Chronic Illness Trauma Studies
How Adversity Shapes Health & Why It's Not In Your Head
I recently had the impulse to use play as a way to invite more support for healing complex PTSD and attachment trauma that are getting stimulated as I take over my mother's financial and personal life because she is losing self-agency due to dementia. Painting is a big resource for me that I rarely ...
I recently followed the whisper of an impulse to take a 2 hour online painting class. I've been experiencing overwhelm and a lot of painful feelings as I support my 92 year-old mother who has been developing dementia, and I didn't feel like painting. But I know it can be fun for me. I didn't quite ...
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Jane Strong shared the working images in this post so I could show you what so often goes unseen in chronic illness and survival states. Jane is co-founder and co-director of The Equus Effect in Connecticut, a non-profit organization that provides practical ...
There is a lot going on in the world these days and for many of us, a lot also going in our bodies and back yards. My heart goes out to those of you in California who have lost so much with the fires and here's a deeply supportive post with tips from someone who went through this in 2018. And my ...
These are some of the most helpful things we can do to counteract nervous system perceptions of threat that drive our symptoms of chronic illness, chronic pain and mental health conditions and that we don't typically learn about through traditional medical care (yet!). I have rewritten this post to ...
I've been more tired in the past year and a half. What's been helpful is just how much difference it makes to have an understanding of trauma. It makes it easier for me to recognize what is happening, to have more patience, and to have more self-compassion. These are eight easily underestimated ...
A reader recently expressed something that has also come up in a recent consult. Many, and likely most of us, experience this at least some of the time when living with chronic symptoms: a level of exhaustion with the struggle, the amount of effort and work and time it takes for this chronic illness ...
I got a big splinter in my index finger recently when I was lightly sanding door trim in preparation to prime it. It hurt and I cursed, which is a very satisfying bit of fight response that arises spontaneously now, and that I don't suppress when I'm in my own setting such as at home with no ...
As many of you may know, I'm a big fan of listening for your impulses in support of mending chronic illness. The kind of impulses that can seem insignificant, sneak up on you and brighten your day. The kind that add a little more ease to the journey. The kind that lightened the lethargy I was ...
