IFS stands for Internal Family Systems, and no, it’s not about your in-laws or your Wi-Fi setup. It’s a therapy model based on a pretty wild but surprisingly comforting idea: we’re not just one “self.” We’re a whole system of selves, or “parts,” each with its own voice, its own job, and its own emotional baggage. […]
Living With CPTSD: Why Depth Matters to Me
There’s something that keeps circling back in my life like a boomerang made of emotional clarity, and it hits me a little harder every year: I can’t do surface-level shit. Of any kind. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve smiled through small talk, nodded in the right places, and played the part like a […]
Do We Have To Forgive To Heal From Trauma?
It’s important that this gets said: If you’re healing from CPTSD and you’re not ready to forgive the people who hurt you? There is nothing wrong with that. You’re just being honest with yourself. And it’s actually a brave thing to be. Forgiveness is one of those overused words people throw around when they don’t […]
When CPTSD and Discernment Become Tangled
For most of my life, I didn’t trust myself. Honestly, not really. I could read a room in seconds, crack a joke under pressure, or keep things calm while everything burned down behind my eyes, but ask me what I needed. Or whether someone’s behavior felt safe? I had no idea. I’d either panic and […]
Trying to Heal, But Someone Hit Rewind
Let’s discuss the unexpected emotional kick to the gonads that happens when your past randomly pops up, like one of those meerkats coming up for air out of its burrow, right when you’re starting to feel the tiniest flicker of pride about how far you’ve come. Maybe someone brings it up in conversation, casually or […]
The Mental Health Myth That Needs to Go
There are a ton of myths floating around about mental health. Some come from a good place, some are wildly off, and some just make you want to gently bang your head against a wall. But if I had to pick one to blast off into the sun, it’d be this: “You have to look […]
