cptsd foundation
Trauma-Informed Blog
Here you’ll find content that focuses on complex trauma research, as well as survivor stories & poetry, and featured articles from clinicians and thought leaders in the world of trauma recovery.
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If you have a passion for writing and want to reach a large audience with your research on complex trauma and mental health, or if you’re a survivor and want to share your story, we want to hear from you!
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Death of an Abusive Parent
Before you gather up unsent letters, just consider how quickly life can change. How little you might understand the person who has scarred you. How little they probably understand themselves.
The Email My Ex-Therapist Never Sent.
To those who have ever been harmed in therapy, I am sorry. To those who continue to ruminate over what happened and are unable to move past it, I can relate. We may never receive the answer we are looking for, but we can learn to be gentle with ourselves. I wrote...
Rebecca Donaldson | Jan 14, 2021 | 6 min read
To Forgive or Not to Forgive.
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...
Override the System
I sat with several other children in the dark, dank little basement of the church where my father was pastor. Karen Wray, my Sunday School teacher, pointed to the classic drawing of Jesus welcoming the children. I pondered it for a long time. Nobody in my home...
Managing Emotional Flashbacks
In our first piece, we discussed the definition of emotional flashbacks and how they change survivors by interrupting their daily lives. This article will attempt to explore what it is like to have an emotional flashback and the 13 steps to manage them proposed by...
Break the Cycle of Negative Beliefs without Strife, Struggle, or Stress.
Easily one of the greatest impediments to recovery is nagging, negative beliefs. Even the most optimistic struggle on occasion. However, I’ve discovered three ways to break the grip of negative beliefs that practically anyone willing can use to create a more...
How I Found “Home” within Myself.
Though I wish we could, we don’t get to pick the families we are born into. We do, though, one day get to pick those who raise us. My life may not be typical, but it’s beautiful. I haven’t been home in over seven years, and that’s my choice. I’ve chosen to live a...
Rebecca Donaldson | Jan 7, 2021 | 2 min read
Hiding In Plain Sight
I had looked forward all week to the Mary Kay Cosmetics party my mother was hosting. Too little to wear make-up, I certainly wasn’t too small to be interested. I had looked at every picture in the Mary Kay catalog and dreamed of the day when I could get my hands on...
Non-judgmental Self-Acceptance as a Shame-Shifter. Rivka A. Edery, Psy.D. (Candidate), M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Based on the extensive research and data available, psychologists consider that shame cultivates the need for approval from others. Shame can result when a person senses, or experiences, that someone disapproves of them or something about them. Shame also can result when a person actually did something shameful, like doing harm or damage to a person, their property, or to animals. A person can also experience shame as an adult when something happens that they have little or no control over (Ungvarsky, 2019).
Rivka Edery | Jan 5, 2021 | 10 min read
Emotional Flashbacks
You walk into your living room after getting out of bed in the morning feeling apprehensive and afraid, but there is nothing to be afraid of that you can observe. An overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen permeates your thoughts, and you do...
What is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
“Complex PTSD comes in response to chronic traumatization over the course of months or, more often, years. This can include emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuses, domestic violence, living in a war zone, being held captive, human trafficking, and other organized rings of abuse, and more. While there are exceptional circumstances where adults develop C-PTSD, it is most often seen in those whose trauma occurred in childhood”.