When you’re navigating emotional healing after divorce or trauma, you’ve likely heard about both homeopathy and EMDR as powerful therapeutic approaches — but how do you know which one is right for you? Homeopathy is a holistic remedy-based system that addresses emotional and physical symptoms by stimulating your body’s natural healing response. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured psychotherapy that helps you process traumatic memories through “bilateral stimulation.” Both methods aim to restore your emotional balance and mental well-being, but they work in fundamentally different ways—one through energetic remedies that work on layers of stored trauma, and the other through targeted memory processing that helps your brain metabolize stuck experiences. Understanding the differences between homeopathy versus EMDR can help you choose the approach that best fits your divorce healing journey, or even discover how they might work together. Let’s explore how each method supports healing from within.
Table of Contents
5 Key Takeaways
- Homeopathy versus EMDR represents two completely different paths to the same destination: healing. Here’s the basic difference: homeopathy uses tiny individualized remedies (usually little pellets or drops in water) to address your physical, emotional, and energetic imbalances layer by layer. It works with your body’s natural healing wisdom to clear stuck patterns. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation—typically following a therapist’s fingers with your eyes—to help you process traumatic memories that are stuck in your nervous system. EMDR works in a structured, contained way—you know what’s going to happen in each session, and you can often feel immediate relief after just a handful of sessions. Homeopathy feels less predictable because it works on layers that aren’t always linear or logical; you might try multiple remedies before finding the right one at the right time.
- When it comes to emotional healing, homeopathy and EMDR work on different timelines. EMDR can provide immediate stabilization when you’re in crisis and can’t function — when grief has you stuck on the couch or when a specific traumatic event is drowning you. It works beautifully for processing identifiable losses and memories that you can name and talk about. Homeopathy works more subtly over time, chipping away at chronic patterns, physical symptoms with emotional roots, and layers of stuck trauma that don’t have a clear story. You might not notice the shift happening until suddenly you realize, “Wait,I handled that situation completely differently than I would have a few months ago.”
- Homeopathy versus EMDR isn’t about one being better — it’s about which one fits what you’re dealing with right now. EMDR is your go-to when you know exactly what’s bothering you: a specific loss, a traumatic memory, anxiety tied to a particular event, or PTSD symptoms that you can trace back to something concrete. Homeopathy is amazing when things feel more mysterious or complex—like chronic stress that won’t budge, physical symptoms that doctors can’t fully explain (for things like chronic migraines or digestive issues), feeling emotionally numb or disconnected, or when you’ve tried “everything” and nothing seems to work. We let doctors practice medicine, trying one medication after another when the first doesn’t work, spending six months finding the right diabetes medication. But with homeopathy, people often say, “I tried that once and it didn’t work” and give up. One woman tried about 12 different remedies before finally hitting the breakthrough that healed her frozen shoulder. If you find yourself thinking, “I don’t even know why I feel this way, I just do,” homeopathy might be the key to unlocking layers that traditional talk therapy can’t reach.
- The science behind these therapies looks pretty different, and that’s okay. EMDR has tons of research supporting it — it’s recognized by major mental health organizations, often covered by insurance, and widely accepted in mainstream therapy circles. If you like having scientific backing and clear evidence, EMDR’s got that in spades. Homeopathy works on energetic principles that are harder to measure in a lab, and it’s supported more by thousands of years of clinical practice and individual case studies than by the kind of research Western medicine typically values. Does that make it less real? Not at all—many people experience life-changing healing with homeopathy. But it does mean you might need to be open to something that works outside the conventional medical box, and that’s not always comfortable if you’re (healthily) skeptical.
- Here’s the truth about choosing between homeopathy versus EMDR: you might not have to choose at all. What works best depends entirely on you—such as your specific symptoms, what you’re ready to face, how your body responds, and what feels right in your gut. Sometimes you need EMDR’s quick stabilization when you’re in crisis and can’t function. Sometimes you need homeopathy’s deep, slow work to address patterns that have been stuck for years. And they can work beautifully together. You might use EMDR to process specific traumatic memories while using homeopathy to address chronic physical symptoms and energetic blocks. Many women find that homeopathy opens them up emotionally so they can finally access feelings in EMDR, or that EMDR clears the way for homeopathy to work even more deeply. You don’t need to pick just one theapy—you can use both tools in your healing toolbox.
Highlights
- 00:00 Parents’ Late-Life Divorce Dilemma
- 06:17 Processing Change with Guidance
- 08:44 Unexpected Sting Leads to Frozen Shoulder
- 10:16 Breakthrough in Remedy Selection
- 15:55 Teen’s Medical Journey and Discovery
- 17:45 Frozen Shoulder Recovery Challenges
- 21:28 Mother’s Day Hospital Memory
- 23:59 Navigating Uncertainty: Embracing Control
- 26:25 Trusting the Process
- 31:39 Balancing Healthcare and Homeopathy
- 33:49 Curiosity and Emotional Awareness Shift
- 36:04 Addressing Women’s Career Hesitations
- 39:24 “Beyond Just Another Program”
- 42:10 “Gratitude for Skeptic’s Journey”
Full Transcript
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:00]:
I am very excited to introduce you all to my dear friend Britney Gardner, someone who influences your life regularly, but you’ve never met. Britney, welcome.
Britney Gardner [00:00:10]:
Thank you so much.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:13]:
So, quick intro. Britney and I met in 2018ish at a conference, and we started working together shortly thereafter. She helps create content. Right. So she helps. She does so much of our social media now. And she creates. Creates the.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:28]:Publishes the blogs on the blog page and.
Britney Gardner [00:00:30]:Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:30]:She’s been such a huge part of building this brand, launching the podcast Integral.
Britney Gardner [00:00:35]:Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:35]:
We planned the initial podcast episode. Like, you were such a huge part of the podcast launch.
Britney Gardner [00:00:40]:Wow.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:40]:
That just, like, came forward for me as we’re talking about it.
Britney Gardner [00:00:42]: Yep.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:43]:
So, like, you’re, like, you were like, the doula of the podcast. Wow. I didn’t even. Wow. Okay. So, yeah. You have profoundly influenced all these women’s lives. You happen to be divorced and remarried, which just sort of makes you, like, even better fit on the team.
