JoAnn Elizabeth Stevelos
@joannstevelos.bsky.social
writer~poet~playwright~essayist~reader
This is the final chapter of my five-part Hope Series. It’s about mastery, spirituality, and how we keep moving when life feels impossible. If you’ve felt flattened by the world today, I hope this gives you a small place to rest.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
The Hope Model, Parts IV & V: Mastery and Spirituality
How the final two strands of the Hope Model help us move from survival toward meaning.
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This is the final chapter of my five-part Hope Series. It’s about mastery, spirituality, and how we keep moving when life feels impossible. If you’ve felt flattened by the world today, I hope this gives you a small place to rest.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Why the people who show up later can change everything.
If you grew up learning to depend on no one, it can take years to understand that attachment isn’t a threat — it’s a form of repair.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
If you grew up learning to depend on no one, it can take years to understand that attachment isn’t a threat — it’s a form of repair.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Part III — Attachment: Repairing the First Wound
In the Hope Model, attachment is the first repair. Patricia, Kathleen, and Shirley showed me how it begins.
open.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Why the people who show up later can change everything.
If you grew up learning to depend on no one, it can take years to understand that attachment isn’t a threat — it’s a form of repair.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
If you grew up learning to depend on no one, it can take years to understand that attachment isn’t a threat — it’s a form of repair.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Part III — Attachment: Repairing the First Wound
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Part III — Attachment: Repairing the First Wound
In the Hope Model, attachment is the first repair. Patricia, Kathleen, and Shirley showed me how it begins.
open.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Part III — Attachment: Repairing the First Wound
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
The Secret Architecture of Hope
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
The Secret Architecture of Hope
From The Second Silence — essays on the architecture of hope. First in a five-part series on how to understand hope, and how to practice it.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:58 PM
The Secret Architecture of Hope
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Survival: The First Dimension of Hope
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Survival: The First Dimension of Hope
From The Second Silence — essays on the architecture of hope Part II — Survival: Reframing shame as evidence of endurance, not failure.
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Survival: The First Dimension of Hope
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
If you’ve ever wondered how to hold onto hope—or how to rebuild it for yourself or someone you love—I’d love for you to follow along.
#hope
#hopelessness
#hope
#hopelessness
The Secret Architecture of Hope
From The Second Silence — essays on the architecture of hope. First in a five-part series on how to understand hope, and how to practice it.
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
If you’ve ever wondered how to hold onto hope—or how to rebuild it for yourself or someone you love—I’d love for you to follow along.
#hope
#hopelessness
#hope
#hopelessness
“Grief is not a task to finish, but a landscape to tend.” — Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Peter died around 3 a.m. on November 2. Each year, this hour feels both far and near. I write these words in his honor—for the ordinary beauty he left behind, and the field we keep clearing still.
Peter died around 3 a.m. on November 2. Each year, this hour feels both far and near. I write these words in his honor—for the ordinary beauty he left behind, and the field we keep clearing still.
JoAnn Elizabeth Stevelos (@dreamalibis)
“Grief is not a task to finish, but a landscape to tend.” —Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Peter died around 3AM on November 2, 2017. Each year, this hour feels both far and near. I write th...
substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM
“Grief is not a task to finish, but a landscape to tend.” — Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Peter died around 3 a.m. on November 2. Each year, this hour feels both far and near. I write these words in his honor—for the ordinary beauty he left behind, and the field we keep clearing still.
Peter died around 3 a.m. on November 2. Each year, this hour feels both far and near. I write these words in his honor—for the ordinary beauty he left behind, and the field we keep clearing still.
The Psychology of "No" in Vaccine Hesitancy | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
The Psychology of "No" in Vaccine Hesitancy
Tired of vaccine misinformation? Here's a calm, practical guide to protect kids—what to ask your clinician, how to weigh the risks, and why public health works.
www.psychologytoday.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The Psychology of "No" in Vaccine Hesitancy | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
The Psychology of "No" in Vaccine Hesitancy | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
The Psychology of "No" in Vaccine Hesitancy
Tired of vaccine misinformation? Here's a calm, practical guide to protect kids—what to ask your clinician, how to weigh the risks, and why public health works.
www.psychologytoday.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The Psychology of "No" in Vaccine Hesitancy | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
This Is Not a Hoax. It’s America’s Shame.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
This Is Not a Hoax. It’s America’s Shame.
Survivors know: silence isn’t neutrality. It’s complicity.
open.substack.com
September 3, 2025 at 8:12 PM
This Is Not a Hoax. It’s America’s Shame.
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
We Found Them by the Diaper Brand
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
We Found Them by the Diaper Brand
When justice starts with a diaper brand and a crib rail, we’ve already failed the children.
open.substack.com
June 11, 2025 at 2:11 PM
We Found Them by the Diaper Brand
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide?
