In today’s episode: –        Art Therapy, what is it? –        Finding healthy ways to express the darkness –        Some ideas… –        Words –        Photography –        Is it a good fit? Art Therapy, what is it? Just at the mention of the word therapy some people want to change the subject.  In the past when I […]

Unresolved guilt and shame can quietly suck the life out of us.  It can be a silent killer of our hope, relationships, and even life itself. Until this point in our series we have mostly dealt with the trauma of the actions others have had on us.  The injuries we endured.  But there can be […]

In today’s episode: Don’t Give Up! EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Don’t Give Up! No matter what you have done.  No matter what others have done to you.  Don’t give up!  Good can come from bad.  But we need to keep going until we see it happen.  If we give up we may never […]

We may never directly change the course of human events.  However, we can change someone’s world.  We can impact the individuals that are in our lives.  We can influence our coworkers, neighbors, friends, family members, and even strangers we meet. In this episode: What is influence? How can I influence others? How does this relate […]

The Impact of PTSD on the Family In this episode we discuss: Secondary traumatization Ways families respond to stress (and Post-Traumatic Stress) Two key areas of stress for the family Resources for the family The family’s response to increased stress: (In part based on Kerr & Bowen, 1988) Grow distant from each other One will […]

Sleep is extremely important for the whole body.  The brain is no exception.  When we are recovering from PTSD we need are brains firing on all cylinders. PTSD introduces some difficult barriers to sound sleep.  Hyper-vigilance and nightmares are two obstacles that those with PTSD face. However, a good night’s rest starts with the same […]

Sometimes when we think of unintended consequences we get a negative picture in mind.  In this case it is all positive. Food and exercise will not by themselves fix PTSD.  Nevertheless, they can be powerful allies in the battle. In March 2014 I set out on a campaign to defeat diabetes.  I made significant changes […]

In this episode we discuss the role of sugar, our brain and recovery… Last week we learn about how running can be a tool for helping us deal with difficult memories.  One of the ways running helps is by increasing a key brain protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The sweet white powder we call sugar […]

Hay, I found an instant, quick fix to post-traumatic stress… Not really.  But there are many tools we can use to grow and work toward—and achieve—success over PTSD. One of the coping mechanisms in PTS is to avoid memories.  At times this may be necessary.  But at some point we will need to deal with our past.  We can […]

Does how we see and perceive the world impact our ability to move forward in our recovery?  Our mind is a powerful tool.  We can convince ourselves of a lot of things.  In this episode we explore the possibilities of how our perspective might impact our present and future actions. “To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change […]