Dawn Wiggins [00:00:59]:
Right. But that’s not actually, you know. Right. But that’s not actually why we’re talking today. The reason I wanted to have you on today is because just, you know, along our time together, like, life. Life. And we’ve had the opportunity for you to experience both EMDR and homeopathy, and we’re probably, dare I say, skeptical about both.
Britney Gardner [00:01:19]:
100%. Yep.
Dawn Wiggins [00:01:21]:
As we were sort of talking about the growth that we’re leaning into in the organization and. And planning to help teach people more about all these modalities and these things, it was like, all of a sudden very clear that you and I could have this conversation that would help people understand both modalities.
Britney Gardner [00:01:37]:
Yeah. You’re not wrong at all in saying I was skeptical.
Dawn Wiggins [00:01:41]:
Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:01:42]:
Maybe a little less skeptical of emdr. I just didn’t understand it. I just didn’t know about it. Like, there are plenty of times in life you just don’t know enough about something to actually say, yeah, let’s wholeheartedly believe in that thing, you know? Yeah. But homeopathy was not on my bucket list. So, you know. Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:02:01]:
So today we’re going to talk about both these modalities, and you’re courageous enough to come and talk about it, which I’m just so grateful for. Right. So let’s just kick it off with, like, tell us about. Tell us your story.
Britney Gardner [00:02:15]:
Cool. Yes. I was divorced. I got divorced when I was 25. I have been remarried for 14 years. I can do math. Probably will never hear this, so that’s fine. And we’re happily married.
Britney Gardner [00:02:29]:
You know, that’s not really a big part of the story, but I do have that background and all the fun stuff that comes with, you know, having dealt with all that relationship stuff. But your parents divorce.
Dawn Wiggins [00:02:42]:
That came up more than. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:02:45]:
Well, that was much more recent. My parents. That’s true. Are one of the famous 2020 split couples. They’ve been married for 40 years. So, you know, that was fun being almost 40 and suddenly having your parents go through a separation and then divorce. Especially since I didn’t know anyone like me. Everyone I knew who had divorced parents did it when they were, you know, 8 or 15, and I just didn’t have anyone to relate to.
Britney Gardner [00:03:13]:
Being a fully grown adult with your own family suddenly dealing with that, so.
Dawn Wiggins [00:03:18]:
That’s such a good point.
Britney Gardner [00:03:20]:
Yeah, that was an interesting time. But like you said, we’d known each other. We’d been working together off and on at that point for a little while, and my friend passed in a rather abrupt way, and I was not handling it well. And you, my therapist friend, very gracefully said, you know, I’m here, you know, if you need. And I was like, oh, no, no, I need, but I’m not ready. And then I was ready, and. Yeah, yeah. Now, of course, I’m tearing up.
Britney Gardner [00:03:50]:
Because, you know, things don’t go away just because you’ve dealt with them. Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:03:54]:
No, I think that’s. That’s the thing, is we’re still human with emotions and grief. Is it a super appropriate emotion?
Britney Gardner [00:04:01]:
You. Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:04:02]:
For you, the grief was stuck.
Britney Gardner [00:04:05]:
Yes. I couldn’t move at all. Like, not even move on. Like, moving on was, like a. A lofty goal, but just move would have been great anywhere. Like, off my couch, for example. Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:04:19]:
And so I didn’t, like, step in and, like, become your therapist. I mean, I did, but. But that’s sort of the cool thing about EMDR is we were able to do a handful of sessions, and you were able to experience some pretty. Pretty significant shifts.
Britney Gardner [00:04:32]:
Yeah. And, you know, like, it’s not that I didn’t believe in what you do. I. I’d read your testimonials. I was using your testimonials for copyrighting.
Dawn Wiggins [00:04:41]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:04:42]:
So it’s not like I didn’t believe in. In what you do. It just. It never occurred to me that just a handful of sessions with you would. Would help me shift out of a really dark place. You know what I mean? Like, and even after, I mean, we had our first session, and I was like, is that all this is? Like, I just snapped my fingers and I’M fine now. Like that doesn’t seem right. And it wasn’t that.
Britney Gardner [00:05:06]:
Like, I don’t want to gloss over that, but the amount of relief I felt after our first session was just immense.
Dawn Wiggins [00:05:15]:
I love that for you. And it’s not those, it’s not always that simple. I did say that to you. In the process, you process very quickly. Results, not necessarily typical. So let’s put that disclaimer here. I think one of the problems. I’m going to go on a tangent here.
Dawn Wiggins [00:05:27]:
One of the problems with AI and media and social media is very often you’ll see people like myself or influencers touting a result with a thing and not explaining when the results aren’t typical. Right. So you did process very, very quickly and you already knew, liked and trusted me.
Britney Gardner [00:05:45]:
I did know, like.
Dawn Wiggins [00:05:50]:
Which matters. So you got to skip a whole bunch of those steps. Right. And let’s say this was not a complex trauma we were processing. Right? It was a traumatic loss, but it wasn’t like it was all wound up in like these major childhood issues or, or decades of abuse. Right. So it was a little cleaner than some of the other things that do often take people a lot longer to work through in emdr.
Britney Gardner [00:06:17]:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I experienced an event and maybe there were a couple days leading up to the event, right. But like it wasn’t something that was in my formative years, but I needed, I don’t want to say permission, because that’s the wrong word. I hate when I can’t come up with the right word, but I almost needed permission to be able to move. And you walking me through some of the things around there outside of the actual even EMDR portion of things was just so, so valuable. And you know, having those few sessions just helped me process what I had gone through. The place I was in right now, the place I wanted to get back to and maybe even move beyond in the future was for me it felt very logical.
Britney Gardner [00:07:02]:
And since I air towards a strategic logic side, right. Like that that made my life decisions that are easy. So.
Dawn Wiggins [00:07:13]:
So then as I’m sort of recalling it, all right, we did end up talking about a number of things sort of blurs together, like what we talk about just like as friends and what we were working on in the emdr. But we did end up talking about a number of things just in sort of taking your history right. As I do, that ended up being the things we treated homeopathically down the road. So talk just a little bit like just give us a little entree into your homeopathy experience.