A 10-year-old’s suicide is not just a tragedy—it’s a call to change how we teach, care for, and protect our children. Let’s refuse to look away.
www.psychologytoday.com
May 3, 2025 at 3:14 PM
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
My experience editing my favorite essay in a long time
open.substack.com/pub/frenchje...
open.substack.com/pub/frenchje...
My experience editing my favorite essay in a long time
A master lesson in trauma writing
open.substack.com
April 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
My experience editing my favorite essay in a long time
open.substack.com/pub/frenchje...
open.substack.com/pub/frenchje...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide?
A 10-year-old’s suicide is not just a tragedy—it’s a call to change how we teach, care for, and protect our children. Let’s refuse to look away.
www.psychologytoday.com
April 28, 2025 at 2:01 PM
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide?
A 10-year-old’s suicide is not just a tragedy—it’s a call to change how we teach, care for, and protect our children. Let’s refuse to look away.
www.psychologytoday.com
April 26, 2025 at 2:51 PM
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide?
A 10-year-old’s suicide is not just a tragedy—it’s a call to change how we teach, care for, and protect our children. Let’s refuse to look away.
www.psychologytoday.com
April 25, 2025 at 1:24 PM
What Happens When a 10-Year-Old Dies by Suicide? | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/chil...
We keep asking what’s wrong with the child.
We rarely ask: Who is around the child?
What if prevention meant stopping the abuser—before they act?
New on The Second Silence:
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
#ChildProtection #Prevention
We rarely ask: Who is around the child?
What if prevention meant stopping the abuser—before they act?
New on The Second Silence:
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
#ChildProtection #Prevention
What If Prevention Meant Stopping the Abuser?
What child sexual abuse survivors know that public health doesn’t always say aloud
open.substack.com
April 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM
We keep asking what’s wrong with the child.
We rarely ask: Who is around the child?
What if prevention meant stopping the abuser—before they act?
New on The Second Silence:
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
#ChildProtection #Prevention
We rarely ask: Who is around the child?
What if prevention meant stopping the abuser—before they act?
New on The Second Silence:
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
#ChildProtection #Prevention
She Named Herself Why Chanel Miller’s story matters—and what comes after survival
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
She Named Herself Why Chanel Miller’s story matters—and what comes after survival
A story of harm, and the hands that reshape it.
open.substack.com
April 13, 2025 at 6:54 PM
She Named Herself Why Chanel Miller’s story matters—and what comes after survival
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
This piece is about what happens when someone tells the truth—and what happens after.
She Named Herself Why Chanel Miller’s story matters—and what comes after survival
A story of harm, and the hands that reshape it.
open.substack.com
April 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
This piece is about what happens when someone tells the truth—and what happens after.
Just finished reading The Daughter Ship by Boo Trundle—an unflinching and haunting exploration of mothers, daughters, complicity, and the intricate wounds we inherit. Her writing is raw, poetic, and profoundly honest, leaving me reflecting deeply on how silence shapes our lives. Highly recommend.
Submerged Truths: A Deep Dive into Boo Trundle's The Daughter Ship
Navigating the Complex Currents of Memory and Survival
substack.com
April 4, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Just finished reading The Daughter Ship by Boo Trundle—an unflinching and haunting exploration of mothers, daughters, complicity, and the intricate wounds we inherit. Her writing is raw, poetic, and profoundly honest, leaving me reflecting deeply on how silence shapes our lives. Highly recommend.
The Good One: When Fathers Dismiss Their Daughters’ Truth
There’s a moment in The Good One that sits heavy—a daughter tells her father that his friend came onto her while he was asleep. And instead of outrage, instead of even hesitation, he dismisses her. open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
There’s a moment in The Good One that sits heavy—a daughter tells her father that his friend came onto her while he was asleep. And instead of outrage, instead of even hesitation, he dismisses her. open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
The Good One: The Weight of Silence and the Stones We Carry
A subtle shifting of roles, a silent rearranging of the world to accommodate the truth without ever naming it.
open.substack.com
March 19, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The Good One: When Fathers Dismiss Their Daughters’ Truth
There’s a moment in The Good One that sits heavy—a daughter tells her father that his friend came onto her while he was asleep. And instead of outrage, instead of even hesitation, he dismisses her. open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
There’s a moment in The Good One that sits heavy—a daughter tells her father that his friend came onto her while he was asleep. And instead of outrage, instead of even hesitation, he dismisses her. open.substack.com/pub/secondsi...
Some stories take a lifetime to tell. I'm deeply grateful to @theguardian.com for publishing my piece on the complexities of survival, silence, and the people who shape our healing. Thank you to those who have listened, believed, and made space for voices that are too often lost.
This story isn’t about the priest who abused me. It’s about my mother
She was a master archivist of lies, enabling my stepfather’s crimes against me and my siblings. Despite everything, I needed to believe she loved me
www.theguardian.com
March 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Some stories take a lifetime to tell. I'm deeply grateful to @theguardian.com for publishing my piece on the complexities of survival, silence, and the people who shape our healing. Thank you to those who have listened, believed, and made space for voices that are too often lost.