Best Complex Ptsd Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings

“The reality is that there are plenty of trustworthy people in the world rebuilding their lives. It was a very gradual process for me to open up and talk about what was really going on in my recovery. The more I started to take risks by talking to others, however, the more I had an opportunity to exercise boundaries. As I asserted new boundaries, I started to gravitate towards people with integrity, warmheartedness and decency.”

Trust Self Love Boundaries Self Care Ptsd Drug Addiction Self Compassion Christopher Dines Complex Ptsd Drug Addiction Recovery

Book:Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

Source: Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

“Emotionally wounded addicts have an extremely difficult time with intimacy and with trusting themselves and others. They have a deep desire to trust, but their emotional scars and traumatic memories haunt them whenever an opportunity to trust another person arises. Naturally this can lead to a very lonely existence.”

Fear Loneliness Trust Ptsd Drug Addiction Christopher Dines Complex Ptsd Drug Addiction Recovery Addicts Christopher Dines Quotes

Book:Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

Source: Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

“Trust of others is in short supply for many adult survivors, as complex trauma generally involves major relational betrayal. It is, therefore, expectable (although paradoxical) that clients with these histories are predisposed to be mistrustful at the outset of therapy, precisely because of (and in proportion to) the actual trustworthiness of the therapist. When past experiences have thought hard lessons, namely, that one can least afford to trust the people who should be most trustworthy, it stands to reason that confusion about trust results. The therapist must understand and not take offense either personally or professionally and not react judgmentally or defensively. Practically speaking, this involves the therapist being prepared to patiently and empathically respond to active or passive tests or challenges to trustworthiness as legitimate and meaningful communication that deserves a respectful reply in action as well as in words.”

Trust Abuse Betrayal Therapy Childhood Abuse Complex Ptsd Complex Trauma Developmental Trauma Interpersonal Trauma

Book:Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

Source: Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

“The overarching principle of a therapeutic relationship is that therapists should be ever mindful of a variant of the Hippocratic oath and, to the degree possible, strive to "do no more harm" (Courtois, 2010). Complex trauma clients have already experienced considerable harm, much of it at the hands of other human beings. As a result of the ubiquitous processes of transference, attachment styles, and IWM [Internal working models], these clients often view the therapist's behavior and their relationship through the lens of their trauma-related negative interpersonal expectancies and unhealed emotional wounds and injuries. Therapists should not be surprised to be "guilty until proven innocent", not because clients with complex trauma histories are "unfair" or "unreasonable" but precisely the opposite - because the most realistic self-protective stance for them (given the fact that betrayal and harm have been more the rule than the exception) is to "distrust first and verify" (or to be hypervigilant) rather than to start with an expectation of safety and trustworthiness.”

Trust Safety Therapy Childhood Abuse Complex Ptsd Therapist Complex Trauma

Book:Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

Source: Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

“Playing nice" comes naturally when our neuroception detects safety and promotes physiological states that support social behavior. However, pro-social behavior will not occur when our neuroception misreads the environmental cues and triggers physiological states that support defensive strategies. After all, "playing nice" is not appropriate or adaptive behavior in dangerous or life-threatening situations. In these situations, humans - like other mammals - react with more primitive neurobiological defense systems. To create relationships, humans must subdue these defensive reactions to engage, attach, and form lasting social bonds. Humans have adaptive neurobehavioral systems for both pro-social and defensive behaviors.”

Social Fear Trust Distrust Triggers Complex Ptsd Dangerous People Defensive Interpersonal Relationships Neurophysiology Polyvagal Theory Unsafe People

Book:The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation

Source: The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation

“Changes in Relationship with others: It is especially hard to trust other people if you have been repeatedly abused, abandoned or betrayed as a child. Mistrust makes it very difficult to make friends, and to be able to distinguish between good and bad intentions in other people. Some parts do not seem to trust anyone, while other parts may be so vulnerable and needy that they do not pay attention to clues that perhaps a person is not trustworthy. Some parts like to be close to others or feel a desperate need to be close and taken care of, while other parts fear being close or actively dislike people. Some parts are afraid of being in relationships while others are afraid of being rejected or criticized. This naturally sets up major internal as well as relational conflicts.”

