Survival, Fight or Flight, and Lasting Health with Jess Patz

Jess Patz is a speaker, nervous system educator, and domestic violence advocate whose work centers on the connection between trauma, health, and body centered healing. As a TEDx presenter, Jess brings a powerful blend of lived experience and trauma-informed education to stages across the country. She helps audiences understand how survival shapes the nervous system and why healing requires more than simply willpower or resilience. 

Having survived domestic abuse and years of post-separation trauma, Jess rebuilt her life from the ground up. After finally finding safety and stability, her body began to unravel leading to a lupus diagnosis and later, a stroke that required her to relearn how to walk. These experiences reshaped her understanding of healing and inspired her work at the intersection of embodiment, nervous system regulation, and leadership.

Jess challenges conventual ideas of resilience, pushing back on the belief that endurance is proof of strength. She teaches that regulation, not just pushing through, is the foundation of lasting health, leadership, and healing. Her work equips audiences to move beyond survival mode and into clarity, capacity, and restored life.

This podcast is hosted by Jessica Buchanan, a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, survivor and founder. Her latest book, How to Survive Survival: A Guide for Turning Life’s Hardest Moments Into Meaningful Contribution for the Worldwasreleased in 2025.  Jessica is also the author of Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six, published in 2014, which became a New York Times Bestseller. 

Jessica is the founder of Soul Speak Press, a boutique non-traditional publishing company focused on stories from women who have been through something, now they know something and can teach us something.

When she’s not writing or speaking, Jessica is traveling the world with her Swedish husband and two “half Vikings.” She aims to lead a life shaped by curiosity, culture, and a deep appreciation for the resilience of the human spirit.