by Elisabeth | Feb 20, 2019 | Defenders, Dissociation, Memory Repression, Recovery
I watched The Dressmaker last night. The good news: it’s free with Amazon Prime right now. The bad news: it’s full of trauma triggers. There’s rape, murder, death, bullying, domestic violence, drugs, alcoholism, dementia, mental illness, religious oppression,...
by Elisabeth | Feb 13, 2019 | Defenders, Dissociation, Recovery
As a life coach for trauma survivors, my conversations tend to follow certain themes. It is never boring though. The experiences are vastly different within those themes. And I am always amazed at how my clients work through the maze that is trauma recovery. When...
by Elisabeth | Feb 6, 2019 | Defenders, Dissociation, Freedom Fighters, Recovery
We live in a world of control. Everyone is trying to control their surroundings, their feelings, other people. This desperate need to control is coming from fear. There is so much fear built up from generations of horrific events. That fear is trying to resolve...
by Elisabeth | Jan 30, 2019 | Defenders, Dissociation, Recovery
If you have been on this recovery journey for a while, you probably have a sense of how you defend against your emotions. You may have been able to identify some of your strategies. You may have addictions that keep you numbed out from your pain. You might distract...
by Elisabeth | Jan 23, 2019 | Defenders, Dissociation, Recovery
It is incredibly difficult to navigate our emotions in a world that sees emotions as invalid and unnecessary. If we cried as children, we were often threatened to stop. If we expressed emotions, we were called dramatic or attention-seeking. If we were angry, we...
by Elisabeth | Jan 16, 2019 | Defenders, Recovery
If there’s one thing we have learned about complex trauma, it has a huge impact over the course of our lives. The effects of our trauma permeate every aspect of life and inform every pattern we have. I am not writing this to make you feel hopeless. Actually if we...