“I’ve Forgotten How to Live a Normal Life”: Understanding Functional Freeze After Trauma
When basic tasks drain all your energy and what seems easy for others feels impossible for you, this isn’t weakness. It’s your nervous system protecting you. Here’s why it happens and how to heal. When Trauma Leaves You In Hibernation Mode Have you...
Who Do You Look Up To? The Importance of Role Models for Survivors of Child Abuse
My name is Elizabeth, and I am a survivor of sexual abuse and trauma. I endured things, terrible things when I was growing up. I was just a young sprout, but my lack of years and stature failed to tell everyone what I had already lived through and seen with my young...
What does it actually mean to be safe?
I recently had the great joy of connecting with Stacey Fitzgerald. She is a Certified Nutritionist, Somatic Breathwork Practitioner, Trauma-Informed horse trainer, Singer/Songwriter, Wife, Mother, and Creator of Becoming Safe–an online course and community for...
I Am Not Afraid To Fall Asleep
Driving home, I couldn’t contain my excitement. Tonight, I told myself, I’m going to have the best sleep of my life. I had saved up a few hundred bucks to purchase a singing bowl. I had heard they’re miracle workers for people with sleep issues, and I...
When Sobriety Exposes Trauma
People do not always hold onto what harms them because they are irrational. A lot of the time, they hold onto it because they know what is waiting underneath. That is the part public talk about addiction still gets wrong. It treats the substance as the whole problem,...
Who is Your “Person”? It takes a village to raise a child… But What About Adults?
It’s important to recognize that you cannot go through life as easily on your own. My name is Elizabeth, and I’m a survivor of child abuse and horrific trauma. Healing from trauma is not a quick fix, and recognizing that it will take time is part of the struggle. “I...
Trauma, Trauma, trauma… But does the world know what it truly means?
Trigger Warning: This post discusses various types of traumatic events, how the body responds, and how, at times, society can misuse the word “trauma,” therefore potentially minimizing its effect on those who struggle in this area. Take care as you read....
JOURNALING. Thoughts on expressing one’s feelings.
It was over 30 years ago when I found myself barely clinging to life. After suffering a mental breakdown and attempting suicide, the world I faced was nearly incomprehensible from where I could have envisioned it being. I found myself physically alive, yet I was dead...