Sep 29 2018
“It wasn’t your fault.” This is such a healing, repairing message for trauma survivors. In our society, all too frequently the conversation around a traumatic event shifts to the victim’s character, choices, faults, etc. as if to imply that something done to them was their fault. This is almost always untrue and it is harmful, …
Dec 01 2017
The Art of Healing Trauma Coloring Book is here! I haven’t been able to write for my blog for months as I created this coloring book. It’s been many, many hours of working on the illustrations and copy – definitely a labor of love! Here is the Book Description: Slow down, tune into yourself and …
Jun 30 2016
Much of trauma healing is helping the nervous system become more “resilient.” Rather than spend a few hours or even days drowning in a state of terror, tension and nervousness after getting triggered, doing one or more of these exercises can help the nervous system shift into a different state sooner. Each time you do …
Sep 11 2015
I’ve seen a number of great lists floating around the internet about what people with PTSD wish the people around them understood, so I thought I’d create my own version. From my perspective after 8 years of recovery, these are the things I wish people understood. Enjoy! PTSD is as real as any physical wound. …
Jul 27 2015
Calm down and color! I’ve been working on some coloring pages to include in my book of self-healing exercises for PTSD. I’ve finished this one design and added three different backgrounds. I have another design I’m working on of fish underwater which I will add to this post if I can finish it. 1. Coloring …
Apr 28 2015
If you have PTSD you may notice you have an overwhelmingly negative outlook on life. You may see motivational messages about thinking positively and want to give it a whirl. I know I see people who are infectiously positive and I think to myself, “Wow, I’d love to be like that!” I think that learning …
Apr 07 2015
Most of these haikus are more related to my earlier years of PTSD than the current time of PTSD. I was really in the “living hell” of PTSD from 2007 until December 2014 – now I’m in partial living hell but I’m reorganizing my brain somewhat due to seeing a Somatic Experiencing therapist since October. …
Mar 08 2015
I attended a Writing from the Heart workshop with Aile Shebar on June 14, 2014. During the workshop, Aile Shebar gave us many writing tips. A number of tips were about what to do when facing a feeling of stagnation, overwhelm, or writer’s block with a writing project. One tip was to write a haiku …
Jan 07 2015
Synonyms (Alternate Titles): Into The Body Exercise, Physical Containment and Support Exercise, Connecting Body To Earth Exercise, Mind Body Ground Linking Exercise, Awakening Physical Presence Exercise, One Location One Time Exercise. Healing Mechanisms: Focused attention on bodily sensations. Focused attention is a skill of the mind. Sensation is an attribute of our biology, our nervous …
Jan 06 2015
Grounding is a powerful tool in the trauma healing toolkit because it generally reduces states of activation, sometimes quickly and significantly. Experiencing an almost total reduction in activation just through grounding can be surprising, since grounding is very simple. Definition: Grounding is the act of connecting more deeply and completely to the body, strengthening the …