Fear Relationships Emotion Emotional Trust Personality Shame Guilt Memory Trauma Betrayal Survivor Ptsd Dissociative Identity Disorder Mistrust Bond Dissociative Complex Ptsd

Book:Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

Source: Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

“Alterations in regulation of affect (emotion) and impulse: Almost all people who are seriously traumatized have problems in tolerating and regulating their emotions and surges or impulses. However, those with complex PTSD and dissociative disorders tend to have more difficulties than those with PTSD because disruptions in early development have inhibited their ability to regulate themselves. The fact that you have a dissociative organization of your personality makes you highly vulnerable to rapid and unexpected changes in emotions and sudden impulses. Various parts of the personality intrude on each other either through passive influence or switching when your under stress, resulting in dysregulation. Merely having an emotion, such as anger, may evoke other parts of you to feel fear or shame, and to engage in impulsive behaviors to stop avoid the feelings.”

Source: Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

“Changes in Meaning: Finally, chronically traumatized people lose faith that good things can happen and people can be kind and trustworthy. They feel hopeless, often believing that the future will be as bad as the past, or that they will not live long enough to experience a good future. People who have a dissociative disorder may have different meanings in various dissociative parts. Some parts may be relatively balanced in their worldview, others may be despairing, believing the world to be a completely negative, dangerous place, while other parts might maintain an unrealistic optimistic outlook on life”

Source: Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

“Complex PTSD consists of of six symptom clusters, which also have been described in terms of dissociation of personality. Of course, people who receive this diagnosis often also suffer from other problems as well, and as noted earlier, diagnostic categories may overlap significantly. The symptom clusters are as follows: Alterations in Regulation of Affect ( Emotion ) and Impulses Changes in Relationship with others Somatic Symptoms Changes in Meaning Changes in the perception of Self Changes in Attention and Consciousness”

Fear Relationships Emotion Emotional Trust Personality Shame Guilt Memory Trauma Betrayal Survivor Ptsd Dissociative Identity Disorder Mistrust Bond Dissociative Complex Ptsd

Book:Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

Source: Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

“Changes in the Perception of Self: People who have been traumatized in childhood are often troubled by guilt, shame, and negative feelings about themselves, such as the belief they are unlikable, unlovable, stupid, inept, dirty, worthless, lazy, and so forth. In Complex Dissociative disorders there are typically particular parts that contain these negative feelings about the self while other parts may evaluate themselves quite differently. Alterations among parts thus may result in rather rapid and distinct changes in self perception.”

Fear Emotion Emotional Personality Shame Guilt Memory Trauma Survivor Ptsd Dissociative Identity Disorder Amnesia Dissociative Worthlessness Complex Ptsd Affect Affect Regulation Disregulated

Book:Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

Source: Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

“When I delve deeply enough into a client's experience, no matter how initially perplexing or intemperate it may at first seem, I inevitably find psychological sense in it...In fact, I can honestly say that I have never met a feeling or behavior that did not make sense when viewed through the lenses of transference and traumatology.”

Psychology Empathy Trauma Therapy Complex Ptsd

Book:Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

Source: Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

“But on Kwajalein, the guards sought to deprive them of something that had sustained them even as all else had been lost: dignity. This self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness; to be deprived of it is to be dehumanized, to be cleaved from, and cast below, mankind.”

