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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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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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).
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...
Dear Sensitive One: Your Sensitivity is not a Curse.
Good evening. I see you’re crying again. Don’t worry about the sheets. I’ll wash them tomorrow. What do you need? Can I hold your hand? You don’t want to be touched? It’s okay. I understand. You...
Where’s the Bright Side?
Though I don’t like to think about it, I sometimes wonder how I went from enthusiastically running a service business that doubled every year from word of mouth alone to homeless, struggling not...
The Neurotransmitters of Seasonal Affective Disorder and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The brain is a very complicated organ that rules over our lives engendering how we move, think, and feel. The way our brain cells (neurons) communicate with one another is by the use of chemicals...
The Importance of Self Care When Coping with CPTSD
Trauma can affect a person’s emotional, physical, and psychological well-being in various ways. Because the trauma experienced may be unique to an individual, their response to a traumatic event...
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”.
