by Rebekah Brown | Aug 16, 2023 | Abandonment and CPTSD, ACEs, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, Guest Contributor, Trauma
Meaning—What does the loss & its impact say about me? I sat on the back porch of our custom-built little house in the backwoods of Virginia. I had everything I’d ever dreamed of except for one thing. A life. I thought I’d be free. Instead, I was drowning in...
by Rebekah Brown | Jun 28, 2023 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD and Inner Child Work, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, Family Estrangement, Narcissistic Personality Disorder
For part one of this series see What are The Roles in Dysfunctional Families Systems? A Short Childhood Story My brother glanced at me as we “read” the emotional temperature of the room. What was tonight going to be like? My mother already had one of those frowns on...
by Rebekah Brown | Jun 15, 2023 | Anxiety, Boundaries, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Guest Contributor
TRIGGER WARNING: This blog discusses sexual abuse ~In any bereavement, it is seldom clear what exactly is lost ~The things we have stored away deep in our hearts grapple with reality In any type of loss, there is a period of time when the loss does not seem...
by Rebekah Brown | May 25, 2023 | Attachment Trauma, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor, Healing Codependency, Healing from Toxic Shame, Self-Acceptance, Sexual Abuse
***TRIGGER WARNING: This article discusses abuse. *** What is Enmeshment? Enmeshment describes a relationship pattern between two people or a group of people in which personal boundaries are unclear. It is a hallmark of dysfunctional families and affects...
by Rebekah Brown | May 3, 2023 | Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, Family Estrangement, Gaslighting, Guest Contributor, Relationships, Trauma
This is the sixth and last installment in a series of blogs on relationship patterns found in dysfunctional families. We have seen how abusive families put members in roles and the way abusers dodge responsibility by blaming others and forcing children to become...