Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 04/08/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.

 

 

Photo Credit

@soulseedz “When you look at life with gratitude,
a room with a view becomes a window to wonder.”

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@tinybuddha “It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.” ~ Pema Chodron

@karenkmmonroy “Some people are just plain ol’ mean, critical and dis-spiriting. Your job is to not attract them by being mean, critical and dis-spiriting.”

@FeelBetter2day “Live out of your imagination, not your history” ~ Stephen Covey

@OurMentalHealth “Find something this spring that you want to grow and nurture it to fruition.” ~ Cyleste

@Tamavista “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” ~ Omar Khayyam

@thereseborchard “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

Linked Tweets

 

Sexual Assault Awareness Month
(with thanks to Dr. Kathleen Young)

 

@DrKathleenYoung What Can You Do About Sexual Violence?
[SEO: “April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year’s theme is “It’s time … to get involved.” The message is that preventing sexual assault needs to be our collective responsibility. This month’s focus will be about combating the bystander effect.” Which means everyone has a stake in this, not just victims of sexual assault.]

@DrKathleenYoung 12 Ways You Can Make a Difference
[SEO: “I want to share this resource from the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault Inc. (www.wcasa.org) because it speaks to this year’s theme of promoting community (and individual) involvement.”]

 

Self Care for You and for Those Who Care About You

 

@akvet This article describes secondary trauma among therapists treating PTSD. Family members experience similar responses.
[SEO: The concept of “compassion fatigue” has been widely discussed in the last 20 years. It is defined in this article as: “…state of exhaustion and dysfunction (biologically, psychologically and socially) as a result of prolonged exposure to compassion stress” (Figley, 1995). We become exhausted by the exposure to experience after experience of emotionally draining clients who look to us for help.” As noted by @akvet’s tweet, compassion fatigue can also apply to a trauma survivor’s closest support people, whether family or friends. It’s vital that people in those primary support roles give more than mere lip service to practicing self-care. While this article specifically pertains to clinicians, see the next post below for information for friends and families.]

@akvet For loved ones and family members of someone with combat induced PTSD this is an excellent summary
[SEO: Or for loved ones and family members of any type of PTSD. You can also find a great list of resources aimed at family (and friend) caretakers offered by the National Family Caregivers Association.]

@psychcentral Self-care and Survival: Getting Through the Tough Times
[SEO: “So what gets you through? And how can you connect with it in those moments when you might feel overwhelmed with challenge or sorrow? … [What might it be like] maybe to just take a moment when the tough times are next upon you, and to listen for what’s missing? Or what’s needed? Or what could soothe or strengthen or support? What might it be like to become that ‘someone’ that cares for you?”]

The Rest of the Best

 

@zebraspolkadots Not all mental health providers abuse their position — but the ones that do… do so much damage. Healing from the 2nd trauma.
[SEO: An important guest post by Susan Kingsley-Smith (@zebraspolkadots) on Emerging From Broken discusses why abuse survivors may be susceptible to further abuse by incompetent and/or dysfunctional mental health clinicians. “The mental health ‘professionals’ had successfully stripped me of any hope when they informed me that my brain was broken. They had laid the groundwork for my lifetime dependence on them; telling me that they, and only they, knew the answers and in order for me to ‘get better’ I needed to submit myself to their care.”

Certainly, not all clinicians operate in this manner; there are competent, caring, and humble clinicians who create a true partnership with their clients, who maintain healthy boundaries, and are skilled at not fostering unhealthy dependence upon them. Susan eventually found one of these gems. But you need to know that not all clinicians match those standards. Be informed, and be your own best advocate. The discussion continues in the many comments.]

@psychcentral 5 destructive mind habits that may be destroying your life
[SEO: “Mind traps are those habitual thinking styles we get caught in that inevitably trap us into a cascading snowball of reactivity that leads us to greater distress.” Discussion about catastrophizing; exaggerating the negative and discounting the positive; mind reading; being the eternal expert; the “shoulds”; and blaming. Uses the analogy of falling into a hole, and how you might then react according to each category.]

@tinybuddha 5 Easy Ways to Get into Yoga This Spring (via @AlwaysWellWithn)
[SEO: If you’re contemplating getting started with yoga, this post provides helpful ways to ease yourself into it. “Now more than ever, yoga seems the perfect escape from our increasingly complex, technology-driven, distracted modern lives. Finding peace and contentment in the present moment is one of the most challenging things to do, and yoga provides the tools we need to find that much-desired stillness.”]

@goodthingz 7 Steps to Inner Simplicity
[SEO: “Just think of it, a well-organized and minimalistic home won’t bring you any satisfaction if you are troubled with negative or unhappy thoughts. A perfect schedule which has enough room for all your activities will be useless if you are reliving over and over old painful memories. External ways of simplifying life have no meaning at all if you cannot find your balance and inner simplicity.” (The pop up when you first arrive is annoying, and more than a bit ironic. Just sayin’. But the post gives much to contemplate.)]

@psychcentral Is it better focus on the past, present or future in therapy? A few things to consider
[SEO: A discussion of different therapeutic philosophies related to time, and how each provides opportunities to move forward with healing. “Some people tend to focus on the past, where others are obsessed with planning for the future, but finding a balance and being more conscious of our time orientation can serve a major role in mental health and happiness. There are certain times when focusing on past, present, or future will be most nourishing.”]

 

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 04/01/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

 

Photo Credit

@LillyAnn “Today I’m noticing the quality of my silence,
which apart from anything else,
so determines the quality of my noise.”

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@rcinstitute “ThoughtfulThursday: how much do you doubt your own reality, and how much do you let others impose their reality on you?”

@Tamavista “You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” ~ A. A. Milne

@lizstrauss “The more I stop being what I’m not, the more I accomplish and the more I find really incredible people around me.”

