Dr. Jennifer Leigh
Benzo Withdrawal Help
Individual Coaching
Book a 30-minute or 60-minute coaching session for education, support, and coping skills.
Live Group Coaching/Support
Heal With Dr. Jenn on Discord offers three live group coaching sessions per week plus streaming events, online resources, and safe, positive support community.
Don’t Let A Doctor Or Therapist Harm You.
Very few licensed medical profesionals know that benzo withdrawal exists. Even fewer understand how to truly help. They often blame the patient for their symptoms or make an incorrect diagnosis. They prescribe pills and treatments that can be harmful to someone experiencing benzo withdrawal, AKA, “benzodiazepine injury syndrome.”
Please educate yourself about benzo withdrawal so you aren’t further harmed by an ignorant medical professional.
Book a coaching session to learn the dos and don’ts of benzo withdrawal, and learn how to manage withdrawal symptoms.
Services
Heal With Dr. Jenn
Group Coaching/Support
Heal WIth Dr. Jenn
For People in Benzo Withdrawal- Group Coaching Mon. Wed. Thurs. Fri. 9 AM Pacific for 45 minutes
- Safe, positive environment. You can turn off triggering content
- Symptom databank with links to solutions
- Free watch parties, yoga, educational classes, guest speakers, and more!
- Live sessions are recorded and archived for your convenience
- Exclusive educational and healing content
- FREE 30-day plant-based healing for benzo withdrawal course
- We meet on Discord
Heal With Dr. Jenn
For Caregivers- Group Coaching Tuesdays 9 AM Pacific for 45 minutes
- Connect with benzo withdrawal sufferers
- Symptom databank
- Self-care support
- FREE watch parties, yoga classes, educational classes, and more!
- FREE 30-day plant-based for healing in benzo withdrawal
- Exclusive educational and healing content
- We meet on Discord
One to One Coaching
30 Minute 1 to 1 Coaching
Phone or Zoom- 30 minute 1 to 1 coaching session with Dr. Jenn.
- Phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp, FB Messenger
- Family can join the calls
60 Minute 1 to 1 Coaching
Phone or Zoom- 60 minute 1 to 1 coaching session with Dr. Jenn
- Phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp, FB Messenger
- Family can join the calls
Urgent Weekday Sessions
Monday, Wednesday, Friday- 30 minute 1 to 1 coaching session with Dr. Jenn
- Phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp, FB Messenger
- Family can join the calls
Urgent Weekend Sunday Session
Sunday A.M.- 30 minute 1 to 1 coaching session with Dr. Jenn
- Phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp, FB Messenger
- Family can join the calls
Click to find a benzo-informed medical professional.
Dr. Jenn’s latest YouTube Videos
I care about you.
Like you, I took a benzodiazepine as prescribed. I hit tolerance (when the drug damages the brain and more is needed) sometime in the late 1990s and didn’t know what was wrong with me. I visited doctors—cardiologists, neurologists, internists, audiologists, therapists, etc.—none of them told me that the cause of my ill health was the benzo.
I stayed on the drug for many years, growing more and more sick and disabled.
October 2010, I began to taper off the drug and became bedridden. Many doctors who claimed to know about benzos tried to help me but they all harmed me.
Eventually, I was cold-turkeyed off the drug by a specialist who told me I would be fine. He was dead wrong. (Do not stop your medication abruptly as it can be life-threatening to do so.)
I have blogged honestly and openly about my recovery. It’s all here, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the wonderful richness and beauty of life after benzo withdrawal.
As my brain and nervous system returned to normal, I focused on achieving true well-being— a vibrant life without any mood-altering substances. I found the way to go from barely surviving to thriving! I’d like to share with you what I have learned.
From my heart to yours,
Dr. Jenn
Want Daily Support?
Heal With Dr. Jenn is a safe, positive coaching/support group on Discord.
Dr. Jenn hosts group coaching on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, at 9 AM pacific.
HWDJ has channels for benzo withdrawal discussions as well as positive, fun channels for connecting to the good in life, and for learning.
Concerned about being triggered? Your membership can be tailored so that you only see the positive channels, not the benzo channels.
HWDJ has live streaming events: audiobooks, movies, music, educational series, meditation, yoga, guest speakers, and more!
Heal With Dr. Jenn is a new, fresh approach to support for benzo withdrawal.
Membership is $120 a month, which includes 12+ hours a month of group coaching.
Caregivers can now join for their own support! $60 a month, which includes a weekly group coaching session.
