Hiding in Plain Sight
When is it a good time to admit to your therapist that you have literally army crawled through your house like Rambo to avoid answering the door? I surely can’t be the only one to pin myself up against the wall and peek through the curtains, waiting for the...
Anger: Is It the Poison Slowly Killing You, or the Antidote That Can Save You?
Tobie’s Story Tobie sat in their car, knuckles white against the steering wheel, jaw clenched so tight their teeth might crack. They had just left yet another family gathering where their boundaries were trampled, their feelings dismissed, and their experiences...
Trauma Explains a Lot. It Does Not Make Personality Disorders Imaginary
A bad idea does not need a big platform anymore. It just needs to sound clean, emotionally satisfying, and vaguely righteous. That is how nonsense travels now. Somebody with no training says, “There is no such thing as a personality disorder. It is all trauma,” and...
Self-Worth Vs Self-Esteem: Does it really matter how we view ourselves?
We don’t often think about ourselves. Most of the time, we don’t take regular breaks at work. Who cares what you think about yourself? Well, you do–yes, really. The reason is that you matter, and your presence in this world matters. Think about the last...
Developmental Trauma Pt 2: When Survival is a Way of Life
How the Nervous System Adapts to Ongoing Fear In the first article, we explored what developmental trauma is — not a single event, but an environment of ongoing fear that shapes a child’s nervous system over time. Understanding this raises an important and haunting...
Letter of Encouragement
Dear One, You’ve walked through storms that tested every part of you, and you stood back up, with courage in your heart. PTSD may have shaped part of your story, but it does not define who you are. You are still whole, still capable, and your light and strength...
When the First Trauma is Separation
Some people spend years trying to explain a wound that began before they had words. That is one of the hardest parts of very early trauma. If the injury happens at the beginning, people often assume it should not count. They assume that if you cannot consciously...
How To Spot Sexual Abuse in Children
As a survivor of sexual abuse and horrific trauma, I can attest that it is the worst pain a human being can endure. It feels like being tortured, and in simple terms, it is. As adults in this day and age, we have the power to stop children from being abused, but many...