In discussing trauma and how it impacts people, one thing I’ve seen overlooked repeatedly is the fact that not everyone is traumatized by the same things. I’ve actually been told my traumatic experiences weren’t traumatic because “that wouldn’t have traumatized me, so it isn’t a traumatic thing.” That’s not how that works. That’s not how any of it works. There are a lot of variables behind how an experience effects someone and whether those effects…
NOTE: This was originally a post on my personal Facebook profile. It fits what I’m discussing in this month’s blog posts, so I chose to share it here. Trauma rewires the brain. This has been shown scientifically. When you experience trauma, especially long-term trauma, the basic functioning of your brain is altered. This leads to things like constantly feeling like you’re “on red alert,” because your brain has become wired to read danger signals where…
As a trauma survivor, I’ve encountered many people who think trauma is just a matter of “holding onto the past” or “not getting over something.” They believe trauma is just an emotional reaction that someone can choose or not, and that people who live with post-traumatic stress or other issues related to their trauma are choosing not to get better. These beliefs can be incredibly harmful to trauma survivors–and they are incorrect. Trauma is caused…
When you’re on a journey to heal from past trauma, sometimes your present environment interferes. Maybe you feel uncomfortable in your home because of the noise around you, or you live with someone who doesn’t respect or doesn’t understand your need for boundaries and privacy. Maybe something in your current environment reminds you of your past, or even is the same environment in which the trauma occurred. I met and married my current husband while…
The mind, body, and energy are all intertwined. Anything that affects one of these affects all of them. And those effects can be stored for years or decades, particularly for those who don’t receive treatment. Studies have shown that when someone experiences trauma, the brain is altered by defense mechanisms and the need to survive the trauma. These changes linger; someone who experienced trauma in childhood may live their entire life with a brain that…
Chios is a form of energy healing that includes specific techniques for balancing the chakras, clearing the energy field, and repairing energetic damage caused by past physical and emotional experiences. In 2005, I was in an abusive marriage and was beginning to uncover memories of traumatic experiences I’d had as a child. Trying to navigate these things while raising two children was difficult. I needed clarity. I needed help. I met and became close friends…
I love to learn things. Learning has always been something I enjoyed, though only under certain circumstances. Most of the “learning” we were required to do in school didn’t appeal to me, because it seemed arbitrary and I was only learning those things because someone else told me to. But learning things on my own, following my own interests and intuition, always appealed. Partly for my own benefit and partly because I want to build…
If you’ve been on social media at all, you’ve probably seen the meme that says something along the lines of, “If you don’t come out of this time of quarantine with a new skill, new hobby, or your side hustle launched, it was never a question of time, it was a question of discipline.” That meme brings up so much frustration and anger in me. Not for myself as much as for the people who…
I recently responded to a post on Facebook from someone close to me, who said they were considering changing a part of how they act because they were so tired of people judging them and putting them down. This is what I said, in part, in response to their post: “Some people have nothing better to do than tear down others to make themselves feel better. Live YOUR life, not theirs. Smile if you want…