Author Archives: Shay Seaborne, CPTSD
Trauma Anniversaries: An IPNB View
I experience trauma anniversaries throughout the year. There is no month or season untouched by abuse and neglect at the hands of caregivers and others in positions of power. For a survivor, such anniversaries are not merely calendar dates, but … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health, Trauma
Tagged body memories, chronic trauma, complex trauma, flashbacks, months, Psych ED, recurrent triggers, seasons, Trauma, trauma anniversaries
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IPNB-Informed Practices for Cultivating Safety and Setting Boundaries
The use of grounding practices in Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) offers small, consistent signals of safety and predictability that allow your nervous system to naturally settle, integrate, and restore balance. Building Internal Safety and Somatic Self-Regulation To shift the body out … Continue reading
Posted in connection, Safety
Tagged boundaries, connection, hypervigilance, overwhelm, practices, safety
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Is Your Therapy Safe? 6 Questions to Ask a Potential Therapist
Understanding Harm in the Mental Illness Industry A lot of people have been harmed in one-on-one therapy. Not just disappointed, but harmed. They have been gaslit, pathologized, controlled, dismissed, punitively misdiagnosed, and worse. That happens within a system built around … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged abusive systems, CBT, cognitive therapy, connection, modalities, questions, safety, techniques, therapy
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Where Most Pain Books Go Wrong
Even in otherwise groundbreaking or compassionate pain and trauma literature, it’s common for clinicians to bypass that many people with recurrent pain are still in danger or unsafety. Even when authors deeply understand the biology or psychology of pain, many … Continue reading
Posted in pain
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You Don’t Heal Pain by Convincing Yourself That You’re Safe, but When Safety Becomes Real
Many popular books on pain and trauma offer a version of hope: that the pain you live with doesn’t mean your body is broken; that your brain can change, your suffering can ease, and you’re not stuck. And they’re right, … Continue reading
Posted in pain
Tagged Bessel van Der Kolk, chronic pain, pain, pain reprocessing, Peter Levine, recurrent pain
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Why Chronic Pain is So Exhausting
People often think of pain as something you should be able to push through if you’re determined enough. That isn’t how recurrent pain works. When my pain is high, it changes everything. My attention is pulled toward it because my … Continue reading
Don’t Walk Away From Your Feet: The Hidden Cost of Pushing Through Foot Pain
How often do you hear yourself or someone complain about their feet, only to follow it up with a shrug and a phrase like, “Well, I guess I’m just getting older,” or “I’ve been on my feet all day”? Our … Continue reading
Posted in pain
Tagged arthritis, bone spurs, fallen mid-foot, feet, foot, foot pain, IPNB, neurobiology, plantar fasciitis, shoes, splayed toes, tight shoes
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Treating My CRPS and Becoming the Hunter Were the Same
For years I had CRPS in my feet and legs without knowing what it was. I wasn’t diagnosed until six years ago, but by 2016 it had become so severe that I cried when I walked. I also knew that … Continue reading
Posted in pain
Tagged chronic pain, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, confrontation, CRPS, father, hunted, hunter, IPNB, pain, parents, recurrent pain, relationships
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