Trauma Recovery

Let me begin by telling my readers about a lesson. It might be a love story for some, a tragic story for others, yet it still remains a lesson for me. This happened quite a while back. So I met an amazing person who I could really connect with. We…

Freedom From Toxic Relationships Breaking free from a toxic relationship can be a challenging process, especially when you have invested so much time, energy, and emotions into the relationship. In many cases, people stay in toxic relationships because they feel stuck or trapped due to cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is…

You’re not supposed to be happy about experiencing domestic violence, but I am. Here’s why: Intimate partner abuse lives behind closed doors and beneath fake smiles. About 33% of women and 25% of men experience domestic violence yearly. …

Like Hannah, my grief masquerades as something detested. The pathetic, maddened, unyielding, woman. Stolen screams in the night. “NO”s rolled over with the power of coal steam. Every ounce of strength forced into conducting myself to this point. Collapse viewed down the nose with vocal disdain. Instead of being thrown into the cistern. With the rest…

Childhood trauma is a phenomenon that affects millions of people worldwide. It refers to any experience during childhood that causes emotional or physical harm, such as abuse, neglect, or violence. The effects of childhood trauma can last well into adulthood and can have a profound impact on a person’s mental…

Born a barren mother to myself Abandoned into a chasm of despondency Drowning in a sea of overwhelming inequity Weighed down by ages of grief Assaulted by the needle fine nails of self loathing Scratching through my saturated overcoat The only one able to mount an escape from the roiling oceans of disparity Its briny reek clinging…

Or is forgetting the better path forward? — I recently published an article What Hustle Culture Gets Wrong About Trauma and a reader left this comment: Is it important to know what your traumas are? This may be one of the most important questions in trauma healing work. What we don’t know we can’t heal, but does remembering…

If there is one thing that I find particularly terrifying, it's the notion of living in a loveless world. One where you feel completely isolated from your surroundings, irrespective of whether you’re in company or not. It’s a particularly cold experience, like living in a plastic suit for your own…

Let’s talk about how mental illness intersects with different facets of life — The Black Bear community knows that mental illness is invisible and can happen to anyone, anytime. Of course, like any illness, some individuals are more susceptible than others. Genetics can play a role in determining who suffers from mental illness, as can life experiences. For June, we want to highlight…