@karenkmmonroy “Change will feel out of your comfort zone, that’s why you need faith that you are more than the sum of your parts.”

@jodiblackley “Forgiving yourself can be more difficult than forgiving another… and many times, more powerful.”

@soulseedz “No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night.” ~ Elie Weisel

 

Linked Tweets

 

April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

 

@SarahEOlson April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
[SEO: This is the US government’s central resource for all it sponsors with regard to “April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month”. You will find tip sheets; the 2011 Resource Guide, which you can use to educate others and effect change in your own neighborhood; and a suggested daily calendar with activities and resources by which you can reach those goals. Be sure to view the index in the left sidebar which takes you to a wealth of material regarding child abuse awareness, prevention, and how to respond if you see it, or a child looks to you for help.]

@helpspreadthis Child Abuse and Neglect: Recognizing and Preventing Child Abuse
[SEO: “The earlier abused children get help, the greater chance they have to heal from their abuse and not perpetuate the cycle. Learn the signs and symptoms of child abuse and help break the cycle, finding out where to get help for the children and their caregivers.”]

@Hopefortrauma The Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse — March 2011 Edition is up!!
[SEO: Always packed with informative posts under the theme “Springtime”, as well as usual categories: Advocacy and Awareness; In the News; Healing and Therapy; Survivor Stories; and Poetry.]

@rcinstitute ThoughtfulThursday ~ Suicide: When the “inner critic” becomes a killer
[SEO: An extremely important topic for many trauma survivors. This article describes the path many abused and neglected children take to grow up with self-loathing — and an “inner critic” which drives them to self-destructive beliefs and behaviors. “The child who internalizes critical messages grows into an adult with a profound lack of entitlement to happiness or success, and a sense of despair over ever being able to be happy or fulfilled in life. The negative inner voice never lets up, continually blaming and shaming the person, filling them with self-doubt, worthlessness and ultimately, self-loathing.”

Don’t do this to your own children, and don’t stand by and watch it happen to other children with whom you are in regular contact. “It’s not just abuse which damages a child’s fragile, developing psyche; an attitude of disinterest is devastating to their developing sense of self-worth.”]

 

The Rest of the Best

 

@psychcentral An interesting look at dance/movement therapy
[SEO: A detailed account of what dance/movement therapy is comprised of, some of its history, and techniques used. Describes the difference between being in control and being in charge, and why only the latter is empowering. While the focus is on eating disorders, many types of trauma survivors have issues with their bodies and expression of feelings. (Note: The entire article is on Page 1. Pages 2 and 3 appear to be a formatting error.)]

@goodthingz How to Transform Emotions Through Meditation
[SEO: A good introduction into what is meditation, and how you can use it, step by step, to transform your emotions. “As you develop a basic meditative practice you can begin working toward more specific outcomes, such as more positive emotions. By meditating on different emotions you can become aware of what leads to and triggers these emotions in you, and recognize how different emotions can counter and offset each other.” (Note: I do not practice meditation — (and probably should) — so I have no way to judge whether the article’s premise is reasonably attainable. I’d love to learn what you who do meditate think about this in the comments.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Are You Practicing Perfection? Or Are You A Work In Progress?
[SEO: “There’s something that’s always struck me as a little strange about perfectionism. It assumes completion – that a thing can be finished. Whole. Over. Done. So in a world where it seems that ‘the only constant is change’, perfectionism demands a static ending.”]

@psychcentral If you’re not quite sure when to say goodbye to your antidepressants, read this
[SEO: If you, or your loved one, are currently on an antidepressant and thinking about stopping, you owe it to yourself, and that person, to read this important post. It is packed with the considerations one should ponder prior to stopping these drugs. First and foremost: never stop taking an antidepressant abruptly. Many of them need you to taper off slowly, or you may subject yourself to a wide range of symptoms. Read this.]

@rcinstitute ThoughtfulThursday: What is empowerment, really?
[SEO: Article describes what empowerment is, and what it isn’t, in various contexts. Here is just one nugget from this post. “True empowerment is a state of self-trust and self-respect. It means that you’re your own best friend at work and in relationships. You take responsibility for your choices and accept the consequences of your actions; you learn from your mistakes, so as not to repeat them.”]

@tinybuddha 4 Steps to Deal with Disappointment (via @AlwaysWellWithn)
[SEO: “For me, disappointment is one of life’s most uncomfortable feelings. It’s complex, containing a subset of other emotions like anger, hurt, sadness, and probably many others too subtle to identify. Sometimes, those emotions by themselves are easier to deal with, but disappointment can leave me at a loose end.”]

 

 

Note to Subscribers of “Third of a Lifetime”

Photo Credit

This week — ahem finally! — Third of a Lifetime transfers to its shiny new self-hosted self at http://thirdofalifetime.com/. I cannot possibly describe how happy I am to be able to say that. 🙂

The new blog looks amazingly like this one. But the same theme’s self-hosted version forced some changes I’d not anticipated. (I hate when that happens!) One of them is the way in which subscriptions are processed. On this blog, you sign up through WordPress, which has worked fine. On the new blog, the theme developer inexplicably removed that option, (and my blog guy seemed to think this was good), so now subscriptions will all be processed via Feedburner. Feedburner’s been around forever, and probably will continue to thrive because Google bought it awhile back.

All this to say, to my current subscribers, I cannot port you over to the new blog myself. You need to resubscribe using the Feedburner subscription box in the new blog’s sidebar. It’s a double opt-in process; you will receive an email asking you to verify your wish to subscribe. Just click the link in the email, and you’re in.

I appreciate so very much all of your support for this blog over the last almost two years. Nothing is changing except its location, and some added functionality. It’s all good!

Once again, the address to subscribe to the new blog version is thirdofalifetime.com/. See you there! Yippee! 😀

 

New Blog Added to Dissociation Blog Showcase! (DBS)

Special Request: If you find value in this blog showcase, please add the Dissociation Blog Showcase link to your blogroll so others can find it. Thanks!

