When you get diagnosed with a chronic illness, it can feel like your whole world just shifted. And honestly? It did. So this might come as a shock to some, but… You can still have fun. You can still feel connected and joyful. It will just look a different than it did before.

I sat down with Dr. Brentia Caldwell-Smith, founder of The UP Center, to talk about what it really means to live well with chronic illness. Brentia has lupus and interstitial lung disease, and she's also a licensed professional counselor who specializes in chronic illness navigation. This conversation was full of real talk about grief, community, joy, and how to prioritize yourself when the world doesn't always understand what you're going through.

I had one of those conversations recently that I think is going to resonate with a lot of you. Dr. Kara Wada joined me on the podcast to talk about navigating chronic illness when the medical system keeps telling you nothing's wrong, and what to do when you're caught between dismissive doctors and wellness influencers making big promises.

Dr. Kara's a board-certified allergist and immunologist who also happens to live with Sjögren's disease and dysautonomia. So she gets it from both sides: the clinical side where you're trying to help patients within a broken system, and the patient side where you're the one being told your labs look "normal" while your body is screaming otherwise.

And if you've ever been in that position, you know how maddening it is.

Have you ever noticed yourself saying "part of me wants to rest, but another part feels guilty about canceling plans again"? If you're living with a chronic illness, you probably experience these internal conflicts daily. Today, we're exploring Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy with clinical social worker Kate Zera Kray, and how understanding our inner "parts" can transform the way we relate to our bodies and our conditions.