Ep. 105: Dr. Lise Deguire - Flashback Girl

Dear Life with Christina Rasmussen

I’m happy to introduce you to today’s guest Dr. Lise Deguire a clinical psychologist and author of a beautiful and inspirational new book called Flashback Girl: Lessons on Resilience From a Burn Survivor. As I told her in our conversation, Lise is one of my new heroes, and not just for the reasons that you might expect.

In her book, and in our conversation, it becomes clear very quickly that her story can help many people in many different ways. While the events of her life are highly specific, many of the losses (both traditional and invisible) are universal and helping so many people. As Lise mentioned in our conversation, she believes that it is through honest sharing of what we’ve been through that we can connect with and help others best.

We talk about her experience as a 4-year-old girl that changed the course of her life forever, as well as the many other losses that happened as a direct or indirect result of that moment. It’s these moments that so many of us can relate to, hard and painful relationships with our parents, the loss of a loved one, teasing and bullying, and even a first marriage that wasn’t right for the long term.

She openly shares that while the people we want and expect to show up for us won’t always be able to, it’s important to notice that there are so many others that are. We also spoke about the idea of a Thriver mindset and whether or not it is something that we are born with or something you can train yourself and learn. She tends to believe it’s a little of both.

“It happens sometimes that the people we think are supposed to be there for us are not going to be. They can’t be, they won’t be, they are dead. But there are also so many others that want to be there for us if we can let them, it’s important that we notice them too.” ~ Dr. Lise Deguire

Dr. Deguire is not just inspirational, she has this kindness and compassion toward the human condition. I felt it as I immersed myself in her work and it became even more strong when I connected with her in person for this interview. I’m certain that you will feel it to when you listen to our conversation. My hope is that after listening to Lise’s story, you will get the courage you need to Thrive in your life as well.

I’d love to know what you think. Please share it with your friends and family, and be sure to tag me if you share it on social media so that I can say thank you. I’m @christinarasmussen7 on Instagram and @ChristinaRasmussen2014 on Facebook.

More About Dr. Lise Deguire

Dr. Lise Deguire is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Pennington, NJ. At the age of four, she was third-degree burned over 65% of her body, a result of both maternal and corporate negligence. Against the odds, she lived through this injury, enduring countless surgeries, extended hospital stays, and while attending different schools, faced loneliness, ostracism, and bullying. She grew up in a dysfunctional family and lost four members of her family to suicide. Despite these life challenges, Dr. Deguire has forged a triumphant path towards love, health, and life satisfaction. She waited 50 years to write her memoir, and tell her story publicly until all of her family members had died.

Dr. Deguire graduated from Tufts University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Hahnemann/Widener University. For the past twenty years, she has been in solo practice in Pennington, New Jersey. She is the author of her memoir, Flashback Girl: Lessons on Resilience From a Burn Survivor. She has appeared on NPR, NBC, ABC, FOX, Sirius XM, and numerous podcasts. She is a blogger for Psychology Today and has been featured in Tiny Buddha, Thrive Global, The Elephant Journal, Best Ever You, The Trenton Times, and Grown & Flown. Dr. Deguire writes a blog about psychological resilience issues and is a national keynote speaker.

You can connect with Dr. Deguire via her website.

Things We Mention In This Episode

• Website: https://www.lisedeguire.com
• Book: Flashback Girl: Lessons on Resilience From a Burn Survivor, Dr. Lise Deguire
• Book: Where Did You Go? by Christina Rasmussen
• Book: Second Firsts by Christina Rasmussen
• Newsletter - Message In a Bottle: Sign up for Christina’s weekly letter

Apple podcast reviews and ratings are really important to help get the podcast in front of more people to uplift and inspire them too, which is the ultimate goal. Thank you!