How Combat Vet Elizabeth Thomson overcame PTSD & Social Anxiety through Ballroom Dancing

Elizabeth Thomson is a US Army Combat Veteran and competitive ballroom dancer. Upon returning from service, she found that the trauma and flashbacks of war followed her home and later discovered she suffered with PTSD.

Through her healing process, Liz was lead to a local dance studio, signing up initially just to take some swing lessons. Fast forward a few years later, and Liz steps out onto the floor of competitive ballroom dancing for the first time. The rest is history! Since then, she has won two major world titles as an amateur in American Smooth and currently trains with some of the best coaches in the industry. Her goal is to continue to grow as a dancer, become a professional ballroom competitor, while also sharing her story of how ballroom dancing helped her overcome PTSD.

During our conversation we discuss:

4:12 How did you get into ballroom dancing?

4:35 - Liz’s experience going to get help with PTSD after deployment

8:25 When did you notice PTSD symptoms appearing vs when did others notice?

9:25 What made you take notice & accept your PTSD was affecting you?

11:05 What was your knowledge of PTSD before you realized you were struggling with it?

14:50 After you came to terms with the fact that you were struggling with PTSD, what happened then?

18:35 - When did you walk into a dance studio for the first time?

23:50 What other ways did PTSD affect your daily life? 

25:25 How she connected lack of sleep to symptom exacerbation

28:20 When was the first time you connected your mental health to dancing?

31:55 The impact of community on mental health improvements

32:55 Collective Effervescence - the community bond affect when you’re moving together with others

36:55 How she went from a comfort zone of baseball caps to ballroom makeup and bedazzled costumes for competition

39:25 - How Liz has transformed in the time since she’s began Ballroom in 2013

43:25 What version of yourself does dancing bring out in you?

46:45 How depression & anxiety look in her life now vs what it used to look like?

47:55 How does she handle low days now?

53:55 What’s in your future for ballroom competitions?

58:45 What wisdom would you share with your younger self?  

Follow Liz's Journey on IG: @lizaroooni

 

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