24 Oct

Interview with Wendy P. Williams

On October 23rd, 2023, local author Wendy P. Williams sat down with KTEC Station Manager Dominick Stone to discuss her recently released book, Autobiography of a Sea Creature: Healing the Trauma of Infant Surgery. In this book, Williams leads the reader through some of the experiences, thoughts, and obstacles she has had throughout her life resulting from surgery without anesthesia when she was less than a month old. This audio can be found below, and an .mp3 file can be downloaded from the following link: Interview with Wendy P. Williams

Additionally, Williams provided several important resources that she encourages people working to overcome this kind of trauma to explore:

  • helpfortrauma.com – where you can watch Dr. Linda Gantt’s videos about the Instinctual Trauma Response and find a therapist. 
  • cutdownfilm.com – infant surgery survivor Roey Shmool’s film Cutdown: Infant Surgery without Anesthesia, 58 minutes, free on YouTube.
  • https://healinginfanttrauma.org – Wendy Williams’ blog, which deals with coping with and healing from PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder).
  • https://survivinginfantsurgery.wordpress.com – Fred Vanderbom’s blog, which deals more specifically with infant surgery. Articles can be found here.

Suggestions from Williams for types of therapy:

  • EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reintegration, a body-based  therapy, which can work really well with preverbal trauma.
  • Find a Somatic Experiencing therapist, a body-based technique, developed by Dr. Peter Levine.

Books for parents:

  • Jolene Philo: Does My Child Have PTSD? 
  • Dr. Peter Levine: Proofing Your Kids: A Parents’ Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience

Want to read Autobiography of a Sea Creature? You can purchase a paperback of the book or download a free PDF here. Additionally, you can visit Wendy P. Williams’ author page to learn more and get in touch with her.