Moving From Surviving to Thriving
January 12, 2019
Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma anxiety, Health, Mental Health, recovery, truth 25 Comments
In the 15 years I worked in the dental field, I saw a wide range of anxiety behaviors surface for patients. I’ve had my own experiences of dental anxiety too. The dental office is actually a very common place for anxiety to land.
The dental chair is a vulnerable place to be. Someone with authority is hovering over you while you lie supine, they are shoving pokey things in your mouth, and you are usually in a small, confined area. More
December 16, 2018
Facing Fear, Family, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Family, Mental Health, motherhood, parenting, recovery, truth 18 Comments
I’m in awe of a recent experience that brought my classwork alive.
The week before Thanksgiving, a speaker in my class was discussing how children deal with trauma. She was explaining how the brain works and what needs to happen for them to process trauma. It was a lot of interesting theory. Until she said something that really hit home.
“Children need to tell the trauma story over and over and over. This is how they metabolize, process, and heal from it.”
One of my most traumatic stories is one that still has an emotional life of its own. Every time I think about, talk about, or write about this event, the feelings are still incredibly raw. I thought about how I was never allowed to tell my stories, let alone repeatedly. In fact, this story remains mostly untold. More
November 11, 2018
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, Blogging, Mental Health, truth 22 Comments
After a much longer hiatus than planned, I’ve made a commitment to resume blogging. You have all been so vital to my healing and continued work. I’ve missed you! I hope I can give back a fraction of what you give to me.
Last summer I made another commitment that is dramatically changing me. More
November 21, 2017
Facing Fear, Family, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Charlie Rose, depression, Gayle King, Mental Health, recovery, truth 27 Comments
Thanks to Gayle King, I’m in tears this morning…fresh tears remembering how hard it was to tell someone what Dad had done to me for so many years. And how similar Charlie Rose is to my Dad. The power. Oh. My. God. The. Power. More
September 19, 2017
Family, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma friendship, recovery, truth 30 Comments
Several months ago, a very cherished friendship ended.
I’ve been grieving the loss ever since, but today I’m really missing her.
Even though it was me who said I couldn’t continue the friendship, More
August 6, 2017
Facing Fear, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, Adventure, Family, gratitude, grief, healing, Mental Health, moving forward, recovery, truth 36 Comments
July 9, 2015
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, depression, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiving My Mother, healing, Letting Go, motherhood, Struggle to Forgive 38 Comments
It’s been a roller coaster ride the last 6 months during my blogging sabbatical. Continued growth, awareness, & forgiveness; betrayal; and a surprise!
My decision to back away from blogging and other optional activities was born of necessity. Some important relationships were requiring intensive attention, and I needed to focus on figuring out what my role was in each relationship. It’s never pretty looking in the mirror, but always worth it in the end.
It’s easy to think relationships are strong when times are good.
But when things go awry, you find out what the relationship is really made of.
