english

Getting out of chronic dissociation Part 2

by Theresa on February 7, 2020 in english, mindfulness

With exercises for getting out of chronic dissociation the way the exercise is done is vastly more important than the action in itself. We will first look at the position of the Engaged Explorer, explain how to do titration and revisit the trinity of regulation for a solid foundation. Only then can we approach the […]

Getting out of chronic dissociation Part 1

by Theresa on January 17, 2020 in english, mindfulness, Self-regulation

Complex PTSD is sometimes accompanied by chronic dissociation. It means being in a permanent state of disconnection from our body, our emotions, our needs and sensations and the people around us. We are still functioning in everyday life, but certain areas of our awareness are offline. That’s why this is also called functional shutdown. This […]

Capacity and Avoidance

by Theresa on December 20, 2019 in basics, english

There are different opinions about avoidance and they seem to fall short when it comes to the reality of living a functional life with cPTSD. So we will take a short look at the extreme statements about avoidance and explore the body work concept of capacity to create more clarity. Avoidance Contra Some believe […]

TRE for healing complex trauma?

by Theresa on November 25, 2019 in english, therapy

TRE stands for Tension and Trauma Release Exercises. It is a new form of releasing stress through working with the body. To understand why and how TRE works we need to take a look at physiology and a polar bear. Theory In mammals we can find a natural response to extreme stress that keeps […]

Impulse and Control

by Theresa on November 22, 2019 in english, mindfulness

Trauma usually comes with problems in self-regulation and self-control but people differ in the way it shows. Under-control (UC) like chronically unmanageable emotions or intense, often destructive, impulses are usually diagnosed as BPD, sometimes it shows in impulsive eating disorders like binge eating or bulimia. We think that under-control is addressed well in DBT, so […]

Chillaxing with Otters (guided imagery)

by Theresa on November 7, 2019 in english, guided imagery

This is not your classic water imagery of a person having a bath in a lake. I personally struggle with that kind of imagery; doing it all dressed feels unnatural, getting undressed or changing clothes doesn’t feel safe at all. Imagining my body in clothes appropriate for bathing brings up emotions that are not helpful […]

Epiphany #7: War and Peace

by Theresa on October 31, 2019 in english, other

Most of my therapy journey was based on scanning my body permanently, looking for early signs of dissociation, so I could choose the right tools to counter it. I was looking for reasons to act. It is stressful to live like that because it keeps up a certain degree of hypervigilance at all times. I […]

Dealing with body flashbacks

by Theresa on October 16, 2019 in basics, english

This article is triggering. I didn’t see a way to openly talk about this subject otherwise. I am limiting the most triggering information to a paragraph that I will mark with **** at the beginning and end and that can easily be skipped without effecting the comprehension of the rest of the text. Because we […]

Orientation and Grounding

by Theresa on October 8, 2019 in basics, english, mindfulness

When we get triggered our first response should not be an effort in self-soothing. That would be unnecessarily hard to accomplish as long as we are not oriented in time, space and body. Our nervous system is still reacting to the past. First we need to realize that we are safe in this situation, then […]

Becoming a safe church

by Theresa on September 30, 2019 in english, for helpers

In my heart I wanted to write an article about the small things the church could improve to make it easier for people with cPTSD to be there and feel safe. Things like a careful use of the ‘laying on of hands’ so people won’t get touched without giving consent. Or maybe preachers using a […]

Being a safe person in a relationship (for helpers and friends)

by Theresa on September 25, 2019 in english, for helpers

(If you came here and you missed the first part about being a safe person for beginners, please follow the link and read that first. It is the foundation for everything we do in a deeper relationship as well.) When you are not just someone who sometimes gets in contact with traumatized people but […]

Creating safe situations (polyvagal concepts for helpers)

by Theresa on September 23, 2019 in english, for helpers

Friends and helpers often ask how to create a safe situation for the survivors they care about. I have already started to give answers on how to be a safe person. We will continue from here. Some of this is science-based, some is information collected from other survivors, some is my own experience. We describe […]