Gratitude and The Trauma-Sensitive Approach
Thanksgiving is upon us and with it comes people sharing a meal and discussing how grateful they are for their lives and their loved ones. However, it is vital to understand that not everyone is grateful, but they feel pain in its place. This article will explore a...
Thanksgiving Rewritten and CPTSD
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...
A Reason to Love Your Anxiety
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...
How Child Abuse and Neglect Obstructs the Pursuit of Intimacy
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...
Complex Trauma, False Gratitude, and Letting Go
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....This Wasted Day
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...
Dealing with Holiday Stress as Abuse Survivors
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...