Britney Gardner [00:07:37]:
Yeah. So. Oh, when did we start homeopathy? A year ago, probably.
Dawn Wiggins [00:07:43]:
I don’t know. I think I. It could have even been longer, right? No, because, honestly, when we did emdr, I had you take a couple of things. I did have you take a little sepia, right? Because sepia is. It doesn’t. It’s sluggish. It doesn’t move. You burn out.
Dawn Wiggins [00:07:56]:
Right. So I had you take a little sepia. We tried sulfur. So we were dabbling in homeopathy when we did emdr.
Britney Gardner [00:08:02]:
Yeah. So we were dabbling in a few of those things. Um, just some stuff I was dealing with. With. You know, I’m, like, in my 40s now, and I have 40 friend drama, which is not something I expected to say when I was in high school, but, like, dealing with some of that stuff. Yeah, we were dabbling. Um, but I feel like when I started taking it seriously, when you.
Dawn Wiggins [00:08:20]:
There we go.
Britney Gardner [00:08:21]:
Sorry, Dawn. But when I started taking it seriously. All right, so the long story short is I am a flower farmer today, and I got stung by a yellow jacket, a bee, something on my. My shoulder. Like, right on my right shoulder. And the next. I mean, it hurt when it happened, but, like, the next day, I, like, I couldn’t move my arm. I couldn’t.
Britney Gardner [00:08:44]:
It was, like, stiff, and it was. And I was like, I don’t feel like a sting should be this bad. Like, this feels wrong. But it was the first time I’d ever been stung in all my many years. So, you know, what did I know, right? And it kind of went away a little bit, but then two weeks later, I literally couldn’t lift my arm. And I ended up at the doctor earlier that week. I’ve had a frozen shoulder, and I didn’t actually move my arm without significant pain for a long time after that. And you were like, all right, we’re gonna do a thing, Brit.
Britney Gardner [00:09:15]:
We’re gonna do it. And you were right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:09:18]:
Thank you.
Britney Gardner [00:09:19]:
Thank you so much. I was wrong to wait, first of all, to even talk to you about it, but also to be a little skeptical because. Oh. Oh, you don’t even know this. Oh, my goodness.
Dawn Wiggins [00:09:29]:Tell me.
Britney Gardner [00:09:29]:
I graduated from physical therapy this morning.
Dawn Wiggins [00:09:34]:
Congratulations.
Britney Gardner [00:09:35]:
Good timing that we scheduled this today.
Dawn Wiggins [00:09:36]:
Love that.
Britney Gardner [00:09:37]:
But, yeah, it’s been. What are we now at? 8. Eight months. Yeah. Eight months since this thing. Since I got stung. Definitely eight months since I first started medically trying to figure out how to fix this stupid situation. And we’ve gone through.
Britney Gardner [00:09:53]:
I think I tried to count in my head. I think We’ve tried like 12 different remedies before we finally started hitting the stuff. But that came from us talking through random stuff that in my opinion at the time was completely unrelated. Unrelated, but obviously it’s all related because we’re complicated beings and all of our cells talk and everything is that.
Dawn Wiggins [00:10:16]:
That’s right. And, and I, you know, your case, if I may call it that, was particularly cool in how we found the breakthrough, which we could talk about if you want to, but. And it’s not necessarily that. The remedies we tried before, like, maybe they were right, maybe they were wrong. We’re still gonna like, lean into that and find out. You know how I’ve been debating sulfur, Like, I swear you’re sulfur, but it’s like they couldn’t penetrate until we hit the right thing at the right time. And so remedy selection, right. For the naysayers who say, like, this doesn’t work, it’s like, it really is about.
Dawn Wiggins [00:10:46]:
It’s an art and a science and yeah, it can be tricky sometimes to get that right remedy at the right time.
Britney Gardner [00:10:55]:
Well, and it’s. I’m going to say this as a, as a person who’s still skeptical, not necessarily of homeopathy, but in general, I feel like I’m a skeptic.
Dawn Wiggins [00:11:02]:You have a healthy, healthy, you know.
Britney Gardner [00:11:05]:
We, we doctors practice medicine. Right. Practice. And it’s interesting to me that we as a society allow doctors the grace to practice and try this and try that. But homeopathy, I tried that one time and it didn’t work. Or like, I mean, I still say that about acupuncture. I’ve tried it twice and it hasn’t worked either time. So I’m like, eh, it just isn’t for me.
Britney Gardner [00:11:27]:
And you know what? If I ever become desperate again, like over something, maybe I would try it again. Right. But I am guilty of saying things like this. I know other people around me are too. Oh, I tried that once. It doesn’t work. Now, some people take it to an extreme. I tried that work once.
Britney Gardner [00:11:42]:
It did not work. They’re all quacks. I don’t go that far. I just think maybe it didn’t work for me or, or whatnot. But yeah, it took us a lot of tries. And, you know, I’ve watched my mom do that with her diabetes, right? Like, she was on a medication for years. It worked great, and then it stopped working. And the doctor’s like, well, let’s try this.
Britney Gardner [00:12:02]:
No, that doesn’t work. Let’s try this. No, that doesn’t work. And three or four rounds later, maybe they find it. But, like, that was six months of her life. And we allow doctors with, you know, MD degrees, but we have to allow other people to do that, too.
Dawn Wiggins [00:12:18]:
Well said.
Britney Gardner [00:12:21]:
So, like, I know how to talk to people like me.
Dawn Wiggins [00:12:26]:
Healthy skeptics. Healthy skeptics. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, so homeopathy works on layers that aren’t always linear or logical. What was one change that you noticed that felt almost too subtle to explain but impossible to ignore?
Britney Gardner [00:12:41]:
Okay, so. Previously mentioned drama with friends. Right. I. I had this thing, and it’s not worth going into here, but I. I fired some of my friends. They weren’t being good friends, and I called them out on it because I’m blunt and I do things like that. And it didn’t go well.
