Chapter 1b of Meeting the Voices in My Head and Searching for an Inner Adult In the middle of everything, there’s this deep, dark, depressing hole. When you fall in, sometimes there’s no climbing out. When we call it anything at all, we often call it death, brokenness, meaninglessness, futility, emptiness, or despair. I likeContinue reading “The Innermost Child in the Abyss”
Tag Archives: Trauma
Driving to Death
Taking the long way through trauma Why do trauma victims re-experience their trauma in flashbacks and nightmares? We need some help from Freud to explain. In Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Freud noted that, in their dreams, flashbacks, and patterns of behavior, trauma victims compulsively repeated their horrible experiences as if they were happening in theContinue reading “Driving to Death”
Combat Veterans and Fireworks
Tip toeing around PTSD The neighborhood where I live has its own Facebook page where people post announcements and searches for lost cats. Last year, about this time, a post appeared from a neighbor who said he was an Iraq War veteran. Fireworks triggered his PTSD, he said, so could we please refrain from shootingContinue reading “Combat Veterans and Fireworks”
How to Re-Traumatize Yourself
And un-re-traumatize yourself, too First, a bad thing happens. Rape, murder, combat, abuse. You don’t have a lot of control over it. That’s the point. Something happens way, way out of your control. You barely make it. Now you’re left with the memories. That’s the trauma. Continue reading →
Cleaning the Closet
We are certain to encounter the past. We are confronted with it if we go back to the old homestead, step in through our childhood door, and walk into our early days. We face it if we unpack memories along with the ornaments for the Christmas tree. Either we choose to spend time the past,Continue reading “Cleaning the Closet”
Helping Brains Talk to One Another
Here’s something that’ll surprise you. Other people know you better than you know yourself. It surprised you, didn’t it? That just goes to show that people can predict how you’ll feel. Upon that counterintuitive claim rests David Schnarch’s new book, Brain Talk: How Mind Mapping Brain Science Can Change Your Life & Everyone in It.Continue reading “Helping Brains Talk to One Another”
What if We’re Wrong?
What if a person really could forget the horrors of the past? Yes, I know; we therapists tell you it’s impossible to do without paying a price. We say that you have a lumber room of the mind, a hidden closet in which you stuff all the traumas and memories you wish you had noContinue reading “What if We’re Wrong?”
The ACE Study
Bringing you the best of mental health It makes no sense, but one of the most remarkable and important findings in recent psychological research hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves and still has not had much impact on the practice of psychotherapy. I’m talking about the ACE Study. In the 1990’s, the CDC and theContinue reading “The ACE Study”
The Road to Reconciliation: How to Re-Traumatize Yourself
First, a bad thing happens. Rape, murder, combat, abuse. You don’t have a lot of control over it. That’s the point. Something happens way, way out of your control. You barely make it. Now you’re left with the memories. That’s the trauma. Second, the memories come up. You don’t have a lot of control overContinue reading “The Road to Reconciliation: How to Re-Traumatize Yourself”
How to Re-Traumatize Yourself
First, a bad thing happens. Rape, murder, combat, abuse. You don’t have a lot of control over it. That’s the point. Something happens way, way out of your control. You barely make it. Now you’re left with the memories. That’s the trauma. Second, the memories come up. You don’t have a lot of control overContinue reading “How to Re-Traumatize Yourself”
Keith R Wilson 