Trauma & PTSD

Life After Trauma: Hope, Recovery, and What Is Possible

Living with and beyond trauma is a reality. What does it mean to "recover," what that looks like in practice, and why hope isn't naivety, but neurobiology.

Trauma and the Body: Psychosomatic Symptoms in PTSD

Chronic pain, tension, digestive issues, and heart palpitations without a clear medical explanation. These could be physical manifestations of unprocessed trauma. How are they connected?

Supporting Someone with PTSD: A Guide for Loved Ones

Do you have a loved one with PTSD? Learn what to say, how to respond to their symptoms, how to avoid re-traumatizing them — and how to prioritize your own well-being.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD

CPT is one of two first-line treatments for PTSD (alongside EMDR). It focuses on beliefs that developed after the trauma. Here's how it works.

Self-Help for PTSD: What Really Works

While self-help doesn't replace therapy for PTSD, incorporating effective practices can significantly enhance your quality of life between sessions and lessen symptom intensity.

PTSD in children manifests differently than in adults. Common signs include regression, re-enactment of trauma through play, and night terrors. Learn how to recognize trauma in a child and what specialists do to provide support.

PTSD and Sleep Disturbances: How Trauma Interferes with Sleep

Sleep disturbances in PTSD are among the most debilitating symptoms. Nightmares, insomnia, and shallow sleep — why this happens and what actually helps.

Medications for PTSD: What You Need to Know

Medication for PTSD is not "fear pills." These are specific, evidence-based treatments that alleviate symptoms and facilitate psychotherapy.

Grief and Trauma: What's the Difference and Why It Matters

Grief and trauma often go hand-in-hand, but they are distinct processes with different needs. Confusing them risks providing inadequate or inappropriate support.

Combat Trauma: PTSD in Military Personnel and Veterans

PTSD among combat veterans is significantly more common than generally believed. The unique aspects of military trauma, barriers to seeking help, and what truly works.

Post-traumatic Growth: When Trauma Becomes a Turning Point

Not everyone is broken by trauma. Some find in what they've been through a source of profound change. What is post-traumatic growth and how does it work?

Trauma and Shame: Why Survivors Feel Guilty

Shame is one of the most destructive consequences of trauma. "It happened because I'm bad" — that's not true. Where does this shame come from, and how can you break free from it?

Resourcing in Trauma Therapy: How to Create Inner Support

Before you can process trauma, you need a foundation. Resourcing is about creating "anchors" of safety, stability, and strength before engaging with difficult material.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy for Trauma

IFS is one of the most powerful approaches to trauma work. It views the psyche as a system of 'parts' and helps heal wounded parts without suppressing them.

PTSD and Relationships: How Trauma Affects Intimacy and Trust

PTSD makes intimacy both necessary and unbearable. How trauma affects relationships and what both partners can do.

Trauma and Anger: Why Anger Is Part of the Post-Traumatic Response

Fear and anxiety aren't the only emotions that accompany trauma. Anger is also a part of PTSD. We'll explore why this occurs, how anger can protect against pain, and strategies for managing aggression in the context of trauma.

How to Talk to Your Therapist About Trauma: What to Say

The first conversation about trauma with a therapist is one of the most challenging. You might wonder what to say, where to start, if you need to share everything at once, and how to choose a trauma specialist.

Child Abuse: Consequences and the Path to Recovery

Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in childhood leaves a deep mark. It's not your fault. And healing is possible — even decades later.

Secondary Traumatization: When Someone Else's Pain Becomes Yours

Helping professions, journalists, and loved ones of survivors can all experience psychological trauma without direct involvement in the event. This is called secondary traumatization.

Somatic Trauma Therapy: The Body Remembers Everything

Trauma doesn't just live in the mind—it's stored in the body. Somatic therapy works with the body's patterns of trauma and helps the nervous system complete an incomplete stress response.

Recovery from Traumatic Relationships: Why Is It So Difficult?

Leaving abusive or traumatic relationships is just the beginning. Why simply leaving doesn't mean "it's all over" and what true recovery looks like.

PTSD Triggers: How They Work and How to Cope with Them

A trigger is a stimulus that sets off a trauma response. This could be a smell, a word, or a situation. How do they work, and what can you do to make the response less intense?

Hypervigilance in PTSD: When the Brain Looks for Threats Everywhere

Hypervigilance is constantly scanning for threats. It's a normal response in a dangerous situation, but becomes pathological when the threat is long gone. How to live with it.

Dissociation: When the Psyche Protects Itself by Detaching from Reality

Dissociation involves out-of-body experiences, derealization, and memory gaps. It's a psychological defense mechanism that arises in response to unbearable experiences. What it is and when to seek help.

Childhood Trauma and Adult Life: How the Past Controls the Present

What happens in childhood doesn't stay in childhood. Childhood trauma shapes patterns of thinking, behavior, and relationships in adulthood. Here's how it works.

EMDR: How Trauma Processing Works Through Eye Movements

EMDR is the WHO's top recommended method for PTSD. How eye movements help reprocess traumatic memory and why it works.

PTSD Flashbacks: Why the Brain Relives Trauma

A flashback is not "just a memory." The brain literally relives the past as the present. Why this happens and what to do right now.

Complex PTSD (C-PTSD): What It Is and How It Differs from Regular PTSD

C-PTSD develops following prolonged or repeated abuse—especially in childhood. It is more complex than typical PTSD and requires a specific treatment approach.

PTSD: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and How It Differs from Stress

Post-traumatic stress disorder is not "a bad mood after stress." It is a neurobiological disorder with specific symptoms. How to recognize it.

What is Psychological Trauma: Types, Symptoms, and Consequences

Psychological trauma is not 'weakness'. It's a specific reaction of the brain and nervous system to an unbearable experience. Here's what it is and how it works.