Trauma-Informed Blog
New content weekly! Survivor Stories, Research Articles, Poetry, and more written by clinicians, coaches, survivors, and mental health professionals.
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Holiday Time After Experiencing Trauma
Thanksgiving and Christmas time have once again descended upon us, bringing unique challenges for those who have experienced trauma. It doesn't matter whether the trauma happened yesterday or...
Misdiagnosis: Is It Bipolar Disorder or Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
More often than people wish to think, folks go to mental health specialists and receive a misdiagnosis. This isn’t entirely the professional's fault as they are bound to the diagnosis they choose...
Why the Narcissistic Abuse Cycle Feels like CPTSD Comfort.
Who has bad taste in romantic partners? I do! No matter how many times I think I’m choosing wisely… uh… I’m not. Plain and simple, I don’t know how to choose a good human for my significant...
Recognizing C-PTSD as a Legitimate Diagnosis
With the recognition of complex PTSD (C-PTSD) by the WHO, healthcare providers around the world are slowly gaining access to critical information about complex/chronic forms of trauma experienced by children and adults, including adult survivors of childhood abuse and neglect.
Yes, You are Good Enough
Survivors who struggle with complex post-traumatic stress disorder often fight feelings of being inferior or not good enough. We focus so much on our downfalls and mistakes that we lose sight of...
A Collection of Survivor Poems.
The following is a collection of survivor inspired poems from some of our guest writers here at CPTSD Foundation. We are so grateful for each person who shares their voice using the written word,...
Lost Child Syndrome.
The term dysfunctional family is used to give a name to a family that does not function within normal parameters. There may be alcoholism, drug abuse, neglect, and abuse. These disturbed families...
Are You Good Enough to Deserve Love?
As children, many survivors faced not receiving love from their caregivers without paying a tremendous price, and even then, it wasn't true love. This lack of attention and care left most abused...
Over-stimulation and Complex Trauma.
My brain has been designed to notice the details, because it’s those subtle environmental cues that indicated something was off-kilter in my family home. As such, I’m not particularly good at filtering out noise and concentrating. I’m aware all the time. It can be extremely distracting, and therefore frustrating, to try to compensate for my super sensitivity to tiny details. Pile that on top of dealing with the emergency signals that often throw my entire being into activation… and things happen that I’m not proud of.
Are You Feeling “Good Enough”?
If you were raised in a trauma filled home, you may have grown up not knowing how you fit into the world. Some days you may feel that you do not belong on planet earth and that you were a...
Seeking … and Finding the Gift.
Reading Randi’s post, How to Stop the Cycle of Abuse (September 18, 2020), I was deeply moved by the level of insight and heart. Had those who raised me understood even one of her important...
Rethinking Trauma Anniversaries
Chilled and humid, the air sticks to my skin. The sky is thickly overcast, a shock after three warm days of sunshine. Is this the perfect background for my somber mood or the conditions that...
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”.