Britney Gardner [00:12:58]:
And then everything blew up, and I didn’t handle it all that well. You know, like, it’s. It’s not fun feeling like the people you value so much don’t value you.
Dawn Wiggins [00:13:08]:
Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:13:08]:
You at all. And that’s a bitter pill to swallow. Like, that’s the best way to really say it. But I still want to be around these people.
Dawn Wiggins [00:13:15]:
And to be fair, Britney, I think a lot of women listening right now are grateful to hear you saying all of that. Like, I think that’s a path they’re walking right now. Right. So I think what you’re saying probably resonates.
Britney Gardner [00:13:24]:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I had just had lunch with a friend today who. She got divorced a few years ago, and she lost a lot of her friends through the process. And I was like, she’s like one of those friends that you’re, like, friends with, but you really only see once a year. So I was like, I’m so sorry that happened to you. I hate that that happened to you, but I think a lot of people are dealing with it. Right.
Britney Gardner [00:13:43]:
Yeah. So I. I still had to see these people, unfortunately, because of stuff. And I. I knew I was going to have to see them for an extended period of time, fairly regularly, regardless of the fact that I had pulled back from relationships that. That weren’t very good to me. And that felt. Yuck.
Britney Gardner [00:14:03]:
That felt gross. Like, I felt anxiety every time. Like, you had to be in the room with them. And I. I asked you. I was like, I need something I can just take when I’m feeling anxiety. Like, I did use it like that once a week when I needed it, and then I just stopped. Like, I didn’t even remember to take it.
Britney Gardner [00:14:23]:
Because I didn’t feel like I needed it anymore. And that was a big aha win. Right? Like that was one another. I remember I actually texted you this one. I don’t remember the exact timing on it, but I texted you and I was like, I had to do a really hard thing today and I did it. And I’m not drowning afterwards. I’m not feeling like I’m hungover afterwards. Like hungover from like the emotions, you know, from like the situation.
Britney Gardner [00:14:51]:
And that was actually, if I recall again, I don’t remember the exact time. I feel like that was around the time we started really trying to hit my shoulder with.
Dawn Wiggins [00:14:59]:
Yeah, that was post arnica of all things, like.
Britney Gardner [00:15:02]:
Yeah, right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:15:03]:
So. So let me just tie some pieces together, if I may, please. Okay, so, so Britney’s case was super interesting because. And you can maybe explain some of this, but she experienced this major injury in high school and major injury in high school and it resulted in surgeries and medications and X rays and all these things. And so we tried it. I think I even tried some really like esoteric remedies with you or we talked about it at least. Like X ray, right? Like there are remedies made.
Britney Gardner [00:15:30]:
We did, we, we did try X ray. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So long story short, I fractured my hip when I was in high school. Just a stupid freak accident. And you know, since 15 year old females don’t do that. I had to have like multiple MRIs and X rays and I think a CAT scan. And then two years later I developed a hernia, an inguinal hernia. It’s like kind of where your like leg meets your body in that upper, you know, crotch area.
Britney Gardner [00:15:55]:
And again, 17 year old females don’t get. So they didn’t know what to do. So I, I saw like all the specialists, like it was still a virgin. And I had like a gynecological visit. You guys, it was horror, you know, but I had to see all these different specialists and like so much imaging. And I was sitting in anatomy and physiology, which I took as a junior, like that spring. It was after all my, like it was after the surgery that found the hernia. But I was sitting in there and we were talking about radiation and I was like, wait a second because my textbook actually said how much you like pick up from each one of these.
Dawn Wiggins [00:16:31]:
Things get exposed to.
Britney Gardner [00:16:33]:
I was like, you guys, I’m radioactive. Literally I was like 17 and radioactive. So yeah, that came up just anecdotally with you one time and you’re like, huh, huh, and then you start sending me screenshots of like, you know, things. And I was like, that fits, that fits, that fits. So we did some kind of funky remedies there, and then we did arnica. But the real breakthrough was opium.
Dawn Wiggins [00:16:57]:
I know, but arnica was the one. And so this is just a note, right? Because arnica, like, it’s the remedy most people are familiar with because they can pick it up at Publix or whatever. I don’t know, Kroger, you know, I don’t know, in the muscle rub aisle or whatnot. So. And that is homeopathic. And it’s for trauma, physical and mental, emotional, recent and remote. And so when you were dealing with the friend things, and we did some high potency arnica, probably. We did a.
Dawn Wiggins [00:17:23]:
We actually probably did a blend of potencies, but did some high potency arnica. That’s when the emotional started shifting. And that’s when you went to the friend thing and had to do the hard thing and it didn’t drown you. So it’s like the arnica broke the case, which is really fascinating. And then, yes, the shoulder thing, which was just something I saw you say on your socials.
Britney Gardner [00:17:45]:
Yeah, I said, and actually I just saw this on Mother’s Day because I was looking through my old stories to find a specific picture. I said something along the lines, okay, all right, so I. I had an injection in my. My shoulder back in November, and I started PT in December, and I was making good progress. And then all of a sudden I wasn’t. All of a sudden my. My shoulder started to, like, try and refreeze, which was really annoying because I’d been working so hard. And it came out I have a very high pain tolerance, which I’ve known forever.
Britney Gardner [00:18:16]:
But it came out that, you know, if I didn’t have such a high pain tolerance, maybe I wouldn’t have been pushing my shoulder too hard with my PT exercises and re. Injured it, essentially. And I posted something about that on my Instagram stories. And you were like, that’s it. And there we were.
Dawn Wiggins [00:18:32]:
And I think I had just shipped you a box and I was like, now I have to ship another box.
Britney Gardner [00:18:35]:
You did? Yeah. Cause you had just that morning ship. But it’s okay.
Dawn Wiggins [00:18:41]:
So here’s something that’s really interesting.
