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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New posts 4-5 times per week
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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.
The Secret to Expanding Your Professional Comfort Zone: Micro-Stretches for Your Window of Tolerance
As trauma survivors, many of us have found that our window of tolerance — our capacity to handle stress and stay regulated — can feel frustratingly narrow in professional settings. But here’s a...
The Wounds That Don’t Show
Reclaiming Safety after Narcissistic Abuse This post explores the unseen consequences of narcissistic abuse, the breakdown of psychological and physiological safety, and the slow, sacred journey...
Consequences Of Absence of CPTSD Diagnoses in DSM-5
The lack of a complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPSTSD) diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the diagnostic resource used in the...
Finding Calm in the Chaos: My Journey with CPTSD
Somewhere along the way in my healing journey, I’ve stopped seeing myself as CPTSD personified. I don’t know the exact moment it happened; there wasn’t some grand epiphany or movie-montage-style...
How Do We Live Amidst Uncertainty?
Life is full of changes, development, and growth throughout time. Some of those changes feel good — they are easy to see as positive growth. Some changes feel scary, dysregulating or destabilizing. No matter what changes in life occur, we must find a way to live. We must find a way to live in a life where we don’t know what is going to happen next. We learn to live with uncertainty.
CPTSD and Progressive Illness
The Invisible Wounds By Tracy Guy, BNurs, GradDipCounsel & Alison Rose-Hughes, BNurs. Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) is often associated with chronic, repeated trauma. Unlike...
When Grief Has No Grave: Rebuilding After a Childhood You Never Got
No one brings you a casserole when you're grieving the childhood you didn’t have. There’s no funeral for the loss of safety or a sense of belonging. No sympathy cards arrive when the dreams you...
Beyond Survival Mode: Thriving in Your Career by Mastering Your Window of Tolerance
As trauma survivors, many of us have become experts at just getting through the workday. We’ve learned to push through triggers, manage anxiety, and keep our heads above water. But what if we...
Finding the Ancestors: Learning from Intergenerational Trauma
Much has been written about intergenerational trauma and how epigenetics plays a role in who we become. Works by Mark Wolynn, Gabor Maté, and others have covered the topic from a neurobiological...
Understanding Why Trauma Bonds Form and How to Break Them
Trauma is an emotional result of a distressing, shocking, or life-threatening incident. It is not the event itself that causes the trauma, but rather a person’s reaction to it. Half of U.S....
When Breaking Free from an Abuser Feels Impossible
Examining extreme trauma bonds With the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximating that 41% of women and 26% of men have experienced sexual violence, physical violence,...
Why “Forgive and Forget” is Bad Advice for Trauma Survivors
The phrase “forgive and forget” is a common slogan and recommendation. But does it make sense for trauma survivors? While researching for my book, You Don’t Need to Forgive: Trauma Recovery on...
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”.