We have amazing writers amongst us who give insight and hope to anyone struggling with dissociation, or to their loved ones. It’s a brain trust, and I treasure it. When I find new blogs, I update the Dissociation Blog Showcase (DBS) on Sunday evenings. Tonight I’ve added the following new blog:
 

A Multitude of Musings

 

Please use the DBS link above to access this blog, and check out the entire directory of (approximately) 193 dissociation-related blogs! (There are some broken links that I’m investigating, so that number may fluctuate a bit.)

As always, be careful and safe. Many of these blogs do not provide trigger warnings, nor are they obligated to do so.

Still on the way: I’ve received requests for inclusion of some DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) information and awareness sites, which are not “blogs” per se. I’m still planning to add a new section for these types of sites to the index, so please let me know if you have any favorites. (The two sites currently in the queue are DID World Map and DIDiva.com.) Thanks!

If you, or someone you know, experiences dissociation and blog about it, write to me with the URL at

sarah.e.olsonATgmailDOTcom

I review each blog before adding it to the Showcase. Thanks so much for the feedback and well-wishes for this project!

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 03/25/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

 

Photo Credit

@LillyAnn “You know the field of knowledge by the fences;
you know the field of understanding by their absence.”

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@Tamavista “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~ Anais Nin

@karenkmmonroy “The difference between not knowing ‘what to do’ and pretending confusion because you do know, and don’t like the answer? Your suffering.”

@rcinstitute “WisdomWednesday: how much do you want to participate in the perpetuation of your own suffering?”

@drmikemurdock “When you decide what matters MOST… You will discern what matters LESS.”

@debrareble “To have deeper, more loving intimate relationships, we have to first become more loving and intimate with ourselves.”

@IntegrateMD “Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.” ~ Tolstoy

 

Linked Tweets

@makiwi “NHK: biggest slum area in Bangkok, Thailand gathers 900,000 yen donations for Japan in one day.”
[SEO: The American Red Cross will be seeking donations for Japan for a very long time. Please help if you are able.]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

@800273TALK As spring approaches, here are some ways to let nature help boost your mood
[SEO: “Being outdoors at a park, the beach or even just a few feet from our doorsteps can feel both relaxing and invigorating. In fact, research has shown that participating in physical activity in the great outdoors can do a world of good for your psyche.”]

@insanelyserene Do You Beat Yourself Up? 4 Ways to Stand Up to the Inner Bully (via @AlwaysWellWithn)
[SEO: “One of the worst enemies of serenity is beating ourselves up for our mistakes. Even though we’re taught that ‘everyone is human and makes mistakes,’ many of us do not believe it. Instead, we have bought into the illusion of perfection, in which we can only be happy if we meet standards that remain forever just out of reach.”]

@NancyMcCarter The Many Benefits of Art Therapy
[SEO: Beyond the varied benefits of exploring your self in creative expression, “Art therapy can help improve various mental and physical symptoms including, but not limited to, reducing pain, anxiety, and tension. It can be beneficial to those who have mental disorders, severe or light emotional abuse, cancer, post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), people who are bipolar, and a variety of other serious ailments.”]

@DorleeM 9 Ways to Make the Most Out of Therapy ~ do your homework, be open to change and the process ~
[SEO: “Therapy can be tricky. Before even walking in the door for their first appointment, many people already have a variety of preconceived notions. And these beliefs can become blocks in treatment, interfering with the therapeutic process.”]

@SarahEOlson2009 6 Signs It’s Time to Dump Your Therapist
[SEO: “Therapists aren’t always self-aware enough to acknowledge that sometimes they may see a client who isn’t the best fit for them (and bad therapists will never acknowledge such a thing). Hey, they’re human and sometimes they miss their own signs.” Be sure to read the comments for many more signs from those who’ve been there.]

@psychcentral This post’s all about the fears that prevent us from growth, success and fulfilling our dreams
[SEO: (So we’re all on the same page here, ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’, per Wikipedia: “… is a pejorative term used in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand to describe a social phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticised because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers.” Just watch trending topics on Twitter  — you see this daily in tweets about actors, musicians, or sports stars. In your daily life, it can come from family and friends if they don’t approve of your life choices.)

“…If it’s taken root in your patch, it can make it tricky for you to strive. To grow. To dare to put yourself out there in the world and try your best at what you’re passionate about. For it can be a pretty potent motivator to stay small…safe…(silent, even).” The author walks through questions to gain clarity about the fears that hold you back. “…what is it, exactly, that you might fear if you stuck your head up above the parapet? (It might be worth getting to know that stuff a little better, for, often, we can carry around fairly nebulous worries that can actually draw strength from remaining indistinct… Getting clearer about them sometimes brings them into sharper focus; makes them more known to you. Maybe even more manageable).”]

@rcinstitute ThoughtfulThursday: moving beyond the victim role — taking personal responsibility
[SEO: An important discussion about why people hang onto the victim role, and why some people get something out of “rescuing” them. “There is no compensating in the present for a lack of love or care during childhood. The way to deal with such a past is not to remain a child but to embrace adulthood. When someone finds their power and realizes that they now have a choice about what happens in their life, they free themselves not just from the victim-role of today but from the feelings of helplessness they experienced, years ago.”]

 

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 03/18/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

Photo Credit

@Drift_of_Swans “May all the prayers ~
extend themselves to people ~
in need of great hope.” ~ haiku

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@LillyAnn “I am no longer afraid of becoming lost, because the journey back always reveals something new and that is ultimately good for the soul.”

@SpiritualNurse “Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.” ~ Elizabeth Harrison

@AnnCurry “GAMBARU in Japanese means: Never ever, ever give up, even and especially when there is no chance of winning.”

