by Mari Stewart | Nov 18, 2021 | Anxiety, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor, Holiday Stress, Self Care
Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday. Putting my family together with the expectations of a celebration to rival the covers of the Saturday Evening Post never worked out well. It was more like a production of The Crucible. For many years, and I know I’m not alone...
by Roseanne Reilly | Nov 17, 2021 | Abandonment and CPTSD, Anxiety, Building Resilience in Healing, Complex PTSD Healing
Nervousness is normal when we have to face new and challenging situations, experiences, tests, interviews, presentations, or awkward family events.However, if you find that you are beginning to overly avoid situations (people, places, feelings) you could be left to...
by Sheri Heller | Nov 16, 2021 | Abandonment and CPTSD, Attachment Trauma, Complex PTSD Healing, Guest Contributor, Healing Codependency, Healthy Relationships
There’s no doubt that the quest for love is universal. The giving and receiving of love are as fundamental to our well-being as the air we breathe. In fact, according to the maternal deprivation hypothesis infants regardless of whether they are puppies, monkeys or...
by Shirley Davis | Nov 15, 2021 | Complex PTSD Healing, Grief, Post Traumatic Growth
In the first article of this series, we focused on toxic positivity and gratitude shaming. We spoke about how while gratitude is an important part of our life; it is unnecessary to be grateful for the harmful things that have happened to us such as childhood trauma....
by Paul Michael Marinello | Nov 11, 2021 | CPTSD and PTSD, Parental Alienation
This Wasted Day I was awoken by my alarm promptly at 5 a.m. this morning, the same time it is set for on all seven days. I have always preferred mornings, in darkness, prior to the sunlight’s blissful rise to capture the essence of my day. These morning hours bring...
by Matt | Nov 11, 2021 | Holiday Stress, Holidays, Surviving the Holidays
Let’s face it, really any day can be stressful for survivors. Random triggers, depression, anxiety, dissociating can simply occur at the drop of a hat. it’s all part of the deal in recovery. So even though there are countless circumstances that can raise the anxiety...
by Robyn Brickel | Nov 10, 2021 | Gaslighting, Relationships
If someone tries to erode your self-confidence, deny your experience, or plant seeds of self-doubt, there’s a word for that: Gaslighting. “You only think you know.” “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” “I never said that.” Gaslighting is abuse. It happens in...
by Shirley Davis | Nov 8, 2021 | CPTSD and Parenting
November is the month of Thanksgiving; a month to look at one’s life and be grateful for what we have. Over turkey and the fixings, we are supposed to sit around a table Norman Rockwell style and get along famously because we have each other. Reality differs greatly...
by Susan Morris | Nov 3, 2021 | ACEs, Building Resilience in Healing
If We Can Face Our Traumas: We Lessen the Risk for Mental Health Issues, Chronic Illness, and More We all enter the world a blank slate, free of thoughts and ideas. Who we eventually become is determined by the upbringing and experiences that fill that slate. We don’t...
by Michelle Tasa | Nov 2, 2021 | CPTSD, Holiday Stress, Holidays
Training for a marathon makes sense. Training for a job evaluation-definitely. Have you thought about training for the holidays? Winter is Coming… Up here in Canada, the leaves are turning yellow and falling from the trees. Summer days give way far too easily to...
