Tag Archives: Learning

“What do I do with my anger and rage?”

In our culture, we’re taught to not be angry, to calm down, and to “overcome” our anger, the emotion that alerts us to violations. Cruelty and contempt from caregivers is a serious violation. It’s no wonder survivors of severe abuse … Continue reading

Posted in Interpersonal Neurobiology, Mental Health, Nervous System | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The courage it takes to speak up against sexualized violence

I often hear that I am courageous for speaking my truth about sexualized violence in my life and its prevalence in America. Yeah, I know. But what is this courage really about? I’m not courageous because I speak my truth. … Continue reading

Posted in Activism, Mental Health, Nervous System, Safe Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t “flip your lid,” down-regulate!

How does regulating the nervous system help sufferers of trauma and chronic stress? What is the “window of tolerance” and how can we widen ours? What happens in our brains when we “flip our lid” and how can we avoid … Continue reading

Posted in Mental Health, Nervous System, Neuroscience | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Follow me on Facebook for more info on stress/trauma/PTSD/CPTSD

When you follow my TraumaAwareAmerica page on Facebook you can receive and find great info, tips, tidbits, insights, art, news, humor, and more about stress/PTSD/Complex PTSD and recovery, neurobiology, and mental health in general. Be sure to join the TraumaAwareAmerica … Continue reading

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“Instead of addressing the underlying issues”

“Women described being misdiagnosed or given painkillers instead of addressing underlying issues. One woman lost her child traumatically. Another had to experiment and eventually diagnose herself because her doctor was no help,” the newspaper noted, regarding Black women in our … Continue reading

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Who is Della the Badass Ladybug?

Della the Janked-Up Ladybug™ is a fairly recent arrival to my art. I’m interested in the cartoon as a medium that offers a measure of safety to viewers, so they can take in something that might otherwise be overwhelming. My … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Fun & Magic, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Unleash the Ladybug!”

Della the Janked-Up Ladybug helped me launch my tiny-but-pointed #TraumaAwareAmerica initiative. It focuses on trauma awareness/education and the rights of traumatized people. I initially aimed at frontline providers, because they were the ones who could have greatly helped instead of … Continue reading

Posted in Community, Education, Kindness, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Posture, Body Language, Stress, and Trauma

Alexander Technique instructor Imogen Ragone and I discuss “the implications and impact of posture and body language on people dealing with stress and trauma, and what neuroscience is telling us about this.” Imogen dispels “some common myths (and potentially harmful … Continue reading

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When your trust is unapologetically broken, forgive yourself

When someone breaks our trust we sometimes feel a sense of lack for having trusted, for having allowed ourselves to be cheated. It’s an element that is often overlooked, though it may have a deep effect. After the sailing disaster of … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, sailing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

And on the 7th day, I heard a voice

I felt a little piece of my heart sink the moment I saw the boat. From my vantage point, the driver’s seat of a rental car, the vessel was hardly more than a white dot bobbing gently on a mooring … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure, sailing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments