by Shirley Davis | Aug 1, 2022 | CPTSD
Millions of people are affected by disabilities every day. When people think of a disability, they often think of people in wheelchairs or who are blind. However, many disabilities cannot be seen. This article will cover complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD)...
by Rebekah Brown | Jul 28, 2022 | Abandonment and CPTSD, Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, Building Resilience in Healing, Codependency, CPTSD, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Emotional Wellness, Family Estrangement, Feeling Good Enough, Healing Codependency, Healing Self-Shame, Healthy Relationships, Mindfulness, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Trauma
Conflict panics me. Okay? There…I said it. I am the first to run for cover at the smell of conflict. Why? Because childhood trauma taught me to confuse the two. To me, having a conflict with someone means trauma. And so…avoiding conflict becomes the goal...
by Sunny Lynn, OMC | Jul 27, 2022 | Abandonment and CPTSD, Attachment Trauma, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse
Where Angels Fear to Tread! (as published in The Friday Edition of HeartBalm Healing at https://heartbalm.substack.com) We all have our stories, our wounds, and how we began, were molded, survived, and endured. These are important to honor and take time to understand,...
by Mina Victoria | Jul 26, 2022 | Abandonment and CPTSD, ACEs, Anxiety, CPTSD, CPTSD and Self-Harm, Depression, Hope, Suicide Prevention
TRIGGER WARNING: This post directly describes suicidal ideation and behaviors I almost killed myself at 13. I stayed home from school one day and told my mother I had a migraine. My plan was to swallow the bottle of migraine medicine my doctor had just prescribed me....
by Shirley Davis | Jul 25, 2022 | Self Care, Self-Acceptance
Accepting oneself with all your flaws is part of being mentally healthy. However, often survivors are their own worst critics picking themselves apart and holding themselves back from experiencing life to the fullest. This article will focus on self-compassion and how...
by Rebekah Brown | Jul 21, 2022 | Abandonment and CPTSD, Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, Codependency, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Emotional Wellness, Self-Acceptance, Sexual Abuse, Spirituality, Trauma
Survivors have been damaged by relationships and relationships are the pathway toward healing. What a terrible statement. The thing that did us so much harm is the thing we must have in order to get well. This is the dilemma for a survivor of trauma. In addition,...
by Mindy Levine | Jul 20, 2022 | Guest Contributor, Trauma-Informed, Yoga
“No intervention that takes power away from the survivor can possibly foster her recovery, no matter how much it appears to be in her immediate best interest.” Judith Herman There may be a time when you reach out for the support and care you deserve. It could be by...
by Heidi Fischer | Jul 20, 2022 | Complex PTSD Healing, Guest Contributor, Healing from Toxic Shame, Hypervigilance
Have you ever noticed that you are hyper-aware of other people’s changing moods? This awareness could be a trauma response. It could be that you haven’t always exactly known what you were experiencing, but you recognize that you can regularly detect when...
by Robyn Brickel | Jul 19, 2022 | CPTSD, Guest Contributor, Trauma, Trauma-Informed, Treatment
One of the hard things we talked about in the last article, strategies for coping with the hard parts of life, was watching the news or dealing with current events. There is certainly a lot going on in the world — and at times, feeling powerless, as it feels more...
by Sarah H. Clarke | Jul 18, 2022 | Guest Contributor, OCD
Trigger Warning: This can cause a trauma response. When I was little and helpless to escape my abusive environment, my brain formed a rather amazing coping strategy to distract me from the fear and pain. It is a form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) called...