War Self Respect Captivity Traumatic Experiences Traumatized Dehumanization Inhumane Worthlessness Complex Ptsd No Longer Human Dehumanize Prisoners Of War Held Captive Survivors Of War

Book:Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

Source: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

“With regard to complex trauma survivors, self-determination and autonomy require that the therapist treat each client as the "authority" in determining the meaning and interpretation of his or her personal life history, including (but not limited to) traumatic experiences (Harvey, 1996). Therapists can inadvertently misappropriate the client's authority over the meaning and significance of her or his memories (and associated symptoms, such as intrusive reexperiencing or dissociative flashbacks) by suggesting specific "expert" interpretations of the memories or symptoms. Clients who feel profoundly abandoned by key caregivers may appear deeply grateful for such interpretations and pronouncements by their therapists, because they can fulfill a deep longing for a substitute parent who makes sense of the world or takes care of them. However, this delegation of authority to the therapist can backfire if the client cannot, or does not, take ownership of her or his own memories or life story by determining their personal meaning.Moreover, the client can be trapped in a stance of avoidance because trauma memories are never experienced, processed, and put to rest. Helping a client to develop a core sense of relational security and the capacity to regulate (and recover from) extreme hyper- or hypoarousal is essential if the client is to achieve a self-determined and autonomous approach to defining the meaning and impact of trauma memories, a crucial goal of posttraumatic therapy.”

Authority Therapy Self Determination Autonomy Complex Ptsd Complex Trauma Developmental Trauma Interpersonal Trauma

Book:Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

Source: Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

“Recovery unfolds in three stages. The central task of the first stage is the establishment of safety. The central task of the second stage is remembrance and mourning. The central focus of the third stage is reconnection with ordinary life.”

Loss Healing Safety Trauma Recovery Grieving Ptsd Sexual Abuse Rape Child Sexual Abuse Healing Process Complex Ptsd Complex Trauma

Book:Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“I was just thinking that I started off OK," Jo said. "There wasn't anything different or wrong with me when I was born. I wasn't inherently bad or freakish." That's right, Jo," Lynn said. "Other people—my mother and father—did things to me that made me feel all wrong about myself," Jo said, another warm wave of new, sure knowledge washing over her.”

Self Acceptance Dissociative Identity Disorder Complex Ptsd Abusive Parents Child Abuse Survivor Trauma Survivor Feeling Broken

Book:The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality

Source: The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality

“I was just thinking that I started off OK," Jo said. "There wasn't anything different or wrong with me when I was born. I wasn't inherently bad or freakish.”

Self Acceptance Complex Ptsd Abuse Survivor Child Abuse Survivor

Book:The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality

Source: The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality

“As I discussed in the previous chapter, attachment researchers have shown that our earliest caregivers don't only feed us, dress us, and comfort us when we are upset; they shape the way our rapidly growing brain perceives reality. Our interactions with our caregivers convey what is safe and what is dangerous: whom we can count on and who will let us down; what we need to do to get our needs met. This information is embodied in the warp and woof of our brain circuitry and forms the template of how we think of ourselves and the world around us. These inner maps are remarkably stable across time. This doesn‘t mean, however, that our maps can‘t be modified by experience. A deep love relationship, particularly during adolescence, when the brain once again goes through a period of exponential change, truly can transform us. So can the birth of a child, as our babies often teach us how to love. Adults who were abused or neglected as children can still learn the beauty of intimacy and mutual trust or have a deep spiritual experience that opens them to a larger universe. In contrast, previously uncontaminated childhood maps can become so distorted by an adult rape or assault that all roads are rerouted into terror or despair. These responses are not reasonable and therefore cannot be changed simply by reframing irrational beliefs.”

Trauma Parents Child Abuse Rape Mind And Body Abuse Survivors Survivors World View Healing Insights Survivors Of Abuse Complex Ptsd Mind Body Connection Abusive Parents Effects Of Child Abuse Rape Survivors Care Givers

Book:The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Source: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

“Generally the rational brain can override the emotional brain, as long as our fears don’t hijack us. (For example, your fear at being flagged down by the police can turn instantly to gratitude when the cop warns you that there’s an accident ahead.) But the moment we feel trapped, enraged, or rejected, we are vulnerable to activating old maps and to follow their directions. Change begins when we learn to "own" our emotional brains. That means learning to observe and tolerate the heartbreaking and gut-wrenching sensations that register misery and humiliation. Only after learning to bear what is going on inside can we start to befriend, rather than obliterate, the emotions that keep our maps fixed and immutable.”

