Author Archives: Shay Seaborne, CPTSD
A Cry for Help is a Call for Connection
The classic meaning of a cry for help is often seen as a dramatic or urgent signal that someone is in distress and needs immediate attention. It’s sometimes misunderstood as attention-seeking or manipulative, especially when it doesn’t follow expected patterns. … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged attention, connection, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB
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Ruptured Humanity: the IPNB of the Ethical Divide
The ethical divide reflects the rupture in our shared sense of humanity. Ethical beliefs are rooted in our capacity to recognize and care about the impact of our actions on others. When this capacity is eroded, people can justify cruelty, … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged connection, Ethical Divide, ethics, IPNB, relationships, safety
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The Measure of Harm
The magnitude of an act’s heinousness is measured not by how it appears on paper, but by the width, breadth, and depth of the harm it causes, especially when intentional. Trauma is far more than “something bad happened.” It deeply … Continue reading
Trauma is a Symptom of Insufficient Support
We often talk about trauma like it lives in the event itself, the abuse, the violence, the accident, the betrayal. But from a relational and neurobiological perspective, trauma doesn’t come from the event alone. It comes from what was missing … Continue reading
A Deliberate Strategy to Harm Federal Workers
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” said Russell Vought, the current administration’s director of the federal Office of Management and Budget. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, IPNB of Hierarchy
Tagged IPNB, OMB, politics, Russell Vought, Trauma, Trump Administration
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Why a Doctor Visit Can Increase Our Pain
For someone with a chronic condition, going to the doctor can increase pain because the body is already in a heightened state of sensitivity. When pain persists over time, the nervous system adapts by becoming more responsive to potential threats, … Continue reading
The Nervous System Knows: Why Safety Comes First in Trauma Recovery
When Dr. Stephen Porges says “safety is the therapy,” what he means is that the foundation for any healing—especially from trauma—is the experience of felt safety, not just physical safety. From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, this means that our … Continue reading
Autism Doesn’t Destroy Families. The Domination Hierarchy Does
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says things like “autism destroys families,” or implies that people who don’t pay taxes or hold traditional jobs are somehow less valuable, he is reflecting a worldview that has little to do with science or … Continue reading
Posted in IPNB of Hierarchy
Tagged Autism, billionaires, families, hierarchy, IPNB, taxes
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The Neurobiological Case for Justice
Justice is essential for nervous system regulation, and a key missing factor for me. My nervous system isn’t just dealing with severe pain and trauma. It is also dealing with the ongoing assault of being gaslit, dismissed, and denied justice … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Sigmund Freud is Alive and Well, in Psychoanalysis
While fewer psychologists today openly use shame-based Freudian terms like “death drive” or “Thanatos,” the core idea has been repackaged in modern psych and trauma discourse under new names, often stripped of Freud’s original poetry but retaining the same oppressive … Continue reading
Posted in Psychiatry
Tagged death drive, Freud, mental illness industry, pathologizing, Psychology, shame-based, Thanatos
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