Tag Archives: connection
Dear Doctor, Please Pause and Take a Breath Outside the Door
Dear Doctor, please pause and take a breath outside the door. It’s good for both of us. I know the system you work in demands too much, too fast, for too little. It rewards efficiency over empathy, billing codes over … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged breathe, connection, disconnection, Doctor, dysregulated, healthcare, IPNB, Medicine, mindful breath, pause, presence, safety, stress reduction
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Safe Hands Helped Me Face a Memory Too Heavy to Hold Alone
The body often holds onto what the mind can’t touch. Early experiences we didn’t have the chance to process can stay with us for a lifetime. Working with a safe witness can help the body and memory meet in a … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged abandonment, baby, birth, birth trauma, connection, craio-sacral, freeze, healing, Moro Reflex, osteopath, safety, shift, traumatic birth, witnessing
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World Mental Health Day: Understanding the Root Causes of Mental Health Conditions Through an IPNB Lens
As we recognize World Mental Health Day on October 10th, it’s important to step back and examine the deeper, systemic causes of the global mental health crisis. From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, mental health is not just an individual … Continue reading
7 Years of Disbelief
For over seven years, I’ve been forced into the role of “my own best advocate.” This is because the people I turned to for care refused to understand what I need for recovery from severe Complex PTSD and quadrilateral Complex … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged chronic disease, connection, CRPS, doctors, healthcare, Mental Health, PTSD, safety, treatment
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Connection Is the Cure: Meet My Nervous System’s Needs
My nervous system is desperate for the kind of connection that feels safe. Because all my life, I’ve been chronically and acutely deprived of that safety. Sometimes it’s been extreme, other times less so, but never enough. When I had … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged attunement, connection, disconnection, health, healthcare, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB, Medicine, Mental Health, Nervous System, safety
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Rupture and Repair: How Breaks in Trust Can Be a Doorway to Something Better
Recently, I had a rupture repair session with one of my most trusted healthcare practitioners. About ten days before, we had a misattunement rupture when he dismissed what I said about my lived experience. I told him I was struggling, … Continue reading
Posted in Relationships
Tagged attunement, connection, Doctor, IPNB, practitioners, relationship, rupture, safety
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Real Care is a Relationship: The Power of One Patient to Change the System
I’ve had to fight harder than most people can imagine just to be treated with dignity in medical spaces. I’ve been harmed, dismissed, ignored, and treated like a problem to manage instead of a human being to care for. But … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged authenticity, change, connection, Doctor, IPNB, learning, Medicine, pain, SGB
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The Neurobiology of Resistance: Standing Against Abusive Power
I didn’t become a fighter by choice. My environment demanded it. There was no room to ally with my abusive father. He didn’t allow it. I couldn’t stop him from hurting me for being a girl, for not being the … Continue reading
Posted in Activism
Tagged abuse, authoritarinanism, compliance, connection, danger, fight, resistance, safety
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The “Mental Illness” Frame Is the Problem. Interpersonal Neurobiology Changes Everything
The mental illness industry frames mental health in terms of individual pathology, diagnosis, and personal responsibility. It focuses on what’s wrong with a person: what disorder they might have, what cognitive distortions they carry, what behaviors need changing. It tends … Continue reading
Institutional Betrayal: Protection for Predators, Harm for the Rest of Us
I learned about institutional betrayal after I reported a predatory gynecologist to the state licensing board. Instead of holding the abuser accountable, the board and the attorney general’s office stood by him. This so negatively affected my nervous system that … Continue reading
Posted in Predators
Tagged betrayal, connection, institutional betrayal, IPNB, power dynamics, predators, safety, Trauma
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