Tag: adverse childhood experiences
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Dissociation: A Mind’s Way of Protecting Itself
Understanding the disconnect—and why it’s not your fault I didn’t know I was dissociating until my therapist gently suggested I look it up. I thought I was just zoning out, overplanning, or being “too in my head.” But dissociation isn’t laziness or distraction—it’s a defense mechanism. One that helped me survive what I couldn’t process.…
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Living with Complex PTSD
Understanding the layers—and learning how to heal Complex PTSD (CPTSD) isn’t just a diagnosis—it’s a lived experience. It’s what happens when trauma isn’t a single event, but a pattern. When harm comes from the people who were supposed to protect you. When survival becomes your default setting. I didn’t know I had CPTSD for most…
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How ACEs Showed Up In My Life
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur before age 18, such as abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction. These experiences can have lasting effects on physical and mental health, and the ACE score is a simple way to measure how many types a person has faced. Higher scores are linked to increased risk for…
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Understanding Generational Trauma
What we inherit, what we carry, and what we choose to heal Generational trauma is the transmission of unresolved pain, dysfunction, and emotional wounds from one generation to the next.It can be born from poverty, violence, loss, and systemic oppression.It shows up in behaviors, patterns, and beliefs—long after the original harm occurred. For some of…
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Just Emotional? It’s Biological
How trauma reshapes the brain—and how healing rewires it For years, I thought my reactions were just emotional. I was “too intense” or “too much.” But neuroscience tells a different story. Trauma doesn’t just affect how we feel—it changes how our brains work. These changes aren’t inevitable, but they are measurable. And they matter. The…