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There are a vast number of us in today’s world who feel as though we do not have a voice. We are the underserved individuals who long for help and connection, but find it missing.
There are many such people, and this site serves as a compass for fellow travelers searching for direction in being listened to and getting help. It is NOT the fault of the underserved that they aren’t well-served; rather, our society is not designed in a way to assist certain groups of people. There are a few categories of folks who consistently feel ignored and unable to speak their truth. This website is devoted to a few of such groups and they include: |
- People who suffer from pelvic pain. I am a pelvic floor physical therapist and have borne witness to countless patients, both men and women, who experience a form of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. This includes, but is not limited to, those with urinary leakage or dribbling, pain with urination, bowel disorders and constipation, and difficult, painful sex. Many people with pelvic pain or dysfunction feel isolated. They often mistrust the medical system, because there simply are not enough practitioners who treat pelvic pain and address its impact on the psyche. I have recently written a book about male pelvic pain, erectile dysfunction, and prostate cancer. This book is about men and it illustrates how they cope with these symptoms and their impact on the brain and emotions of the male gender. This book, entitled On the Sneak Tip: The Male Pelvis Revealed, is an informative excavation of the science behind pelvic floor dysfunction and the emotional and psychological landscape of men with these challenges. All genders can gain valuable insight into pelvic floor dysfunction by reading this book.
- Another group of individuals who feel at a loss for outside support are caregivers. Whether one is caring for children, parents, sick relatives or friends, those who take care of others often find themselves lonely, depressed and without understanding from their communities. Caregivers are statistically more likely to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks than the beings they are caring for. This is an unfortunate statistic, and it underlines how hard it is to be a caregiver in any capacity. I have worked in healthcare as a physical therapist for over two decades and have been confronted with caregiver burnout and despair. To give a voice to the caregivers of the world, I started a Caregivers Blog a few years back which explores the many facets of caregiving. The stories range from the mundane, to the perceived powerlessness, and ultimately the profound well of satisfaction and meaning that caring for others instills. If you fall into this category of underserved people, click here for the Caregivers Blog.
- The final category of people that this website serves to acknowledge who don’t feel heard are individuals over the age of 70. Some might refer to people over 70 as “elderly”; perhaps it is time to change that classification, as 70 is now considered quite young these days and the term “elderly” summons an image of a stooped person in a recliner who wears dentures. I have worked with and have many personal friends in their seventies. What many of them describe is a sensation of not feeling old, but forgotten, as society has written them off as being unimportant and no longer contributors to the world. I wrote a fictionalized book about a nursing home entitled Dovetailing. This book seeks to understand how we view aging in our society which worships youth culture; there are characters of every age in this tale, and their interactions with each other unveil the commonality that we have across the lifespan, with others and ourselves. After all, we are still the same people as we get older, we just have a few more creaks and wrinkles. Dovetailing was written for those of all ages and provides levity and acceptance of the aging process. It is a story to remember those who feel forgotten.
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