Complex PTSD, Kintsugi & Glimmers: Nikki Everett on Turning Trauma Into Gold

Complex PTSD, Kintsugi & Glimmers: Nikki Everett on Turning Trauma Into Gold

From Glimmer Hunters by Glimmer Hunters

December 2, 2025 · 34 min · Season 2 · Episode 8

About this episode

Nikki Everett shares her journey with Complex PTSD and how glimmers of joy aided her healing process.

In this episode of Glimmer Hunters, Renee and Emily sit down with Nikki Everett - author of Uncomfortably Comfortable , Lifeline ambassador, and passionate advocate for people living with PTSD and Complex PTSD (CPTSD). Nikki shares her powerful story of working in palliative care, mental health and the prison system, experiencing multiple violent events, and eventually being diagnosed with Complex PTSD - a diagnosis she initially resisted. From flashbacks and dissociation to rebuilding her identity, Nikki talks honestly about what it’s like to walk “ through madness to find me ”. Along the way, she explains how glimmers (those tiny moments of safety, joy or connection) became a vital part of her healing - from early morning magpies and ocean swims to journaling, plants, and Japanese philosophies like Kintsugi. If you live with PTSD/CPTSD, love someone who does, or work in mental health, this one is a gentle but deeply validating listen. In this episode we explore: What Complex PTSD (CPTSD) is and how it differs from PTSD Nikki’s experience of multiple violent incidents while working in the prison system Dissociation, flashbacks and what’s actually happening in the brain during…

People in this episode

Hosts: Emily, Renee

Guest: Nikki Everett

Topics covered

  • Complex PTSD
  • Kintsugi
  • mental health
  • trauma
  • healing

Keywords

  • PTSD
  • CPTSD
  • palliative care
  • prison system
  • journaling
  • Japanese philosophies

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Uncomfortably Comfortable

Books & works: Turning Trauma Into Gold, Glimmer Hunters, Uncomfortably Comfortable

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