Trauma-Informed Blog
Content relevant to survivors, mental health professionals, partners, and anyone interested in reading about CPTSD and mental health.
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CPTSD Foundation is not crisis care. If you ever feel you are in crisis please reach out to an online or local crisis resource, or contact your mental health or medical provider. CPTSD Foundation provides a tertiary means of support; adjunctive care. Our industry-leading ancillary products and services are intended to supplement individual therapy. Nothing on this website or any associated CPTSD Foundation websites, is a replacement for or supersedes the direction of your medical or mental health provider, nor is anything on this or any associated CPTSD Foundation website a diagnosis, treatment plan, advice, or care for any medical or mental health illness, condition, or disease.
Rising Strong: Navigating Adversity with Unshakeable Resilience
Adversity Just saying the word makes me cringe. We all experience it in our lifetime, but how many of us know what it is and appreciate it for the growth it brings to our lives? Adversity refers...
Standing Alone and Finding Strong Female Friendships After Falling Victim to Mean Girls
As a woman, I struggled with female friendships growing up. I found many other girls and women notoriously catty, jealous, and downright mean. I liked being “one of the guys” with my guy friends,...
Understanding Differences Narcissistic Personality Disorder vs. Borderline Personality Disorder
When you hear the word “narcissist,” what images come to mind? In my world, “narcissist” is a term that’s both overused and misunderstood. In common vernacular, it can be inflammatory and...
Managing CPTSD: Honoring How Far You’ve Come
Generations of negative family patterns and relational wounds are our legacies In healing from relational trauma or resulting Complex PTSD - a type of PTSD thought to arise as a result of...
The Healing Power of Horse Therapy for Trauma Survivors (Part 2 of 2)
(Part 2 of 2) I started dreaming of horses When I was 51 years old, my life was falling apart. My 30-plus-year career that I had worked so hard for was coming to an end, and so was my marriage....
Living Autistic Survival Amid PTSD: Finding Myself in Grace Tame’s Story
An autistic survivor holds the ability to shred apart norms but often also holds fears of not being the correct voice An autistic survivor of abuse seemingly stands on a pedestal about to fall...
Recognizing the Signs of Toxic Relationships: A Guide to Self-Awareness
Have you ever woken up on a sunny day only to realize by mid-afternoon that the sky had darkened and heavy clouds were threatening rain? You might have had no idea when the sun had ducked behind...
Understanding Survival Mode in CPTSD: Why It Can Take Years to Identify
For those living with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), recognizing that they are stuck in survival mode can be incredibly challenging. Survival mode is a state where the body and...
A Writer’s Brain – The Gift
By Jesse Donahue 2018 ©I have heard of the right and left hemispheres of the human brain. Right brain, left brain thinking, a term thrown about by those in the know… which leaves me out. Where do...
The Healing Power of Horse Therapy for Trauma Survivors (Part 1 of 2)
*Warning. This article contains references to childhood sexual abuse I grew up a crazy obsessed horse lover. From how they smelled to their warm and velvety noses to their kind and soulful...
Creating a Safe Haven: Building Workplace Support Systems for Trauma Survivors Creating a Safe Haven
Building a support system in the workplace is crucial for trauma survivors as it can provide the understanding, validation, and connection needed for healing and recovery. The challenge that many...
Knowing Your F Type and The Clutter It Creates
For many years, I heard about being in fight or flight mode or being triggered and brought outside of my nervous system window. I learned that there are more than those two states we can go into...

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”.