About Ronni and Jennie

We are sisters who weren't supposed to be friends. Growing up in a family with addiction, abuse, and untreated mental illness harmed us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It also pitted us against each other; there was even some abuse between us. As we got older, we knew we wanted a better relationship, but struggled to make it happen. It was only when we married and began having children that we looked back at our childhood, recognized the trauma we had experienced, and broke through our denial about how bad it really was. It also became clear that the abuse in our childhood home was responsible for the harmful dynamics between us.

 

It was our desire to be good parents---to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma and abuse---that set us on our healing journeys. We both followed conventional approaches to healing (counseling, Al Anon/ACOA groups), which gave us more insight, but they only took us so far. From there we have continued to explore yoga, meditation, energy healing, sound healing, breathwork, and intuitive work---all of which have brought amazing transformation in our lives, as well as the lives of those we love. And in this process we rebuilt our relationship. Having each other for support and validation, especially of painful childhood memories, dramatically accelerated the healing process for us both!

 

In pursuing our own recovery from childhood trauma, we realized that very few people who are working in this area discuss the damage that is done to sibling relationships in abusive homes--and yet it is extremely common. We want siblings to know that if they have had difficulty getting along in their relationships, it is not their fault---the dynamics in their home growing up are likely responsible.

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We have worked for years in fields related to family trauma. Ronni has conducted research and taught courses on family violence. Jennie has seen the physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes of childhood trauma as a clinician in family practice. Now, our mission is to bring together our personal and professional experiences to help others find the remarkable healing that we have experienced, both individually and in our relationship. We are sharing our story (in our book and podcast), and offering private coaching sessions, to show other survivors of childhood trauma that there is hope----that it's possible to live free of the past, to be the person you were meant to be, to build healthy relationships, and to live a peaceful, joyful life.

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Ronni has a PhD in Sociology (University of Michigan) specializing in family studies; Jennie is a board-certified family nurse practitioner (Vanderbilt University) with over 25 years in family and mental health.