop settling and start believing you deserve better - because you do.

If you’ve been stuck - showing up, doing the work, fighting for your healing - but the results still aren’t matching the effort, listen: it’s not because you’re broken. It just means there’s a piece of the puzzle you haven’t uncovered yet.

Your body isn’t just along for the ride on your healing journey - it’s the vehicle. When your physical health is struggling, it’s like trying to climb a mountain with a broken leg. You can have all the emotional strength, spiritual clarity, and mental determination in the world, but if your body is depleted, inflamed, or starving for nutrients it can’t absorb, you’re fighting an uphill battle you were never meant to fight alone.

You deserve to feel electric in your own skin. To wake up with energy instead of dread. To look in the mirror and see someone who’s not just surviving, but absolutely thriving. Not just emotionally or spiritually, but physically too. Because real healing doesn’t ask you to choose. It invites every part of you to come alive at once.

So if there’s a voice inside you whispering, “Something’s still not right,” don’t ignore it because that’s not doubt talking. That’s your body begging you to listen. Maybe it’s time to run the test, make the call, find the practitioner who sees you as a whole person and not just a list of symptoms. Maybe that’s Dr. Jill. Maybe it’s someone else. But whoever it is, you owe it to yourself to find out what your body has been trying so desperately to tell you.

Have you ever had a health issue that seemed impossible to solve? What finally turned things around for you? Drop it in the comments. Your breakthrough could be the lifeline someone else needs to keep searching for theirs.

This year, don’t just hope things get better. Decide your health is non-negotiable. Take one bold, brave step today that honors the life you’re meant to live - not the one you’ve been told to accept. Your future self is waiting, and she is so grateful to you for not giving up.