The Hyper-Independent Heart: When “Being Strong” is a Trauma Response Growing up, I was always the strong one. The capable one. And the one who figures it out. For some people, those sentences are a badge they wear with pride. For others, especially those living with CPTSD, they’re quiet confessions. If the adults around you […]
7 Signs You Might Be Living with CPTSD
7 Key Symptoms of CPTSD (Complex PTSD Signs You Should Know) I recently wrote about the difference between CPTSD and PTSD, how CPTSD often includes the symptoms of PTSD plus additional layers tied to long-term, repeated trauma. It’s not just the flashbacks and fear. It’s the ripple effects that bleed into your sense of self, […]
Why CPTSD Makes Letting People In So Hard
Ever feel like you have spent a life time pushing away the person who loves you the most? Yes. Me too. That’s what this week’s Healing Out Loud podcast episode is all about: those invisible walls we build when we have CPTSD. The ones that say, “I love you, but please stay right over there […]
The Departure Theory and CPTSD
(a.k.a., why “being left” hits like a freight train when you’ve got trauma on board) Let’s get this out of the way upfront: The Departure Theory isn’t something you’ll find in a psychology textbook. No citations, no DSM entry. But in trauma circles, especially among those of us navigating life with CPTSD, it comes up […]
Recognizing Trauma Dysregulation as It Happens
(aka: Is This a Red Flag, or Am I Just Spiraling?) When CPTSD turns relationships into a weather system, dysregulation is exactly when your internal forecast suddenly calls for a hurricane… all because of a missed text. Meanwhile, everyone else is just seeing a light drizzle, and you’re busy grabbing sandbags. Suddenly, you’re frozen, flooded, […]
