Trauma Informed Friendships

Jenny Dalton and I recently sat down for an author chat in her home in the hills of Ukiah to discuss trauma informed friendships for “The Positive Fantastic” podcast. Jenny (or Jen for short) Dalton, is the author “Of Butterflies and Bullies.”

Driving up into the Ukiah hills to meet with Jen, I knew that I had arrived at her house when I saw a blue Little Free Library marking the driveway. Both of us being self-published authors of NorCal, we joined up for a conversation about her newest releases and the ways that it can be used as a tool for transformation. 

The book is a fictionalized account of Jen’s own journey being bullied amongst her girl peers during adolescence in Indiana. We sat down to discuss this difficult topic, which carries a lot of pain for a lot of people.

In particular, Jen and I explored the ways that we can deconstruct the bullying paradigm so that perhaps more people can heal their wounds leftover from childhood bullying and hopefully emerge and evolve into trauma informed friendships in adulthood.

The book, republished this year, is structured as a read for Young Adults with timeless messages for all ages. Jen also is offering workshops for adults to work through and heal their own bullied experiences. You can find out more about Jen’s offerings at her website or by checking out my YouTube channel to see a video we created explaining her mission.