Feelings Brain Emotions Misery Trauma Humiliation Healing The Past World View Healing Insights Traumatized Healing The Emotional Self Complex Ptsd Healing Abuse Complex Trauma Trauma Therapy Gut Wrenching

Book:The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Source: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

“When you notice someone does something toxic the first time, don't wait for the second time before you address it or cut them off. Many survivors are used to the "wait and see" tactic which only leaves them vulnerable to a second attack. As your boundaries get stronger, the wait time gets shorter. You never have justify your intuition.”

Healing Boundaries Toxic Relationships Toxic People Healing Insights Healthy Relationships Complex Ptsd Healthy Boundaries Abusive People

Author:Shahida Arabi

“First, the physiological symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder have been brought within manageable limits. Second, the person is able to bear the feelings associated with traumatic memories. Third, the person has authority over her memories; she can elect both to remember the trauma and to put memory aside. Fourth, the memory of the traumatic event is a coherent narrative, linked with feeling. Fifth, the person's damaged self-esteem has been restored. Sixth, the person's important relationships have been reestablished. Seventh and finally, the person has reconstructed a coherent system of meaning and belief that encompasses the story of trauma.”

Healing Trauma Recovery Therapy Ptsd Psychotherapy Healing Process Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Complex Ptsd Recovery From Abuse Healing Abuse Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Traumatic Stress Trauma Therapy

Book:Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“In situations of captivity the perpetrator becomes the most powerful person in the life of the victim, and the psychology of the victim is shaped by the actions and beliefs of the perpetrator.”

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“But I'd begun, slowly, to understand that complex post-traumatic stress disorder, or cPTSD, was different. It was particularly difficult to treat, because - like a flat landscape - it didn't offer a significant landmark, an event, that you could focus on and work with. Complex post-traumatic stress, according to the psychiatrist Judith Lewis Herman, is the result of 'prolonged, repeated trauma,' rather than individual traumatic events. It's what happens when you're born into a world, shaped by a world, where there's no safety, ever. When the people who should take care of you are, instead, scary and unreliable, and when you live years and years without the belief that escape is possible. When you come from a world like this, when all your muscles are trained to tension and suspicion, normal life feels unbearable. It doesn't make sense, getting up, going to class, eating lunch, returning home, sleeping. You don't trust it. It doesn't feel real. And unreality can hurt more than pain.”

Healing Complex Ptsd Cptsd Landscapes

Book:A Flat Place: Moving Through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma

Source: A Flat Place: Moving Through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma

“Beneath the surface of the protective parts of trauma survivors there exists an undamaged essence, a Self that is confident, curious, and calm, a Self that has been sheltered from destruction by the various protectors that have emerged in their efforts to ensure survival. Once those protectors trust that it is safe to separate, the Self will spontaneously emerge, and the parts can be enlisted in the healing process”

Psychology Trauma Neuroscience Complex Ptsd Dissociative Disorders Complex Trauma

Book:The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Source: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

“By developing a contaminated, stigmatized identity, the child victim takes the evil of the abuser into herself and thereby preserves her primary attachments to her parents. Because the inner sense of badness preserves a relationship, it is not readily given up even after the abuse has stopped; rather, it becomes a stable part of the child's personality structure.”

Identity Personality Abuse Betrayal Attachment Child Abuse Incest Victims Complex Ptsd Betrayal Trauma Parental Abuse Personality Disorder Stigmatization Self Stigma

Book:Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“The happy family is a myth for many.”

Neglect Child Abuse Dysfunctional Family Childhood Abuse Dysfunctional Families Happy Family Complex Ptsd Abusive Parents Child Abuse Survivors Complex Trauma Abusive Mother Abusive Father Disorganized Attachment Happy Families Abusive Father S Perfect Childhood

Author:Carolyn Spring

“The reason why you need emotional support is because it's important for survivors to be heard. To be understood. To be able to express yourself without fearing criticism or harsh judgement. To be validated for your pain, suffering, and loss. For others to be there for you to encourage you, especially if you're having a bad day or feeling triggered.”

