E59. Writing as Healing: Processing Trauma, Finding Your Voice, and Reclaiming Your Story with Ashley S. Hattle

What if writing isn’t just creative expression, but a way to process lived experiences, make meaning from the past, and reconnect with your voice?In this episode of Internally Guided Life, host Kayla Sweet sits down with author Ashley S. Hattle to explore writing as a healing practice, one that can support people in moving through trauma, chronic illness, grief, and personal transformation.Ashley shares her journey with writing, beginning in her teenage years when she used it to process a traumatic experience, and continuing through her experiences with cluster headaches, loss, and major life transitions. Over time, writing became more than a creative outlet. It became a way to understand herself, express what felt difficult to say out loud, and create meaning from what she had lived through.Together, Kayla and Ashley explore how writing can hold experiences that feel overwhelming or complex, and how putting words to those experiences can begin to shift them.The conversation also dives into Ashley’s novel A Haunting Between Worlds, and how fiction can become a space to process real emotions, memories, and inner experiences. Ashley shares how elements of her own story live within her characters, and how writing the book supported her in moving through anxiety, grief, and her relationship with herself and others.This episode offers a grounded and accessible perspective on writing, not as something you have to be “good at,” but as a practice that can support healing, clarity, and self-expression.In this episode, listeners will explore:Writing as a tool for processing trauma, grief, and chronic illnessHow creative expression supports emotional processing and meaning-makingFinding your voice through writing and storytellingUsing fiction as a way to explore inner experiences and emotionsThe vulnerability of sharing your work and why it mattersFor anyone who has felt the urge to write but did not know where to start, this episode offers an invitation to begin.Meet the Guest: Ashley HattleAshley S. Hattle is an award-winning author and writer whose work has been featured in Nature, Invisible Project, Spill the Ink magazines, medical journals, and numerous online publications.She spent ten years as a staff writer in medical marketing and a senior editor in insurance news before transitioning into fiction writing. Her nonfiction book on cluster headaches received awards for “Excellence in Education” and “Advocate of the Year,” reflecting her commitment to education, advocacy, and sharing lived experience.Ashley is also a five-time semifinalist in the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge, where her work has been described as “exhilarating,” “ingenious,” and “alluring and evocative.”Connect with Ashley:Website & BlogFacebookInstagramLinkedInThreadsX (Twitter)YouTubeMeet the Host:Kayla Sweet is the host of Internally Guided Life and an expert in burnout prevention, transformational leadership, self-care, and personal growth. As a life coach, she specializes in helping people reclaim their worthiness and purpose, guiding them to create fulfilling lives with balance and ease. With a background in psychology, mindfulness, and transformational leadership, Kayla empowers her community to align with their authentic selves, develop their strengths, and embrace intentional growth.Kayla's debut poetry collection, Alchemy of Life, is available now at internallyguidedleadership.com, Flourish Books & Plants, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and more. This is a reflective collection of poems on transformation, healing, and becoming.Connect with Kayla:LinktreeFacebookInstagramTikTokLinkedInInternally Guided Leadership Episode Credits:Intro & Outro Music: By artist Goat On The River, produced by Christian Michael Smith at https://www.microdotstudioproductions.com/ Podcast recorded by Christian Michael Smith at https://www.microdotstudioproductions.com/