Most people imagine PTSD as something tied to combat or emergency work. What often gets overlooked are the quieter stories. The ones with the survivors who walk back into ordinary life with extraordinary wounds no one can see. In this episode, Christiane Scarpino, author of Missing Pieces, shares her experience surviving a terrorist bombing at 21, the aftermath of FBI and NYPD interrogation, and the 49 years of PTSD that followed.

We talk about what PTSD actually feels like inside the body, how triggers show up in everyday life, the years she spent blaming herself for symptoms she didn’t understand, and what healing looks like for someone who never expected to live through the initial event, let alone the decades afterward.

But this is not just a trauma story. It’s a resilience story. Christiane has built a life filled with advocacy, service, marriage, humor, and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. She is proof that healing is not about going back. It’s about learning to live forward.

Whether you’re navigating trauma personally, loving someone who is, or working in a field where these experiences show up quietly, this episode expands the conversation around PTSD in an honest, compassionate, and human way.

05:10 – Surviving the terrorist bombing and the moment everything changed

09:40 – Three years of FBI and NYPD interrogation

14:15 – PTSD: symptoms, fear, and “feeling crazy” before diagnosis

18:25 – How triggers hide in plain sight

22:50 – Why PTSD doesn’t follow a timeline or expiration date

27:40 – The stigma of “you should be over this by now”

32:05 – Marriage, dogs, and rebuilding joy in a nervous system that never forgets

36:30 – Advocacy and why awareness still matters

40:50 – Writing Missing Pieces and telling the truth without sensationalizing

45:15 – What she wants PTSD survivors to hear right now

✨Connect with Christiane Scarpino:

• Book: Missing Pieces (memoir available via her site)
• Upcoming Work: PTSD self-help guide (in development)
• Website: https://www.christianescarpino.net

✨ Connect with Michele Simms:

• Website: thebeautyinthemess.com
• Instagram: @the.beauty.in.the.mess
• LinkedIn: Michele Simms
• Facebook Group: The Beauty in the Mess Podcast
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