Britney Gardner [00:18:43]:
Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:18:44]:
And. And I don’t know that this is going to land because it’s like in the weeds. Clinical brain, like. Like clinician brain. Right. So opium as a homeopathic remedy is useful for people who, you know, have injuries and pain Issues. But also it’s so useful for dissociation, which we see with complex trauma. Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:19:06]:
And what’s interesting is I use that remedy a lot with my trauma clients now as an opener before I do emdr, because the results in EMDR are often better when we can peel back some of that dissociative stuff, then you can get into your feelings and you can actually work through some things. So it’s just so interesting that now there’s a handful of remedies I use for dissociation, depending on, you know, the presentation and what the person needs. But it’s fascinating that you got such good results from EMDR while needing opium down the road. It’s very interesting.
Britney Gardner [00:19:42]:
Or maybe I was just so primed for the emdr. Like, we’re like, we’re going to do this regardless of the fact that you haven’t been opened.
Dawn Wiggins [00:19:49]:
Yeah, all this stuff was right on the surface. Okay, let’s do an EMDR question. So emdr, it sometimes, often, almost always reveals memories that feel minor to you before you do emdr, but hold major emotional weight once we get into the processing. So were there any. I know the answer.
Britney Gardner [00:20:08]:
Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:20:08]:
But were there any small memories that surprised you in their healing importance? However much you want to share about that?
Britney Gardner [00:20:14]:
So when I was in fifth grade, my mom had brain surgery. She had an abscess and bacterial meningitis and a staph infection all at the same time, which is like, a really fun cocktail, last we had heard, which was, you know, forever ago. They still studied her case in medical conferences because it was supposed to be, like, impossible. And my family just gets real lucky with some of those impossibilities, so. But they didn’t know what was wrong. She had had a dental visit and had a horrible headache. And over the weekend it got worse, and she was just not good. And they went to the dentist, and then he sent it to an oral surgeon, and he was like, yeah, not me, neurosurgeon.
Britney Gardner [00:20:52]:
And he was like, cool, you’re in the hospital now. And just got worse. It took them a while to figure out what was going on. And probably another case for radioactive.
Dawn Wiggins [00:21:01]:
Uhhuh. Uhhuh.
Britney Gardner [00:21:02]:
Had to guess. But during that time period, this was. This all started at the beginning of May, so it was like, right on through Mother’s Day. And, you know, like, when you’re in elementary school, what do you do at school? The week before Mother’s Day, you get to slave over the Mother’s Day card. Right. So I’m the oldest of three girls. My youngest sister was too young to even go to the hospital, and it wouldn’t have been, you know, a thing. But Lindsay and I, who’s two years younger than me, went our.
Britney Gardner [00:21:28]:
My. My parents. Friends, we were staying with them, and they brought us to the hospital for Mother’s Day. And I was, like, so excited thinking, you know, my card was going to magically heal my mom because, you know, child’s brains, right? Or maybe I didn’t even think it was going to heal her. I just thought she would actually, like, be happy to see it. But she was in a lot of pain, and as an adult, I can see exactly what happened, but she just tossed it aside, and I was, like, really mad at her about it for a very long time. And that came up, in my view, at the time, very unexpectedly. But now, like, you know, a couple years after we’ve done all this, and I’ve done even more healing, I’m like, of course that came up, right?
Dawn Wiggins [00:22:10]:
Of course that came up. Yeah. But it’s so interesting, right? Because if I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, like, that doesn’t bother me. I don’t think of that. I don’t even. Right. And then when we get into either both and EMDR and. Or homeopathy, these things come forward and it’s like, holy crap, this has been, you know, it’s like the cornerstone or like a major pivotal moment for someone that gets internalized as a negative belief about self.
Dawn Wiggins [00:22:39]:
And then we live life from that place. It’s like, lurking in the shadows of our subconscious, and you don’t even realize it’s.
Britney Gardner [00:22:46]:
Well, I just think it’s funny that my. My major breakthroughs in both our EMDR time together and our homeopathy time together have been on, like, little asides. You know, one of them was so inconsequential to my life, I didn’t even tell you. You read it on my Instagram. But, you know, these little things. I mean, have you ever been in. Yes, I. The answer is yes.
Britney Gardner [00:23:11]:
You’ve been in a conversation, and, you know, you start talking, and then it kind of shifts a little bit. Oh, oh. And you didn’t know that that thing happened. Oh, and then this happened. And then, oh, did you know, my husband does this and then this, and you’re like, wait, how did we get here? And I feel like it’s the same thing with healing, you know?
Dawn Wiggins [00:23:28]:
Okay, so you’ve already sort of referenced this, but as someone who’s both strategic and intuitive, we haven’t mentioned this. You are an artist. You are also a flower farmer, but you’re an artist and you paint. And the things that you create are just so beautiful. And you don’t just create in painting. Like you create with food and you, you create with so many things.
Britney Gardner [00:23:46]:
Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:23:46]:
But as someone who’s both strategic and intuitive, how did either of these modalities, EMDR or homeopathy, challenge or affirm your relationship with control or surrender?
Britney Gardner [00:23:59]:
Yeah, I’m not gonna say I’m like the uber type a control freak, but I, but I do veer in that direction. So not knowing what’s going to happen next is not my favorite. You know, in terms of emdr, I don’t feel like I was as challenged with that. It was very clear cut what was going to happen. You’re like, okay, we’re going to do this, we’ll do this for a little bit and then we’ll talk. And it was like I knew it was coming even though if I didn’t understand the process, like it was fine. And it was all like in a container. Right.
Britney Gardner [00:24:34]:
Like we had our, our hour together.
Dawn Wiggins [00:24:36]:
All in a container. Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:24:37]:
You know what I mean? So that, that didn’t feel as much. I mean, did I have to trust that you knew we’re doing. Yeah, but I mean, you’re a professional, Don. I hope I trust what you’re doing. You know, like, I mean, I’m sure people do come to you. I don’t understand how that don’t trust you. But like, I guess that probably happens.
Dawn Wiggins [00:24:53]:
It does happen actually. Like I saw someone today who I’ve seen for years and she was not trusting me in the last three sessions. And that’s a dissociative part. That’s part of complex trauma. That part was forward. Right. And that part couldn’t trust. So yes, it happens.
Dawn Wiggins [00:25:07]:
Okay, carry on.
Britney Gardner [00:25:08]:
It’s weird to me.
Dawn Wiggins [00:25:09]:
I don’t think I would.