@DrHubaEvaluator “Help others recognize their own courage, intelligence, empathy. Follow the Yellow Brick Road and wear those cool red shoes.”

@drjeffersnboggs “Sometimes the easiest way is the hard way.” ~ John Finn

@soulseedz “You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

 

Linked Tweets

Japan in Crisis

 

@psychcentral Here are Therapy Soup’s First 5 Thoughts On Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami. What’s yours?
[SEO: This article’s first five thoughts include: Prayer, Awe, Personal Meaning, Admiration, and Gratitude and Giving. My first thought, in addition to all of these, was enormous sadness.]

@SarahEOlson2009 ABC News — Japan Earthquake: before and after pics (hover over before to see after)
[SEO: It’s really hard to take in the enormity of this disaster. These pictures bear witness, and provide a devastating perspective.]

@AlwaysWellWithn Why the Japanese Earthquake is Not a Hollywood Disaster Movie Set
[SEO: “The danger of blanket coverage of such natural disasters is this — we become hardened and we get compassion fatigue. The thing is this — we feel so powerless amidst such suffering. And the more we watch, the more closed off and harder we can become to all this suffering.” If you’re a trauma survivor, take care that the relentless coverage doesn’t overwhelm you. But don’t close yourself off completely from what impacts you from afar. Your humanity — and I believe, your path to healing — is intricately entwined with your ability to feel and express compassion. Both for the people of Japan (and Haiti, and Indonesia, and Christchurch, New Zealand), but also for yourself.]

@VA_OEF_OIF How To Help Japan: Earthquake Relief Options
[SEO: An extensive list of ways in which you can help, put together by Huffington Post.]

The Rest of the Best

 

@Hopefortrauma I’m hosting March 2011 Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse ~ DID Awareness Month
[SEO: A group of us multiples were unaware that some day in March was “DID Awareness Day”. So we decided to make March into “DID Awareness Month”! 🙂 The Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse accepts blog posts on all manner of topics relating to child abuse, and can be posts from your archives if you don’t have time to write something new. (And you don’t need to be DID to join in!) The deadline to enter is March 23rd.]

@BBCWorld US Web suicide nurse found guilty
[SEO: A follow up to a Best Tweets post about six months ago. This man pretended online to be a female nurse who was suicidal. He frequented chat rooms where he sought out people who talked about wanting to commit suicide. He “befriended” them, and convinced them to make a suicide pact with him. He always said, in effect, “You go first.” Now he’s been found guilty of imminently inciting suicide in two cases. (There were more.) He faces up to 30 years in prison. Beware of online predators who get a thrill from your pain.]

@ssanquist Common Therapy Approaches to Help You Heal from Trauma
[SEO: A great resource to see in one place what different types of therapy for trauma healing are, and the features of each, as well as a point that is sometimes missed: “… the purpose of all trauma-focused psychotherapy is to integrate the traumatic event into your life not subtract it from your life.”]

@SarahEOlson2009 Why Do People React Differently To Witnessing Catastrophe?
[SEO: An important article to the understanding of why and how people react/respond differently to the same traumatic event. “While Traumatologists indicate that the characteristics of an event – be it man-made or natural disaster, time-limited or prolonged, life threatening or catastrophic- mediate the impact of a traumatic event on people, they hold that the most crucial factor in determining a person’s response is the meaning of the event for that person.”]

@PTSDGFW “What PTSD Means To Me” Stories from trauma survivors
[SEO: A long page of first-hand accounts of “what PTSD means to me”, written by trauma survivors at various stages of healing. While some of the material may be triggering (keep yourself safe), it’s also instructive to know how others have dealt with their issues, and what may lie ahead. While you’re there on the Gift From Within website, take a look around at their numerous resources for trauma survivors.]

@ssanquist How Can Psychologists Help Immediately After Trauma
[SEO: “‘…one of the rather solid findings we’re coming up with is that people in those first hours, or the first day or two after a very traumatic event experience very high arousal. We know that that’s predictive of subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder, months and years later. … People who get morphine in the hours after an event, which is a suppressant of arousal, that tends to be protective of later PTSD.’” However, “Most of what we ‘know’ about helping people after traumatic events is intuitive, guesswork, hope, speculation, and pieced together from flawed research.'” SEO: The good news is, trauma mitigation and recovery are finally being regarded as keys to unlocking decades of future misery.]

@zebraspolkadots I’ve recognized that my serenity does not depend on how others treat me but in how I allow others behavior to affect me.
[SEO: A thorough discussion of what empowerment means in the context of trauma healing. “Being self empowered means taking the action and asking the questions to move myself from where I am to where I want to be.”]

@aflourishinglif 10 Life-Changing Facts About Attachment (via @AlwaysWellWithn)
[SEO: Very thought-provoking read! “Simply said, when we make our happiness dependent on people, money, success, possessions, or circumstances, we suffer. Attachments are sticky. Our freedom goes out the window, and we react emotionally and maneuver to get what we want and reject what we don’t want. … Just for a moment, imagine being free of attachments. Things come and go, but you are stable and unmoving in the midst of it all. It doesn’t mean you don’t care. In fact, in the lack of clinging, you are free to care deeply. The most intimate state of being is devoid of the separation that attachment brings.”]

@DrKathleenYoung PTSD and Quality of Life: New Research (via @ssanquist)
[SEO: A breakdown of new research regarding PTSD and quality of life issues leads Dr. Young to the following puzzle. “I can understand this finding [of adverse impact to quality of life] regarding avoidance and have written about how dissociation can be adaptive short-term. But I am surprised that re-experiencing symptoms like flashbacks and nightmares were not correlated with reduced quality of life. This is not what I hear reported in my practice. What do you think? Does these research findings fit with your experience?”

