The complete guide to CPTSD anger and rage. Some of the most painful anger I see never makes a sound. It's anger turned inward; quiet, private, and aimed at the person least equipped to fight back. You. You stay quiet when you feel criticized. You go along with plans you don't want. Your partner can feel that something's wrong and asks you …
Why Complex PTSD Affects Sleep (and What Your Nightmares Are Trying to Tell You)
You are exhausted. You've been exhausted all day. And then the moment you finally lie down, your body decides it's time to keep watch. If that's familiar, please hear this first: you are not bad at sleeping, and this is not a failure of willpower. Your nervous system learned to stay alert for very good reasons. Let me explain what I mean. I'm …
My Partner’s Trauma Responses Hurt Me: 8 Steps for Talking About It Without Sounding Critical
Your partner survived childhood trauma. And sometimes, because of that trauma, they say and do things that really hurt you. This means you feel stuck. You want to tell them that what just happened wasn't really about you; that it looked like a trauma response. But every way you can think of to say it sounds like criticism. Or worse, you're …
You Don’t Have an Anger Problem: What Your ‘Temper’ Really Says About Your Nervous System
For the full picture of why CPTSD anger feels so big, and what helps, read CPTSD Anger and Rage: Why It Feels So Big, and How to Heal It. Marcus stood in his kitchen, staring at the dishwasher. It was full of clean dishes that hadn't been put away. On any other day, this might have been a minor annoyance, but today, it felt like a personal …
It’s Not a Personality Flaw: Why Shame Is at the Heart of Your Trauma Recovery
A 2024 study found that shame and emotion dysregulation together account for 59% of PTSD symptoms. Take a second and let that number land. Don’t rush past it. Fifty-nine percent. That means shame isn’t just a side effect of your trauma. It isn't a "bonus" symptom you have to deal with on the side. It is one of the main events. And yet, …
Your Body Isn’t Broken: How Stanford Research Explains Your Trauma Recovery Journey
If you are living with the long-term effects of childhood trauma, you’ve likely had days where you felt like your body was an unreliable narrator, or worse, an enemy. Maybe it’s a migraine that hits every time you try to set a boundary. Maybe it’s a digestive system that seems to react to everything, or a "brain fog" so thick you feel like …
