When the Client’s Body Reacts, but the Story Isn’t True
Tears, tremors, and vivid descriptions can be compelling. They are not proof. In complex trauma, memory is less a film reel and more a patchwork of emotional flashbulbs, fragments, and protective edits. Somatic reactions tell us that something mattered to the nervous...
Epigenetic Trauma: Predators, Abuse, and Ancestral Healing
Trigger Warning: This article contains stories of abuse; reader discretion is advised. “Be careful whom you trust; evil cloaks itself in many forms.” What is love if it doesn’t hurt, or like in my case, crash with a whimper? Perhaps your first crush was like...
Befriending the Ache of Awakening From Survival
Taking the Edge Off Sadness There can be a sadness that emerges when we begin to truly see, when we wake up to the realization that we have lived much of our lives in survival stress. It is the grief of recognizing that our choices, our relationships, our very sense...
My Best Friend in the Psych Ward
TRIGGER WARNING: Writer’s Note: This post contains references to suicidal ideation, sexual assault, and psychiatric ward experiences. Names have been changed. Five words got me tied up on a stretcher in the back of this ambulance. Five words, starting with “I want”...