She invites your response in the comments. I, too, was surprised at these findings because flashbacks and nightmares have haunted me my entire life, and created endless insomnia. This probably is the number one adverse impact on my quality of life.]

@ucobudo Budo Beat. Zen Garden (YouTube)
[SEO: Lovely and tranquil. “Japanese bamboo flute and garden shots from the Portland Japanese Garden, Portland, OR make for a Zen-like meditative atmosphere in this photo-show. The name of the song is ‘Tamuke’.”]

 

 

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 03/11/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

 

Photo Credit

@Tamavista “You must live in the present,
launch yourself on every wave,
find your eternity in each moment.” ~ Thoreau

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@MindfulWakeup “I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.” ~ Dalai Lama

@karenkmmonroy “Limitations are a part of the physical world, but they shouldn’t start in your mind.”

@guy_finley “The only thing valuable about any fearful state is seeing how worthless it really is and then just letting it go.”

@themindfulist “Stress may feel like a burst of energy, but it’s not useful energy, it’s scattered and short-term at best. Calm down and focus.”

@JaneBeNimble “Release your words. Fly, be free.”

@ShipsofSong “Be intentional. Be purposeful. Be playful.”

 

Linked Tweets

Earthquake in Japan

 

@google Google Person Finder available after earthquake in Japan to help you get information about loved ones.
[SEO: This links to the English version; if you need the Japanese version, the link is at the top of the page.]

@APAHelpCenter Our thoughts are with those in Japan. Tips on how to manage your distress about the earthquake from afar. (apa.org)
[SEO: I watched and tweeted Japan’s earthquake/tsunami literally all night. The images were unbelievable — and the fact that it was happening live, in real time, had an impact even if you live half a world away. This article offers tips and insights into how to cope with distant — but in your living room and your heart — events.]

@DreamDayWed “Please text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to Japan and Pacific tsunami relief. Or go to the donations page for the American Red Cross and designate your donation to Japan relief efforts.”

 

The Rest of the Best

 

@DrJennifer How to Silence Your Mind (via @ssanquist)
[SEO: “Even though I’m able to sink down into the deep quiet within, I, like most everyone, have to work with what the Buddhists call monkey mind or that on-going mental chatter. This chatter is at best our inner attempt to process what is happening in our lives and help us create a life that is full, rich and fulfilling. At its worst it is recycling fears, old interactions with people and simply staying stuck in unprocessed, unintegrated historical material.”]

@natasha_tracy Why Don’t We Want to Shower When We’re Sick (Breaking Bipolar blog)
[SEO: This is achingly honest, and I relate to much of it. “It’s complicated. When I’m in pain I want to put up additional barriers between me and the world. Some subconscious part of me is thinking extra clothes and blankets over my head will save me from my brain. Being naked removes barriers. And I can’t have that. And I’m not exactly sure how to explain it other than to say the water is painful. It feels like an attack. It feels like I’m in so much pain already that a breeze grazing my skin makes me want to cry.” Discussion continues in the comments.]

@psychcentral Who’s your worst enemy? If you guessed yourself, you’re right. Want to transform that enemy into a friend?
[SEO: Discusses book “My Mind Is Not Always My Friend” by Steven J. Fogel, in which he outlines how as children we are emotionally free until something happens that we experience as emotional trauma — which begins patterns of withdrawal and suppression. “True growth starts when we realize that our actions are being triggered by an event that activates old patterns of behavior and we begin to understand which old patterns are being triggered by which particular external catalysts. The key is mindfulness–the mind’s ability to stay conscious–so that we can be aware of how and when our machinery gets triggered. This means that we have to see and understand the ways our machinery reacted to past traumas and the programming that formed at that time, which is still with us.” Be sure to also see the next post below.]

@DrBeckerSchutte Are You, Your Own Best Friend? (via @Esdeer)
[SEO: “I now know that people will come and go from my life. Some will support, some won’t be able to or choose not to. I now know that some experiences and events in my life will change me forever. I now know that out of it all I remain a constant presence, in the midst of it all. I now know that self-compassion is the greatest gift I can give myself, at any time in my life, but especially when I am grieving. I also know that only I can make myself a priority in my life.” Includes a list of 30 practical ideas to begin being your own best friend.]

@healthyplace Dissociation and Depression: An Unholy Matrimony (Dissociative Living blog) (via @SurvivorNetwork)
[SEO: “Dissociation and depression are perfectly suited for each other — the former specializes in carrying you when you cannot cope, and the latter specializes in convincing you of your inability to cope. It’s a match made in mental illness heaven and, if you have Dissociative Identity Disorder, a difficult partnership to dissolve. … It’s difficult to recognize the voice of depression before dissociation casts it’s spell, but I suspect if I could do that I might be able to remember that I’m depressed long enough to do something about it.”]

@SarahEOlson2009 Your Right To See Your Patient Records (via Therapy Soup blog)
[SEO: “If you are a therapy patient, you need to know: You have the right to see many, if not most, of your clinical records, at any point in time. There is a pesky “however”: However, you generally do not have the right to see the therapist’s personal notes that are written during and sometimes after, your therapy session (you have to check with your own state’s regulations).”]

@healthyplace I Hate Anxiety! The Physiology of Stress (via Treating Anxiety blog)
[SEO: “The stress of an anxiety disorder can twist the fabric of life; I can’t see it the same way as I did before my “nervous condition” set in. This isn’t stage-fright, or make believe. It’s not masterpiece theatre. I did not get PTSD from watching too many Twilight Zone episodes.”]

@MichelePTSD PTSD Doesn’t Heal Itself: Deciding to Seek Help
[SEO: “There’s a lot to consider when we realize we cannot heal alone. But that’s OK, skepticism and apprehension are healthy and part of the healing process. We need to develop a reconnection to ourselves, our thought processes, our decision-making skills and all the other reactions and fears being a strong, proactive person brings up. More importantly: We do need help. There’s no denying it, we cannot heal alone in an oasis of fear and a mind that is stuck on the wrong backward track. In order to conquer the past and create the future we desperately need someone who can help us find and read the right map.”]

