by Jamie Donmoyer | Aug 16, 2022 | Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, Brain Chemistry, Building Resilience in Healing, Codependency, Combat Trauma, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, CPTSD and Parenting, Emotional Wellness, Family Estrangement, Gaslighting, Grief, Healing Codependency, Healthy Relationships, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Parental Alienation, Relationships, Silent Bystander Parents
Practice breaking contact with toxic parents in this “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style story. Based on events experienced by the child of a narcissistic parent. Photo by Kevin Butz on Unsplash CONGRATULATIONS! After a lifetime of narcissistic abuse, you’ve decided to...
by Rebekah Brown | Aug 4, 2022 | Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, Building Resilience in Healing, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, Self Care
I stood on the platform in front of a three-tiered candelabra. I was 23 years old. It was my wedding rehearsal and like many weddings of that time, part of the ceremony was a unity candle. “When you come down the aisle tomorrow and up on the platform,” said the...
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 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 Rebekah Brown | Jun 30, 2022 | Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, Emotional Wellness, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor, Relationships, Trauma
How A Trauma Bond is Formed Scaly grey snake heads with the dead black eyes of a reptile weaved back and forth. Bright red tongues darted to and fro. They covered the Uhaul. I couldn’t look away. Out on my daily walk with Tiny, the chihuahua, I pulled my wheelchair...
by Shirley Davis | Jun 6, 2022 | Anger, Boundaries, CPTSD
Anger is a natural consequence of living through childhood trauma, the leading cause of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. As children, many survivors were hurt by people who needed to care for them but didn’t and used them for their purposes. One of the...