Encouragement Solidarity Ptsd Abuse Survivors Complex Ptsd Emotional Support Healing Trauma Sexual Assaults Me Too Movement

Book:Soul Cry: Releasing & Healing the Wounds of Trauma

Source: Soul Cry: Releasing & Healing the Wounds of Trauma

“People with Complex PTSD suffer from more severe and frequent dissociation symptoms, as well as memory and attention problems, than those with simple PTSD. In addition to amnesia due to the activity of various parts of the self, people may experience difficulties with concentration, attention, other memory problems and general spaciness. These symptoms often accompany dissociation of the personality, but they are also common in people who do not have dissociative disorders. For example everyone can be spacey, absorbed in an activity, or miss an exit on the highway. When various parts of the personality are active, by definition, a person experiences some kind of abrupt change in attention and consciousness.”

Attention Memory Trauma Survivor Ptsd Dissociative Identity Disorder Dissociation Amnesia Complex Ptsd Personality Types Day Dreaming

Book:Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

Source: Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists

“Healing is comparable to a garden. It needs tended to on a consistent basis. For weeds to be pulled out. The garden needs water and sunshine in effort to grow. Like a lotus flower, you will sprout through the soil, reaching up through the dark water towards the sunlight, stretching to the surface where you will beautifully bloom.”

Inspiration Healing Encouragement Trauma Child Abuse Complex Ptsd Lotus Flower Sexual Assaults Toxic Families

Book:Soul Cry: Releasing & Healing the Wounds of Trauma

Source: Soul Cry: Releasing & Healing the Wounds of Trauma

“In this climate of profoundly disrupted relationships the child faces a formidable developmental task. She must find a way to form primary attachments to caretakers who are either dangerous or, from her perspective, negligent. She must find a way to develop a sense of basic trust and safely with caretakers who are untrustworthy and unsafe. She must develop a sense of self in relation to others who are helpless, uncaring or cruel. She must develop a capacity for bodily self-regulation in an environinent in which her body is at the disposal of others' needs as well as a capacity for self-soothing in an environment without solace. She must develop the capacity for initiative in an environment which demands that she bring her will into complete conformity with that of her abuser. And ultimately, she must develop a capacity for intimacy out of an environment where all intimate relationships are corrupt, and an identity out of an environment which defines her as a whore and a slave.”

Child Sexual Abuse Abuse Survivors Traumatic Experiences Traumatized Complex Ptsd Abusive Parents Abused Children Abused Child Double Bind Disorganized Attachment

Book:Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“One of the reasons a survivor finds it so difficult to see herself as a victim is that she has been blamed repeatedly for the abuse: "If you weren't such a whore, this wouldn't have to happen." Each time she is used and trashed, she becomes further convinced of her innate badness. She sees herself participating in forbidden sexual activity and may often get some sense of gratification from it even if she doesn't want to (it is, after all, a form of touch, and our bodies respond without the consent of our wills). This is seen as further proof that the abuse is her fault and well deserved. In her mind, she has become responsible for the actions of her abusers. She believes she is not a victim; she is a loathsome, despicable, worthless human being—if indeed she even qualifies as human. When the abuse has been sadistic in nature...these beliefs are futher entrenched.”

Child Abuse Child Sexual Abuse Abuse Survivors Incest Dehumanization Complex Ptsd Victim Blaming Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Complex Trauma Self Blame Child Sexual Abuse Survivors No Longer Human

Book:Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Source: Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse

“Recovery can take place only within then context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation.”

