Trauma-Post-Traumatic Growth
Recovering from Pandemic Burnout and Fatigue…In Ways That Are Honest and Effective
Many years ago, when I finished writing the manuscript for Bouncing Back and pushed “send” on the computer, I checked in to see what I was feeling after a full year of drafting, editing, polishing…Nothing. I thought that was odd. I had worked so hard, the last month especially, to meet the publisher’s deadline. I […]
For Clinicians: Working with Traumatized Nervous Systems
So many folks are getting wrung out by the challenges of coping with a pandemic that doesn’t seem ready to quit. Whether people were ever traumatized before in their lives, many are experiencing a marked deterioration in functioning and well-being now. NICABM is offering its Treating Trauma Master series to help clinicians help clients resolve […]
The New Normal? Not So Fast…and Not So Easy
Yesterday’s post, Gone Fishin’, mentioned that I hit a wall last week and would show up in your inbox today re-grouped, re-Sourced, recovered, with an attempt at explaining, at least exploring, why. A health scare, resolved, nothing to worry about now, and I’m grateful for that. Profoundly. The wall was noticing that I wasn’t turning […]
A Truth about Trauma
Trauma is a fact of life. It doesn’t have to be a life sentence. – Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing trauma therapy I quote the quote above in most of my clinical trainings on resilience, including a 12-hour training for the Ottawa Centre for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse and Childhood Trauma just last […]
In Times of Cataclysmic Change, Resilience Is Bouncing Back; Post-Traumatic Growth Is Bouncing Forward
Whatever the final, final results of the U.S. national elections this week, practices to strengthen resilience to meet the massive changes on the horizon are going to be helpful. My friend Kathyrn sent me this article, Post-Traumatic Growth Might Be the Silver Lining of Trauma – Here’s How to Harness It by Cassie Shortsleeve in […]
9/11 – Trauma Then and Now
A somewhat heavy post on a somewhat heavy day, yet still offering resources to recover our resilience. Today is the 19th anniversary of 9/11 – the anniversary of a day that sent shock waves throughout the world, killing 2,977 people in New York City, launching a war that has killed 50,000 more in the Middle […]
“The War to End All Wars”…Didn’t
Today, November 11, is the 101st anniversary of the official end of World War I, “the war to end all wars.” Wars haven’t ended. The deaths, injuries, and PTSD from combat continue; the suffering of the innocent as well as the combatants continues. Teaching quite a bit about Bouncing Back, Moving Forward: Resilience and Post-Traumatic […]
Becoming Aware of Inherited Family Trauma
We all recognize that we can “inherit” patterns of trauma responses – anxiety, depression, anger – by growing up in families where the unresolved anxiety, depression, anger of parents, grandparents, or other close relatives was passed on to us because it was the environment we were swimming in, “normal” and we would have had to […]
Supporting Another Person’s Resilience – Brilliantly
When my friend Tracy called this morning with “It’s been a tough week,” I put down my breakfast, sat on the couch, and settled in for a deep listen. Her husband Dale came downstairs from a nap about a week ago, saying he didn’t feel well, he had a headache, something was wrong. With no […]