Tag Archives: safety
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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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
Safety, Connection, Belonging, and Well-Being
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology perspective, safety, connection, belonging, and well-being are not separate experiences, but interdependent processes that continuously shape one another. Safety is the foundation. When our nervous system detects enough predictability, responsiveness, and choice, it becomes possible to … Continue reading
Posted in Community
Tagged belonging, connections, Interpersonal Neurobilology, IPNB, Relational Neuroscience, safety, well-being
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Grief Moves When the Body Is Allowed: Trauma Integration and the Power of Witnessing
I went into my craniosacral appointment without an agenda, not trying to make anything happen. I laid on the treatment table and my doctor cradled my head with his hands. Before long, I felt a huge wave of deep grief rise … Continue reading
Letter to a Now Former Friend
One of the hardest things about trauma recovery is the process of recognizing which relationships are mutual and supportive and letting go of those that are not. I’ve done this over the course of years, particularly with family members, most … Continue reading
Posted in Relationships
Tagged boundaries, connection, friends, friendship, no contact, relationship, safety
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The Doctors in My Recovery Plan
Many people have trouble believing that caring doctors became an essential part of my Interpersonal Neurobiology-based trauma recovery plan. Some dismiss it entirely because they assume healing relationships have to happen with family, friends, a romantic partner, or a therapist. … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged Complex PTSD, connection, doctors, healthcare, Medical PTSD, MPTSD, PTSD, recovery, safety
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“How Would You Like to Proceed?”: The Role of Agency in Safe Medicine
A recent visit to my dermatologist inspired me to write about the relationship between safety and agency. We’d already had four appointments before this visit. She always asked permission before touching me. Every time, she explained what she was doing … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged boundaries, communication, connection, dermatologist, healthcare, safety, The Patel Pause, trust
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Bystander Complicity: An IPNB View
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, the nervous system operates relationally, meaning that safety, trust, and connection are deeply shaped by social environments and relationships. Bystanders who witness abuse but fail to intervene may experience internal conflicts between their own … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse
Tagged bystanders, cognitive dissonance, complicity, IPNB, moral values, safety, Stress
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