I do have some short little stories I would like to share that are on the fun side. Animals have always been very important to me, and for most years of my life, I have had a variety of pets – lots of cats, dogs, horses – and when I was little I had a pet raccoon called Petunia, a pet pig called Snorkie, and a pet calf called Grassyhopper. I would be writing for a very long time if I started through the … [Read more...]
Cats and Dogs and Trauma Survivors
Pets are very important to trauma survivors for a variety of reasons: A place to express love, affection, and tenderness Many abuse survivors have difficulties with attachment issues due their extensive histories of trauma, abuse, and neglect. Because people were the perpetrators, trauma survivors frequently find it difficult and complicated to express caring and affection to other people. And yet, … [Read more...]
Abandonment — A Painful, Tender Hurt for Dissociative Trauma Survivors
Abandonment is such a tender issue for trauma survivors. Most survivors with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID/MPD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) have had more than their fair share of genuine abandonment instances. For severe trauma survivors, abandonment would have been experienced over and over in various situations: Each time your parents or caregivers turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse … [Read more...]
Using Collage as a Way of Communicating
Creating a collage is another way of allowing your internal system parts to tell more about themselves. Pictures can be a powerful way of communicating. And a collage - a collection of pictures - can tell a lifetime of stories. Most trauma survivors were repeatedly told by their abusers, "Do not tell". Violence, threats, abuse, and pain often accompanied these rules. How many times did you hear "don't say … [Read more...]
10 Qualities Therapists Recognize in Good Clients, part 2
Hello, I hope this day finds you doing well. The first part of this article certainly caused a little stir, and maybe raised a few eyebrows along the way. Please know, my intention in posting these blogs is not to offend anyone. If you have any questions or concerns about anything I've posted, please comment and let me know what you're thinking! And here's a big Thank You! to the folks who did comment to the … [Read more...]