by Elizabeth Woods | May 30, 2023 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Guest Contributor, Sexual Abuse, The Brain and CPTSD
TRIGGER WARNING – THIS POST DISCUSSES SEXUAL ABUSE My name is Elizabeth and I am a survivor of sexual abuse. I suffered the worst abuse during my first years if you can call any sexual abuse worse than any other. I think the fact that I was so young made the...
by Shirley Davis | May 29, 2023 | CPTSD, Rejection, Trauma-Informed
It hurts to be rejected. Whether it is a friend, a coworker, or someone you just met, we hate to be rejected. When the people rejecting us are one or both parents, we, as humans, react badly, forming mental health issues within our undeveloped brains. Rejection in...
by Sylvie Rouhani | May 26, 2023 | Attachment Trauma, Brain Chemistry, CPTSD, CPTSD and Parenting, Guest Contributor, Mental Health Advocacy, Trauma-Informed
The impact of the environment a person grew up in and the environment they are living in now, as adults, is often discarded. The environment has a major impact on how a child’s brain will develop and on the behaviour they will display as grown-ups. This omission...
by Rebekah Brown | May 25, 2023 | Attachment Trauma, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor, Healing Codependency, Healing from Toxic Shame, Self-Acceptance, Sexual Abuse
***TRIGGER WARNING: This article discusses abuse. *** What is Enmeshment? Enmeshment describes a relationship pattern between two people or a group of people in which personal boundaries are unclear. It is a hallmark of dysfunctional families and affects...
by LWK | May 24, 2023 | Anxiety, Brain Chemistry, CPTSD and PTSD, Guest Contributor
High-functioning anxiety can be a royal pain in the posterior. You experience the usual symptoms: Excessive worrying Sense of impending doom Exhaustion Insomnia Social withdrawal Loss of appetite Impatience, irritability, and angry outbursts A horrendous fear of...
by Terry Baranski | May 23, 2023 | CPTSD and PTSD, Guest Contributor, Mindfulness, Pain, Uncategorized
The CPTSD foundation’s website succinctly defines CPTSD as a term that “describes the results of ongoing, inescapable, relational trauma.” In this post I’ll delve into trauma, using a wider lens than is typical. I’ll differentiate between...
by Shirley Davis | May 22, 2023 | CPTSD, self trust
In this series on self-trust, we have examined many different aspects of what it means. We have also covered how complex post-traumatic stress disorder affects self-trust and vice versa. This article will focus on how self-trust and how you talk to yourself changes...
by Madelon Wise | May 19, 2023 | CPTSD Survivor Stories, Guest Contributor, Relationships, Shame, Toxic Relationships, Trauma, Trust
I was 19 years old, barely out of high school, and trauma had eaten away at my psyche like burning frostbite. Colorado to Alaska, Alaska to Iowa. Iowa to Montana, Montana to Colorado, Colorado to Iowa. Wherever he went, my dog, Abraxas, and I followed. In January...
by Cyndi Bennett | May 18, 2023 | CPTSD and PTSD, Guest Contributor, Occupational Mental Health & CPTSD, Post Traumatic Growth, Trauma, Workplace Trauma
It’s like God is saying…not yet. I have been working on a different blog for half a week, and it will not let me write it. Have you ever experienced that? What is a writer to do when that happens? Well, for me, it is time to speak from the heart. I got my...
by Sunny Lynn, OMC | May 17, 2023 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD and PTSD, Guest Contributor
When “Normal” Doesn’t Fit: How to Develop Self-Love and Nurture a Soft Place To Fall (as published in The Friday Edition of HeartBalm Healing at https://heartbalm.substack.com) Self-love… what? What is the path to self-love when I have only known suffering, abuse,...
