How to Set Therapy Up for Success — Especially for Trauma Survivors: 5 Ways to Create a Strong Foundation for Healing
Therapy can be life-changing — especially when it’s set up with intention, structure, and the right support. For trauma survivors in particular, creating the right conditions for healing is essential. Recently, we shared how therapy works. Now let’s explore how to...
What are Trauma Triggers?
***TRIGGER WARNING*** This article discusses trauma, including sexual references that may not be appropriate for all. My name is Lizzy, and I am a survivor of unimaginable trauma. I have lived through a childhood of sexual torture and witnessed several murders. Yet...
Staying Connected When You Disagree: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Navigating Political Differences with Loved Ones
In today’s polarized world, it can feel especially painful when the people we love hold political beliefs that contradict our values—especially when those beliefs impact our identity, rights, or lived experience. Whether it’s a parent who dismisses LGBTQ+ rights, a...
Rewriting the Script: Changing the Song and Scenery of Our Now
Part I: As I listen to Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” on a loop, I mentally counter the lyrics with the fantasy that the sun will just fall from the sky. Can’t it do me the courtesy of burning out and shrouding me in complete darkness at long last? All...
Understanding the Spectrum of Spiritual Trauma
As a complex trauma clinician, survivor, and interfaith minister, I’ve come to understand that true recovery is incomplete without addressing the wounds of spiritual trauma. By spiritual trauma, I refer to the profound psychological, emotional, and existential wounds...
Abuse Happens – Even During the Holidays
It is almost Christmas. A season for families to get together and spend quality time catching up on the year that has been. Most families have relatives who travel home from out of the State or even from other countries. We live in a fast-paced world where the...
The Split-Second Sense of Danger
There are certain traits that trauma survivors downplay because they sound far-fetched to those who have never lived inside chronic unpredictability. One of the most common is the ability to sense danger before any visible cue appears. Not fear, not a hunch, but a...
The Incredible Perspective of Trauma Survivors
What perspective are you viewing life through today? This is a discussion point I often have with my clients—and one I encourage you to sit with as you read. As a therapist who specializes in working with individuals who have experienced complex trauma, I am...