Dr. Glenn Patrick Doyle

#Inktober2025, Day 5, prompt: “deer” #NotAnArtist

You are 100% allowed to decide something is not a priority for you, even if you have the time.

Don't let the "fawn" trauma response convince you otherwise.

Every trauma survivor I've met who has crafted a realistic recovery blueprint has come through on the other side more connected than ever to their mission in life.

Recovery isn't just about managing & resolving the past. It's about recovering, & recreating ourselves.

I like to imagine my bullies & abusers out there, holding their breath, waiting for me to fail-- & I like to imagine them suffocating as I work my recovery day by day, choice by choice.

There's no rule that says we have to do everything perfectly on this trauma recovery journey-- or that we have to pretend in front of everyone or anyone else that we've got our sh*t together.

No one who matters will think less of us for struggling-- & those who do, don't matter.

Any realistic trauma recovery strategy absolutely has to include how we're going to supportively manage our self talk & mental focus when-- not if, when-- we experience triggers, relapses, & other setbacks.

You're not the one survivor who will have a setback-free recovery arc.

Hello, hello

The essence of Trauma Recovery Mindset (TRM) is our commitment to realistically managing thoughts & reactions as they occur, w/ tools we've developed & practiced-- not impulsively reacting to supposed "certainties" Trauma Brain is trying to get us to waste energy chasing down.

Dissociation is not "bad." It's a complicated reflex, the core skill of which-- collapsing & funneling awareness-- is absolutely essential to trauma recovery.

What we don't want is dissociation just swooping in or slamming us. We need awareness to be a tool, not a takeover.

I do not want you wasting today trying to do emotional or behavioral backflips you're not ready for because you've been convinced trauma recovery needs to happen in leaps & bounds. That's a recipe for frustration & flameout.

Think baby steps & realistic micro goals. Try softer.

#Inktober Day 4, prompt: “murky” #NotAnArtist #Inktober2025

Every day we have a finite amount of mental bandwidth we're capable of realistically influencing. Some days it's a little, some days it's more; but finding that sliver of influence-able mental focus & leveraging it to support our safety & stability is how trauma recovery happens.

It is not necessary to be brilliant to recover from trauma, nor spiritual, nor (insert other aspirational adjective here).

It is necessary to be consistent & truly open to the idea that we deserve better & we can do better-- without shaming, pressuring, or punishing ourselves.

Trauma recovery mindset is, yes, I accept that I'm going to get triggered & have trauma responses due to my trauma injuries-- but I'll be goddamned if I'm going to help my symptoms kick my own ass w/ what I say to myself or how I behave toward myself.

Not gonna happen.

Do not let the reputation you acquire in a dysfunctional family or community convince you that's who you "are."

Toxic families or communities will not, ever, reflect the authenticity of who we are-- they will always give us a funhouse mirror version that distorts our identity.

Yes, processing the past is important in trauma recovery-- but so is developing our future. Not enough recovery resources discuss this.

We're not metabolizing the past for its own sake. We're doing it because we have sh*t to do from here on out that has zero to do w/ the past.

It is never the wrong time to check in w/ yourself, breathe intentionally, mentally reinforce your identity, & do a quick body scan. No one needs to know.

These little, secret self-check ins are exactly how realistic trauma recovery is built, hour by hour, day by day.

Our bullies & abusers really, really want us to believe that what we say to ourselves "doesn't matter," how we direct the mental focus we can influence "doesn't matter," & how we breathe & use our body "doesn't matter."

That's a good sign ALL those things really, REALLY matter.

Self-talk as a realistic trauma recovery tool begins w/ the absolute commitment to never use our magnificent, but wounded, brain to amplify or affirm the words of our abusers & bullies.

They've had their air time. We're not boosting their signal-- not anymore. Not ever again.

#Inktober Day 3, prompt: “crown” #NotAnArtist #Inktober2025

Just do what you can w/ the energy, focus, & tools you have today. That's literally all trauma recovery asks. Today doesn't have to be a masterpiece.

Maybe today isn't going in the Louvre. So what. Most of DaVinci's work didn't.

Breathe; blink; focus; & do what you can, today.

Our threshold vulnerability to trauma responses decreases as we consistently meet those reflexes (they are reflexes, not "choices") w/ compassion, patience, & acceptance.

Our vulnerability to trauma responses dramatically increases if we meet them w/ shame & self-punishment.

Realistic trauma recovery requires recovery supporting rituals & routines-- & those require us to manage our fear & resentment at feeling "controlled" by "having" to do things consistently.

Trying to ignore control feelings & fears will 100% sabotage our recovery.

Trauma Brain tries to convince us that basic self-care, like feeding ourselves, hydrating, cleaning & organizing our space, & managing our money, is "pointless"-- as if they have nothing to do w/ our safety, stability, or cognitive/emotional load.

Don't bite. Just do your best.

For my money, trauma recovery is inconsistent w/ relationships where we are used, but not seen or valued.

That sh*t replicates what many survivors grew up with-- and if nothing changes, nothing changes.

#Inktober Day 2, prompt: “weave” #NotAnArtist

One of the biggest threats to our trauma recovery is going to be people who refuse to work their own trauma recovery-- & who try to outsource their emotional regulation to us.

People who aren't taking their own recovery work seriously won't take our work seriously either.

We're just never gonna realistically recover from trauma as long as we prioritize being "perfect"-- especially our bullies' & abusers' standard of "perfect'-- over being authentic.

Breathe, blink, focus, & be you-- not who they told you you "had" to be.

Working your trauma recovery will not make you less intense.

Working your trauma recovery will support you in channeling your intensity, from post traumatic stress to what I call "post traumatic passion"-- passion which you choose, which you value, which invests you w/ purpose.

The thing that gut punches most survivors' recovery most often is reflexively judging the sh*t out of ourselves.

Meeting our struggles w/ patience, acceptance, & compassion (yes, "easier said than done") is a non-negotiable skillset we use every day, every hour, in recovery.