by Rebecca Donaldson | Jan 22, 2021 | ACEs, Complex PTSD Healing, Dissociation and CPTSD, Family Estrangement
It’s been 13 years since I have been to the dentist. While I finally have insurance now, I fear going. How does someone explain to a doctor their reason for not going to the dentist for 13 years or never having had a pap smear? I prefer nobody to know my history. Even...
by Cassie Sands | Jan 21, 2021 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD and Inner Child Work, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Guest Contributor
I distinctly remember the first time I met my inner child. It was the fall of 2019, and I had just started grappling with the realization that the things I went through with my parents did and do, in fact, affect me deeply. Perhaps this is obvious and easy to you,...
by Elizabeth Connis | Jan 20, 2021 | COVID-19, First Responders and CPTSD, The Brain and CPTSD, Trauma-Informed
The coronavirus pandemic has forced me (like far too many others) to think further about the world around me in a more precise, exact way. And, I know I am not alone in this. Every detail, all around us, has suddenly become very, very relevant to…. everyone. We have...
by Robyn Brickel | Jan 19, 2021 | CPTSD, LGBTQ and Complex Trauma Healing
On November 7, 2017, Virginia voters elected Danica Roem to the Virginia House of Delegates. Roem is the first openly transgender state legislator in America. Her campaign focused on local issues, especially improving traffic problems, which resonated with voters....
by Shirley Davis | Jan 18, 2021 | CPTSD, Emotional Flashbacks
Emotional flashbacks are troubling and often disabling events that cause a person to experience alarming and crippling bursts of strong emotions. Emotional flashbacks are experienced without the linked visions from the past that accompany average flashbacks. In this...
by Jess | Jan 15, 2021 | ACEs, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, CPTSD and PTSD, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Depression, Family Estrangement, Grief, Guest Contributor, Healing from Toxic Shame
Let’s talk about this untimely death situation. Well. This is a big topic that I’m not sure how to tackle, per se. Death is a new one to me. I’ve been relatively lucky that way. The death of the person who passed down most of our family trauma… that’s an even...
by Rebecca Donaldson | Jan 14, 2021 | ACEs, Attachment Trauma, Complex PTSD Healing, Pyschotherapy, Trauma-Informed, Treatment for CPTSD
To those who have ever been harmed in therapy, I am sorry. To those who continue to ruminate over what happened and are unable to move past it, I can relate. We may never receive the answer we are looking for, but we can learn to be gentle with ourselves. I wrote this...
by Alice Kenny | Jan 13, 2021 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor
Once when I was in my early twenties, I confronted my mother. I matter-of-factly said, “You know, Mom, you beat me. You beat me a lot.” She replied, “I don’t remember that.” “Well, you did,” I pressed. “Maybe I slapped you once or twice.” So, that was her concession....
by Rebekah Brown | Jan 12, 2021 | Complex PTSD Healing, Emotional Wellness, Family Estrangement
I sat with several other children in the dark, dank little basement of the church where my father was pastor. Karen Wray, my Sunday School teacher, pointed to the classic drawing of Jesus welcoming the children. I pondered it for a long time. Nobody in my home greeted...
by Shirley Davis | Jan 11, 2021 | CPTSD, CPTSD Research, Emotional Flashbacks
In our first piece, we discussed the definition of emotional flashbacks and how they change survivors by interrupting their daily lives. This article will attempt to explore what it is like to have an emotional flashback and the 13 steps to manage them proposed by Dr....