@goodthingz How to Be Bold In Life — 7 Great Tips
[SEO: Discusses how to proactively approach and face your anxiety in ways which become your choice — rather than allowing your anxiety to control you. One example: “3. Work on Your Beliefs. You are probably fearful because you believe that you can’t. However, if you believe that you can’t, then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. But what if you believe the opposite? What if you program yourself to take on new beliefs? Since beliefs are made from thoughts, it is possible to change your thoughts to make new beliefs.”]

 

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 03/04/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

 

Photo Credit

@soulseedz “Dance in all aspects of your nature,
both the graceful and the wild,
the innocent and the rebellious.”

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@joniv “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

@karenkmmonroy “Your one and only ‘job’ is to manage your power, via the choices you make: in thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and actions.”

@Tamavista “The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.” ~ Paul Tillich

@rcinstitute “MeaningfulMonday: the good life is one with meaning, purpose, belonging and connection.”

@PsychDigest “Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence.” ~ Rumi

@soulseedz “A new voice you slowly recognized as your own kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world.” ~ Mary Oliver

Linked Tweets

@goodthingZ Stop Saying … I Can’t
[SEO: “‘Can’t’ Saps Your Power: Whenever you say you can’t do something, you’re reinforcing that message in your mind.” Article discusses ways in which you can become clear on what is really behind saying “I can’t”. It may be a fear of failure, or a lack of ever even trying and assuming you can’t. It may be you don’t actually want to do what you say you can’t. But discovering why you say “I can’t” can end up empowering you to either try it, or to move on from it as something which actually doesn’t interest you.]

@ssanquist Journaling in Therapy (via Psychology Today)
[SEO: “Some people do, some don’t. I think it can make the difference between spending some time in therapy and truly being in therapy. It’s the cheapest way to supersize your experience.” My own experience supports this conclusion many times over. This article offers potential journal topics, outlines the benefits of journaling, and describes why “introspection takes practice”. Indeed.]

@MentalHelpNet What to Do When We’re Lonely
[SEO: “In mindfulness, we speak about learning how to nonjudgmentally approach the actual feeling that’s there as a first step. This means putting on the hat of beginner’s mind and exploring the actual physical sensation that is associated with loneliness. As best you can, relate to the feeling with compassion, if this is difficult, imagine someone who you think of as a compassionate person, dead or alive, and consider how they might relate to this feeling.”]

@NAMIMass 10 Forms of Twisted Thinking
[SEO: Discusses the most common cognitive distortions (such as jumping to conclusions, discounting the positives, “should” statements, etc.), and what to do about them. “I list below Burns’ ‘Ten Forms of Twisted Thinking,’ (adapted from his ‘Feeling Good’ book, a classic read) categories of dangerous ruminations, that when identified and brought into your consciousness, lose their power over you.”]

@MindfulBoston Mindfulness is the radical idea that what you feel (both negative and positive) is valid to feel.
[SEO: “But if you are practicing mindfulness, you will start by accepting that you judge sadness (or joy) as unacceptable. And then, taking your time, perhaps over the course of years, you will come to understand the conditioning that led you to judge sadness (or joy) in that way. And then, taking your time, perhaps over the course of many more years, you will come to accept the sadness (or joy) itself.”]

@Mindful_Living Trouble Making Change Stick? You Can Always Begin Again
[SEO: “What would the following hours, days, weeks, months and years look like if our minds began reacting with the message, “we can always begin again” after we strayed. How is that different than the barrage of self criticism and judgment? But, easier said than done and that’s the reason for training the mind [via breathing awareness].”]

@HealingToolKit Self-compassion is better at motivating than “verbal” self-flagellation
[SEO: “Do you treat yourself as well as you treat your friends and family? That simple question is the basis for a burgeoning new area of psychological research called self-compassion — how kindly people view themselves. … The research suggests that giving ourselves a break and accepting our imperfections may be the first step toward better health. People who score high on tests of self-compassion have less depression and anxiety, and tend to be happier and more optimistic. Preliminary data suggest that self-compassion can even influence how much we eat and may help some people lose weight.”]

@DrKathleenYoung Self-Injury and Trauma
[SEO: “Self-injury does not exist in a vacuum, but many still act as if it does. Focusing on the behavior alone misses the mark, in my experience. Self-injury is very commonly associated with trauma: physical, emotional or sexual abuse. It may be an expression of trauma-related feelings that the survivor cannot express. It may be a way to cope with those feelings, flashbacks, negative feelings about the body, or other trauma content. This may be true even if the person self-injuring has no conscious awareness of the connection. Sometimes that is a clue that the behavior originates from a dissociated part of the self.”]

 

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 02/25/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

 

Photo Credit

@MichelePTSD “Our sorrows and wounds are healed only
when we touch them with compassion.” ~ Buddha

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@karenkmmonroy “Imagine when you exhale a breath, you can send a blessing of healing into the world — and it matters.”

@lizstrauss “Don’t give with an expectation attached. That’s not giving … that’s passive-aggressive demanding.”

@zebraspolkadots “I’d always had emotions; I’d been taught to deny them so anything other than my ‘normal’ was seen as excessive.”

@AnnTran_ “To become learned, each day add something. To become enlightened, each day drop something.” ~ Lao Tzu

@RyanEliason “What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power and genius in it.” ~ Goethe

@rcinstitute “SoulfulSunday: ignore the care and feeding of your soul at your own peril.”

 

Linked Tweets

@DeborahSerani Top 50 blogs by psychology professionals (via @ssanquist)
[SEO: Categories: General Psychology; Forensic Psychologists; School Psychologists; Child and Developmental Psychologists; and Other Specialties. (Congrats to Dr. Deborah Serani for being included at #42!)

