I would love to re-name personality disorders and call them personality adaptations, because that is what many of them are, and it stands to reason that the worse the trauma, the more extreme the adaptations. If any of this speaks …
Tag: Complex Trauma
Causes of Psychological Trauma
You might be surprised to know there are different kinds of trauma. Our ability to recover from trauma depends partly on the KIND of trauma we have experienced. When we have experienced a shock trauma, psychological distress in the form …
Complex Trauma and Dysregulation
When you have been raised by parents whose nervous systems are activated and in fight or flight all of the time, you will not have learned co-regulation. Co-regulation happens when one nervous system calms another nervous system down. This would …
Shock Trauma or Complex Trauma?
You might be surprised to know there are different kinds of trauma. Our ability to recover from trauma depends partly on the KIND of trauma we have experienced. When we have experienced a shock trauma, psychological distress in the form …
The Difference Between A One-Off Trauma and Complex Trauma.
There is a huge difference between a one-off, shock trauma and complex trauma. In this panel interview, I explain the differences using a personal experience with shock trauma. This panel interview was one of a three-part series exploring trauma for …
Personality Disorders Don’t Emerge Out Of Thin Air – In More Cases Than Not, There Is A Complex Trauma History.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has “come to be understood as a posttraumatic adaptation to severe childhood abuse and attachment trauma” (Courtoise, 2004). As children in an unsafe environment, it is NORMAL to adapt to that environment to stay safe. That …
When Core Childhood Needs Remain Unmet, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms Result.
When children are raised by attuned parents, they develop a healthy attachment style of relating in intimate relationships. When a child’s needs are not met, the child will develop ‘early maladaptive schemas’ (EMS). This term is used in Schema Therapy, …
What is Developmental Trauma?
As children our brain develops from the bottom up, starting with the reptilian brain where survival and reproduction are paramount and moving upwards towards the neocortex, responsible for logical thought. As children we a need safe environment and loving caregivers …