I woke this morning and nothing was wrong. I had a good night’s sleep. It was the weekend and I had a chilled and relaxing few days to look forward to, but still, I was feeling like something was off. This has been happening a lot lately. And as unsettling as it is, there’s a […]
Hypervigilance and CPTSD: Why I Face the Door
There is something that I do, and have done for as long as I can remember, and that is, I don’t sit with my back to the room. Ever. It’s not about being dramatic or antisocial. It’s because somewhere deep in my bones, my nervous system never really got the memo that the emergency ended. […]
CPTSD Emotional Regulation Healing Journey Mental Health Self-Care Self-Compassion Therapy Trauma Recovery Triggers
PTSD or CPTSD? A Simple Breakdown Without the Psychobabble
So, you’ve been down a WebMD rabbit hole, or your therapist dropped “CPTSD” into a session like it’s a totally normal acronym. And you have somehow found yourself here. Welcome. I write a lot about my own experiences living with CPTSD, and I want you to know you’re not alone, even if it feels that […]
The Pressure to Reinvent vs. the Power of Just Being
There’s something that’s always puzzled me: the need people seem to have to constantly reinvent themselves. New year? Reinvent. Breakup? Reinvent. Got bangs? Reinvent. It’s like we’re all supposed to be our own PR team, constantly rebranding to stay relevant, like some sort of personal SEO strategy. (See what I did there? Threw in some […]
When Therapy Turns into an Emotional Excavation
When I started therapy, I thought I just needed a tune-up. I knew there were things inside me I needed to work on. What I got instead was an emotional excavation. Turns out, growing up in chaos teaches your brain some pretty creative survival strategies, hypervigilance, dissociation, people-pleasing, and the uncanny ability to anticipate everyone’s […]
Loving Someone with CPTSD: A Survival Guide
Loving someone with CPTSD means, first and foremost, loving someone with a complicated past. We might not always say it, but we crave connection, deeply. Sometimes more than we know what to do with. And yet, every so often, we flinch. We pull back. We get quiet when things get too close. It’s not because […]