Dr. Glenn Patrick Doyle

Suicidal thoughts don't necessarily mean you want to die, & self harm urges don't necessarily mean you want to hurt.

Turns out: trauma recovery asks us to understand our thoughts & urges more deeply (& compassionately) than the normies ever have to.

No matter how thoroughly CPTSD is kicking our ass on any given day, we have SOME influence (not "control," INFLUENCE) over what we say to ourselves, what we visualize & focus on, & how we use our body & breathing. Focus there. That's where your leverage, your wiggle room, is.

Hitting a speed bump in your trauma recovery isn't always a tragedy, or even necessarily a "setback." Sometimes we need to slow down & check in.

So today's not a 10X "progress" day in your recovery-- but maybe a day like today is exactly what your recovery needs right now.

Trauma recovery asks us to choose ourselves, over & over again, in ways that can be profoundly uncomfortable when we've been conditioned to prioritize others' preferences over our needs.

Keep doing it. Scramble the sh*t out of that self-neglectful programming.

"I MUST control (whatever)" is the big lie CPTSD tells us. Demanding we "control" much of anything in our lives sets us up for profound frustration. Trauma recovery asks us to focus on gaining incrementally more INFLUENCE over what WE can affect in our lives. "Control" is a trap.

There is not a thing in the world wrong w/ being unapologetically selective about who you let not just into your physical space, but your emotional & intellectual space as well. If they don't support the life & world you're trying to create, you don't have the bandwidth for them.

The trauma recovery community really, really needs to develop more resources for survivors who, yes, are recovering from past trauma-- but who are also right now vulnerable to or immersed in painful relationships or situations that are functionally inescapable.

We face today w/ the tools & support we have, not the ones we "should" have, or we "wish" we had, or we had once upon a time. Trauma Brain's going to try to trick & distract us from realistically managing today-- but keep bringing it back.

Here, now, is where we have leverage.

Someone dying or otherwise no longer in our life doesn't mean our relationship w/ them ends. We still have to realistically acknowledge & manage our memories of them & their ongoing impact on us.

Losing someone changes our relationship-- it doesn't end it.

Someone who changes .01% of who they are every day is, over time, a completely different human than who they were. Realistic change happens in sustainable increments over time.

Raindrops carve canyons. Focus on your sustainable .01% shift-- your raindrop-- today. No more.

It matters exactly 0% if you're managing your symptoms & struggles to "their" satisfaction today. "They" don't have to live in your head, heart, & body. You do.

Consistently orient your recovery & healing toward what YOU can & want to live with-- not anybody else.

Nobody reading this NEEDS forgiveness for not being "perfect"-- but sometimes it can be helpful to think in terms of extending yourself (especially your "parts" & inner child) forgiveness & grace for not effortlessly being who your parents or peers wanted you to be.

Being told over & over again how admirably "resilient" you are can have the paradoxical effect of making you feel guilty for not being more "grateful" or otherwise happy you survived-- when the reality is you feel like garbage & want more & different from your life now.

Resilience is great. We want resilience. But to me trauma recovery is not about getting more "resilient." We've had enough "just getting by" by the skin of our "resilient" teeth.

To me the goal of recovery is measurably, meaningfully, REALISTICALLY improved quality of life.

Every trauma survivor reading this, no matter how different we are, has the same essential task on our plate today: compassionately, realistically reeling our brain in when it tries to get freaked out about the future, or vicious & judgmental about the past.

Easy does it.

The voice in your head right now, calling you "selfish" or "entitled" for acknowledging your pain or asserting your needs, has nothing to do w/ reality.

It has everything to do w/ making you feel like garbage so you'll stay small & compliant.

Remember.

The limitations on your energy & focus today aren't imaginary. They're not you being "lazy." Our physiology & our injuries slap very real limits on us, that we have to realistically-- & compassionately-- account for as we design our trauma recovery.

And that's not our fault.

CPTSD always involves betrayal.

And recovering from betrayal is a very different project than recovering from trauma inflicted by nature or strangers.

It is not weird or your fault that this process is taking the time it is.

I consider a recovery binder-- w/ sections for "parts," recovery resources, goals, journaling, & reminders of who you are (& also what year it is, who your family members are, & other essential information, if you dissociate)-- an essential recovery tool. Create your user manual.

If you're reading this, it's a perfect moment to remind yourself: you're not back there, back then. You're right here, right now-- & the most important choice you can make is your very next micro choice.

It's not weird that, after decades of managing your emotions-- keeping your head above water-- that you let your hobbies & interests & passions slide. Remembering & rediscovering them in trauma recovery is remembering & rediscovering you.

That is: a high recovery priority.

Shout out to everyone reading this who is pushing back against toxic bullsh*t pumped into your head by people who couldn't f*cking fathom doing the emotional, behavioral, & spiritual work you're doing every HOUR in trauma recovery.

Every safe relationship has boundaries, & every safe relationship partner can talk about boundaries without getting sh*tty. No exceptions.

Nobody who is not you gets to dictate how you understand & relate to people & situations in your past.

Nobody gets to tell you you "have to" "let it go;" or that you "have to" "hate" somebody; or that you "can't" miss or still be attached to a person or church that hurt you.

You have what you need to process your past & your pain. You've been convinced you don't, that you just need to "suck it up" or "let it go"-- but that's toxic positivity bullsh*t.

You have what you need. Trauma recovery is about rediscovering & believing what you're capable of.

Realistic trauma recovery happens one minute at a time. We rewire ourselves one minute, one self-compassionate thought, one tiny self-care gesture, at a time.

Don't get ahead of yourself. Remember how our nervous system realistically changes. Back off. Breathe. Think baby steps.

Everybody grieves.

But not everybody gives themselves permission to grieve.

Especially if what they need to grieve isn't a person they're "supposed" to be sad about losing.

But not all grief is that straightforward, is it?

IYKYK.

Self esteem isn't about loving everything we do or ignoring the stuff about ourselves we're not thrilled about. It's not about feel good bullsh*t.

Real self esteem is about authenticity. Being who we are in a world hell bent on shaming & pressuring us into being someone else.

In trauma recovery we don't name & describe our pain because we're "wallowing" in a "victim mindset." We do it because getting real & specific is how actual, sustainable change happens-- & we're so f*ckng over denial (on both individual & cultural levels).

Dissociation as a psychological defense is a mixed bag. There's no need to demonize it as all "bad"-- or celebrate it as the "perfect" solution to our problems or pain.

If we're realistically going to manage dissociation, we need to give it its props for what it got us through.