by Elizabeth Woods | Nov 18, 2022 | Brain Chemistry, Childhood Sexual Abuse, CPTSD, Emotional Flashbacks, Guest Contributor
What are Flashbacks? Flashbacks are raw, unaltered memories that suddenly enter your conscious mind. A flashback can strike at any moment out of the blue, or it can be triggered by a smell, taste, feeling, word, situation, or almost anything that is personal to your...
by Alain Guiette | Nov 17, 2022 | CPTSD, Guest Contributor
For ages, I have been labeled and subsequently felt: weird, alienated, not fitting in, different, special, highly sensitive, asocial, introverted, from another planet, and the list goes on. At age 45, I discovered the world of trauma, and complex trauma or C-PTSD in...
by Cyndi Bennett | Nov 16, 2022 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD and PTSD, Occupational Mental Health & CPTSD, PTSD, Trauma, Triggers
What do you do when you feel unheard at work as a trauma survivor? No one likes being ignored, but for trauma survivors, not feeling heard can trigger a lot of past experiences and strong emotions. How should you handle this when it happens? Notice I didn’t say “if”...
by Rebekah Brown | Nov 15, 2022 | CPTSD, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Dissociation and CPTSD, Holiday Stress, Holidays
Why are the holidays so difficult for survivors of trauma? Because holidays bring up all of the helpless, paralyzing, vulnerable feelings of the family we have struggled with all our lives. Goaded by themes of gathering at Thanksgiving, heartbreak comes to the...
by Jamie Donmoyer | Nov 10, 2022 | Building Resilience in Healing, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, CPTSD Survivor Stories, EMDR, Emotional Wellness, Guest Contributor, PTSD, Shame, Trauma, Trauma-Informed, Treatment for CPTSD
“Breathe deeply.” I close my eyes and belly breathe as my EMDR therapist scoots her chair closer. This is standard practice in our weekly sessions. Soon she’ll tell me to open my eyes, focus on a certain phrase or idea, and follow her finger left and right. Sometimes...
by Sunny Lynn, OMC | Nov 9, 2022 | Anxiety, Building Resilience in Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD Poetry, Dissociation and CPTSD
Haunted: The Recurring Horrors of CPTSD (as published in The Friday Edition of HeartBalm Healing at https://heartbalm.substack.com) It’s that time of the year – scary ghost stories, eerie face masks and costumes, and tricks and treats. Yet while it feels natural to be...
