Communicating respect and hope is an on going challenge with an abuse survivor. https://www.blueknot.org.au/Workers-Practitioners/For-Health-Professionals/Resources-for-Health-Professionals/Best-Practice-Guidelines The problem is getting the client to know what it is. A long term abuse survivor only knows disrespect and cruelty. The whole respect thing is like a foreign language. Also a survivor can spot insincerity in a heart beat. If…
This question worked great for me. My therapist used it at the beginning of every session for 7 years. However, my sister was less than impressed by the same question. It sounded too much like our mother stating, “You’re doing the doing do it your way,” unfortunately we learned painfully in spite of the words…
I am always looking for more and better ways to cope with symptoms of PTSD/CPTSD. (Reminder, I was diagnosed with PTSD before Complex PTSD became an accepted term so I usually refer to PTSD.) I follow two PTSD groups on Facebook. I don’t remember which one shared this but it was an interesting list of…
Sometimes when I talk about having PTSD the response I get is “You’re too normal.” First off, normal is a setting on a drier. Yes, I am high functioning because I worked hard at it. People seeing me now don’t know about the 3 years in bed, the 7 years towards recovery layered on with…
One of the things pounded into abuse victims is they are not worth caring for or even getting the basics like enough food, proper clothing, or bathroom breaks. Conditioning trains them to view self-care as selfish and how dare they not meet the needs of the abuser first. Then comes a change and the victim…
I am working through definitions of the different types of abuses. I saved emotional abuse for last since to me it is the beginning to all the other abuses. Without emotional abuse the other abuses would not happen. The first step or the beginning of abuse is to view the child as less than human. …
Hi All, My friend’s blog reposted this very important tips for being around helper dogs. This applies to PTSD dogs too. Please, let the owner be aware you are there and follow instructions on how to treat the dog. These are working dogs with a very important task and distractions can cause discomfort for both…
I like to do meme busters but I also recognize when a meme hits a hard truth and puts into words what I did not want to say. Someone posted that this was obvious but for me before counseling it wasn’t You don’t need to set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. Actually…
One of the struggles of CPTSD and PTSD is Black and White thinking. Bad is BAD and Good is good and nothing in between. There is no such thing as sort of right. Perfectionism or else and you don’t want to know what ‘or else’ is going to be. My counselor spent many sessions trying…
Awareness is rising that suicide is 100% preventable but how we go about doing that is not 100% successful. The meme brought up in this article says, “Suicide doesn’t stop the pain; it passes it on to somebody else.” Read the article for their perspective I’m going to share what I think about this phrase.…
PTSD - Accepting, Coping, Thriving 