Relationships Healing Trauma Recovery Isolation Ptsd Sexual Abuse Rape Child Sexual Abuse Healthy Relationships Complex Ptsd Complex Trauma

Book:Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“Recovery can take place only within then context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation. In her renewed connection with other people, the survivor re-creates the psychological facilities that were damaged or deformed by the traumatic experience. These faculties include the basic operations of trust, autonomy, initiative, competence, identity, and intimacy. Just as these capabilities are formed in relationships with other people, they must be reformed in such relationships. The first principle of recovery is empowerment of the survivor. She must be the author and arbiter of her own recovery. Others may offer advice, support, assistance, affection, and care, but not cure. Many benevolent and well-intentioned attempts to assist the survivor founder because this basic principle of empowerment is not observed. No intervention that takes power away from the survivor can possibly foster her recovery, no matter how much it appears to be in her immediate best interest.”

Relationships Healing Abuse Trauma Recovery Isolation Survivor Ptsd Sexual Abuse Rape Child Sexual Abuse Healthy Relationships Complex Ptsd Complex Trauma

Book:Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Source: Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“The human need to be visible is countered by the need to be invisible to avoid further abuse, and the need for intimacy and the dread of abuse, all pose insoluble dichotomies which promote further withdrawal from human contact, which reinforces the sense of dehumanisation.”

Ptsd Domestic Violence Abuse Survivors Domestic Abuse Traumatized Dehumanization Survivors Of Abuse Cognitive Dissonance Complex Ptsd Child Abuse Survivors Withdrawn Dehumanisation Dehumanize Dehumanized

Book:Introduction to Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma

Source: Introduction to Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma

“Men as Victims: Challenging Cultural Myths Judith Herman’s recent treatise on “complex PTSD" (Herman, 1992) is an extremely articulate and compelling analysis of some of the failings of the current PTSD diagnosis, and of some of the psychological legacies of prolonged, repeated trauma. However, there was one aspect of the article which concerned me and which I wish to address. Throughout the article, "Complex PTSD: A Syndrome in Survivors of Prolonged and Repeated Trauma," whenever reference is made by pronoun to perpetrators or "captors," the pronoun "he" or "him' is used. There are four such references. Whenever reference is made by pronoun to victims or survivors, the pronoun "her" or "she" is used. There are 11 such references. This is not simply an issue of the use of sexist language, which it is. By uniformly linking perpetration with males and victimhood with females, a misconception is perpetuated, one that is shared by the public and by mental health professionals. While there is evidence that most perpetrators of sexual abuse are male, and that there are more female victims of sexual abuse than male victims, it is not true that all perpetrators are male and all victims are female. In fact, in the article, some of the traumas from which Dr. Herman was deriving her argument—political torture, concentration camp survivors, for example—affect as many males as females. Even in the case of sexual abuse, there is increasing evidence that the sexual abuse of males is far more prevalent than has heretofore been believed. Research on male sexual victimization lags more than a decade behind that of female victimization, but several recent studies have reported prevalence rates near or above 20% (Finkelhor et at, 1990; Urquiza, 1988, cited in Urquiza and Keating, 1990; Lisak and Luster, 1992).”

Torture Sexism Bias Sexual Abuse Sexist Survivors Rape Culture Perpetrators Survivors Of Abuse Complex Ptsd Rape Myths Abusive Women Concentration Camp Survivor Male Sexual Abuse Abused Men Male Survivors

Author:David Lisak

“I weep for my fate, for what I have left to see.”

Traumatic Experiences Survivors Of Abuse Complex Ptsd Holocaust Survivor Holocaust Literature Human Rights Abuse Treblinka

Book:The Last Jew of Treblinka

Source: The Last Jew of Treblinka

“I have met many, many severely distressed people whose daily lives are filled with the agony of both remembered and unremembered trauma, who try so hard to heal and yet who are constantly being pushed down both by their symptoms and the oppressive circumstances of post traumatic life around them.”

Ptsd Survivors Survivors Of Abuse Trauma Survivors Complex Ptsd Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Ptsd Recovery Trauma Memory Cptsd Retraumatization

Author:Carolyn Spring

“Hyperarousal causes traumatized people to become easily distressed by unexpected stimuli. Their tendency to be triggered into reliving traumatic memories illustrates how their perceptions have become excessively focused on the involuntary search for the similarities between the present and their traumatic past. As a consequence, many neutral experiences become reinterpreted as being associated with the traumatic past.”

