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 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.…
Late at night, I know I should be trying to sleep and I am watching a rerun of NCIS. It is the episode that Gibbs persuades Timothy that after an ordeal he should seek counseling. The counselor listens to Timothy’s concerns then states, “Worry is a bully.” It was like a huge light bulb moment. …
How many of us feel tied to our jobs, families, past or other anchors or bricks in our lives? The United States declared their Independence from England. Unheard of. How strange! England ruled the World…..the sun never set on their Empire. The Upstarts that wrote out and established their Independence changed the World in a…
PTSD - Accepting, Coping, Thriving 