Britney Gardner [00:25:11]:
Although, I don’t know, I mean, I definitely like one of my doctors for my shoulder. I ended up not going back there because I didn’t trust him. So I guess people do go to people that they don’t trust. But anyway, it was different with homeopathy, I guess is the, is the short answer. I, as previously mentioned, was healthily skeptical about it. My dad would still today be like, yeah, that’s quack science. Although he said that about essential oils as well. And he’s the only thing that would stop one of his muscle spasms was that deep blue.
Britney Gardner [00:25:41]:
Oh, you know, greatest. Yeah. But But I mean, that’s like how I was raised, you know, like, medical science is where you go to western medical science. Right. And the process of just taking a pellet under my tongue or taking a sip of water. You know what I mean? It doesn’t feel like it should work. But I can still say that today, you know, I know it does now. Like, I’ve changed my opinion, but it doesn’t feel like it should.
Britney Gardner [00:26:11]:
It feels very placebo y. You know?
Dawn Wiggins [00:26:15]:
Yeah. And. And I love your experience with that, because if it was placebo, you would have had the same result from all however many remedies we’ve used. Right. And that wasn’t the case. Yeah. So super interesting.
Britney Gardner [00:26:25]:
Yeah. Even. Even, like, you know, my seven year old, even, like, right before he left, I was like, oh, go, go take your sip. You know, because we’re doing something with him right now. And he’s like, why are we doing this again? Like, we do this because it works. And that’s all I can say. I don’t really know how to say. So typically when I get interested in something, I do the deep dive and all the things on how it works and all the stuff, and I’m just trusting you to do that for me, which is a huge moment.
Dawn Wiggins [00:26:48]:
It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal.
Britney Gardner [00:26:50]:
I would normally need to know all the things about it. Like when I decided to do the dahlia farm. Right. Like, girl, if you want to talk for 45 minutes on how Dahlia genetics work, I mean, I can do that. Yeah. Do I need to do that to grow pretty flowers? I do not. Yeah, but that’s kind of just how I operate. And.
Britney Gardner [00:27:08]:
And I’ve had to release some of that. And then just especially with all the different remedies we’ve done. And I’m like. Well, I mean, like, maybe I felt like a little bit like this, but I don’t. I don’t really think anything changed or. I remember the first time we tried sulfur, you had told me as a warning, just because you knew I had stuff coming up, you’re like, you might feel a little explosive after this. And then when I didn’t feel explosive, I was like, where’s my explosion? Yeah. You know.
Dawn Wiggins [00:27:33]:
Well, but then let’s talk about what happened when you took the opium, because you were not. I was not your favorite person that day.
Britney Gardner [00:27:39]:
No, that was a nasty, nasty crapload of a head. Like, that was bad.
Dawn Wiggins [00:27:44]:
It was bad. You got a terrible headache. And you’re like, this is. I mean, I Couldn’t hear you because you texted it, but I could hear you. Right. This is what we were looking for.
Britney Gardner [00:27:52]:
Like this. You wanted to. Yes.
Dawn Wiggins [00:27:55]:
Horrible headache.
Britney Gardner [00:27:56]:
Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:27:56]:
You said it was like all night long, like, kept you up. Like it was so painful.
Britney Gardner [00:28:00]:
Yeah. I had. I think it was a Sunday, if I recall. Maybe it was a Saturday, but I felt like the headache brewing Saturday, Sunday morning, whatever it was. And by midday I was like, no, screw this, I need to take some ibuprofen. Like, and I’ve been really trying to not mess with my gut and not take ibuprofen. And even like the anti inflammatories I use for my shoulder are all herbal because I’m trying to heal all that. But this was not that moment.
Dawn Wiggins [00:28:25]:
No, no. And that’s right. And that level of pain isn’t good for healing either. So.
Britney Gardner [00:28:29]:
Yeah. So I took the ibuprofen and you know, it did start working, but it was. It was one of those workings where you still feel all the pressure in your head. Yes. It’s not painful, but you know, that headache is there.
Dawn Wiggins [00:28:40]:
Is there.
Britney Gardner [00:28:41]:
And even the next morning I still felt like remnants of the pressure. It wasn’t as intense, it was clearly waning. But I was like, so apparently things needed to leave my body.
Dawn Wiggins [00:28:51]:
Things needed to leave. That’s right.
Britney Gardner [00:28:52]:
Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:28:53]:
It was an exorcism. And this is the thing about both EMDR and homeopathy that are sometimes hard to warn people about, because what do you do on the front end? Say, like, this could be one of the most uncomfortable things you ever experienced in your life, but I promise it’ll be worth it. But that’s sometimes the reality is. Right. It’s. We have been sort of trained in Western medicine to take a pill and your symptoms disappear because we’ve suppressed them, but we’ve cured or healed nothing. And that’s not. I don’t mean that.
Dawn Wiggins [00:29:20]:
So black and white. Right. Like, my husband has two replaced hips. Like, thank God, he wouldn’t be able to walk without his replaced hips. I’m not anti medicine Right.
Britney Gardner [00:29:27]:
At all.
Dawn Wiggins [00:29:27]:
At any stretch. But more often than not, we medicate to suppress, and we’ve gotten used to that. And then when healing actually involves expression and detox or metabolization of things that have been stuck for a very long time, it can be deeply uncomfortable, whether it’s EMDR or homeopathy. Either one. Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:29:47]:
And for me, at least, and I know this is going to be different for everybody, I didn’t have that experience with emdr. I was like, oh, that feels better. I remember you asking me, like, where do you feel that in your body now? I don’t feel it anymore. And. But there was no, like, pain getting rid of. I mean, the healing is still.
Dawn Wiggins [00:30:04]:
Do you remember, like, a lot of times people have dreams or nightmares or.
Britney Gardner [00:30:10]:
I think I did.
Dawn Wiggins [00:30:11]:
No. And then a lot of times people will not sleep well the night before their EMDR Session because they know they’re going to have to touch stuff that. I think you were so ready to put the things down, though.
Britney Gardner [00:30:20]:
Yeah, I think that’s the case. I think by the time I reached out, like, before we did any of that, I was very much in the, like, no, no. I am a strong and capable person. I can fix this myself.
