Trauma Mama

In this episode, we dissect the different types of child abuse including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. (*Trigger Warning* graphic descriptions of the signs of abuse.)  We explore the signs of a child that is being abused, as well as the signs of an abusive caretaker. I try a new approach with this episode by recording it all in one take. 

In this episode, we talk about the inter-generational trauma of Black lives in America. We discuss the recent protests that have happened around the world and continue to happen here in the US. We examine our nation's founding under the lens of white supremacy and cover unspoken parts of US history to analyse how these events shaped detrimental and racist systems of oppression that persist today. We look at trauma reactions in white spaces and reflect on how micro-aggressions contribute to traumatic chronic stress.

Currently we are collectively experiencing trauma. We are in the middle of a pandemic just trying to survive it. For most people it's incredibly stressful and brings up all sorts of new, difficult emotions and situations. However, for those of us who already struggle with past and recent trauma, it can prompt that old trauma back to the forefront, making us miss out on plans we made to improve ourselves this year and move forward. We may even feel like we're sliding backwards in recovery. I asked my extraordinarily resilient and wise friend Alex Morales to have a conversation with me about what it’s like to navigate this pandemic while coping with other complex trauma.

In this episode we talk about the importance of self-care, especially now while we’re trying to survive the pandemic and adjust to a new way of life. We discuss the benefits of regularly taking care of ourselves before others and we review several different types of self-care such as physical, emotional, spiritual and social.

In this episode we check in with ourselves to evaluate how we’re feeling about of these changes that are rapidly occurring as we deal with Covid-19. We discuss several ways the CDC recommendations for coping  with the stress of this pandemic. Then, we dive into Dialectic Behavioral Therapy distress tolerance skills, which I have personally found incredibly helpful and effective.

In this episode we talk about what a traumatic memory is, how it’s stored in the brain, and how it may be remembered differently in comparison to other memories in our life. We cover how memories are consolidated and reconsolidated, what implicit and explict memories are, how pre and post cognitives circuits work, and how it's possible to "forget" what happened.

In this episode, we discuss the long-term effects of trauma; how it impacts our emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and brains. I end with a reading from the amazing book The Body Keeps Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk.

In this episode, we're going to discuss how our minds and bodies respond during the traumatic event(s) and how those natural stress responses affect our perceptions and relationships. Then we'll cover several different techniques you can practice to reduce these reactions including mindfulness, radical acceptance, progressive muscle relaxation and more. 

In this episode, I'm going to start with some personal background and explain why this topic is so important to me. Then I'm going to talk about the history of trauma, the different types of trauma, what type of events can be traumatic and briefly review some of the psychological and physical responses that occur from it.