Tag Archives: Trauma
From Trauma to Truth: How I Became Anti-Psychiatry
I became anti-psychiatry because of what psychiatry did to me and what I saw it do to others. I walked in with severe Complex PTSD. They put me on Lexapro. The suicidal ideations started about 3 weeks after. When I … Continue reading
Posted in Psychiatry
Tagged abuse, anti-psychiatry, Behavioral Health, chemical imbalance, control, hierarchy, IPNB, Mental Health, psychiatry, Trauma
Leave a comment
Clinical Harm: An IPNB Perspective on the Therapist’s Agenda
When a therapist repeatedly interrupts, dismisses a client’s distressing experiences, or imposes their own agenda, it can have significant negative effects on the client’s nervous system, often triggering a state of dysregulation. Here’s what happens from an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged agenda, dysregulation, Efforting, fight, flight, freeze, relationships, shame, therapist, therapy, Trauma, trust
Leave a comment
The DSM is Bunk: IPNB Offers a Humane and Scientific Understanding of Mental Health
Some trauma experts have said that if the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) acknowledged trauma, it would be a very thin volume because virtually everything else would fall beneath it. But from an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) … Continue reading
The Societal is the Cellular: The Biology of a Sick Culture
Everywhere we look, people are unwell. Nearly ¼ of US adults live with a diagnosed mental illness, and over ¾ of adults have at least one chronic health condition. More than ½ have multiple chronic conditions. This is most of … Continue reading
Posted in Neurobiology
Tagged biology, cellular, chronic stress, connection, culture, distress, exploitation, IPNB, Neuroplasticity, safety, social, societal, society, suffering, Trauma
Leave a comment
“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
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged Behavioral Health, cannabis, cuckoo's nest, dependence, drugs, hypocrisy, integration, medical marijuana, Mental Health, MMJ, Nervous System, polypharmacy, psych meds, psychiatric hospital, psychiatry, psychotropic medications, Regulation, Stress, survival, Trauma
Leave a comment
The Therapist’s Mirror: How Lack of Self-Awareness Can Dysregulate Clients
A therapist who lacks the capacity for self-awareness and attunement may, at best, provide surface-level support, but they’re also likely to cause harm, especially to trauma survivors. Without the ability to co-regulate and deeply connect with their clients’ internal states, … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged attunement, Behavioral Health, co-regulation, dysregulation, healing, IPNB, Mental Health, Regulation, therapy, Trauma, trust
Leave a comment
Unhoused by Design: Trauma, Culture, and Survival
The Trump administration’s attacks on unhoused people have drawn intense controversy, and for good reason. Instead of addressing the structural causes of homelessness, like skyrocketing rents, stagnant wages, inaccessible healthcare, and systems that fail to support trauma recovery, the focus … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged Community, culture, dignity, homelessness, housing, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB, profit, safety, stability, Trauma, Trump, Trump Administration, unhoused
Leave a comment
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
Leave a comment
Can Trauma Survivors Recover Without Access to Professional Help?
According to a 2021 study, “most states have fewer than 40% of the mental health professionals needed” and “more than half (51%) of counties in the United States have no practicing psychiatrists.” Even where mental illness industry practitioners exist, many … Continue reading
Posted in PTSD, Trauma
Tagged Complex PTSD, CPTSD, Medicine, Mental Health, Nervous System, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychology, PTSD, Regulation, Trauma
Leave a comment
Trauma is Political. Healing is, Too.
Most trauma is caused by power imbalances in which the powerful neglect, abuse, and exploit those who have less. Such out-of-balance relational dynamics–especially when protected by institutions–are the driver of mental health conditions, chronic illnesses, recurrent pain, and virtually all … Continue reading
Posted in IPNB of Hierarchy
Tagged abuse, fascism, hierarchy, Interpersonal Neurobilology, IPNB, Nervous System, politics, power, Regulation, Trauma
Leave a comment