Dawn Wiggins [00:30:32]:
Preach. That’s what everybody says. Yes, yes.
Britney Gardner [00:30:35]:
Not. But yeah, I. I think you’re right. I was so ready for it. And then, you know, I had those few sessions after my friend’s passing and. And you helped. They helped. I was doing so much better that when I reached out to you the second time for.
Britney Gardner [00:30:53]:
For therapy, emdr. Right. Like, I already knew that what I was going to ask for was going to occur. I knew what to expect. Right. Like, so I don’t think I had any anxiety about that. But again, I was in a place that was very low both of those times that I reached out. So I was pretty desperate.
Dawn Wiggins [00:31:11]:
Like, because we already moved it.
Britney Gardner [00:31:36]:
Exactly. Exactly.
Dawn Wiggins [00:31:38]:
Yes.
Britney Gardner [00:31:39]:
And even, like, my son that we’re working through things with right now, right. Like, you know, he’s still being seen by, you know, medical doctors as well, for various things. And, you know, everything’s being done in concert, which I love. That’s like, do we have bad moments with him? Oh, yes. Oh, yes, there are bad moments. But. But it’s not like I’m expecting homeopathy to be a magic pill that just makes it all go away. Although that is kind of what happened.
Dawn Wiggins [00:32:06]:
That’s what happened with your shoulder. Right, but it’s. Right, but it’s layer by layer, and sometimes it’s that magical one. And also, if I may mention, pans or pandas, like complex kiddos. Right. He is a very unique, complex kiddo. And there are so many more of those in the world these days. And you.
Dawn Wiggins [00:32:23]:
We. That’s a whole nother podcast episode. Right. Which we could do about, you know, mothers and complex kids and divorce, because that is its whole own episode. Right. But those situations, they do. They take longer, they’re a little trickier to find what is the magic thing? And it’s going to be a little of this and a little of that, and it’s. It’s a journey.
Britney Gardner [00:32:44]:
Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:32:45]:
Yeah. So, okay, now that you’ve had both of these experiences, EMDR and homeopathy, like, when you are having, let’s say, a bad day these days, the voles, they’re not going to eat your flowers this year, but. Or like, whatever, with your family or anything, right? Friends, what do you come back to now? Like, what. How do you see your life, your circumstances, Bad days today compared to before you did either of these modalities.
Britney Gardner [00:33:14]:
I mean, I think it’d be really fair to say I was coming at everything from a place of victimhood in the past. And I’m. I probably still lean that direction, but it’s easier for me to come at things with more curiosity now. Okay. I’m feeling like this, all right, what is leading up to this? What can I do about this? What is in my control? What is out of my control? Which feels much more well adjusted than maybe I was a couple years ago. But. But even like this morning, right, like, I texted you and I was like, all right, my dad’s wife had her knee replaced yesterday. She’s in a lot of pain.
Britney Gardner [00:33:49]:
What can I bring over that I already have in the house? I think coming at it from a place of curiosity now, rather than this bad thing happened, what did I do wrong to cause this? Or woe is me? Why does this stuff always happen to me? You know? So I’m not saying I’m perfect and you know, all of that, but I am able to separate. I remember the first time you asked me, this is back in the emdr, like, early times. Where do you feel that in your body? And I was like, I don’t understand the question. Like, rephrase. And you, you rephrased. And I was like, yeah, now try again. Like, because I was so separated from that awareness, I didn’t even know how to answer that question. Like, I was having emotional pain.
Britney Gardner [00:34:34]:
What do you mean? Where do I feel that in my body? Like, the emotional heart’s fake. What are you talking about? I mean, not fake, obviously. I Had emotions, but, like, I. I didn’t even know where to look inside myself.
Dawn Wiggins [00:34:43]:
Right, right.
Britney Gardner [00:34:44]:
For that all said, whatever. And now that. That is, like, the first thing I think of. Okay, so where am I feeling this cool? What can I do about it?
Dawn Wiggins [00:34:55]:
Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:34:56]:
In these situations with the friend group that I’ve had to walk through over this last year, I know when I’m feeling elevated, you know, like, if you’ve ever heard, like, the allergy, you know, cup and like, like, analogy. Right. The. You know, we’re never completely not allergic to anything. Sometimes our cup is empty. Sometimes your cup is half full. So if you have an encounter or something you are allergic to, if your cup’s already half full, you’re going to have a bigger reaction than last time. And I’ve been able to apply that analogy to interacting with people that are hard.
Britney Gardner [00:35:31]:
Like, okay, I know on Fridays, I’m already elevated.
Dawn Wiggins [00:35:35]:
Oh, so you can plan your life differently, huh? Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:35:39]:
Yeah. And even, like, you know, a couple of the times when you were trying a few remedies, like, okay, let’s. Let’s do this. I’d be like, cool, I’ll try it Saturday.
Dawn Wiggins [00:35:45]:
Like, that’s right.
Britney Gardner [00:35:47]:
To Friday. You know?
Dawn Wiggins [00:35:48]:
That’s right. Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:35:50]:
And it wasn’t like, oh, I have the weekend. I could try it. No, I have different stressors on the weekend. I’m with my kids and my husband, and we’re trying to get projects done and we’re trying to do all the things right. But I knew that certain stressors are different than other stressors, and I was able to plan better. Yeah.
Dawn Wiggins [00:36:04]:
So all this nuance. Okay, I’m gonna ask you a big, messy, wide question that’s less about you and is more about our lovely listeners. But I feel like one of the things that makes this conversation magical is you have the opportunity to speak on some of the things we talk about sometimes internally. Right. Like why? What would you say to a woman who’s considering working with us, you know, either in our personalized program or trying something they haven’t tried before or they’re feeling a healthy dose of skepticism and because there are so many coaches, you can’t see me, but I just did air quotes which may have been maybe, I don’t know, your voice. Right. What would you say to a woman out there where, you know, who’s in the. Those dark places you described? Right.
Dawn Wiggins [00:36:54]:
And there are so many people making claims on the Internet. What would you say to her?