The Blog
Comments are moderated.
Triggers In Benzo Withdrawal
Taking a benzodiazepine, even as prescribed, can damage the calming system in our bodies. The consequence of that happening is that we are easily emotionally triggered. Anger or rage can erupt instantaneously, or fear, terror, or panic engulf us in the blink of an...
How Do We Relax In Benzo Withdrawal?
It's Labor Day Weekend, and I'm across the San Francisco bay helping out with my three-week-old grandson. On Friday, traffic was heavy, with people heading out for fun and relaxation on this last summer holiday. I'll head back to the East Bay later today and hang out...
Is Being preoccupied With benzo Withdrawal a Benzo Withdrawal Symptom?
I sat with my best friend in her apartment, sharing all of my benzo withdrawal symptoms. She listened as she had done so many times before. Her facial expression changed when I got to the end of the laundry list of fears and complaints about my mental and physical...
I Can’t Make Up My Mind, And Other Oddities In Benzo Withdrawal.
Making decisions can be overwhelming for people experiencing benzo withdrawal or BIND (benzodiazepine-induced neurological dysfunction). And it's not just the big decisions that trip us up; even the small day-to-day decisions, such as what to wear, can feel...
What Is DPDR In Benzo Withdrawal?
DPDR stands for depersonalization and derealization. DPDR is an anxiety response to extreme stress. It makes sense that DPDR is a common benzo withdrawal symptom since the body's calming mechanism, the GABA receptors, have been downregulated from the drug. DPDR feels...
Everyone Tells You,”Go Get Help.” But Is That Good Advice?
Family and friends mean well. They want our suffering to end, so they encourage us to get help. They may feel that we aren't doing all we can to hasten our recovery if we shy away from doctors, medications, treatments, therapy, or detox centers. But is seeking medical...
Celebrating Eleven Years Off My Benzo!
June 23 is always a happy day! It is the day I celebrate being benzo free. This June, I celebrate eleven years! I can't believe that much time has passed. I am incredibly grateful for each day that I've been benzo free. If you...
Managing Existential Angst
Every person contemplates existence, but pondering can turn into paranoia and panic while in the throes of benzo withdrawal. Questions and concerns about the meaning of life, death, existence, who we are, time, the universe, and our souls, can torment us. Existential...
Twenty Ways To Cope With Benzo Withdrawal Depression.
I've experienced depression in my life, dark days that followed sad events. But I'd never experienced the soul-crushing bleakness that can come with benzo withdrawal. When it arrived, I was shocked and terrified. It felt as if it could destroy me. I'd wake up and feel...
Talking About Benzo Withdrawal
If you discovered a new color, how could you explain it to someone? There would be no reference point; it's not blue, orange, etc. It's the same with benzo withdrawal. There is no reference point. How can we explain the symptoms we experience so that someone...
Intrusive Thoughts, Revisited.
I could have been the poster girl for intrusive thoughts. I had one that entered my mind thirty seconds after waking and only left after drifting off to sleep. It tortured me. I thought I had gone mad, my mind so broken that the pieces would never go back together....
How To Cope With Today’s World News
The lyrics in Don't McLeans' song, American Pie, sure hit home, don't they? But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step If the headlines increase your benzo withdrawal symptoms, here are some...
Most Popular Blogs Posts
What We Wish Family And Friends Knew About Benzo Withdrawal
If we had been diagnosed with cancer, our family and friends would know that we are sick.They'd make us casseroles, take us to our chemo appointments, and call us to see how we are doing. After all, cancer is a serious matter, They would be concerned. But family and...
Can We Stop Fearing Fear?
First, it's important to understand that we feel fear in benzo withdrawal because the medication we took downregulated our GABA receptors. We don't have the necessary "equipment" to produce calm in our bodies or our minds. We aren't fearful because we lack backbone or...
Seven Suggestions For Practicing Acceptance
At 36 months out, I got slammed with the mother of all waves. It hit after I had been making measurable strides back to health and wholeness. I was out in the world more. I was writing again. Laughing. Going out on a few dates. I even created the curriculum for a...
A Letter To Our Doctors
Dear Dr. It is understood that many doctors are not properly educated about Benzodiazepines. Please allow me to arm you with some basic facts to better work with your patients. First, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Jennifer Leigh. I have a...
This website is not intended to be medical advice. It neither diagnoses or treats any illness. It is for education only. Please consult a trained medical professional if you have any concerns about your health or well-being. Readers of this website take full responsibility for their decisions and actions and hold Jennifer Leigh,