Trauma Triggers Complex Ptsd Hypervigilance Hyperarousal

Book:Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain

Source: Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain

“In my personal recovery, mindfulness has helped me to become aware of my trauma responses and given me an anchor to stay present when I have been triggered. Being able to feel my triggers without reacting must be largely credited to learning to anchor myself in my body through mindful body scan meditation.”

Mindfulness Recovery Ptsd Triggers Christopher Dines Complex Ptsd Drug Addiction Recovery Body Scan Drug Addicts Meditation Meditation

Book:Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

Source: Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

“Complexly traumatized children need to be helped to engage their attention in pursuits that do not remind them of trauma-related triggers and that give them a sense of pleasure and mastery. Safety, predictability, and "fun" are essential for the establishment of the capacity to observe what is going on, put it into a larger context, and initiate physiological and motoric self-regulation.”

Trauma Childhood Trauma Self Regulation Traumatized Complex Ptsd Healing From Abuse Abused Children Traumatic Stress Attachment Theory Attachment Trauma Traumatization Abused Child Childhood Traumas Sense Of Safety

Book:Trauma and Attachment

Source: Trauma and Attachment

“I become almost wild and shout at them: - To whom are you reciting Kaddish? Do you still believe? And what do you believe, whom are you thinking? Are you thanking the Lord for his mercy and taking away our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers? No, no! It is not true; there is no God. If there were a God, he would not allow such misfortune, such transgression, where innocent small children, only just born, or killed, by people who want only to to honest work and make themselves useful to the world are killed! and you, living witnesses of the great misfortune, remain thankful. Whom are you thanking?”

Grief Genocide Holocaust Traumatized Complex Ptsd Holocaust Survivor Loss Of Faith Treblinka Loss Of Belief

Book:The Last Jew of Treblinka

Source: The Last Jew of Treblinka

“He cannot forgive himself for having saved himself when his wife and child went to their deaths we are all as if drugged. Yesterday all of my family were living and now - all are dead. Each of us stands as if turn to stone. I weep for my fate, for what I have left to see.”

Ptsd Survival Instinct Traumatic Experiences Traumatized Complex Ptsd Holocaust Survivor Treblinka Survivor Guilt Witnessing Death

Book:The Last Jew of Treblinka

Source: The Last Jew of Treblinka

“The murders force us to cut off the hair of our sisters a few minutes before their deaths and we, temporarily spared, do it in the shadow of the whips. We have been deprived of a reason and are the tools of criminals. My friend who worked with me sorting clothes as me quietly:— Why have you changed so much? I don't recognise you!”

Holocaust Complex Ptsd Holocaust Survivor Trauma Memory Holocaust Literature Treblinka Identity Change

Author:Chil Rajchman

“A refusal on the part of psychiatrists and therapists to validate the horrors of their patients' tortured past implies a refusal to take seriously the unconscious psychological mechanisms that individuals need to use to protect themselves from the unspeakable. Such a denial is, however, no longer ethical, for it is in the human capacity to dissociate that lies part of the secret of both childhood abuse and the horrors of the Nazi genocide, both forms of human violence so often carried out by 'respectable' men and women.”

Source: From Pain to Violence: The Traumatic Roots of Destructiveness

“Their experiences led them to create assumptions about others and related beliefs about themselves such as "this is my lot in life" and "this is what I deserve". Some also learned that personal safety and happiness are of lower priority than survival and that it may be safer to give in than to actively fight off additional abuse and victimization. When abuse is perpetrated by intimates, it is additionally confounding in terms of attachment, betrayal, and trust. Victims may be unable to leave or to fight back due to strong, albeit insecure and disorganized, attachment and misplaced loyalty to abusers. They may have also experienced trauma bonding over the course of their victimization, that is, a bond of specialness with or dependence on the abuser.”