Britney Gardner [00:37:02]:
I think what I would say to her is there’s reason to be skeptical. Absolutely.
Dawn Wiggins [00:37:07]:
Absolutely.
Britney Gardner [00:37:08]:
But if you’re not doing well, as is, it’s time to try something different. And. And for me, and in all three of the separate instances, situations, whatever you want to call that I’ve come to you with and be like, I need help here, I was not handling it well on my own. And. And maybe I thought if I waited long enough, it would just even out by itself. But what’s the harm to people around me during those time periods, you know? You know, after my friend passed, I. I was carrying so much guilt and everything that, like, I was not being a good mother. I.
Britney Gardner [00:37:45]:
I basically stopped working. My business started tanking. Like, that’s income for the family, right? Like, I mean, all of these things were affected because I wouldn’t deal with it, and I thought I could handle it on my own. And, you know, some of the things that you’re dealing with in a divorce in particular, are very different than some of the things I’ve been talking about here. But what is the same is I wasn’t handling it, and I did need outside help, and I did need outside guidance and in different ways. Right. Like, if we had tried just homeopathy that first time when I was dealing with my friend’s passing, I don’t know what would have happened. Like, I needed different things at different times.
Dawn Wiggins [00:38:26]:
You needed, like, some immediate stabilization. Right. Something that was gonna move the needle quickly.
Britney Gardner [00:38:31]:
But. But how could I have known that without having the training or. Or even if I were someone who has, you know, therapy or, you know, counseling or, you know, psychology training?
Dawn Wiggins [00:38:42]:
You can’t always see how can you.
Britney Gardner [00:38:43]:
Do that to yourself. Right?
Dawn Wiggins [00:38:44]:
Yeah.
Britney Gardner [00:38:44]:
You don’t really see yourself the same way people on the outside do. And you don’t hear yourself.
Dawn Wiggins [00:38:50]:
That’s it. You don’t hear yourself.
Britney Gardner [00:38:51]:
You know, like, I’ve known for. Well, since I fractured my hip when I was 15, so, you know, 25 plus years I’ve known. I have a much higher pain tolerance than the average person. It’s. It’s so internalized. To me, it’s just normal. Why would I bring that up? That’s just a little quirk that I have. You know what I mean? So, like, you need someone outside of you to kind of pick at those.
Britney Gardner [00:39:15]:
Those little things that really unravel all the other things. You know, it’s. It’s that thread that you pick out on your sweater, and then the whole.
Dawn Wiggins [00:39:22]:
Dang thing comes on.
Britney Gardner [00:39:24]:
But you need to do that to get to what’s underlying. So that’s that’s what I would say to people out there who, who, yes. Are seeing, oh, just another practitioner or, oh, just another coaching program. And to me, I would say it’s not just another. Having been on the inside of your team for, you know, for a while, off and on, and then, you know, consistently for the last several years, I know how much value is in it. I know what you bring to the table. I know everyone around you brings to the table. And the people that are hiring you get so much more than they think they’re actually getting.
Britney Gardner [00:39:56]:
But from a personal perspective, I would say if what you’re doing right now isn’t working and you aren’t at the level that you want to be at, and you know that you can be a better person, more well adjusted, more happy, more ready to be present with those that you love around you, do better, you know, at work, do better with your kids, all of that right. Then, then you owe it to yourself to explore that more.
Dawn Wiggins [00:40:22]:
I love how clear it is to you about that self reliance piece. Right. And, and yeah, the downstream effects of that because. And I think for me that’s always been about protecting vulnerability or control or shame. Like something about that. Right. Like, it just feels like such a. I don’t know, to me, like a, like failure for me that.
Dawn Wiggins [00:40:46]:
Right. And, and it’s not, but that is how it feels for me. And I’ve always had to just take a deep breath and like jump off the cliff and be like, well, I guess we’re going to feel those feelings now.
Britney Gardner [00:40:56]:
Yeah. And if I may, you know, we became much better friends like through co. Right. Because everyone’s relationships are on zoom, so it doesn’t actually matter that I’m across the country from you. Right. Like, but also that time period, I was relying on myself a lot. You know, like just in that first year, 2020, we lost all special services for my son, my husband got laid off, and then my parents separated and I was suddenly homeschooling, not distance learning, actually legit homeschooling. My older kid and I mean, it blew up.
Britney Gardner [00:41:26]:
You know, friends I had had before were no longer friends because, you know, all of a sudden politics dictated how you can be friends. And I, I didn’t have anyone, so I could only rely on myself and my husband. But like, he was going through his own stuff. You know, all of that was how we did.
Dawn Wiggins [00:41:42]:
Right. We had a lot of long talks.
Britney Gardner [00:41:45]:
We did. And, and you know, like that, that I should be able to fix it myself thing may have always been ingrained in me, but I feel like those last couple years before you and I actually started working together, on me, not just on your business, but on me as a person, had really drilled that in. So it wasn’t just like, oh, I. I should be able to fix this myself. It was. It was more like, I’m the only one I can trust to fix this myself. And I had to get over that, too.
Dawn Wiggins [00:42:10]:
Yeah. Thank you so much for everything you shared. For just your openness, your vulnerability, your way of seeing it. Like your skeptics. Thank you for your skepticism. Like, I mean, you have no idea. It’s, like, such a joy to know that we have a convert.
Britney Gardner [00:42:29]:
Converts? Oh, not a word I love, but we’ll go with it.
Dawn Wiggins [00:42:32]:
Anything else you want to add before we wrap up?
Britney Gardner [00:42:35]:
No, I think we’ve covered it all. We did it, right? Yeah, we did it.
Dawn Wiggins [00:42:38]:
Thank you so much.
About Dawn Wiggins
Divorce Recovery Coach • Holistic Healer • Founder of Cocoon
Dawn Wiggins is a licensed marriage and family therapist who combines science and holistic healing to help women recover from divorce. Through EMDR, homeopathy, and compassionate guidance, she helps clients process pain and rediscover confidence. Dawn created Cocoon, a supportive divorce recovery community for healing and growth after divorce—because you don’t just deserve to heal, you deserve to thrive.
