by Jamie Donmoyer | Aug 24, 2022 | Attachment Trauma, Boundaries, Building Resilience in Healing, Codependency, Combat Trauma, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD, CPTSD and Narcissistic Abuse, CPTSD and Parenting, Family Estrangement, Gaslighting, Guest Contributor, Healthy Relationships, Narcissistic Personality Disorder
The positives and pitfalls of cutting communication with a toxic parent. Written by the scapegoat child of a narcissistic parent. So, you’ve decided to go “no contact” with a toxic parent. Congratulations! Maybe you’re exhausted from the angry messages, controlling...
by Wendy Hoke | Apr 30, 2021 | CPTSD and Parenting, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Depression, Dissociation and CPTSD, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor
Greatest myth of all time: “Children are resilient.” Wrong. Children are fragile. They break easily. My maternal grandfather broke me. I was 7 or 8 when the sexual abuse began. The psychic damage was extensive. I am now 58, and I am proof that having competent doctors...
by Alice Kenny | Jan 13, 2021 | Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Family Estrangement, Guest Contributor
Once when I was in my early twenties, I confronted my mother. I matter-of-factly said, “You know, Mom, you beat me. You beat me a lot.” She replied, “I don’t remember that.” “Well, you did,” I pressed. “Maybe I slapped you once or twice.” So, that was her concession....
by Alice Kenny | Dec 4, 2020 | ACEs, Complex PTSD Healing, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Eating Disorders and CPTSD, Guest Contributor, The Brain and CPTSD
(The article below is an excerpt from my book, Crazy Was All I Ever Knew: The Impact of Maternal Mental Illness on Kids. I have used a pseudonym to protect the privacy of family members.) Research shows that many children who experience adversity are amazingly...
by Alice Kenny | Nov 27, 2020 | ACEs, CPTSD Survivor Stories, Eating Disorders and CPTSD, Guest Contributor
Most kids of parents with a mental illness experience childhood differently and less innocently than other children as they deal with their often chaotic home lives and navigate their worlds. If you are the son or daughter of a parent with a mental illness, and you...