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The Chronic Illness Therapist

The Chronic Illness Therapist

Written by: Destiny Davis LPC CRC
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Disrupting the mental health and medical system for people with chronic, invisible illnesses. We will no longer accept lack of answers, empathy, and guidance from the professionals we are told to trust. It’s not in your head, you are not a burden, and we’ll prove that to you one episode at a time. I'm an Atlanta-based mental health therapist specializing in chronic pain / invisible illnesses. This podcast is for educational and insight purposes only and should not be used as a replacement for mental health treatment. Always seek medical advice before making changes to your health regimens.Destiny Davis LPC CRC Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • Ep 127: When Your Body Becomes a Problem to Solve: Navigating Endometriosis, Medical Trauma, and Identity

    Ep 127: When Your Body Becomes a Problem to Solve: Navigating Endometriosis, Medical Trauma, and Identity
    May 22 2026
    What does it actually look like to find a therapist who understands chronic illness, and what kind of work can help when you've spent years being dismissed by the medical system? In this episode, you'll learn how to recognize medical gaslighting in your own story, why somatic work can be essential before surgery, and how to protect your identity and your relationships when chronic illness takes over your life.In this episode, you'll hear from Candice Craft, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in complex chronic illness, who shares why one of the most powerful things a therapist can say to a new client is simply, "I believe you," and how that single moment starts to undo years of accumulated medical dismissal.Connect with Destiny: Instagram / Facebook / Website______________________________🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER______________________________🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS💬 Clinical Consultation→ ⁠The Mastermind⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.🎓 Continuing Education→ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.→ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. ______________________________🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS🛋️Therapy:→ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education→ Latest Workshops Here→ ⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 ESTSex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each monthThese groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.______________________________⚠️ DISCLAIMERThe Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
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    36 mins
  • Ep 126: "Just Move Differently" Is the Physical Therapy Version of "Just Think Positively" with Dr. Megan Steele

    Ep 126: "Just Move Differently" Is the Physical Therapy Version of "Just Think Positively" with Dr. Megan Steele
    Apr 24 2026
    If you've ever been handed a generic exercise plan for pain that's been with you for years — or felt like your provider was treating the injury you had once, not the body you're living in now — this episode gets into why that approach keeps falling short. Chronic pain isn't an acute problem with a delayed solution, and the science is finally catching up to what so many patients already knew.In this episode, you'll hear from Dr. Megan Steele, PT, DPT, PhD, physical therapist, faculty in the DPT program at Mount St. Mary's University, and PhD candidate researching how our visceral and musculoskeletal systems shape pain. Her reframe that "just believe differently" is the mental health equivalent of "just move differently" is one that will stick with you long after this episode ends.Connect with Destiny: Instagram / Facebook / Website______________________________🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER______________________________🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS💬 Clinical Consultation→ ⁠The Mastermind⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.🎓 Continuing Education→ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.→ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. ______________________________🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS🛋️Therapy:→ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education→ Latest Workshops Here→ ⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 ESTSex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each monthThese groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.______________________________⚠️ DISCLAIMERThe Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
    Show More Show Less
    59 mins
  • Ep 125: When Your Illness Has a History: Medical Gaslighting, Invisible Illness, and Why You're Not Imagining It with Emily Mendenhall PhD

    Ep 125: When Your Illness Has a History: Medical Gaslighting, Invisible Illness, and Why You're Not Imagining It with Emily Mendenhall PhD
    Apr 16 2026
    If you've ever been dismissed by a doctor, told your symptoms were stress or anxiety, or felt like the medical system wasn't built for people like you — this episode traces exactly how we got here. The history of "hysteria" didn't end; it evolved, and understanding that history might be one of the most validating things you do for yourself today.In this episode, you'll hear from Emily Mendenhall, medical anthropologist, Guggenheim Fellow, and author of Invisible Illness: A History from Hysteria to Long COVID. Her concept of structural silencing reframes medical dismissal not as individual doctors failing patients, but as a system operating exactly as it was designed.Connect with Destiny: ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Website⁠______________________________🤝 RESOURCES & WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER______________________________🩺 FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS💬 Clinical Consultation→⁠ ⁠The Mastermind⁠⁠: A free monthly business and clinical consultation group for therapists, PTs, OTs, and RDs specializing in chronic illness. Come think through cases, talk shop, and connect with a community of providers who really get this work.🎓 Continuing Education→⁠ ⁠The Chronic Illness Therapists Conference⁠⁠ — 2027: The 2026 conference was just the beginning. We're returning to Atlanta (new venue!) in October 2027 — in person and virtually. Early bird pricing is live now.→⁠ ⁠Past CE Workshops⁠⁠ Browse past on-demand continuing education workshops in the Skool community. ______________________________🌊 FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS🛋️Therapy:→⁠ ⁠Therapy Intensives with Destiny⁠⁠: Half-day and full-day intensive therapy sessions are now available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. A good option if weekly sessions aren't working for your schedule — or if you want to do deeper work in a shorter window.🧑‍💻Non-therapy Support Groups/Education→ ⁠Latest Workshops Here⁠→⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Welcome to the Waiting Room⁠⁠ is a low-cost membership run by Destiny and guest experts each month, including:General support groups, 2–4 Fridays per month at 12 ESTSex + Chronic Pain Support Group — biweekly, on Thursdays at 11am EST for those navigating intimacy while living with chronic pain. Facilitated by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP, a somatic sex therapist with lived experience.Monthly community education workshops on topics relevant to life with chronic illness with new expert guests each monthThese groups are not therapy and are not a replacement for therapy. Due to ethical guidelines around dual relationships, current therapy clients of Destiny or Angie are not able to join the membership at the same time. If you have questions about whether the membership is the right fit for you, feel free to reach out before joining.______________________________⚠️ DISCLAIMERThe Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared in this podcast — by Destiny, guests, or anyone else — constitutes medical advice, mental health treatment, or a therapeutic relationship. Listening to this podcast does not create a client-provider relationship of any kind. Always consult with your own qualified healthcare providers before making decisions about your medical care, mental health treatment, or medications. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
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