@counsellingnews Feeling the blues? Here’s a comprehensive list of free educational resources from @beyondblueorg
[SEO: Literally hundreds of free, downloadable guides, worksheets, and fact sheets pertaining to just about every aspect of depression. Most documents are in .PDF format.]

@therapynews Guided Imagery – A Simple yet Powerful Technique for Mind-Body Health
[SEO: Explains what guided imagery consists of and how it may be beneficial. “‘Guided imagery’ is a technique in which a person is literally guided on a journey of the mind, usually with the purpose of enhancing positive feelings and thoughts, and decreasing feelings of distress, failure, or worry.” Years ago I used a guided imagery CD (and regret its loss in moving across country) to relax and sleep better. A very soothing, steady man’s voice, accompanied by music and nature sounds, guided me into a meadow, and showed me how to release my troubles in a ball of light. Yes, it sounds hokey, but I did not hear the end of the tape till about the 20th time — because I was falling fast asleep long before the tape ended every time! I was then in the earliest, scariest aspects of therapy, and good sleep was rare.

Having said that, this post offers a warning: “Those who have experienced significant trauma should see a qualified mental health professional before engaging in this process. Additionally, people who tend to dissociate, have had psychotic episodes, or whose anxiety tends to increase when they attempt to relax may benefit from other approaches either first or instead of guided imagery.” Talk with your therapist about this first, and ask for recommendations of specific CDs. I actually believe it was my ability to dissociate that allowed me to utilize the CD, but we’re all different, so be careful.]

@Care4Anorexics Self Help for Self Esteem
[SEO: A comprehensive look at how self esteem is created, operates, is wounded, and is restored. Provides a Self Esteem Quick Reference Sheet (PDF), and other helpful tools to work on improving your self esteem.]

@psychcentral Mindful Living Blog: To Seek Approval is to Seek Dependence
[SEO: Illustrates how seeking approval can begin at seemingly small points that gather steam along the way. “Lesson learned: to seek approval is to seek dependence; to seek dependence is to lose your sense of self.”]

@therapynews Chronic Pain – All in Your Head?
[SEO: Trauma survivors often are dealing with both physical and mental/emotional pain. Whether the physical pain is directly related to the source of trauma or not, the physical pain exacts a price in trying to cope with the mental/emotional pain. (I am sooo in this place these last few years.) This article addresses the issue that people with chronic pain are often not treated by medical professionals with compassion or understanding. The doctor either doesn’t know how to deal with it, or wants someone else to dispense controlled substances, or actually tells you ‘it’s in your head’. “There is no question that chronic pain has emotional repercussions. Depression and anxiety are common among pain patients, especially those whose pain is not managed adequately.”]

@DrBeckerSchutte Are You Hiding Your Pain? (via @ssanquist)
[SEO: Discusses ways in which we mask or try to hide the pain we feel, and how heavy a burden that mask becomes. “If you are hiding pain, if you are living behind a mask, I ask you what do you risk by allowing yourself to feel some of that pain? Does it feel like you will lose all control if you feel it? Do you feel like it will overcome you? I have felt that way before… and the truth is, it might overcome you for a while, but if you have support in line (a counselor, a therapist, a trusted pastor or friend) you can trust yourself to feel that pain and move through it. It may be a process, perhaps a long one, but in my experience moving through it always leads to a better place.”]

@DeborahSerani Acceptance and Commitment Therapy | Psychology Today
[SEO: Describes the basics of and strategy behind Acceptance and Commitment therapy. “ACT focuses on 3 areas: Accept your reactions and be present; Choose a valued direction; and Take action. … Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is not a long term treatment. The ACT experience of reworking your verbal connections to thoughts and feelings, known as comprehensive distancing, can be extremely helpful in the treatment of depression, anxiety and many other psychological disorders.”]

@PsychologyNow 12 Steps to Break Your Addiction to a Person
[SEO: (FYI, this is not in reference to any 12 step program.) “In his book, ‘How to Break Your Addiction to a Person’, Howard Halpern first explains what an addictive relationship is, then gives guidelines for recognizing if you’re involved in one. Then, he offers several techniques on how to end an unhealthy relationship (or an emotional affair).” The post author lists the 12 main techniques referenced in Halpern’s book, including excerpts and some exercises.]

@njsmyth Faking Being Happy Makes You Miserable (study) (via @ssanquist)
[SEO: Well, hmm. This needs more study! 🙂 The gist of it is, faking being happy when you’re not makes you feel worse, while cultivating pleasant thoughts that make you feel happier does not make you more miserable. It makes sense; it’s linked to one’s own sense of authenticity. But I’d like to see a study that works with trauma survivors instead of bus drivers because (1) there is a built-in pressure for us to “get over it” or “don’t worry, be happy” mentality; and (2) it wouldn’t be linked to a single profession, which limits the discussion pretty much to “job dissatisfaction”. Your thoughts?]

@thereseborchard Therapy Thursday: You Can’t Unlearn It
[SEO: “My therapist swears to me that you can’t unlearn your progress. And I’m holding her to it. She says that just because you have a day or week or year where you flop on building better personal boundaries, or silencing the inner critic, or identifying and replacing the old tapes, that you still have all the right stuff inside. You haven’t lost any of it.”]

 

 

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors (week ending 02/18/11)

Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

NEW and REALLY COOL: You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

 

Photo Credit

@LillyAnn “The only people with whom
you should try to get even are those
who have helped you.” ~ John Southard

 

Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder

@lizstrauss “Trust is believing in you. Even when I’m not there, when I’ll never know what you do, I can bet on you and win.”

@karenkmmonroy “If something is authentically yours, you can’t lose it. Let your dream be free from worry of loss.”

