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It's Therapy Thursday!!

Survival can be the loudest chapter, but the quiet that comes after is where so many of the real questions hit. We sit down with Nerissa Balland, a therapeutic arts practitioner, visual artist, and the author of Canvas of Courage, to talk about what it means to rebuild your identity after cancer, trauma, grief, or any life-altering change that leaves you feeling emotionally disoriented. Her story begins with a metastatic melanoma diagnosis while she’s five months pregnant, and it opens into something bigger: how we carry unprocessed emotion when there are no words for it.

Nerissa shares the line that reframed healing for us: “Broken crayons still color.” We dig into why creativity is not about making “good art,” but about giving fear, grief, guilt, and survival mode somewhere to go. We talk presence over perfection, the pressure to look strong, and what it changes when our kids see us rest, cry, and recover instead of pretending we have it all together.

We also get honest about survivorship, including the guilt of outliving others, the PTSD that can linger, and why “fake positivity” can backfire. Along the way, we challenge modern speed culture and quick-fix self-care, and we point toward tools that actually hold up: asking for help, building community, and using grounding practices like music, movement, breath work, and visual expression to reconnect with yourself.

If this conversation gives you language for something you’ve been carrying, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. What’s one emotion you wish you had a safer place to put down?

Nerissa was diagnosed with cancer while five months pregnant. She didn't write a book about surviving. She wrote one about what happens after, and why so many people fall apart once the adrenaline stops. Her work gives your listeners a framework for processing what they've been through, whether they're currently in it or years out.

Canvas of Courage
The Art of Healing, Hope, and Gratitude for Young Mothers Facing Cancer

Available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble

Art Website

• IG: @nerissaballandart
• Support patient access to Canvas of Courage: GoFundMe

Support the show

Host Candace Patrice
Co-host Janet Hale

visit the website at https://www.essentialmotivation.com/
Instagram instagram.com/essentialmotivationllc

visit Janet's website https://haleempowermentllc.com/

To be a guest on our show email me at candacefleming@essentialmotivation.com
In the subject line put EMH Guest

Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988

Music by Lukrembo: https://soundcloud.com/lukrembo
Provided by Knowledge Base: https://bit.ly/2BdvqzN