Abuse Complex Ptsd Trauma Bonding

Book:Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

Source: Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

“It is a rare person who can cut himself off from mediate and immediate relations with others for long spaces of time without undergoing a deterioration in personality.”

Source: The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry

“... every therapist must develop enough personal maturity, clinical wisdom, and capacity for good judgment to effectively and safely conduct psychotherapy, an imperative that is especially important in the treatment of this population. The emotion dysregulation and insecure and disorganized attachment of complex trauma clients elicit strong emotional reactions from others, even those in their support network, including therapists. Reactions can range from sympathy, sorrow, fear, and guilt to frustration, impatience, anger/rage, hostility, and disgust or contempt.”

Therapy Complex Ptsd Complex Trauma Interpersonal Trauma Therapeutic Relationship Therapist Responsibilities Interpersonal Abuse

Book:Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

Source: Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach

“We cannot outrun our past trauma. We can’t bury it and think that we will be fine. We cannot skip the essential stage of processing, accepting, and doing the hard, yet necessary trauma recovery work. There’s a body-mind connection. Trauma can manifest itself into chronic physical pain, cancer, inflammation, auto-immune conditions, depression, anxiety, PTSD, Complex PTSD, addictions, and ongoing medical conditions.”

Trauma Sexual Abuse Abuse Survivors Narcissistic Abuse Chronic Pain Psychological Abuse Complex Ptsd Fibromyalgia Body Mind Connection

Book:Soul Rescue: How to Break Free From Narcissistic Abuse & Heal Trauma

Source: Soul Rescue: How to Break Free From Narcissistic Abuse & Heal Trauma

“Too often the survivor is seen by [himself or] herself and others as "nuts," "crazy," or "weird." Unless her responses are understood within the context of trauma. A traumatic stress reaction consists of *natural* emotions and behaviors in response to a catastrophe, its immediate aftermath, or memories of it. These reactions can occur anytime after the trauma, even decades later. The coping strategies that victims use can be understood only within the context of the abuse of a child. The importance of context was made very clear many years ago when I was visiting the home of a Holocaust survivor. The woman's home was within the city limits of a large metropolitan area. Every time a police or ambulance siren sounded, she became terrified and ran and hid in a closet or under the bed. To put yourself in a closet at the sound of a far-off siren is strange behavior indeed—outside of the context of possibly being sent to a death camp. Within that context, it makes perfect sense. Unless we as therapists have a good grasp of the context of trauma, we run the risk of misunderstanding the symptoms our clients present and, hence, responding inappropriately or in damaging ways.”

Crazy Mental Health Therapy Nuts Ptsd Abuse Survivors Psychotherapy Survivors Mental Health Stigma Traumatized Trauma Survivors Complex Ptsd Counselling Cptsd Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Triggered Trauma Trigger Sexual Abuse Survives

Book:Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Source: Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse

“If you live your life to please everyone else, you will continue to feel frustrated and powerless. This is because what others want may not be good for you. You are not being mean when you say NO to unreasonable demands or when you express your ideas, feelings, and opinions, even if they differ from those of others.”

Boundaries Frustrated Powerless Survivors Codependency Healing Insights Assertiveness Survivors Of Abuse Complex Ptsd Relationship Problems Unreasonableness Unreasonable Expectations Lack Of Assertiveness

Book:The Nice Girl Syndrome: Stop Being Manipulated and Abused -- And Start Standing Up for Yourself

Source: The Nice Girl Syndrome: Stop Being Manipulated and Abused -- And Start Standing Up for Yourself

“Controlling my environment was still a compelling need for me. I did everything I could to not be surprised by anything... Looking back, I think that my need to predict how my day was going to unfold was a direct response to the amount of chaos in my childhood.”

Complex Ptsd Controlling Abuse Survivor Child Abuse Survivor Effects Of Child Abuse Controlling Others Abusive Childhood Need For Control

Book:The Sum of My Parts: A Survivor's Story of Dissociative Identity Disorder

Source: The Sum of My Parts: A Survivor's Story of Dissociative Identity Disorder