calm place
Calm Place~ This is a place that you go to in your mind’s eye. It’s a quiet place. It’s a place you have been to in your adult life or … Continue reading calm place
Category: Childhood Trauma
Self Soothing
If we grew up in homes or systems (foster care) where there was no regular soothing, reassurance, or validation, the idea of self soothing ourselves seems foreign and weird. What … Continue reading Self Soothing
When the Past is in the Present
Complex PTSD triggers in the present that reminds us of the past. When a cue in our present environment reminds our brain of an event from the past, we move … Continue reading When the Past is in the Present
Window of Tolerance
In this excellent example, borrowed from Ogden, Minton and Pain we can see what happens when our nervous system becomes activated in either hypo or hyperarousal. As Pat Ogden describes, … Continue reading Window of Tolerance
ACE Study
Ace Study – Adverse Childhood Events A large study done in the Kaiser institute over 17k persons participated in a questionnaire measuring areas of growing up with domestic violence, incarceration, … Continue reading ACE Study
PTSD and the Brain
When the nervous system perceives the attack, the limbic system (containing the amygdala) within milliseconds plans to fight, flight, or freeze. The nervous system also has a role, but we … Continue reading PTSD and the Brain
What is Complex Trauma?
Complex Trauma can feel like you are fighting something all the time~ Complex Trauma is a term that was coined by Judith Herman. It is a term that is given … Continue reading What is Complex Trauma?
What is Borderline Personality?
The term borderline was developed when psychoanalysis failed for a group of patients who did not have psychotic or neurotic symptoms. Put simply, borderline means on the border of … Continue reading What is Borderline Personality?
Making Sense of Childhood Trauma
Coming Soon… Online Video Modules; “Making Sense of Childhood Trauma.” For anyone who wishes to learn about trauma and master emotions or experience them without shutting down. For anyone who wants … Continue reading Making Sense of Childhood Trauma
Top Three Myths About PTSD
PTSD is a Disorder
FACT Post Trauma is an injury not a disorder
PTSD is everywhere.
FACT There is a greater understanding and awareness about trauma now.
PTSD is untreatable
FACT
EMDR and Exposure therapies work
What is Dissociation?
Dissociation is a phenomena or defence mechanism designed to protect us from threat. It’s a state that one can move into when they sense danger. Sometimes when a person is in a dangerous or threatening situation a person will freeze kind of like a deer in headlights. Once the threat has past so does the freeze response.
Why do we get into dysfunctional relationships that mirror our childhood?
Children idealize their dysfunctional caregivers in various ways. They do this by creating a fantasy of who their caregivers are. They literally tell themselves lies, make up stories in their mind about how wonderful their caretakers are. They exaggerate their caretaker’s strengths to minimize the deficits or abuse as a way to survive the dysfunctional system. They tell stories to themselves about how wonderful their father, mother or caregivers are so that they can be sure to omit the abuse adapt and carry on.
