Changing Your Life Forever — Core beliefs are vital to who we are as humans, guiding how we treat ourselves and those around us. When a person has suffered complex trauma, these critical internal viewpoints often become skewed. This is especially true when one has formed complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). In this article, we…

You are not alone. — Do you shake in your boots at the thought of seeing a doctor? Do you go out of your way to keep from seeing one? If so, you are not alone. Many people, especially those with mental health challenges, fear doctors. This piece will concentrate on the fear of doctors…

Are They Positive or Negative — In this series on core beliefs, we are discussing how these self-imposed and self-defining thought patterns can either help or hinder you and your life. Because of childhood maltreatment, many survivors are left struggling to find who they are and struggling with many core beliefs that are not helpful. This…

How they affect your life — All of us have core beliefs that we hold about ourselves. These beliefs shape who we fundamentally are and how we behave. This article, the first in this series, will focus on core beliefs what they are, and how they affect our lives. What are Core Beliefs? Core beliefs are…

You can still live life to the fullest — Childhood trauma, aka abuse, of any kind, leaves its victims with many symptoms that interfere with their daily lives. However, these disruptive behaviors are treatable, and one can overcome a traumatic childhood. This piece will discuss overcoming childhood trauma and moving on. Getting Stuck It is not uncommon for adults…

Part Three — We have been exploring together the ins and outs of going no contact with a family of origin. As we have seen, going no contact is a dramatic and often traumatic event that allows you some peace when your family denies your past abuse or is still abusing you. This…

Part 2 — Living with the effects of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is challenging. Survivors who have CPTSD should not have to deal with harmful family members. Going no contact is a choice that not many survivors choose. Going no contact is painful and changes one’s life forever. In this article, we…

Part One — People with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) or living in other distress usually come from dysfunctional homes. These survivors have endured many traumas perpetrated by their family members, and after reaching adulthood, many of these grown children choose to have little to no contact with their family of origin. This…

Treachery on a personal scale — Betrayal trauma describes what happens when someone, your parents, an institution, or a lover acts treacherously towards us. Betrayal is an excellent word to describe how most survivors feel when they discover they have dissociative identity disorder (DID), especially when they learn the cause. …