by Madelon Wise | Feb 15, 2023 | ACEs, CPTSD, Gaslighting, Generational Trauma
I spent the summer of 1963 at my Aunt Sue’s house across the bay from San Francisco. It wasn’t clear to me nor is it now, exactly how Aunt Sue and I were related, but I know that her dead husband shared a name with my maternal grandfather. She was childless, and...
by Madelon Wise | Jan 25, 2023 | ACEs, Attachment Trauma, Guest Contributor
The long, low white 4-bedroom house crouched in wait on a big corner lot shaded by silver maple trees. I can still see the kitchen, the dining room, my bedroom, and the patio outside where I spent so much time. I can picture the television and its rabbit ears in the...
by Madelon Wise | Jan 17, 2023 | ACEs, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Guest Contributor
My brother, Mike, was 8 years older than I, and he could remember when we were a happy family. It was as though he had grown up in a different family than I had. I remember nothing but screaming, fighting, and terror. My mother was a binge drinker, and she and my...
by Jeff Spiteri | Jan 10, 2023 | ACEs, CPTSD and Self-Harm, Guest Contributor, Sexual Abuse
My journey with mental health has always been a revolving door of experimentation with practices and tools. Just as we change inevitably so do our needs and the tools we use to meet those needs. For me, grounding has been paramount to my healing and day-to-day health...
by Madelon Wise | Jan 3, 2023 | ACEs, Addiction, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Guest Contributor
They were my only true friends, the books. Comic books. Fairy tales. Nancy Drew. I read incessantly, hoping to create a shell and a safe zone from the chaos all around me. I would get lost in the books. I loved having a world where I could go. They were at it again....
by Shirley Davis | Dec 5, 2022 | ACEs, CPTSD
Trauma and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) go hand-in-hand. You cannot have CPTSD without first experiencing repeated and severely traumatic events. However, you can experience trauma without forming CPTSD. What is trauma, and how is it connected to...
