Writing together and therapeutic storytelling

They detail their collaborative writing process and how fictionalizing trauma became a form of healing (DBT-like).

Play episode from 01:00:53

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Episode notes

Miracles! Cancer! Kelly Clarkson! Floods! Family! Oh yeah, and a book, too! On this episode of The Pivot, we’re joined by married couple Jason (Kelly Clarkson’s music director and former member of Sonicflood) and Rhonda Halbert, who have been through way more than their fair share of trauma—including shifting careers, three separate cancer diagnoses, a destroyed home, and loss after loss—and how they have used their creative outlets to process their experiences. They share what happens when you learn to let go and why it’s okay to ask big questions as you wade through complicated feelings.

Thought-Provoking Quotes:

“Jason and Rhonda have been through trauma after trauma after trauma and yet when you talk to them, they are just so full of life and joy.” - Andrew Osenga

“The touring industry is not made for families, so we found ourselves maybe four years into our marriage having completely grown apart. And Rhonda was going to leave, she was done.” - Jason Halbert

“It’s a consistent theme for us: go passionately into something and then it fails spectacularly. You can believe with all your heart either God has led you or you’re following something you feel is right, and then it falls apart and you’re like, Where did I mess up?” - Jason Halbert

“[I did not want to] make money off the church, and I can trace those steps all the way to Kelly Clarkson and now a 22-year career with her, which is unheard of. None of this would’ve happened if we had fought to hold onto Sonicflood, all that came from letting go of it.” - Jason Halbert

“You would think that having experienced your precious thing and letting go of it, you’d think; Wow, look what came out of that… you would think as humans, we would get good at doing that. But every single time that happens, it’s like the first time it’s ever happened.” - Jason Halbert

“Sometimes, hanging on to something too long chokes the life out of you, and that’s why you have to learn to let go.” - Rhonda Halbert

“Miracles happen in multiple ways, we just have to be willing to see them and we have to be willing to walk through the hard journey to get to the other side, whatever that looks like.” - Rhonda Halbert

“You have to hang on to whatever God is saying, doing, promising, giving. You’ve got to pursue Him in the hardest, longest, depleting of your life journey to get to the end, because it’s on the other side where you start to say, ‘God is moving and God is doing something miraculous.’” - Rhonda Halbert

“Human nature is just to come back around to doubt, it’s just how we’re wired. I hit rock bottom, there were a few days when I woke up and I was so angry at God that I was like, ‘Why’d you have to wake me up today?’” - Rhonda Halbert

“We’re still in the thick of our trauma. We’re not completely out. We didn’t come out of the story going, ‘See, you can do it too!’ We’re in the middle of it and we’re still struggling, but we’re working it out as we’re continuing to walk forward.” - Rhonda Halbert

“Our faith is stronger than ever, but the questions we’re asking about it are bigger than ever. Everything’s layered and threaded.” - Jason Halbert

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Caretaker by Jason & Rhonda Halbert

Steven Curtis Chapman