@PsychDigest “He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.” ~ Raymond Hull

@MetaVisions “A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.” ~ John Quincey Adams

@AnnTran_ “To become learned, each day add something. To become enlightened, each day drop something.” ~ Lao Tzu

@DeepakChopra “EnlightenedLiving: Be comfortable with and embrace paradox, contradiction, and ambiguity. It is the womb of creativity.”

Linked Tweets

@dlhampton Neuroplasticity….The play dough in your head (via @AlwaysWellWithn)
[SEO: Neuroplasticity is the latest buzzword, but the science behind it is fascinating. “The brain is pretty much like play dough minus the funky smell. It is changeable, malleable and adaptable even into adulthood. This quality is called neuroplasticity. Technically, neuroplasticity is defined as the property of the brain to change its structure and function. We are talking real physical changes here. The changes occur in response to actions we commit, our senses and perceptions, and even our thinking and imagining. Basically, what we do and think every day in our lives.”]

@psychcentral Hate change? A story that will inspire you to embrace change, let go of the cheese, so you can move on with your life.
[SEO: I never really paid attention to the big deal made of the “who moved my cheese?” era. This article explains with humor and insight why (1) “corporate America and psych ward programs had so much in common” [my favorite line!]; and (2) that moving the cheese is really a part of life. The only aspect I find missing here is the idea that we each can, in some way, make at least some of our own cheese — rather than needing to seek it outside of ourselves. (Yes, it’s a silly metaphor, but it makes the lessons derived very clear.]

@Mindful_Living Compassion: An Increasing Global Movement (via @huffingtonpost)
[SEO: Details latest research into compassion, both inwardly and in global movements; includes video “The Charter for Compassion”. Plus, there’s more on the role of neuroplasticity. “Is there someone in your life who is suffering, maybe yourself? Can you sense what the feeling is? Is there an authentic wanting or pulling to help? What is one small thing you can do today to help out? Perhaps even just wishing the person or yourself well, safe from harm, free from whatever this suffering is. This intentional attention not only primes your mind to be more compassionate, but apparently can take advantage of your brain’s plasticity and change your brain.”]

@patriciasinglet Stigma of Child Abuse (via Blooming Lotus)
[SEO: Second of a two part series discussing the stigma of child abuse. If it sounds as though Faith is angry, well, maybe we all need to get a bit angry at people who persist in blaming the child and providing excuses for the abuser. “From what I understand, in some circles there is a stigma associated with having been abused as a child. I say that this is something that I ‘understand’ rather than ‘experience’ because I will not spend two seconds with a jack@$$ who is going to judge me because other people hurt me.” Words of wisdom, not just for child abuse survivors, but domestic violence and other violent crime survivors, and rape survivors, as well. The discussion continues in the comments.]

@therapynews Love Yourself
[SEO: It’s more than just a platitude. “If treating yourself lovingly, kindly, and patiently does not come naturally, you might want to write a list of 100 things you could do to show how much you cherish yourself. There is a special technique for this exercise.” The technique is described, and then the purpose. “What we practice we become. If you practice paying attention to what you body-mind-spirit wants or needs and provide it, not only will you get in the habit of attending to yourself, but you will notice cues sooner, be more in touch emotionally, and take time to rejuvenate before you start running on fumes.”]

@psychcentral Dealing with low self-esteem? Here’s where it may have derived from and what you can do to build it back up.
[SEO: “Regardless of their experiences, some people seem to struggle more than others with their self-esteem. Why? According to Howes, a shaming environment may be one explanation. In shaming environments, individuals internalize the idea that if they act out, they’re not just behaving badly, but they are bad. … ‘If the message that you are fundamentally bad is drilled in enough times, it tends to stick. And this belief that you’re bad at your core colors your entire perspective on life.'”]

@DrBeckerSchutte So powerful: There’s nothing fluffy about love!
[SEO: “Let’s be clear. Self-love is not the soft option. Most of the time, for me anyway, the easy option would be to blend in: to hide aspects of myself, my vulnerability, and my power so that I’ll be liked by as many people as possible. The soft option would be to alter myself, subtly or otherwise, to fit in. But as long as I keep asking myself to fit in, as long as I reject the parts of myself that I find undesirable, I’m almost certainly going to be doing the same to other people.”]

@goodthingZ Are you sabotaging your happiness? (via @positivepresent)
[SEO: I don’t often feature articles about happiness here. I suppose that discloses my own bias, in that I believe most trauma survivors, especially early in their healing, cannot grasp the concept of happiness being possible until some other basic issues are dealt with. I also find many articles about happiness seem to tritely blink away those issues, as if you can make them not relevant by just wishing it were so. This isn’t one of those articles.

“To truly love yourself, you have to support your own happiness. You have to be 100% behind yourself, supporting your own actions, choices, and decisions. If you don’t think that accurately describes you, you’ve got some work to do! First and foremost, you must believe that your happiness is worthwhile. As Buddha has said, ‘You, as much as anyone in the universe, deserve your love and affection.’ And in order to do that, you must value your own happiness.”]

@NAMIMass Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and of Course, Back In)
[SEO: Interesting discussion of how people create/find their personal comfort zones, and how those constructs can help one move either forward or backwards. “So being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could. But it’s important to remember that we don’t need to challenge ourselves and be productive all the time. It’s good to step out of our comfort zone. But it’s also good to be able to go back in.”]

@psychcentral Therapist Within: Evolving Your Inner-Critic: Making Self-Criticism Constructive (Part 1)
[SEO: Explores why we often don’t give ourselves internally the same respect and consideration we’d offer anyone outside of us. “What might that feel like for you? To not be singled-out for ‘special treatment’ quite so much? To have the inner-critic (or perhaps the inner-bully) pulled back into line? To escape the unjust punishment that’s maybe been reserved just for you? And yet, to still feel the constructiveness that (useful) feedback can bring?”]