TRAUMA BLOG POSTS
Trauma has no sense of time
Triggers are trauma memories When you are ‘triggered’ you are having a bodily or emotional memory of the trauma. You’re experiencing the emotions and bodily sensations you experienced at the time of the trauma, even if you have no memory of what happened to you. But...
Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a diagnosis listed in the DSM 5, but is not listed as a trauma disorder. Instead it is placed with the personality disorders. Despite this, research has shown that childhood trauma is a significant risk factor in the...
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Many individuals may have been inaccurately diagnosed or categorised under PTSD or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) due to the unavailability of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a diagnostic category. I would argue that all psychological disorders stem...
Trauma and the brain
Understanding the impact of trauma on the brain helps us understand why we get stuck in the trauma and get tricked into thinking we are constantly unsafe. Our brain and nervous system is a complex and finely tuned network designed to protect us from danger. However,...
Small t Traumas and Large T Traumas
Small t Traumas and Large T Traumas Some categorise traumas into Small t and Large T traumas. These categories help draw attention to the fact that smaller but repeated traumas are just as, if not more, deeply impactful than the obvious and concrete larger, or single...
Ambivalent and avoidant attachment
Attachment is a concept that is spoken about a lot. Formed in the earliest years of our lives, it goes on to impact us for a lifetime. Yet it is surprisingly difficult to find any reading material that goes beyond infants to how it impacts adults in relationships....
How Do I Work With Trauma?
What is Trauma? In my practice, I use a broad definition of trauma, to include both Large 'T' and Small 't' traumas. Large 'T' trauma is what most people think of when prompted by the word trauma; experiences like car accidents, sexual assault, physical assault, war...
What is emotional regulation?
Emotional regulation, emotional dysregulation...have you heard any of these terms? They are being used a lot in the world of psychology lately. But what do they really mean? I suspect there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. Emotional regulation IS NOT being...
What is a window of tolerance?
The phrase window of tolerance is a bit of a buzz word in the psychology world at the moment. But what on earth does it mean? Our window of tolerance is the amount of distress we can handle (like anger, sadness, anxiety etc.) without feeling out of control (or the...
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