Episode 1
Suffering in Silence with Simmone Kilgore
On this premiere episode of Sisters Saving Sisters Podcast, your host Dr. Nicole Robinson welcomes Simmone Kilgore, Trauma Therapist at Advocate Aurora Health Care. Nicole and Simmone share from their personal experience about trauma, suffering and struggles we all have when we go through difficult times in our lives. They talk about how to deal with tragedies (like divorce, death, or illness), how to recognize trauma, how to break barriers and open up.
According to Simmone, trauma has a way of blinding a person. You cannot see anything but the trauma, and how it relates to you. You have to unpack it first for yourself. When you choose not to be silent about your pain, or your confusion about the pain, share it with your loved ones. And hope is always available. As long as you are breathing, there is hope.
Episode highlights
08:04 – When you attentively listen, you listen to not respond, but to hear, listen to be present. And people know when you’re present, and they know when you’re not.
21:50 – Therapy is a gateway to hope. If you take a risk of calling a therapist and setting an appointment, that makes you courageous. Showing up, you’re brave. Sitting there and just listening, you’ve conquered it. You took the risk; you’ve made it through...
43:30 – If you haven’t unpacked it for self, you can’t spread it out for others.
47:25 – One of the things we know about the mind, body and soul – one being – is that if something is harming you mentally, it is definitely affecting you physically. And if something is harming you physically (cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, being overweight…) it also can affect you mentally; and most often it does.
50:29 – It is important to understand that suffering in silence creates a space for you, and only you. You live in that space with the trauma, and the two of you become this thing - and it is never a good thing. Bring something in to support you (therapy, loved ones…)
Contact information and other resources
Our guest today was Simmone Kilgore. Simmone is an experienced Crisis Counselor and Crisis Intervention Screener and now Trauma Therapist; a licensed Professional Counselor, focusing mainly on the Neurobiology of Trauma, Trauma-Informed Care, Trauma Specific-Interventions, Community Trauma, Culturally Specific Outreach, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Self-Care. She understands how trauma impacts a survivor’s neurobiology, which dictates how survivors process information and mediates behavior. She currently consults and contracts with Children’s Hospital, Milwaukee Public Schools, Sojourner Family Peace Center, Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention, local churches, and youth group homes sharing information relating to trauma, trauma reactions, emotion-regulation, healthy relationships, and safety planning.
Connect with Simmone Kilgore
Podcast Host: Dr. Nicole Robinson
Nicole is a Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer patient and advocate. She is also the founder of Hatz 4 Hearts Foundation, which she started after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. Her organization provides supportive services to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, breast health awareness, and education. Nicole believes that the simple gesture of giving provides HOPE to patients battling cancer. Her passion for impacting change and advocacy efforts are a part of sharing her journey which she credits finding purpose through her cancer diagnosis.
Connect with Dr. Nicole Robinson
