We've all got something that we're carrying that we may not want to talk about. It took a number of years for me to finally say, yeah, I'm a veteran. The trauma was tough. I had to find a way to look within. My name is Damaris Grossmann. I am a US Navy veteran and integrative nurse practitioner. I was in high school and I was an okay student. I always longed for a little bit of structure and for helping others, I thought in the military might be an option. And I thought, Oh, no big deal. I'll
get my training out of it. And then I'll move on. I had no idea I'd go to war. I was like 19, going on 20 and having to make some decisions. And I like a top tier clearance for my job. I may not have been the one that had to push the button. But I mean, you never knew who you were going to hurt and whoever is going to get affected. whatever is going on in that mission moment, you're just dealing with it or never processing like the real stuff. Later, the emotions come on.
It came back and I was not okay. I had a job that caused a lot of harm. I couldn't just take a pain bad I couldn't just do physical therapy. I had to heal from the inside out. Because it happened to me and wanted to help people to find the strength, be the Warrior Within you know and be better. I now work as a integrative nurse practitioner. I see patients I take care of them not just in a way where I would just prescribe medications, but I also treat them in a holistic integrative
way. I do some yoga therapy and mindfulness and meditation. My true calling is helping others get through the hard stuff. There's so many elements to wellness that people don't really want to talk about. But because I've had to look at the way my health was, I can connect with others now in a different way. Now I'm at a point where I can say I am a veteran and this is what I need to do.