Wellbeing Beyond Physical Illness
The Person Beyond the Diagnosis
Living with chronic illness can affect far more than our physical health.
It can influence our relationships, identity, emotional well-being, sense of independence and how we imagine our future.
And while medical care is essential, there is also a person navigating the uncertainty, adjustments and everyday realities of living with a condition.
What My Research Explored
My Master's research explored how Australian adults living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) experienced and understood their well-being.
Through their stories, themes emerged around uncertainty, shame, relationships, personal growth, self-advocacy and the resources people developed to navigate their experiences.
What particularly interested me was how differently well-being could be experienced, even among people living with the same condition.
Exploring Wellbeing Together
Both my research and lived experience with IBD have shaped my interest in the relationship between physical health and our emotional, psychological, social and spiritual experiences.
Whether you're living with IBD or another chronic condition, our work can offer space to explore how illness has affected you, the challenges it brings and the resources that support your quality of life.
Not everything can be changed or resolved, and well-being doesn't require the absence of illness.
Sometimes it's about learning to live more fully within the realities of our circumstances, while remembering that we are more than our diagnosis.
This work complements, rather than replaces, your medical care.
I have a special interest in assisting with
Understanding our experience
Thoughts, feelings, & experiences as related to physical dis-ease
Living with loss
Relationships
Family and Culture
Anxiety
Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies
Lifestyle
Attachment
Motivation