Tag Archives: survival

Truth-Telling is Refusing to Let the Story End the Way They Wrote It

Trauma recovery doesn’t come from “getting over it.” It emerges from changing your relationship with what happened. There are many ways to do this: through story, compassionate witnessing, individual work, and collective work. But a key way to reclaim your … Continue reading

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“Lexapro, NO!  Cannabis, YES!”

I want to share some tools I use to survive and integrate my experiences, compared to what the mental illness industry offers. After the non-consensual surgery, my nervous system desperately needed support to regain a sense of safety. Instead, the … Continue reading

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From Personal Trauma to Systemic Abuse, the Antidote is the Same

The same dynamics I experienced as a child–unpredictable abuse, bystanders who froze, and systems that protected the abuser–are now playing out on a much larger scale in the world. In medical systems, the same patterns repeat. People suffer abuse, neglect, … Continue reading

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Understanding the Predator-Prey Dynamic Through IPNB

The dynamic between the predator and the victim involves complex layers of relational manipulation, nervous system responses, and emotional regulation (or dysregulation), which deeply affect both the predator’s and the victim’s neurobiological processes. Through the lens of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), … Continue reading

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The Shame-Busting Power of IPNB

Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) is inherently shame-busting because it shifts our understanding of human behavior, emotion, and relationship from a lens of personal blame to one of compassionate, embodied context. Here’s how: Normalizes Survival Responses IPNB teaches that many behaviors people … Continue reading

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From the Family to Empires: How Hierarchies Harm Us All

From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, all hierarchies that operate through domination dynamics are fundamentally the same. They impose the same relational structure: an imbalance of power where one party exerts control over others, often at the expense of connection, … Continue reading

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Emotional Deprivation: How ‘Crying It Out’ Shapes Brain Development and Contributes to Personality Disorders

After my first child was born, my then mother-in-law repeatedly insisted I should “Just let her cry,” alone in her crib because “it won’t hurt her.” My instincts said my baby needed safe connection, and I followed my instincts. From … Continue reading

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