Living with CPTSD is the gift that keeps on giving. And by “gift,” I mean that weird mystery box you didn’t order; it showed up uninvited, and now you’re legally required to carry it with you everywhere you go. It’s like an invisible backpack filled with random triggers, unexpected flashbacks, and moments where you’re just […]
Finding Calm in the Chaos: My Journey with CPTSD
Somewhere along the way in my healing journey, I’ve stopped seeing myself as CPTSD personified. I don’t know the exact moment it happened; there wasn’t some grand epiphany or movie-montage-style healing moment. But slowly, quietly, I started seeing myself as… just me. As Jack. A messy, kind, resilient, funny, often-exhausted guy who happens to have […]
How To Love Someone With CPTSD And Trauma
I don’t claim to be an expert on all things love and relationships. My love life has been a bit of a bomb site, but I am knowledgeable in living with CPTSD and attempting relationships after trauma. Loving with CPTSD is kind of like trying to build a treehouse during a windstorm. You’ve got the […]
Letter to My Younger Self: A Message for Healing
I was asked to write a letter to my younger self in therapy this week, and I have spent some time thinking of what to write. It turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be, but I eventually came up with this. Hey, Younger Me, I know things feel […]
Building Strong Connections While Living with CPTSD
Deconstructing conditioning around relationships, romance and intimacy, especially when you’re navigating CPTSD, is like building a jigsaw puzzle. There is a lot to work through. We have to Deal with our trauma responses and what society deems normal. We’re taught early on what love should look like through movies, books and music. There’s often this […]
The Difficult Truths of Trauma Recovery
There are numerous challenges involved in recovering from trauma and CPTSD One of those difficulties is that recognizing something that heals also meant recognizing something else that hurts. For example, If I acknowledge that it was my abusers fault, then that meant there was nothing I could have done to help myself. Or If I acknowledge that I can now be the person […]