When we are dealing with cPTSD and chronic dysregulation, relaxation is not a beginner’s exercise. It is important to learn Orientation & Grounding first and reduce chronic dysregulation. Trying to relax while being in a stress response will have negative effects. When we are in fight/flight and we try to hold still, the tension will […]
self-care & life-skills
Selective Functioning
We often think of functioning in a simplified way: either we function or we don’t. Reality is more complex than that. Different tasks need different kinds of energy. It means we can function in some areas while we don’t function in others. Hard physical labor is not the same as creative work, social interactions, spreadsheets, […]
Learning relaxation with biofeedback
Trauma is not a ‘mental’ disorder, the whole body suffers from chronic stress. It sits deeply within our nervous system. Our traumatized body will struggle with relaxation and sometimes we have been tense for so many years that we actually don’t know how to relax and what that even feels like. Biofeedback technology can help […]
Administering mental energy
Like time and money, energy is a limited resource. It means that we have to be careful how we spend it, otherwise there won’t be enough to manage our life. PTSD and dissociation use up a good amount of our energy, so that our stores are slimmer than those of other people. It means that […]
Supportive medication for PTSD and DID
There is no medication to cure PTSD or DID. If someone tells you otherwise they obviously don’t know what they are talking about. Leave the conversation. They are not going to help you. Many patients still take medication because it can help with specific symptoms like insomnia, depression or anxiety. I will share some general […]
Dealing with sleep paralysis in PTSD
About 7% of healthy people and more than 30% of traumatized people experience sleep paralysis, a situations where they wake up from sleep, unable to move their body. There are different theories why this is happening but the most common is that the sleep phases are messed up and something went wrong during REM sleep. […]
Budgeting (LifeSkills)
A lot of people with PTSD or DID survive with very little money. The key to a simple but manageable life on a tight budget is having a plan, actually writing a budget for the month. (Everyone should do this, but it is especially important with low income) We will walk you through the steps […]
Unicorn-Moments for weekends
A lot of SystemWork is about finding balance between extremes. Action/work and relaxation/fun is one of the important pairs of virtues (see v-square) that need to be balanced. Both are good and needed, but one without the other will harm us long-term. More about negotiating relaxation During the week our life is very structured and […]
Adulting (Life-Skills)
Our home looks presentable at all times. We know exactly what we own and where it is. We are organized, don’t miss appointments, rarely forget important things and we are getting better and better at adulting. Here is the truth: we are a bunch of confused people. Some are organized, many are not. We need […]
Negotiating relaxation (SystemWork)
If you read relaxation and maybe you even tried it you might have noticed that it created unrest inside. Maybe not all of you are ready to relax. But relaxation is am important part of self-care, you all need the balance of tension and relaxation to be healthy. Have an inner team meeting. Get […]
Relaxation
PTSD means chronic stress and tension. But we are aiming to regulate ourselves within the green and yellow area, not just the yellow. And that means learning to relax. Everyone needs this, but for trauma patients it can be harder to learn because it feels strange at first. We are not used to it. We […]
Self-care
Many people confuse self-care with acts of self-love. Self-care is not about being „kind“ to yourself. It is about doing the most basic things to keep your body healthy and going. It is a necessity. If you want to be healthy you need to take care of yourself. If you struggle with self-love you can […]