Binge Eating and Emotional Trauma
July 18, 2024
Binge eating disorder is deeply connected to emotional trauma. When you've experienced trauma, binge eating can become a way to cope with overwhelming emotions and numb pain. Understanding why you binge - that it's a trauma response, not a character flaw - is the first step toward compassionate recovery.
Keep Going: Embracing the Journey of PTSD and Depression Recovery
July 13, 2024
Recovery from PTSD and depression doesn't happen overnight. It's a journey filled with progress, setbacks, hard days, and small victories that often go unnoticed. Every step forward - no matter how small - matters. You're stronger than you know, and the journey is worth it.
Body Shame and Survivor Guilt: Breaking Free
June 28, 2024
Body shame and survivor guilt are two of the most painful burdens abuse survivors carry. You might blame your body for the abuse, feel guilty for surviving, or carry shame about how your body responded during trauma. These feelings aren't your fault - they're common trauma responses. Breaking free is possible through understanding, self-compassion, and healing.
Panic Attacks and PTSD: What's Happening and How to Cope
June 20, 2024
Panic attacks are one of the most frightening symptoms of PTSD. Your heart races, you can't breathe, and you feel like you're dying - even when there's no immediate danger. For trauma survivors, panic attacks aren't random anxiety; they're your nervous system's alarm bells at full volume. Understanding what's happening and how to cope can help you regain control.
Postpartum Depression in Abuse Survivors: You're Not Alone
June 15, 2024
Survivors of abuse face unique challenges during the postpartum period. Past trauma increases your risk for postpartum depression, making an already difficult transition even harder. You might feel overwhelmed, disconnected from your baby, or struggle with intrusive thoughts - and that doesn't make you a bad mother.
Hypervigilance vs. OCD: Understanding the Difference
June 12, 2024
Hypervigilance and OCD can look similar - both involve constant checking, scanning for danger, and difficulty relaxing. But they're different conditions with different causes and treatments. Understanding the difference can help you get the right support.
How to Stop a Panic Attack: Techniques for Trauma Survivors
June 08, 2024
When a panic attack hits, you need techniques that actually work - not just advice to "calm down." These practical, evidence-based strategies can help you interrupt panic attacks, reduce their intensity, and regain control - from breathing and grounding to cognitive and physical interventions.
LGBTQ+ Survivors: Unique Trauma and Mental Health Challenges
June 01, 2024
LGBTQ+ survivors face unique trauma and mental health challenges that intersect with their identities. From discrimination and hate crimes to family rejection and conversion therapy, LGBTQ+ individuals experience trauma at higher rates - and often struggle to find affirming, culturally competent support.
Supporting a Trauma Survivor with an Eating Disorder
May 30, 2024
Supporting someone with both trauma and an eating disorder is challenging. You want to help but don't know what to say or do. Understanding the trauma-eating disorder connection, responding with compassion instead of judgment, and knowing how to support without enabling can make a real difference. Your support matters - but you also need to take care of yourself.
Healing the Inner Critic: C-PTSD and Toxic Shame
May 18, 2024
If you have Complex PTSD, you're probably familiar with a harsh, relentless inner critic. Rooted in toxic shame, this voice is not your authentic self - it's a collection of messages absorbed from trauma and abuse. Here's how to understand and heal it.
From Self-Harm to Self-Care: A Survivor's Journey
May 12, 2024
Recovery from self-harm isn't a straight line. It's a gradual journey from using pain to cope with pain, to learning gentler ways of caring for yourself. It's messy, non-linear, and deeply personal - but it's possible.
Postpartum PTSD: When Birth Triggers Past Trauma
May 10, 2024
For survivors of sexual assault, abuse, or other trauma, childbirth can trigger or worsen PTSD symptoms. The physical vulnerability, loss of control, and medical interventions during birth can echo past trauma, leading to postpartum PTSD. Understanding this and finding trauma-informed care can help you heal and bond with your baby.
Reclaiming Your Body After Trauma: A Healing Journey
May 05, 2024
After trauma, your body can feel like enemy territory - a place you don't want to inhabit. Reclaiming your body is about rebuilding trust, reconnecting with physical sensations, and remembering that your body belongs to you. This healing journey takes time, patience, and compassion, but it's possible to feel safe and at home in your own skin again.
Panic Disorder After Trauma: When Fear Takes Over
April 15, 2024
Panic disorder is common after trauma, creating a cycle of intense fear and avoidance. Panic attacks can become so frequent and unpredictable that you live in constant fear of the next one. Understanding why trauma survivors develop panic disorder and learning effective treatment strategies can help you break this cycle and reclaim your life.
Body Dysmorphia After Abuse: When Trauma Changes How You See Yourself
March 25, 2024
After experiencing abuse, many survivors struggle with how they see their own bodies. Body dysmorphia after abuse isn't vanity or insecurity - it's a trauma response. When someone violates your body, it can fundamentally change your relationship with yourself. Understanding this connection and learning to heal your relationship with your body is an important part of recovery.
Alternatives to Self-Harm: Healthy Coping for Trauma Survivors
March 20, 2024
When the urge to self-harm hits, having a toolkit of healthier alternatives can make all the difference. These aren't just distractions - they address the same needs self-harm meets, without causing harm. Whether you need to release intense emotions, ground yourself, or regain a sense of control, there are alternatives that work. Recovery is possible.
Body Autonomy After Abuse: Healing Your Relationship with Food
March 15, 2024
Abuse violates your fundamental right to control your own body. This violation often extends to your relationship with food - creating disordered eating, body disconnection, or using food for control. Healing means reclaiming your body as your own and developing a peaceful relationship with food.
Hypervigilance and Anxiety: The Survivor's Constant Alert
March 10, 2024
Hypervigilance is one of the most exhausting symptoms of trauma and PTSD - the feeling of being constantly on guard, scanning for danger, unable to relax even when you're safe. For survivors, it isn't paranoia. It's your nervous system doing what it learned to do to keep you alive. Understanding it is the first step to healing.
Social Anxiety After Abuse: When Everyday Interactions Feel Unsafe
March 10, 2024
After experiencing abuse, social interactions can feel dangerous - even with safe people. Your nervous system learned that people can hurt you, so it stays on high alert around others. Social anxiety after abuse isn't about being shy or introverted; it's about your brain trying to protect you from being hurt again. Understanding this connection and learning to rebuild trust can help you reclaim your ability to connect with others.
Emotional Flashbacks: The Hidden Symptom of C-PTSD
March 05, 2024
Suddenly flooded with fear, shame, or helplessness - with no clear memory attached? You may be experiencing an emotional flashback, one of the most common yet least understood symptoms of Complex PTSD. Learn what emotional flashbacks are, what triggers them, and how to use Pete Walker's 13 steps to manage them and reclaim your sense of safety.