I was traumatized when I was very young. I spent my entire life dissociated, disconnected, anxious and depressed. I wanted to feel better but nobody was able to help. Eventually I connected the dots and realized the suffering I experienced had a name and it was "complex trauma".

I'm proud of how I'm scanning and organizing thousands of old photos and documents recently. Lots of feelings are being felt. but. thanks to all the healing I had in trauma therapy, I am staying present and not dissociating. I couldn't have done this task a few years ago.

I felt a lot of love for her looking at those photos. When you journey through life with someone for 50 years, that is a significant relationship. She was not a demonstrative or talkative person. She showed her love in quiet ways, by making food and keeping things clean.

I just finished scanning a bunch of old photos of my grandmother, who raised me. The earliest photo of her was when she was in her twenties. She grew up the youngest of 8 children and they lived in severe poverty, so there was no money for photographs. They often went hungry.

RT @BeTraumaFree: This is true! There are many layers to eating addictions - trauma survivors often use food as a source of distraction, co….

RT @BeTraumaFree: Now in stable recovery thanks to five years of trauma therapy, I look back on my life and I cannot believe the amount of….

"Painting became his medicine. His nervous system was on fire, and the canvas absorbed the flames.".I already knew a lot about Vincent Van Gogh, but I learned something new from this amazing thread!!.

RT @BeTraumaFree: Standard counselling wasn't working. Anti-depressants weren't working. Non-traditional therapies weren't working. Self he….

RT @BeTraumaFree: I don't know what kept me seeking help over the years, even though years of standard counselling and therapy never helped….

I LOVE this diagram. My autistic brain loves a clear, step by step map. I love knowing there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel. I love knowing that healthy recovery is possible.

I've spent a lot of time in all of these stages. Have you experienced burnout?.

I just realized that trauma survivors have an extremely high threshold for pain and suffering. In recovery, I am no longer able to tolerate the intolerable. I set protective boundaries now.

Now in stable recovery thanks to five years of trauma therapy, I look back on my life and I cannot believe the amount of suffering, pain and abuse I endured. In recovery now, I no longer permit people to treat me that way. Trauma survivors are incredibly strong.

There was always something in me that kept me getting up every time life knocked me down. I think it was a sense of hope and a belief that things could get better. A decade ago, after years of abuse, things got so bad I started losing hope. That was when I knew I was in trouble.

This is true! There are many layers to eating addictions - trauma survivors often use food as a source of distraction, comfort and connection. When they gain weight due to overeating, they become invisible to the opposite sex and this also provides safety.

This 5 second breathing technique is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself. I use it myself every day, especially to calm down before bedtime.

Thanks for the reminder! I just took a nice vagus nerve breath - deep inhale through the nose, and a long, slow exhale through pursed lips.

RT @BeTraumaFree: Childhood trauma steals so much from a person. It steals your safety. It steals your memories. It steals your peace of mi….

RT @BeTraumaFree: Different activities trigger different hormones. This is a useful list.

RT @BeTraumaFree: I post my successes and failures here because healing trauma is a long, patient journey of "two steps forward and one ste….

Standard counselling wasn't working. Anti-depressants weren't working. Non-traditional therapies weren't working. Self help methods weren't working. Religious and spiritual approaches didn't work either. Nothing worked for me until I found a trauma therapist.