Welcome back to the Dr. Kinney Show!
In this episode, I’m joined by Sara Hirsh Bordo, documentary filmmaker, author, and the voice behind Autoimmunity and the Good Girls. This conversation explores the deep connection between women’s health, self-betrayal, chronic illness, and the stories we learn to live by.
Sara shares her personal journey with autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s, melanoma, Epstein-Barr, mold toxicity, heavy metals, and the moment that led her to ask a life-changing question: if the wrong choices made me sick, could the right choices make me well? From there, she began examining the patterns of self-compromise, people-pleasing, caretaking, and emotional suppression that so many women carry, especially those who were raised to be “good.”
In this episode, we discuss:
- Sara’s journey from documentary filmmaker to author
- The story behind Autoimmunity and the Good Girls
- How the body speaks through both science and story
- The connection between self-compromise and immune system compromise
- Why so many women with autoimmune disease struggle to receive care or ask for help
- How being raised as the “good girl” can shape the nervous system and the immune system
- Why self-betrayal can show up in the body as symptoms
- The difference between giving of yourself and giving up yourself
- Why boundaries are essential for healing
- How women often silence themselves, even in doctors’ offices
- The importance of finding providers who make you feel safe, heard, and supported
- Why curiosity is such an important part of healing
- How to begin taking inventory of what you actually like, need, and want
- Why healing can start with one brave little step at a time
This conversation is an invitation to look at symptoms with curiosity instead of fear, and to begin asking where you may have been taught to abandon yourself in order to be accepted, loved, or seen as good. Sara’s work reminds us that healing is not about becoming someone new. It is about coming home to the real self that has been there all along.
Connect with Sara Hirsh Bordo:
https://autoimmunityandthegoodgirls.com/
Visit goodgirlsbook.com to learn more about Autoimmunity and the Good Girls.
You can also connect with Sara on Instagram and find Autoimmunity and the Good Girls in print, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold.
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